Remanufactured Engines. What's done to them?

If someone get's a remanufactured engine, is there a document that spells out exactly what Porsche does to the engine? Are known issues addressed and parts updated, etc?

Reman. from Porsche? The engine is disassembled, the block is checked, then all new parts installed...including new updated parts, then tested thouroghly. Then sent out. This is usually a better engine than "brand new"....These engines are originally ones that failed the original testing process BEFORE the engine is put into a car. These are not "rebuilt" engines from cars that were sold and failed. When an engine fails at the factory its sent to be remanufactured and used for replacements.

It is my understanding from speaking with a PCNA manager when my car was going through replacement that Porsche does not recognize "remanufactored engines". They recognize replacement engines only. They may be ones that have been through a reman process, or could be one with no issue. They just take the right off the shelf and put them into whatever car. From what he told me they even do this to new cars meaning a new car could be getting an engine that has had things reworked. I am not certain I believe all of that, but FWIW that is what I was told by our regional PCNA manager.

Thats inaccurate....They do have 2 types of engines NEW and remanufactured....you can buy a new crate engine from Porsche.....so they must have more than one engine shelf....also for older cars like 3.4L 996's they dont put them in new cars.....she probably meant they dont have "rebuilt" engines and all warranty replacements are remanufactered...

I just got my 03 996 motor replaced last week. I can tell you that if you put this motor next to a brand new motor you would not be able to tell them apart. It is absolutely perfectly clean from every aspect (rubber, bolts, plastic, alternator, case finish, air filter housing, etc). In fact I find it hard to believe that there is one used part on it. If the case was ever used they sprinkled some magic dust on it to make it look absolutely brand new. I was told though that it was a porsche "remanufactured" engine. Because of the way it looks I would bet that this motor falls into the category of never being in a car but no way to know for sure. It did come in a crate from Germany as I saw them open it up. Although I only have 50 miles on it and cannot go over 4000 RPM it feels strong and tight at this point. I have some pictures but dont have my card reader here so will post later. Brad J.

Of course they do not put a 3.6 in the car that originally had a 3.4. I figured that was clear. So now I am faced with a PCNA regional manager possibly lying to me about their classifications of engines. Great.

Not lying, maybe misunderstood, or confused......

Yes it was never in a car.....read my post...they build the engines, test them, if they pass they are put in new cars, if they fail, they are disassembled...the block is examined to make sure its not the problem, if it checks out ok...they build an engine with this block with ALL NEW parts, test it again. if it passes, these engines are used as remanufactured replacements. They never get installed in a car, and they never leave the plant. The reports are these engines are usually stronger and have less problems....

This raises a question I had, actually, as someone who just got a replacement engine in November. My car is under CPO until June, and the engine until Nov. 08. If I were to sell the car, the CPO is clearly transferrable... I was assuming the engine warranty is as well, can anyone confirm that's the case? I've inquired elsewhere, but it's always nice to hear it from an authoritative search like RL Justin

there is no engine warranty...it expires with the car....if you bought it outright, you would have a 2 year warranty on the engine. Just like any other warranty repair, once the CPO warranty expires, you are no longer covered.

Justin, my understanding of how Porsche warranties work is that if a repair is conducted under a Porsche warranty, the repair, parts and labor, are warranted for the remainder of the warranty period of that warranty. If a repair is done outside of a Porsche warranty, the repair, parts and labor, is warranted for 2 years/unlimited miles. I have heard of exceptions to this, however. I have heard that PCNA agreed to some customer's demands to provide the 2yr warranty on replacement engines which were installed late in the factory warranty period. But it took adamant requests by the customer to PCNA to get it done, and this was some time ago when the majority of engine failures were happening. All second or third hand info of course, so YMMV. When PCNA "goodwilled" the engine replacement in my Boxster (warranty had expired) years ago, the SM told me it had the 2yr/unlimited miles warranty, although I had no specific paperwork stating that.

Yep, even though I am in the break in stage I can really feel a difference up to 4krpm. This is my 4th porsche but first water cooled motor so I dont have much experience with them but my old 996 motor that was replaced had a funny power shift at about 3200 RPM. I got used to it but always felt that it was the variocam doing its thing- abruptly. This motor does not have this and has, based on the little I have driven it, a smoother power band up to 4k. Hard to explain but I like it. It really feels great. This may have just been a quirk with my old motor though.

Seems like I have two conflicting answers here The work was done under CPO by the local dealer. But since the engine has its own warranty now, separate from the CPO, I'm hoping that will also transfer... Confused and Yours, Justin

Unless you have from PCNA in writing your engine will be covered for 2 years...it is only covered by your original warranty.....so when that ends...NOTHING on your car is covered including your engine. You can hope all you want, but its not covered.

How did you go about getting the separate warranty for the engine?

Justin, here is the actual, applicable verbiage, directly from the PCNA website, regarding this issue: "The warranty periods begin on the day of delivery to the customer. The following periods apply: 4 years warranty for all new vehicles; 2-year warranty for genuine Porsche parts, exchange parts and accessories, which are used or sold outside of warranty work. The warranty period for Porsche parts which are used in connection with warranty work ends contemporaneously with the warranty period for the purchased item which has become defective; 3 years for the paintwork; 10-year long-life warranty against rust holes in the bodyshell. (please refer to the conditions in the Warranty and Maintenance handbook)" http://www11.porsche.com/usa/accesso...rrantyperiods/

The replacement motor will have AT in front of the serial number. This means Austauschmotor or exchange motor. I spent a lot of time trying to get an answer from differing sources. Nobody will go on record as to what is new and what is not, but essentially everything is probably new except the crank and cradle. These are only used if they meet new specs, not wear tolerances. All indicated that the exchange AS motors have the newer design intermediate shaft. At least two sources indicated that the starter, PS pump and AC compressor can be rebuilt units since they are external replaceable units. (note: the 99 AT motor does not come with the AC compressor) This made my decision easy as whether to do a top end rebuild to fix a broken valve spring on a 96k mile motor. The cost of a new unit was not a big leap. My "Austauschmotor 3,4L USA" was built on 26.11.2004 by Werner Billes and installed in my car in April of 2005. We visually checked my AT motor carefully and found: *new coil packs *new fuel injectors *new intake and throttle body *new crankcase (indicated by casting marks) *new heads *new cam covers *new starter *new alternator *new water pump *new headers *all new fasteners/hardware/hoses/harness *new pulleys/idlers/etc. *remanufactured PS pump (indicated by an X in the part number) *crankshaft appeared to be new In summary, everything appeared to be new except the PS pump. I would not loose sleep over the exchange motor...probably better than new From the PCA website Joel Reiser writes: "There is no such choice as a new vs rebuilt engine. Take the factory rebuilt engine, that is as good as a new one, and probably better, because someone at Porsche has gone through it (after 2002) and made the updates as needed. Porsche operates with an ISO-type continuous improvement process, so you want a factory rebuilt unit with improvements, not another possibly defective original unit that may have been collecting dust on a shelf for 4 years. I really don't believe they have such a stock, which is why I say there is no such choice, and if there was, it would not be a customer choice under a warranty claim. I have not heard of any dealers doing the actual engine rebuilding anymore, that went out with the 993 model. I don't know your dealer, but perhaps only two or three in the country are really prepared to do a quality rebuild of a 996 engine, and even then it may not be cost-effective. All others simply install the replacement engines that come on a pallet from Porsche ready to go, and that is a win/win for everyone."

Stephen, The "AS" is stamped on the engine cases in front of the M96xxxxxxxxxxx stamping?

I assume that the warranty in the auto business is based upon the same principle as in the "big yellow tractor" business. When you buy the original car, or have the original warranty transferred to you as the purchaser of used but still under factory warranty car, your warranty is the remainder of the factory warranty - 2 years or 4 years depending upon where you live in the world and the original new car warranty terms in effect there at the time of original purchase. If a part fails, due to defects in material or workmanship, during this warranty period, it is repaired or replaced and the warranty runs until the end of the new car / or transferred new car warranty. The only way to get a warranty on a specific items is to PURCHASE that item through the dealer parts department. It then carries the 2 year "parts warranty". Let's say you have a chronic problem that fails at 3 years. Under the 4 year new car warranty, the first replacement is free. The second failure at 5 years is on you and you purchase the part from the parts department. it now carries a 2 year warranty. Your new car warranty expired at the end of 4 years. In summary, you get a warranty with every new car or part you purchase . It you get a part under warranty, its warranty expires on the date of the original new car warranty or the parts warranty if it was a purchased part. Now, is everyone confused enough?

Fred, That is precisely the way I understand Porsche warranties to work, hence my question for Justin, as he appears to indicate the engine has a separate warranty even though the engine was installed under CPO warranty.

If the engine was replaced under a CPO warranty and was not purchased by the customer, I would presume that it only carries the warranty coverage of the CPO warranty. I would happily wager a set of worn out track tires that the engine DOES NOT carry a separate warranty. Cheers,

Fred - I called the dealership to check - it's covered until the end of the CPO warranty. I got some bad info before. Oh well Cheers, Justin

That sux

Not really....these engines are really well sorted out so getting a 2 year warranty on it, probably will not be of any use....just peace of mind.

That is true but that bit me in the @$$ when I bought my car. I passed on the 2-year warranty thinking my luck, the warranty would go out then things would break afterwards and I would be out of the $2000+. Well at about 18 months, my oil separator goes south. Lesson learned.

Does anybody know whether the engines hours stored in the ECU are reset to zero after a remanfactured engine is installed?

The info in the DME is not changed when a replacement engine is put in. Or, in my case, the DME was replaced on my 1997 Boxster about 2 years ago. After the replacement I had a 1997 with the original engine, with zero operating hours, and zero Range 1 revs.

Kevin: I corrected my previous post. It should have read AT in lieu of AS. I read Austauschmotor off the build sheet and got it mixed up. I just look at my engine and the AT is inserted between the engine type and the serial number. This is easily visible on the bottom of the engine (driver side).

Quotes source post: 3833821

How'd you get at this info?

Great info, thanks

Yes it is! I'd love to know how many AT motors have had issues?