LN 4.0 Engine Failure

Now that I have everyone's attention - I know many of you are on several of the 996 groups on FB based on the number of people who reached out me about this post. As far as I am aware, similar posts were made and either I'm not in or allowed to post in those groups, so my only option is to just bring this up here. For the record, this wasn't an LN built engine nor an FSI engine nor was a built by a then current LN employee. But as far as I can see, the OP used LN in the title of the post to garner attention. He has since removed the "LN", but the damage is already done. So yes, we sleeved the block and supplied pistons. And yes, Wally, our cylinder head tech, did built it, but that was while he was running his own Porsche shop. Wally now works for LN, but all he does is cylinder head work, and that's plenty to keep him busy. Between that and just having brain surgery for a tumor. Yesterday was his first time back in months. And only buried in the comments do you find the root cause of the failure - over fuelling, as it was running rich: And here is a post from a tech from one of the shops that tried to help diagnose his issues, prior to wiping out his fresh engine: There are those out there that are foaming at the mouth to blame LN for this, but today is the first time I learned about any of this. The OP said that we had deemed it non-warrantable, but I'm not quite sure when he actually contacted LN as we have no record of any correspondence on the matter. Before everyone picks up their pitchforks, it is good to get all your facts straight. Yes, it's unfortunate this happened, but by no means is this LN's fault or responsibility. Hey, **** happens, and if it's something we did wrong, I'll own up to it. People make mistakes all the time and if they take ownership of their screw up, I'll bend backwards to help people out, as many of you know. We can't control every variable. If people don't read the instructions or follow our directives, or just plain old screw up, things will fail and not every failure is or should be a warrantable event. This is the last thing I needed considering I have my own issues with needing an echocardiogram on father's day and a CT scan scheduled for Friday. It's likely stress from **** like this, but I just need to be sure. End rant. ​​​​​​​Thanks for your attention.

What a disgusting and frigging shame !! Yes " over-fueling " will kill ANY engine in more ways than one way in short order ( just a few K miles) !!!! Sounds like the owner knew it was over-fueling for a long time but kept driving it due to not having the time or $$ to fix the real issue,,,..now its too late ...

What a clown. Doofus willfully drives against advice, blows up his engine and defames a widely respected engine builder. And the fools piling on.... ya gotta love the internet. Good luck with your heart stuff, Charles, try not the let the knuckleheads get you down.

I wonder how much he will let that engine go for�

Clown, yes. Social Engineering Media at its best. Looks like a libelous situation. Sue for defamation? Difficult to prove injury.

Figured it would be something like that. I saw the post early and it was extremely vague, glad to see context was added.

Well, if over-fueling didn't get him by destroying the cylinders, hydralock with removing the AOS would have. This guy is public enemy number one in the 996 world. Someone should take away his 996 keys and give him a 20 year old Honda Civic.

Charles take care of your health first , don't worry about that clown . Most of the Porsche world know the reputation of LN is solid and well earned . Get well and keep making great parts for our aging cars .

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I have tried to provide context in other groups and have been blocked from doing so. Say what you will, but however many times people claim that I or Jake have had posts and threads removed (which is an outright lie), everyone gets on Rennlist gets to have a say. The moderators here do a great job keeping things civil and are impartial. Can't say that for the FB groups. The moderators there have their own agendas, and hearing both sides of this story wasn't allowed. The now personal attacks against Wally and his integrity by the FB keyboard warriors is uncalled for. Wally has a reputation that precedes him, having been a fixture behind the scenes in the Chicagoland area for decades, both for cylinder head work and engine builds, as many shops in the area would have him build engines as for shops, engine builds aren't as lucrative as service work. I'm almost more upset about that since he doesn't have anyone speaking up for him and his well earned reputation. Wally did nothing wrong nor did the seller or LN for that matter. The OP is the only one to blame. I'll chock it up to that he's a kid and still has some growing up to do, and buying a 911 probably wasn't the best life choice for a young adult just starting out in life. Let this serve as a PSA: trust but verify. It's become more prevalent where people are selling engines that say they have "Nickies" but are in fact direct plated and aren't blocks that we have sleeved or even serviced. Same goes for IMS bearings - the term retrofit, or worse solution, is often misrepresented. Yes, just like Kleenex even though it may be "Puffs" or another brand. Just do your homework.

Social Media is the new war zone and most if not all, have nothing to do with the issue at all but they still HAVE to put their .02 cents in ---what a shame! It takes years to built our reputation but only few clown's to jeopardize it.. Not fair.

There is so much inaccurate information and bad advice on Facebook being provided in the 996 specific forums. Its tough to read.

FB=The Wild Wild West...

I�m amazed at how complex engines are, and the amount of variables that can cause failure. I would go crazy worrying about something I missed during assembly. I have much respect for technicians and processes to produce dependable engines. I wouldn�t hesitate to purchase your product.

How would you know it's "over fueling" itself. Wouldn't it blow black smoke on start up or smell to high heaven at idle? LN has a great reputation and the world knows there's always going to be someone you can't please.....sucks for negative feedback but if anyone with at least a half a brain will do their research.....and see the disconnect of one or two bad reviews and not sway them

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In speaking to the people closer to this whole dumpster fire last night, the engine was literally rolling coal (black smoke) with how much fuel was pouring out among other symptoms, including the fuel trims being completely f'ed. He was told if he continued to drive the car without fixing the known issues that he was going to kill it. It's unfortunate, but true. No warranty is going to cover abuse or neglect, or should it.

Bad fuel injectors & bad tune leading to bad AFR come to mind. Durametric can show it as well as oil test. Still cant get over why he removed the AOS. Might as well have poured oil directly in the cylinders.

Sorry you're dealing with that BS. LN has an awesome reputation and you are better off putting your energy into taking care of your health than stressing about that disingenuous fellow.

Some knowledgeable folks can post the truth on the FB page and upvote so it gets proper attention.

I'm the one (or one of) that told him to post it here. I knew it sounded fishy. Lacking in context at best. If i was told to pound sand on a failed $30K built motor less than 10K miles later, I'd be raising hell on every platform, and this one have been my first or second post. What an asshat.

THIS is why Jake has "The Gauntlet." But even that doesn't guarantee Bozos don't get a chance to try to buy one of his engines. Hope you ended up having a great Father's Day Charles!

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Thanks for the insight.....and no, it shouldn't be warranted....any level headed individual would know that......but then again look at the world we live in.

I was one of the first to reply to this in the FB group and raise my pitchfork on this post and also the first to set it down once I got the full story. I tend to believe what people say is 100% truthful until they wrong me, and then, you better believe I will never trust them again if they do so. After getting the full story it is apparent why the OP in the Facebook group didn't reply to my messages in DM's. I think the majority of people will read the comments and realize Facebook OP is crazy. Please take care of your health Charles.

At the end of the day, engine builder or customer induced failures like what the OP did shouldn't happen. RTFM! The same paperwork we supply with every set of pistons and cylinders is available to download from our site, free of charge. And you don't need to sign a NDA either. https://lnengineering.com/education/...brary/m96.html

If professional mechanics tell me "Don't drive the car until fixed because your AFR's are really jacked up!" I park the car until fixed. Seems like a simple decision...

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I just find it wild that he kept driving like that.

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You'd be amazed at the amount of re-do work we have to do because of stupid mistakes. But rarely do you get the full story, ever.

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Probably the same people that lie to their own attorneys. 😵

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That is also true. For the most part, I've noticed that you have two types of people on this forum. You have those who want to invest very little in their 996 or guys who go all out.... both groups do their best to take care of their cars. It's unbelievable to kill an engine by something that isn't terribly difficult to fix.

I asked him a further question what caused the original scoring and what caused the scoring this time around. He declined to answer both... That should say all you need to know.

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Facebook as a whole is crazy. I haven't logged on in over 6 years. People are insufferable and lack critical thinking, and online is an easy way for that to be expressed. Adding on way too many echo chambers for people to yell into without being fact checked. I know social media can help businesses, but it's such a stain on society and has only made people worse. I'd love to see any of those idiots do 1% of what the LN team has achieved over the years, but we all know they couldn't reach .0001% of that. Myself included.

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I know it's hard not to get wrapped up in this too much, but try not to do it at risk of your health. You can't change the way FB moderates content and most reasonable people can see through the bull**** peddled there. Same with reddit, it's astonishing how many times I see people write off the IMS issue, only to see a post a week later about an engine failure b/c they took advice that it wasn't an issue on social media or reddit. The people who can't see through his FB post will probably never have their opinion changed no matter how defensive you get about it, moderated or not. In other words - people will either see and investigate this FB post further, realize it was nonsense, or they will just reinforce their own biases with it. The people in the latter category are extremely unlikely to have ever been your customers to begin with, they are just bandwagoning. It may seem like your reputation is at stake, but it's only at stake with people who wouldn't have been your customers in the first place. You can't change their opinion no matter what you do and you have no control over it, no matter how much facts/data you provide. It's hard to let go when it feels like people are targeting you with this BS, but in the end you have to accept that you can't change the opinion of a stupid person. Most of my industry is drowning in it's own bull**** and I've had to learn to accept that I can control the corner of the world that I have influence over and help the customers of ours who are willing to see through it (and pay for it), the people too ingrained in whatever bs, biases, or sales nonsense (AI being the latest) will never be customers of ours and there is nothing I can do to change that. It's easier said than done, but it's not worth losing your health over the behavior and opinion of dumb people, of which there are many. In the end, it's unlikely anyone will make a purchasing decision based on that post. I'll always be grateful that you guys convinced me to walk away from a .2 that was a huge potential nightmare. Hope your tests all went well.

Social media sucks sometimes. Sad the guys engine blew, but very wrong for how he posted about it.

CN - TayTay always says, “Hater’s gonna hate.” No matter the group, 10% always want to burn the house down, even if they’re in it. A good ‘ole Southern “Bless his heart.” is in order for that guy. We got your back.

Every online profile should have a credibility index right next to someone�s name. That way we can tell the difference between a bot, a kid, a dog, and an expert.