996TT a word of warning....

[Tim J F]

Just getting my car sorted with Fearnsport as is I wanted to upgrade it, but I thought I'd just let you know a bit of what's going on. Matt is a great guy and helping me get this sorted. This post is probably of interest to those of you looking at buying a turbo but maxing your budget out. My car is a 2002, FSH, 40k miles, HPI clear etc. I'm not too technical so bear with me on the terms below!

- I have a problem with the timing chain, which if left could cause serious damage to the engine.
- Both turbo actuators have seized open which I believe could have caused serious damage to the turbos if not the engine.
- Many pipes and seals have cracked or are leaking including the power steering one. Power steering not working properly.
- Coolant leaking from the engine
- Clutch is shot and needs replacing. Power steering coolant leak has also affected the clutch
- Intercooler pipe not connected on one side
- Engine oil leak due to some clips (really not sure exactly what this is)
- Exhaust heat shields need fitting properly \ replacing

Now I'd planned on upgrades that'd fix most of this as they went through anyway, without knowing about any of these faults up front (including welded engine coolant pipes). I hadn't budgeted for rebuilding the turbos and and the full clutch kit (just a partial one). Cost of this lot is over £10k at present. The worst of the lot is the timing chain, waiting to hear back from Matt if he can sort it without taking the engine apart (he thinks he can). If that had broken I think it'd have been a disaster.

So please be careful if you're buying a cheaper car and chancing it! On the upside I'm looking at 24/26 turbo's now as I'm re-building anyway. Please budget for repairs

Thanks, Tim

[RWD cossie wil]

10k?!! I don't know about the timing chain, but for the rest of it 10k sounds utterly ridiculous IMHO.

[Terminator X]

Oh dear. Was it cheap to purchase?!

TX.

[petop]

I can see it costing 10k at a push. But just goes to show a "low miles" Turbo (which is considered possibly more reliable than a M96 996) is not the way to go. Good luck OP on getting a good outcome.

[Tim J F]

8k is Sachs clutch, Milltek exhaust, actuators, diverter valves, coolant pipes welded in, remap, fearnsport intercoolers etc. Labour is high as the engine has to come out for the coolant pipe fix, there is 35 hours or so needed for all of this. Don't forget to factor in oil, new pipes etc. Over 10k is turbo rebuild to 24/26. It all adds up!

[Tim J F]

No the car wasn't cheap in the first place and as you can see was low miles with FSH. I'm not too worried about my own problems here, just making it clear that these can cost a lot. This is in case there's someone researching on a limited budget and happens to see my post. When it's done I expect to have very little problem with it going forward! Fearnsport are excellent and I would very much recommend using them for this type of work, the other garage who'd been servicing this had missed all these issues.

[RWD cossie wil]

Tim J F said:

8k is Sachs clutch, Milltek exhaust, actuators, diverter valves, coolant pipes welded in, remap, fearnsport intercoolers etc. Labour is high as the engine has to come out for the coolant pipe fix, there is 35 hours or so needed for all of this. Don't forget to factor in oil, new pipes etc. Over 10k is turbo rebuild to 24/26. It all adds up!

You didn't mention the 6k of tuning in your first post! but I do see your point.

[Tim J F]

Yes I happen to be doing it anyway so it's not such a big cost shock, although I am now 2.5k over budget (going to Wonga for it). However if I was someone who wasn't upgrading I would still be in the £6k+ territory just for repairs (at a rough guess).

[blade7]

This is why I decided against an early 996TT, £20k would have been in budget but the possibility of another £5-10k is more than I want to spend on a toy.

[bobsan]

must be missing something here: 8k on Sachs clutch, has it neodymium rivets or similar ??

[Crimp a Length!]

No such thing as a cheap good 996 Turbo even though the OP's obviously wasn't.
10k is easily spent on them, having had 2 i know albeit i never needed to spend serious money on either.
These cars do nearly 200 MPH and 0.60-4s they are never going to be cheap.
Its a buyers market though, lots around, get a good PPI for peace of mind.

[marky911]

bobsan said:

must be missing something here: 8k on Sachs clutch, has it neodymium rivets or similar ??

Yeah, you're missing the rest of his list.

[lanan]

As has been said.
Just because it is a low mileage car, doesn't mean any more than it has not done many miles.
Not that it is in good condition, well maintained or any other rose tinted glasses expectations

You're in good hands with Matt

[996TT02]

IMHO a Turbo is best bought on the basis of what has been done to it, rather than mileage.

The coolant pipes coming loose issue is a known one, once sorted it won't happen again, it is in itself a minor problem to sort but unfortunately the engine has to come out.

I am curious as to how the timing chain problem was diagnosed, how it manifested itself, any detail?

[Helicopter123]

Will they all need £10k spending on them at this age?

Beginning to should like the 996 GT3 if that's the case.

[996TT02]

Helicopter123 said:

Will they all need £10k spending on them at this age?

Beginning to should like the 996 GT3 if that's the case.

No, well, should I add, fingers crossed!

The "normal" stuff is more mundane, relatively speaking, but being competent at DIY definitely helps. Aside from the radiators, the only other major individual expense to date was a set of tyres, but those are consumables.

I can see everything adding up however if for every little niggle one drops the car off at an OPC - or specialist, for that matter. Previous owner had relatively recently spend 3.5k, apart from the clutch, the rest of the stuff seemed to be a bit vague and iffy.

Just replaced both sides bumper heatshields, I let myself into some extra work by removing one turbo, seized studs, oil feed pipe that can only be removed destructively, etc, but end of the day it did not cost me all that much, nominal 175 quid parts, 50 to have the studs removed at an engineering works, certainly could have cost ££ if someone else had done the work.

[anonymous-user]

Helicopter123 said:

Will they all need £10k spending on them at this age?

Beginning to should like the 996 GT3 if that's the case.

A known issue (corrosion and seized actuators) - here is similar tale of woe from 3 years ago:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=856...

Caveat emptor

[MajorProblem]

Actuators seized shut are a problem. 80% of that work is DIY 1 spanner rating.

[Crimp a Length!]

Helicopter123 said:

Will they all need £10k spending on them at this age?

Beginning to should like the 996 GT3 if that's the case.

GT3 is awesome mate..........sublime to be honest.
And thats from a guy who has had 2 996 Turbo's and the Daddy GT2.
In terms of driving/handling and even sound best Pork i've had, but more money on the second hand market.

[Martian O]

Porsche issued a service campaign for the 997 Turbo VTG actuators using this stuff which must also be good for 996 Turbos, available from your OPC.