What do you think about engine fails?

After readind this article from Total 911, I began to be a bit frightened to buy an early 996. Can you tell me your experience in this case? http://www.autofarm.co.uk/new.php3/Total911_July06.pdf

Thanks for making me feel sick again...my car has the symptoms of the intermediate shaft descrbed in the article (frt eng oil leak, "death rattle" on start up). Oh well I hope she holds together. I read that the rattle was from the Variocam system being dry on start-up, vanes inside the gear drum were slapping around until oil pressure got to it, at least that was what the manual said.

make sure you read the part about 5-10% only be afected. Its propaganda put out by a company that would be happy to fix your ticking timebomb

Cylinder cracks, intermediate shaft bearings, crank bearings. Unfortunately, none are a myth. Mine was a cracked #1 cylinder at start up after sitting in the garage for 5 days and the bill was $11,000.

Cylinder wall cracked, 14k.

I don't think its fair to claim that its 98-2000 build years that have most of the problems. From what I have seen just as many 3.6 fail as 3.4. Most '99 owners on this forum will tell you there cars have been trouble free as was my '99.

Engine replaced at 4900 miles. My car is a 2004 so it is not like it is even old. Yes it is disturbing, but then again they replaced mine no questions asked and it is better than ever with the new engine. Another aspect is that car companies - at least BMW and Porsche are no longer fixing engines, but simply going with componete replacement. It is the way it si these days, and honestly if you offered me a brand new engine vs fixing a shaft or remachining a cylinder wall or whatever I would simply take the new engine every time. WE expect a great deal out of this car based on what we pay, but in the end they are machines. They are not perfect and while annoying and somewhat troubling the company is taking care of the issue so I have little problem with it.

make sure you read the part about 5-10% only be afected. Are you suggesting that a 5 - 10% engine failure rate on low mileage engines is acceptable?

5-10 % could be affected with any of the above problems not all have the same issues. Anything mechanical can fail, your dishwasher, your watch your lawnmower your car unfortantly is the nature of the machine

I deal with risk analysis every day and after reading this article, I want a warranty on my 1999 996 NOW! If 10-15% of all discount airlines planes crashed, would you fly them anymore? I can easily (not painlessly) afford a $15k engine melt down but if I have an easy choice to avoid it, do I really want that risk?

What does the death rattle sound like?

I have had my 99 since new. Daily driver in spring summer and fall. Drive it all the time like I was leaving a Bank robbery! No engine problems at all. The RMS was replaced at 5000mi under warrenty fine since.

also note the pet theory of driving the car hard will make it work better... the babied 911's are the ones that tend to break.... yup... drive it like it's a porsche!

^ +1 drive it like it's mean to be driven. i'm at 92K, supercharged at 72K and no probs so far. if/when things do go south i'll be doing the autofarm re-sleeve. hmmm 4.0L anyone?

I have 98,000 miles on my 99 C2. I just got back from a road trip from San Diego to Michigan and back - at over 90mph the entire way, and it performed wonderfully. Earlier this year I drove to San Antonio and back at high speed also. I don't burn any oil at all and it runs like a champ. I drive it every single day, usually several times a day rain or shine. I run it up to the red-line regularly, and drive it how it was meant to be driven. I take it in for regular servicing and don't beat on the car, and it rewards me for it. Remember there is a difference between beating on the car like a jack-*** and driving hard.

In the end, as they say, there is not much we can do to prevent it. Drive, have fun and if it happens it happens, C'est la vie. Too bad the article did not offer any observations based on mileage or usage.

104,000 runs like a sewing machine. Drive it about 30 miles every day redline it everyday. You have to DRIVE it. Len

I have a 2002 C4 cab. Engine repaced at 30,000 miles. Now have 42000 miles on it. Had 3 new rear main seals replaced. The third one was a new varient and does not leak. My question is will my new engine done in spring of 2004 last longer than the original? Did Porsche fix the problem? Any thoughts? Kevin

I bought the extended warranty on my used 2000. I expect to lose the entire sum (about $2k if I recall) since I have had no issues and it is about to expire. I bought an extended warranty on my Integra before that, and even though it was 4 times cheaper, I lost my money on that one too. (even after replacing a covered radiator). Now, I "self insure", and pocket the dub money. If you really can't afford the fix, warranty can be ok to mitigate the risks, but given that the warranty company makes money selling these things, you can too if you have the capital to back your own car.

'2000 996, coolant leak into engine. Totally destroyed. Soon to have new engine, hopefully better than ever, but my $, no extended waranty . I still love my car and can't wait to get it back.

sorry to hear.... that really sucks... let us know how the 3.8 litre engine works out...! that will be one sweeeeeet ride

These issues are a very bad image to Porsche. It's incredible why they don't carry out with the problem instead of the clients

Now, I "self insure", and pocket the dub money. If you really can't afford the fix, warranty can be ok to mitigate the risks, but given that the warranty company makes money selling these things, you can too if you have the capital to back your own car. The problem is that anyone ownig a Porsche, or any other car for that matter, can't perform a risk analysis since he doesn't have access to pertinent data. Tolerance for risk is generally determined by whats at risk and the odds that the risk event will occur. We have a good idea of what a new engine or tranny costs, but we have no idea what the odds are that we will need either. Since I would expect that the average guy that buys a used car does so because he can't afford a new one, it stands to reason that the average used car buyer would be hurting if faced with a $10K+ repair bill. Hence, it would be prudent IMO for the average used car buyer to purchase an extended warranty from a repurable company. CPO of course being the ideal.

Just one guy's perspective, but FWIW... These are expensive, maybe even exotic cars, built in small volumes. I think you just take on some risk by definition, as part of the cost. It's just deferred cost, so to speak. Make no mistake, I would hate to have to buy a new engine. But when you look at the operating costs for a Porsche (mods aside) over the length of time they usually last (70% of them still on the road), and consider depreciation, it's not the worst value proposition on the road. What makes it tough to take is that the amount of money is concentrated in one disasterous event and you can't control when it happens. But rationally, take the cost of that engine work and add it to what you paid for the car including finance charges, divide it over its service life and subtract residual value, and you might sleep a little bit better. (Any Land Rover owners on the board are probably finding this conversation quite humourous. )

Over 70% of Pcars are still on the road , most of them are air cooled. They had a great reability. 996 and Boxster weren't made in small volumes. The 996 is succesful and a best seller Porsche ever made. In Z�ffenhausen they should have been more honest IMO

I have a 2000 C2 Cab and also covered myself with a 3 yr extended warranty until 2007. So far I have almost used up the whole amount on one visit to the dealer: coolant tank leak, seat control module defect and ignition switch. Basically it's a good idea to have this extended warranty on an older 996, just my 2c... Cheers,

I'm not trying to defend Porsche. Just trying to offer a philosophical perspective on this to ease the pain. I certainly acknowledge your point about how most of the 70% are air cooled (oil cooled?) cars, though I disasgree that 996s aren't small volume vehicles; in the automotive scheme of things, they still very much are. But I still think that while nobody should have to buy a new engine, the vast majority of cars out there would have cost a lot more in depreciation than the price of that engine over the same period of time. And I still believe that high performance things come with risk and cost. That's been my experience, from bikes to horses, the more they give you the more they demand. Again, not a defense of Porsche. Just a more philosophical way of looking at it.

I didn't understand your previous post very good. My english is a bit deficient and at now I think you are not defending Porsche. Sorry ...

No worries!

92,675 miles and running strong

speedread, I just got the same problem on my 99 C4 Cab. this is right after i paid $2400 to have it fixed. at the time there was no coolant in the oil, but there was oil in the coolant. now it's both. we'll see what PCNA does. I have 3 p-cars and this is the SECOND engine replacement for me in < a year (my boxster had on after 74k miles). my 996 only has 24k on the clock though!

Wow, now i am scared to buy one...seeing that the dealership sales guys wont know what their talking about. It looks like im getting the service mananger to go over any choice cars i find...scary stuff when your already paying $1000 a month with insurance. (im an average used porsche buyer..therefore a 10K bill is a NO NO.) :-)

Does anybody have any hard statistical facts regarding "engine failures that require replacement" by model and brand so we can put this issue to rest...? I'm sure there are some data banks some where that store this information... engines from all kinds of manufacturers fail... what is the % by model and brand that really do... is 1% engine failure->replacement rate acceptable? I think not... so for 100 996's out there 1 will fail... probably on the high side... perhaps 1 in 1000? I don't know but it would be interesting to find out...

Only Porsche has this info and they are not sharing it. My personal view is people spend waaaay too much time worrying about this. I have 2 cars with M96's and I don't lose any sleep over them. Drive and enjoy!!

and if it blows up sell it to me im looking for a 9x6 with a blown motor

Does anyone know someone who upgraded his blown engine to 3.7 (from 3.4)? http://www.autofarm.co.uk/new.php3/silsleevebig.html

99 no problems, no rms, but it does do a 2 second "shrill" at start up. I would not describe it as a death rattle.

calling Dell. Dell ? come in Dell .....

Mmmmm, interesting article, and one of the first real press stories I've seen on these issues. Autofarm and JZ Machtech both get the as far as UK Porsche indies go, but as mentioned they are trying to pitch their fix for the problem, so I bear that in mind. I have also noted that the UK motoring press has been more open in discussing possible issues, with the UK Telegraph Motoring section advising the following when looking for a used Boxster: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/.../mrguide14.xml And for a used 996 they comment: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/.../mrguide27.xml So this is a well respected national publication making these statements as a matter of fact, giving potential used car buyers a heads up. Hardly a bunch of hysterical forum users with engine death on the brain, and an interesting trend if the press continue to report on these cars in this way. At the very least, it could impact re-sale values in a big way.

I think I hear The Gates of Hell opening. Everyone get your children indoors and stay away from the windows!!

Late model Porsche engine failures have received quite a bit of attention in the UK because from what I read in UK published Porsche mags UK Porsche owners don't get as much warranty as their counterparts here in the USA and Porsche in the UK doesn't good will many engines. A few UK Porsche mag long term cars have had engine failures and received new engines - one Carrera IIRC received 2 new engines -- under warranty, but I've read more than a few letters from owners reporting engine failures with cars just out of warranty and essentially being told they're SOL and as a result facing huge repair bills to get the car back on the road. This no doubt has driven the cottage industry in the UK of 1) attempting to address the Carrera (and Boxster) engine short-comings vis a vis the intermediate shaft (mainly); and 2) for those engines (more commonly the 3.4l Carrera engines) that suffer a crack in the middle cylinder (either bank) a block with sleeves that resurrect the engine that would othewise be scrap (and in some cases can deliver a substantial increase in displacement); 3) Engine swaps from the Carrera to the Boxster (the 1st such I read about in a UK mag). Sincerely, Macster.

Porsche and you're not likely to get it. Recently auto makers argued that frequencies of repairs and such were trade secrets that if published would be used by their competitors against them, and Congress (or the NHTSA if I have the letters in the right order!) agreed. Now you can't even get info on safety equipment failures, let alone engine failures. Sincerely, Macster.