996 engines; what are the odds?

[Kenzle]

KeithRobinson said:

There's thousands of people who own 996's and don't use internet forums. I guarantee they sleep better at night.

Moral of the story, look after your 996 engine with regular oil changes, let it warm up before thrashing, enjoy it and sleep well at night. If it's going to happen then you can worry about it then, but worrying beforehand achieves absolutely nowt.

Keith

This.

[Automental]

Kenzle said:

KeithRobinson said:

There's thousands of people who own 996's and don't use internet forums. I guarantee they sleep better at night.

Moral of the story, look after your 996 engine with regular oil changes, let it warm up before thrashing, enjoy it and sleep well at night. If it's going to happen then you can worry about it then, but worrying beforehand achieves absolutely nowt.

Keith

This.

Agreed

[dom9]

Automental said:

Kenzle said:

KeithRobinson said:

There's thousands of people who own 996's and don't use internet forums. I guarantee they sleep better at night.

Moral of the story, look after your 996 engine with regular oil changes, let it warm up before thrashing, enjoy it and sleep well at night. If it's going to happen then you can worry about it then, but worrying beforehand achieves absolutely nowt.

Keith

This.

Agreed

+3 and...

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This.

It won ECOTY in '98 and I loved mine - made loads of mods for track work but never touched the engine, internally!

I'm tempted by an even bigger project on an early 996 when I come home

[Rockster]

ScienceTeacher said:

I again remark that the over all cost is factored in to the Hartech maintenance plan fee. This is less than a 993, and considerably less than a turbo. Hartech price the risk and it's good value.

Which has to say something about the actual risk. Otherwise the cost would be high.

[ScienceTeacher]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Market price for the best job. Great!

[BertBert]

here's how to do it...
Special present to self at xmas?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...
Bert

[thegoose]

BertBert said:

here's how to do it...
Special present to self at xmas?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...
Bert

That could be such a good value car but I still think it'll be challenging to find a buyer for it at that price as not many people will see past the number on the dash, which is exceptionally high in the UK 996 market place.

[roofrack996]

I still don't understand why it is ok to wish away depreciation on to the previous owners (£58k in the case of my 99 996) but then it is unacceptable for there to be any mechanical costs associated with a 13 year old high performance car.

I wish I could have a cheap 300 hp 170+ mph sports car with bulletproof reliability, rock solid residuals and usable back seats but I am not sure such a thing exists.

For now the 996 is the best thing out there - and fun to drive!

[PHJayV8]

I'm looking to replace an E46 M3 with a 996 in the new year, however all this worries me

Can I ask if a 996 has had a new engine, are these issues resolved, or is it just resetting the clock so to speak?

[steve singh]

shoestring7 said:

I know all the stories and debate about 996/986 and 997/987 engine problems, but my question is this:

If you bought a well maintained 996 3.6 with sensible miles (say 60-80k), what are the chances you would encounter the sort of engine problems that would require a full rebuild in 5 years?

SS7

1:4 if firm ground

[KeithRobinson]

PHJayV8 said:

I'm looking to replace an E46 M3 with a 996 in the new year, however all this worries me

Can I ask if a 996 has had a new engine, are these issues resolved, or is it just resetting the clock so to speak?

Just do it, stop worrying, buy a well maintained and looked after example, drive and enjoy it.

[LordHaveMurci]

KeithRobinson said:

PHJayV8 said:

I'm looking to replace an E46 M3 with a 996 in the new year, however all this worries me

Can I ask if a 996 has had a new engine, are these issues resolved, or is it just resetting the clock so to speak?

Just do it, stop worrying, buy a well maintained and looked after example, drive and enjoy it.

^ This

[DanoS4]

I can't say that I entirely agree with this...

I would certainly add.... do your homework, and go into it with your eyes WIDE open.
Get the checks done and choose your specification accordingly.

[Dan911]

I love the 996, find myself looking at the C4S as they are a great looking 911.

But, I would not buy one unless it had a Hartech rebuild, I can't see driving/enjoying a car while worried about the engine. My last Cayman all I did was worry about how much oil it used, checking the left exhaust for soot after every trip... I look after every Porsche I own with a 'what ever it needs' attitude, but could not enjoy the worrying about all the areas these engines have problems with. On my last euro blast we popped into a Porsche engine builder in Zurich to look at a GT1 he was looking after and got chatting about the 996/987 engines, I had to laugh when he said 'I have cheese stronger than them engines'!

Just my 2pence worth.. And what do I know.

[Pugley]

So, to sum up.............

They are really good cars to look at and drive with an infinite probability of engine trouble at some point. This eventual problem is not thought to be due to lack of maintenance and can occur from 20,000 miles onwards.

Residuals are poor because a) they made lots of them and/or b) word has got out that they don't last as long as you would expect Germany's best engineering should!

Is estimated that the detonation rate is around 5% but this may be higher as cars get older with higher miles? Porsche have not admitted to any problems and continue avoid as many claims as possible.

There are known documented problems with:-
Rear Main Seal leaking due to the fact that is difficult to centralise in poorly aligned case halves.
Intermediate shaft bearing breaking up and trashing the engine.
Localised overheating leading to bore scoring and breaking up into "D" shaped chunks and trashing the engine.

Porsche want about £12K for a new engine that has the same inherent design faults.
Hartech or Autofarm etc want about half that to fix your old broken engine.
Dealers know the problems and are fastidious about inspecting the engines before buying or offer really low because they might go wrong.

Would you worry that it might go wrong and cost large sums to repair?

Would you rush out to buy one as a long term keeper?


If you buy one make sure it doesn't have a factory original engine and all will be well .......... maybe

[Dan911]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

So who is the better?

[Trev450]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think I read somewhere that Autofarm use less expensive iron liners and Hartech use a more costly but more robust alloy liner.

[Trev450]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes but Nikasil is only the coating that is applied to the inner surface of the liner. The material from which the liner is made I'm led to believe is iron.

Hartech's argument is that the liner and crankcase in this instance would expand and contract at different rates due to the crankcase being made from alloy, and consequently could be less robust than having liners and crankcase made from the same material.

[BertBert]

BertBert said:

here's how to do it...
Special present to self at xmas?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/p...
Bert

Sold already and not to me

[thegoose]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I didn't know Porsche had ever published figures about its engines' failure rates? Please can you show me where I can find this information.