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YOUR RESEARCHSupercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Leading reported evidence
Replace rings just
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Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Frequently discussed work
Clean burn
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Suggestion
coolant is all around the cylinder and head so basically either cracked cylinder or head or head gasket but unlikely , the cylinder sucks the water into the cylinder from one of these locations as it draws in a new air and fuel charge then after combustion it will go out of the exhaust system a lot with the spent gasses hence the water coming out of the tail pipes, misfires will be due to the excess water content in the cylinder effecting the mixture so it won't be getting a proper clean burn on the power stroke I would say!
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
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Leading evidence: 'Replace rings just' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is '996 head gasket has failed stop driving the car' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Clean burn' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suspected cause · Original poster
If you ever suspect your 996 head gasket has failed STOP driving the car.
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
sag
Suggestion or failed attempt
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0
Identified cause
1
Suspected cause
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Reported fixes
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suspected cause
The place where you see the discoloration is highly suspect for sag.
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Clean burn
Suggestion or failed attempt
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Unsuccessful attempts
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suggestion
coolant is all around the cylinder and head so basically either cracked cylinder or head or head gasket but unlikely , the cylinder sucks the water into the cylinder from one of these locations as it draws in a new air and fuel charge then after combustion it will go out of the exhaust system a lot with the spent gasses hence the water coming out of the tail pipes, misfires will be due to the excess water content in the cylinder effecting the mixture so it won't be getting a proper clean burn on the power stroke I would say!
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Clean oil off the cylinder wall
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Reported fixes
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Unsuccessful attempts
1
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suggestion
It wasn't overheating in the classic sense, the coolant flashing to steam was steam cleaning the oil off the cylinder wall which greatly increased friction between the wall and rings.
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Frequently discussed actions (8)
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Clean burn
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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0
Unsuccessful attempts
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Discussions that contain suggestions
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0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
coolant is all around the cylinder and head so basically either cracked cylinder or head or head gasket but unlikely , the cylinder sucks the water into the cylinder from one of these locations as it draws in a new air and fuel charge then after combustion it will go out of the exhaust system a lot with the spent gasses hence the water coming out of the tail pipes, misfires will be due to the excess water content in the cylinder effecting the mixture so it won't be getting a proper clean burn on the power stroke I would say!
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
Clean oil off the cylinder wall
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
It wasn't overheating in the classic sense, the coolant flashing to steam was steam cleaning the oil off the cylinder wall which greatly increased friction between the wall and rings.
Supercharged 996 c2 3.6 with a blown head gasket, need aftermarket options please
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21 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T124918Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Ive got a 996 c2 3.6 and it looks like I popped the head gasket. Symptoms were random misfires on the same cylinder, coolant burning off on start up and coolant coming out of the exhaust. Im going to have to deck the head and block which means I can't run a factory head gasket. There seem to be options for turbo and gt3 head gaskets but nothing for the 3.6 out of the c2. Can anyone direct me in the right direction for an aftermarket head gasket? I'll need something thicker so that I don't increase the compression.
thanks!
99 out of 100 times it's not the head gasket with these engines. It's a metal gasket and there are much weaker parts of the engine that will give out before it does.
I'm curious if you bought the car super charged or if you added it post purchase. The M96/97 and added boost don't work very well together.
A dollar says (unfortunately) you have a cracked head, not a blown head gasket. Even under boost, blowing out a 996 head gasket just doesn't happen. Compare a 996 head gasket to most others and you'll see why - the amount of gasket material between each cell is massive compared to gaskets for other engines.
Here's what a 996 head gasket looks like - the amount of material is huge compared to some other common head gaskets...
Compared to a Supra head gasket, you get an idea which of the two is more likely to have an issue...
Hopefully, you DO have a blown head gasket, but you might want to go into this repair with the possibility that you're looking at a head repair. It would suck to pay for a gasket install, fire up the car, and realize you're still losing coolant...
Having coolant coming out the tail pipes and misfiring sounds like something different than a cracked head, as everyone is suggesting, is going on. Now blowing a head gasket is rare but, not unheard of. Being that it is boosted this could be the issue. I'm more curious to know what would give waybthat would allow coolant to flow into the exhaust ports.
Trendy996
coolant is all around the cylinder and head so basically either cracked cylinder or head or head gasket but unlikely , the cylinder sucks the water into the cylinder from one of these locations as it draws in a new air and fuel charge then after combustion it will go out of the exhaust system a lot with the spent gasses hence the water coming out of the tail pipes, misfires will be due to the excess water content in the cylinder effecting the mixture so it won't be getting a proper clean burn on the power stroke I would say!
Looking at a head I would highly doubt a cracked. Bc of where they typically crack at. I'd prob be leaning towards a cracked or chuncked cylinder wall.
Its a 3.6 with boost. The cylinder will fail before the head gasket will. The cracked cylinder has the exact same symptom as a cracked head.
A failing cylinder can also have secondary collateral damage in the form of a failed head gasket.
These cylinders fail routinely with without boost, force feeding the failure is all the boost does.
Coolant out the tail pipe is a classic cracked cylinder symptom. I've personally seen that one 16 times this year so far. Of those, all but one of them was misdiagnosed by the shops that first saw the engine.
Lol. Well put. I know companies will do anything to make a buck but it still surprises me they make turbos and SC's for the 996. Especially TPC which seems to be a very reputable company.
Lots of fishing lures don't work either.... But they catch Fisherman.
The turbo/ Supercharger isn't the issue.. Its the inherent weaknesses of an engine with an open deck design. The EJ series Suby engines were open deck as well, and they routinely had/ have head gasket issues from a lack of cylinder support that causes them to fail under boost, too.
I won't even perform an IMS job on an M96/ M97 that has been boosted. No way am I going to be caught in the middle of that chain of events. Saying NO! in an acquired skill.
Sorry to go a bit off track but the more I looked into turbocharging the red flags popped up. These motors have very high compression ratio to be boosting which can be an issue. But again hope your issue as you said is a head gasket.
Ive pulled the engine apart, Im very luck that the cylinder walls are ok. The car has seen some decent amount of track time and drive at WOT under boost. Once the car is fixed and back together I will just enjoy it, Im debating on whether or not I should remove the supercharger kit as well. Here is where the HG leak was/is.
You must inspect the cylinder deck with a flat edge to ensure the cylinders have not started to sag. This will cause the head gasket to fail, as it reduces clamping load between the head and the gasket, in a localized area.
The center cylinders are the most common to fail in this manner.
The place where you see the discoloration is highly suspect for sag. Start measuring there. a 24" machinist flat edge is your friend.
Good call, I will more than likely have to deck the head and the block, part of the reason I need a custom HG. I'll need a thicker HG than stock as to not raise the compression.
If you deck the block, the pistons will likely contact the heads. If anything more than .003" is removed from this surface, the piston compression height is in question. Approach with care.
Engine is back in the car, car runs like a champ.
If you ever suspect your 996 head gasket has failed STOP driving the car. The water pouring into cylinder 2 was causing that portion of the engine to overhead nearly fusing the piston ring to the cylinder wall. I was lucky. I replaced the rings just to be safe however.
What sucks is no one makes an aftermarket head gasket for the NA 3.6 so I had to stack 2 gem ones. Sounds ghetto but was my only option and is working like a charm.
Heres to 100K miles of worry free supercharged driving! ....hopefully lol.
how many miles did you have with the supercharger before this? i keep going back and forth on getting one, i want the power without the trouble.... yes i know buy a 996 turbo lol
The car had around 70K miles when it begin developing issues. It has been tracked a lot and the supercharger cooler pump failed which may have been part of the reason why the HG popped.
Its a unique car and is decently quick but the tune is dated compared to what you can get now on modern cars. Get a turbo lol.
It wasn't overheating in the classic sense, the coolant flashing to steam was steam cleaning the oil off the cylinder wall which greatly increased friction between the wall and rings. If there is no obvious scoring, you are lucky.
I assume you had to do a complete disassembly to replace the rings and deck the case. Did you measure the piston to wall gap? Did the cylinder appear to be round, as opposed to slightly oval? Running a supercharged, high compression engine with two head gaskets... What could go wrong?
Please update us periodically. I am curious how long it holds together!
