Bad Day, Oil in coolant

Bad Day today, coolant level light flashed on yesterday, topped up coolant, no sign of trouble, drove home 7 miles, today after giving her a wash and polish, thought I would check the levels, met with brown coolant fluid, oily. Not gone milkshake yet. Just now wondering if the bank will remortgage the house! Will probably miss silverstone classic now. Really pissed.

Before you start to worry about very serious problems, ask a specialist to check for simple things - there is a water-cooled oil cooler - this can cause the same. Fingers crossed. kr Lee

Many thanks, Indy mentioned the same thing, however he has another 996 with same problem and its cracked head [&o] Car being picked up on truck later. At least I think I caught it before any more serious damage was caused.

Update : Engine finally out, It is a cracked head on cylinder 1 at spark plug tube, apparently this is common problem, always on 1-3 head. Have sent head to repair specialist to find out if repairable, has anyone else had experience in repairing? If not its second hand head once I find that unicorn first or new from Porsche! Good news is the bores / pistons all good, just going to have a ring change, new clutch flywheel, IMS, RMS, Chains, guides etc. so far £3k in parts exc. labour! I tried putting a pic on but no luck, if anyone wants to see head crack I can email direct.

Must be something about Silverstone... I had the same problem back in Easter. I am attempting the job myself, although at a slow pace - Cost so far about £300 on tooling, plus xx hours labour.. Looking at options to repair original head and found some UK companies that specialise in this area. As another option I found a distributor in the US that recon heads on part-ex for this reason. Otherwise it's sourcing a matched head/cover on s/h market. Let me know how you get on.

Update : Cracked Head has been sent to company called Motorcast in Shrewsbury, who come recommended as specialists in this field. Spoke to the owner Derek, who has seen these issues before and is confident the head is repairable after doing pressure test, and has 996's running happily on the race track after having this type of repair! I will let you know how it turns out and what the cost was.

Any update on this from Motorcast? Many thanks

I presume you mean Motorcast in Wem near Shrewsbury FIRST RATE Rebuilt my urquattro 20 valve engine 15 years ago THese guys are really good just good know they can do something about 996,986 Heads Should not cost you am arm and leg Regards

Yes head did come back from Motorcast repaired and pressure tested, the crack was worse than originally thought, apparantley went into a 'Y' from no1 spark plug tube to near valve stem, however they have welded it successfully, about £500. Engine is not back together yet so no final reviews yet! I would say there was one thing I didn't like, they had cleaned the head but painted it silver on the outers and across the intakes and exhaust ports, if something like this happened again I think I would ask for this not to be done, however Im sure it makes no difference and is only there to pretty it up. But generally I would say a top notch service, they know they're stuff, and if it holds up, it has saved me an absolute fortune. (Yes it is Motorcast in Shrewsbury)

Thanks Rob as that is encouraging news. I am in contact with them and waiting on a quote. I don't want any paint on my head though.

Update : Engine has been rebuilt and is back in the car, new clutch / flywheel, IMS (Old one still good by the way), rings, bearings, separator, chains, guides etc, then some previously unknown extras - engine mount, alternator, idle valve. But apparently she's running well and I should be able to collect tomorrow, as long as the bank has enough money in the safe! Pic attached

another pic

Looking good Rob, glad you got thimgs resolved. Glad Motorcast were able repair the head, feel free to name your rebuild company it's always good to know Did you go the lightweight flywheel route? Glad Motorcast were able repair the head feel free to name your rebuild companygarage as they Enjoy Andy

Hi Andy, I didn't go down the lightened flywheel route, it seemed a risk not worth taking! Too many bad stories about unbalanced cranks etc. and I remember the lightened flywheel / clutch on my rally car rattled at low rpm! I did splash out on a set of stainless shiny headers! And have gone for lower temp thermostat and Evans waterless coolant. The rebuild was done by PIE Performance in suffolk, very impressed so far!

What headers did you go for as I've read some of the aftermarket units have clearance issues? Any issues with oxygen sensors? Good news that my cracked head has been repaired by Motorcast. They had issues with exhaust studs removal as previous owner(s) had bodged replacement studs off-centre. Anyway, Motorcast have replaced these after a weeks work and have repaired a broken lug on the muffler hanger. Derek who I dealt with is highly recommended for any aluminium casting repair.

They were the DesignTek headers, look fantastic and fit perfectly with the OE exhaust system. Glad your head has been repaired, Motorcast do seem to be a fantastic solution, and can deal with most things thrown at them! Derek knows his stuff.