need a new engine

I guess I can join the "I never thought it would happen to me" club. I was driving a week ago and all the sudden, power loss. I look in the rear view mirror and there is a big cloud of smoke. I pull over, have it towed to my mechanic. He said he has not fully assessed the engine but the coolant is mixed with the oil and it is totally locked it is going to require a new engine to get it on the road. So now, I am trying to figure out how much it is going to cost me. My mechanic did not give me cost figures but I am thinking between $12K and $15K. Am I in the ball park for a rebuilt engine with installation minus what ever he can get for my old engine? I kind of feel like I am playing the game of life and I just landed on the square that says you loose that deal pay $100,000.

That just plain bites. Sorry to hear. My engine replacement at the dealer totaled 15k and change. I would guess that same at an indie should cost less. There is a rennlist member who rebuilt his own motor for a fraction (and months of headaches) but I understand most folks are not mechanically inclined enough to tackle something like that. if you care to hear my 2c - here goes: if you can sell your 996 as is for 10k or so, I would do that instead of fix it. the 10k from the sale + 15k you would have spend on an engine = 25k which is MKII money (maybe even with a new engine already installed) or you can sit on the money and save up and not have to be locked into your car... My point is, I would consider this the end the road with this car and move on. Again my 2c only... good luck.

I'm not sure a 996 is gonna pull $10k without a motor, for the exact same reason as you mentioned ($25k gets you an mkII)

WOW - 1st off - CRAP! that sucks! Second off, not many indies doing rebuilds...one reason is risk. They invest about as much in rebuilding as replacing and then if something goes wrong they eat it instead of Porsche. There are exceptions and my indy rebuilds them with great success. Not all motors are worth rebuilding... if it really filled a lung with water and hydrolocked it could have bent the crank and and and and.... Then again, a LOT of white smoke "could be" the AOS, but that would not cause it to lock so you have to check that out. PasPar has an interesting take and he is kinda on the right track. Recently Porsche dealers have been giving owners what they feel is the "right amount of money" for broken 996/boxsters and putting them in a new(er) car.... might be worth looking into. Again, sorry to hear this, strange how just recently there have been a few cars that just died with no warning - sucks!

I have thought about just selling and taking my hit but I don't think I could get 10K for it. To add insult to injury I just sold old my old daily driver3 days before the engine blew so now I am down to just one car. Sucks to be me right now.

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I feel for ya man

So I was re-reading the OP and got to thinking, (although without a full teardown you cant tell) It could just be a cracked head... that might not set you back too far. I think if it was me I would look into the option of fixing it and keeping the cost under $5k (if possible) - Naturally they wont know if its D chunk or head till its apart unless they have a bore scope, pull the plugs and look in each cylinder I would start with #4 then #2.... might see a smoking gun... if not... keep looking... if none show obvious trama I might opt to pull it apart for eval and then decide what dirrection to go If you choose to rebuild - call Jake Raby and ask him who to go to in your area.... all things being equal, I would pick someone he recommended over the next guy. He might not have any info, but phone calls are cheap I will also ask today, we had a session a couple weeks ago and a fella came out from back east who I would rate very high..... I will get his info and pass it along to you. cant remember where exactly he was from, but cant hurt to pass along more names and options. This guy is really sharp and I would have no problem letting him do an M96 for me (if I was in need of one)

Feel for you man...

PSUboy where in PA are you in? Easteren Western or central? There are a couple indy shops around allentown that rebuild engines. For the price you can probably find a porsche rebuilt for the same price and 2 yr warr. You may have to call around to find an engine dont take a dealer answer that there are non available because a new crate engine is about $26K. Or a Raby engine for $17k check out flat 6 innovations web site.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. As usual, great advice from the group. The only thing that I would add is that it is easy to assume it is a worst-case scenario, but take a step back and explore all the possibilities and remedies carefully. Hopefully, as my wise Seattle compatriot suggested, it is a bad head and can be repaired for less. Would you mind posting miles and brief overview of maintenance history of your 996 for the edification of the group? Here's hoping for a speedy and "reasonably-priced" road to health for your p-car!

Sorry to hear that man. I really hate to hear these stories come up. BTW... how many miles did you had on the car when this happen?

from my pre purchase reading, the mileage doesnt really matter. I have seen care grenade at 30k and never grenade in 130k... mine granaded at 81k and it is a tip (supposedly less prone to this issue)

Thanks for all the support. I had 110K on it. I had just purchased it in September. I had a PPI that came out mostly positive. Once I got the car here in Central PA, I drove it back from Louisville, I took it in and had about 3K worth of work on it over 2 visits. I had all new fluids placed in it and it was driving well. No indication of a problem like this. According to CarFax the car had been regularly serviced by Porsche for about the first 80K miles I found out by calling around that it had been serviced by indie shops for the next 20K. I am waiting for a price from my mechanic. Depending on what the price is I will have to make a decision then. It is getting a bit cold for riding my bike. Pete

Good luck on the repair bill total. Kind of a pricey xmas present you have get yourself. Maybe try for a deal with a porsche dealership.

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Where in central PA are you? Im near York haven near Harrisburg. There is a place in Harrisburg that works on Porsche.

Too bad, hope you can locate someone you feel comfortable with, to either rebuild or replace the engine.

Ouch sorry for your troubles. Hopefully the orginal purchase price wasn't too steep given the age of the car and the mileage. Good luck.

Hmmm, Sorry to hear. Good luck and hope you have a smooth recovery.

What mode of failure did your engine experience? We'd be happy to assist by going over your options..

I think it is a collapsed wall. It just came with no warning. Estimate for a rebuilt motor is $15K for the motor plus installation. I read some threads of others who had the exact same deal as me. In the what I want for X-mas thread I was asking for some new wheel center caps. I guess I am getting more than I bargained for. This certainly puts a damper on my holiday season.

Lousy day. Hope it's a head.

Sux buddy. We haven't been hearing *too* many of these stories lately so I thought we might have been through the worst of it. FWIW - I've pondered what I would do in your situation and I kind of think that it would be worth checking out what a Flat6 Innovations monster motor would be worth. 3.8 litres, all the upgrade bells and whistles....word is that one of these motors can be built to make very good power and be durable as well. I know a lot of guys don't appreciate Jake Raby hawking his wares and skills on this site, but I for one have sero problem with it. A few extra dollars certainly, but maybe worth it for the performance and peace of mind?

Very sad, especially this time of year and with that being your only vehicle. It happened to me in '06. For a while there, I thought these were behind us, but I see them surfaceing again. Once bitten, twice shy. Looking for a GT3 or TT, I can't stomach the thoughts of this happening again. No rhyme, reason or warning. The right conditions, intermix and the whole motor is toast. This happens often on other cars, with a blown head gasket, warped head and it's a somewhat easy and cheap fix with the motor in the car. A couple of evenings and under a grand and it's better than new. Sorry

It always comes without warning, which is why being proactive is so important. Cylinder issues generally aren't that immediate.. Is the oil and coolant intermixed? We just received two more failed cars here today, but the good news is 3 more showed up for preventives from all over the country. The majority of issues can be avoided, as long as people don't play the "it can't happen to me" card. Before you go to great extents to swap engines, have your current engine closely evaluated, these engines can be repaired.. We see engines condemned all the time that could be repaired, just because shops haven't made it a point to fully understand these engines completely. Intermix can lead to hydro-lock which can in some situations avoid catastrophic failure, but it can also be terminal. When "it" happens, its too late...

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I know this is a very generalised question, but D chunks can be repaired? Is is replace the block or bore it out and slip in a new cylinder?

+1 for Auto Strasse in Costa Mesa, Calif. Robert does a nice rebuild for a reasonable cost. Most of the Spec Boxster's in So Cal have his motors along with 4-5 996 race cars including mine. I would ship your motor to him and let him tell you what he can do. He has motors on the shelf ready to go if you need one but I'll bet you don't..... [phone removed]

thats sux. feel your pain. how about install a LS1 engine like the guy in renntech did ? thats a great alternative and you will not need to worry about the IMS and RMS.

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Blasphemy!

My guess is when you get done with an LS1 conversion you spend about the same money and de-valued the car to the point that you could not give it away stuffed with hundred dollar bills Tim, i know exactly what you are going thru. These threads are very disheartening. I have pounded my drum quite a bit about getting some of the things done that "could" be an issue. The fact is most parts being replaced are in "perfect condition" and it's tough to convince people out of $3k to replace something that "could go" 150k miles w/o a problem. My car had 101k miles when I got it and just south of 130k when I sold it, all on the original IMS/RMS and no motor issues.... so the odds are in your favor if you play the numbers. Something on the order of 95% of these cars will never have an issue. For the 5%ers (and trust me I dont know the "real percentages.... no one does, its just a wild a$$ guess) - but for those it happens to, it just plain sucks. Check out LNEngineering - there is a plethora of "ideas" there and as you no doubt know Chris is on board with this program. If you follow Chris' advice I have no doubt you will enjoy many many happy miles/smiles Dont loose sleep, I lost enough for the both of us. One last note, check and see if you can land a warrany - some on here have found 4 year / 40k mile complete coverage for like $4k - a hard pill to swallow but just reading this one thread makes ya think it might not be a bad pill..... I am in no means trying to spread hype or hysteria... yadda yadda....

Ed, That is excellent advice on this subject.

There is a 3.6 996 engine on E-bay for less that $11,000 from a dismantler...

I wouldn't go anywhere near a dismantler for a used motor. Talking about playing Russian Roulette with your replacement.

Dismantlers used to be a better source until last year when a couple of them started learning to repair the engines.. Now most everything you get is a patch up with a hodge podge of parts from different engines. Think long and hard before making this decision... Decisions made in haste generally have the worst after taste.. Believe me, I get the phone calls on a near daily basis these days.

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What everyone should take away from this thread is that the IMS bearing is far from the only thing with the potential for causing catastrophic engine failure. But the IMS bearing is the only thing that can be replaced proactively without removing the engine. Since it would be dumb to remove the engine to replace only one possible failure component, what people need to ask is how much it would cost to replace all the potential failure components. Then compare that figure to the cost of a warranty. And of course a [bumper-to-bumper] warranty would pay to replace just about everything on the car should it fail. I just had a leaking gas tank and the sending unit replaced in my MB @ 8 yrs 65K miles, along with the heater control valve and some vacuum relay thing...all covered under the aftermarket warranty. Had I paid out of my pocket it would've cost me more than the warranty cost. And another "minor" repair I had done earlier cost 80% of what I paid for the warranty. And, I have another 2 yrs to go on the warranty!

I think people are too quick to sell their rollers when this happens. Cars aren't assets. Their value lies in future utility. If someone had planned to keep their 996 for a few more years before the engine broke, their total cost for doing so will likely still be less replacing the engine than it would taking a loss on the car plus buying a replacement plus the steeper depreciation on that newer replacement over the same period of time. It's simple economics. If you can't bear to look at it any more, fine. Sell it. But if there's any question in your mind, do a little spreadsheet covering the 3-5 years ahead, and I'd predict that for most of us fixing the car is the better deal.

We went thru the same gyrations with our '00 Boxster S last summer. Motor puked up its lunch and some while at the track for a DE weekend. Had over 110,000 miles, many on track or autox. We thought it had basically served us well. We quickly objected to the crap-shoot of a used motor. And even looked at buying another vehicle and selling our roller. Ended up buying a factory warranty crate motor and had it installed by our indie. We figured this was the best long term solution, as we otherwise still liked & enjoyed the rest of the car.

Sorry to hear about your engine failure... I feel your pain having also expereinced an intermix on my 2001 C4 with 30K miles or so.. My dear indie opened up and inspected the engine carefully, and asked me if i had a boat? I responded not anymore, and he said thats too bad because your engine is toast and will make a good anchor.. I really didnt find his humor funny, as i had a big decisions to make much like you are facing right now... Having owned the car for almost three years before the engine failed, i had never heard or spent much time researching soem exceptional engine issues with these cars. From what i now know intermix and IMS failures happen, and perhaps happen in 5% or less of these cars. Most effected owners spend a lot of time talking and writing about their tirials and tribulations associated with engine rebuild or replacement, which make it feel like a much more common occurance. I went with a new engine from Porsche with the 2 year guanentee back in 2007. The engine replacement decision is a mix of emotional, financial, and how more can you afford or want to spend on this car in the future. With a higher millage car the decision will really be tilting to emotions, with short ownership and now an engine replaement that could equal to over 60-70% of your purchase price. Do your homework, starting a good diagnosis from your mechanic.. Many other RL's stated it may be a lot less expensive to fix depending on what exactly went wrong that going with a replacement motor. Also be careful not asking for 6 different opinions, as it will cost you money and time, without a clearly direction... Again sorry about your car, and good luck...

This is what the engines looks like from new from the factory...

FWIW, I love my car more and more, especially on the track... having no regrets with the new engine..

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It's like... like... ****...

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Can never have too much...engine pics. How about a new X51 engine? And a 996 Turbo engine? Now. Go smoke a cigarette. Sincerely, Macster.

Droooolll ....... Where the tissue....

Hey ... Check out EXCELLENCE this month - The answer to the "I coulda had a V8" comes from RUF. Designed for the 911 - 550 hp and lighter - but I guess it might cost a bit more than the other options. All kidding aside - I agree with looking at this as a long term economic question. If the "car" w/o engine is in really good shape than how many years can you be happy with a Carrera with a new or rebuilt engine? At $10,000 to $15,000 we are talking $2000 per year for 5 years on the low side and up to $3000 annually. I am sorry to see these things happen but - if it where me - and liking my C4 as I do - I would just finance the mew motor and motor on. Still a bunch less that a new Camry and a bunch more satisfying to own. Even if we in vest $40,000 in a Carrera we still pay Half what the Original Owner pitched in and have all the joy in driving this great 911. IMHO The other option... sell the roller for 10K add 5K and by a used Boxster. But they ... then you are driving a Boxster... with the same odds of having the engine go - again.