Where on the engine does it hit when bottoming out?

I went over a speed bump kinda fast this weekend and forgot that my car is lower now with PSS9s. It bottomed out with a heavy thud.. I was wondering where it would hit on the engine block. It is not leaking any oil or fluids so I am counting myself lucky. Do our engine blocks usually take a beating and keep on ticking like that?

How do you know the engine hit? It wouldn't thud. It'd be more of a crashing sound, no? You may well have hit the bump stop on the PSS9s.

Good point. I don't know.

I bet you it's the suspension bottoming out. I've done this once on a speed bump and it's not a fun sound. I thought it had hit the engine, too, but if you think about it, if that had happened, the noise would be much more unpleasant and potentially much more costly.

You engine cannot hit the road. Too many other componants that are lower.

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Like what cuz when I took a look down there, the engine pan is pretty damn close to being level with other parts of the rear.

Bottom view of the car. Looks like the engine pan is low to me.

yep. that was one of the changes for 2002. If you did hit the motor there would be at the very least a mark. Like Ben said. most likely was the stop on the suspension.

I had bottomed out my engine on speed bumps multiple times, the oil pan near the oil drain plug took the brunt. The PO must of done it several times too as the drain plug was smeared and scraped.

When my RMS blew (13 days after purchase), I had them put on the engine skid plate. $110 part, bolts on and protects the engine from exactly this type of problem. $150 (part plus install) well spent, in my opinion. I believe they added this skid plate as a standard part to the 997, it was an option on the 996. The week after I got the car back, I bottomed out on the most assinine driveway/street transition I've ever seen. Put a nice mark on the skid plate. Whew.

Did your engine temp go up after installing the engine skid plate? Maybe I can get a free tray from the 993 guys.

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You'll need to go dumpster diving for mine... Andreas

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At the bottom

If it was a thump, it wasn't the engine. If it was (god, this is the best description I could think of) hitting a hammer on a railroad track, it was the engine. There's no give on an engine vs. a suspension bottoming. This is from offroad experience in trucks. I've bottomed trucks out at 70mph where the suspension reached it's limits. And I've hit boulders with the frame or bumpers that'll stop you dead in the tracks. You'll know the difference.

If you want a skid plate contact me. I accidentally ordered one before I found my 996 came with one from the factory. It's still brand new in the package. I'm not trying to make anything off of it.

Scary hearing stories of people bottoming the engines. I've got the engine protection plate on mine and I've never hit the thing on a speed bump...and I'd venture to say I'm lower than 98% of you guys here? **edit** I do have 900lb rear springs though.

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Thanks blinkwatt. Because our engines do not have the best cooling design being first generation and all, I want to chew on it for a little bit first. Can someone post a pic installed to see how it affects cooling?

Chao, Sorry to hear... FYI the rear bottom of the motor on my 996 has a few scratches from previous owner (minor). Not sure what took place to get them but it does happen and I am very aware/cautious of this. Stock suspension

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I had only 13 days of driving pre-skid plate, and none of it was more than spirited street driving, so I can't really give you a comparison. However, in about 16 days of autocrossing across just over 1 year in San Diego, my engine temp as indicated on the dashboard (water temp) has never exceeded about 200 degrees (needle straight up). We had a couple hot events last summer, and some long courses (1:20 or so) with multiple laps (4-5 in a session), and the temps in those conditions match exactly the temps from the winter time. I have not taken it to a big track, nor have I done continuous lapping (DE/TT), so I can't really speak to those situations. I've put 14,000 miles on the car in the year I've had it, and I've NEVER seen the temperature gauge go above that point, even on a long road trip through 109 degrees indicated on my dashboard. And if I ever did find a way to stress it out and cause heat issues, I would add a third radiator before I took off the skid plate.

Good points Irksome. I may have to add pre skid plate on to my list. Gotta make more money! This is getting just as expensive as some of the girls I date. At least the Porsche does everything I say ALL THE TIME...