My tale of woe...................

Right then! Are you sitting comfortably? After having the IMS Bearing replaced on the 4S (which caused an amount of debate!) I thought all would be plain sailing; a new bearing (£900 fitted), bomb proof engine, as well as all other maintenance items carried out since I've owned the vehicle... - New RMS (twice) - Front bushing and coffin arms replaced - New clutch - New dics and pads all round - All belts and pulleys changed at last service - Brake fluid changed - New propshaft jointing plate I had driven the car home from the station on a Friday evening and parked up in the garage. All was well. I went to the car the next morning to drive to Donnington to spend the weekend at the GT Cup with a friend who competes; a cloud of white smoke from the left bank. I put it down to oil for a start but it didn't clear at all. car turned off and left in the garage for the weekend. Sunday night came and I tried the car again.....same issue. There was no coolant loss, no mayo under the filler, no oily burning smell from the smoke. It was sweet and sticky so everything pointed at antifreeze. Off to DoveHouse she went. Phil ran three sniff tests in the carpark and all came back negative. He and I were completely baffled but had both seen head gaskets go before without the tests being positive. With the smoke being from the LH exhaust, it all pointed to the RH bank. The only option was to drop the engine for some further investigation. I asked DH to squeeze the car in where they could to try and keep the bill down a bit. The guys there are great like that. The dreaded phonecall came a few days later.... The RH head had been sent away for testing and was found to have a hairline crack inside one of the water jackets......and it wasn't accessible for welding. Not only this, there was a slight amount of scoring to cylinder 6. I had a big decision on my hands. 1. Pay for a new head and hope the coring didn't worsen. With this I ran the risk of paying for all of the labour for the smoking to come back a short while later. 2. Have the cylinder lined by Hartech. This would also mean (sensibly) a rebuild of the bottom end to ensure bearings, crank etc were all up to scratch. 3. Talk to Porsche about a new bottom end............ Luckily a good friend of mine works for Porsche and managed to source the parts for me at a good price. it turned out cheaper to buy a brand new bottom end (with the latest version of the IMS bearing fitted at source, plus other upgrades) than to have the old one re-lined and rebuilt. I also had a new RH head, the modification pieces to make it fit, all new ancilliaries, pipes, pumps, a low temp thermostat etc. etc. With the body of the car safely under wraps, the re-build commenced.... The boys at DH did a top job in getting the car turned around in the time that they did. I had intended to run it in on the way to Le Mans but thought better of putting 1000 miles on a brand new engine in a foreign country! I painfully waited until we came back and went to pick the car up. A gentle 1,500 miles has passed and the car has now been opened up. The change in the engine is unbeleiveable. Out with the old 95k lump and in with the new! A couple of oil changes and no signs of any issues. Added to this a two year warranty from Porsche on the new parts!! Winner. The car has now been treated to a clay bar, cleanse, polish and wax.......oh and a photo with a tank! Here's to another 95k miles at least (or a clean bill of health if I ever decide to sell her!!) it's been emotional so far but despite the hefty bill (£8.7k all in!) it has been worth it. The lowest mileage 996 C4S in the country?!

Great post by the way...Ive got a quick related question.. My Targa had a complete engine replacement 25k miles ago in 2011 by Porsche OPC in Swindon. I've been try to find out what up rated parts they may have fitted eg:IMS as part of the replacement...with your knowledge and contacts have you any ideas? what did your bottom end include that was uprated from the original? PS. good luck withe new engine! Scott

Thank you! As I understand the IMS set up in mine is as per their latest version which takes into account all of the previous issues. If you pm me your email address I can send you a photo of the full parts list. There was some slight modification to fit the new RH head which involved some wiring and pipework but DH are best to comment on that. The rest of the bottom end is stock (whether Porsche made any further modifications I'm unsure.

Glad you see the positives, despite this expense. You still have an even more wonderful car than if you'd spent the money anywhere else (including other Porsche models). Even if my engine was to go wrong, I'd be well up financially compared to buying a 993 Carrera (and I don't even think they're very good), never mind older (or indeed newer) models. Plus I'd have a lovely new engine..... Your car looks lovely, btw. Like the gun-metal satin wheels.

A tale of woe, maybe.... but a GREAT ending! Thanks for sharing. Great post.

Thanks for sharing your experience, enjoy the car now!