Help......996 engine blown up
Discussion
Driving home on the M40 last night doing a steady 85 and white smoke appears in the mirror followed by engine stopping.
after pulling onto hard shoulder and checking the engine....oil dripping out onto the road.
Strange, just had 48k major service (500 miles ago) at a leading independent and only a month out of warranty (admittedly a crap one). car (98 C2 46k miles) never thrashed or tracked, full OPC history to last year then independent.
Just been told that a timing chain went and has holed the sump and i need a new engine!
£6500 + Vat + Fitting
Question I have....is this normal considering it had a major service only 500 miles ago and do I have any comeback with either Porsche, the t*sser who sold me it last year or the garage who had just serviced it?
after pulling onto hard shoulder and checking the engine....oil dripping out onto the road.
Strange, just had 48k major service (500 miles ago) at a leading independent and only a month out of warranty (admittedly a crap one). car (98 C2 46k miles) never thrashed or tracked, full OPC history to last year then independent.
Just been told that a timing chain went and has holed the sump and i need a new engine!
£6500 + Vat + Fitting
Question I have....is this normal considering it had a major service only 500 miles ago and do I have any comeback with either Porsche, the t*sser who sold me it last year or the garage who had just serviced it?
IMHO shit happens.
Sadly 996 engine failures arent that uncommon. Not yet in TVR Speed 6 territory but not brilliant.
The person that sold it to you cearly would have had no idea such a long time ago. The garage wouldnt either have had any idea.
I am afraid it is probably time to speak to indie garages about any cheaper options to replace/repair.
Sadly 996 engine failures arent that uncommon. Not yet in TVR Speed 6 territory but not brilliant.
The person that sold it to you cearly would have had no idea such a long time ago. The garage wouldnt either have had any idea.
I am afraid it is probably time to speak to indie garages about any cheaper options to replace/repair.
Thanks guys....definitely looking at talking to a solicitor....saved for four years for that car....and got a huge loan...house remortgage the only option.
I will never buy another P*rsche again...and certainly not from that "leading independent".
But as they say, sympathy is found in the dictionary between sh*t and syphilis!
I will never buy another P*rsche again...and certainly not from that "leading independent".
But as they say, sympathy is found in the dictionary between sh*t and syphilis!
Nightmare.
Your only hope really is to try to get some goodwill from Porsche, but to be honest since the 48k service was done outside of the ntwork they may well use that as a reason to not help.
So sorry to hear about this. Let us know what happens, i.e whether you get it rebuilt or have to shell out for the new engine from Porsche.
SIKO said:
Question I have....is this normal considering it had a major service only 500 miles ago and do I have any comeback with either Porsche, the t*sser who sold me it last year or the garage who had just serviced it?
Why's he a tosser and why are you contemplating throwing good money at a solicitor? Timing chains on any car engine can let go without any warning. Admittedly it's rare for the chain itself to go. Pre impact bumper 911s had problems with the chain guides - they deteriorated with age. Later 911s didn't have this problem, but the tensioners themselves failed (this happend to pre impact bumper cars too). This was resolved with pressure fed tensioners from (IRRC) 1983 onwards.
Ever since those days chain failures in 911s have never been talked about, so I guess are very rare. I can't recall chain replacement being a feature of any 911 service interval - below 100k miles at least - but am not a service expert, I hasten to add!
I don't think you have any chance of getting anything from anyone unless the failure could be traced to a component failure which is well within that component's life. Even in that case, unless it's a common failure, I think you'll be lucky to get any compensation.
I am sorry to hear about this - but the cost you've been quoted doesn't sound unreasonable - for a new engine I am assuming?
Siko,
I wouldnt waste any money on a solicitor as you need to prove that the dealer who sold you the car knew of the problem,i think you have more chance of winning the lottery jackpot twice in the same week!
Sounds like you are just unfortunate.
Try and get it repaired outside opc, this will save you £££
I wouldnt waste any money on a solicitor as you need to prove that the dealer who sold you the car knew of the problem,i think you have more chance of winning the lottery jackpot twice in the same week!
Sounds like you are just unfortunate.
Try and get it repaired outside opc, this will save you £££
gazzab said:
Sadly 996 engine failures arent that uncommon.
Sorry, but I disagree with this entirely - complete engine failures like this on the M96 are actually quite uncommon and I have never heard of a timing chain failure before. I saw the actual statistics on another forum a while back and for the volume of engines produced the figures on failures are actually quite good, and much better than most other manufacturers - and absolutely nowhere near the TVR stats.
Fundamentally there have only ever been 1 recurring problem on the M96 - RMS, which does not cause an engine failure unless it is not dealt with - if it repeatedly needs replaced Porsche will replace the engine, but this is due to finances more than the engine (i.e. the repeated charge by the dealer is worse than a single charge for engine replacement). On very early engines, and a very small percentage of them there was a problem with slipped liners, but this only ever effected the very early engines and never beyond 1998.
In this case I think you are unlucky - you have been outside the main dealer network so they will maintain that the chain was not properly checked/replaced at service.
GreigM said:With the demise of the dealer monopoly on servicing to maintain a new car's warranty, it's about time those weasel words I've italicised in GreigM's post were confined to the history books as well. At present the post is spot on and from similar stories elsewhere it's widespread
In this case I think you are unlucky - you have been outside the main dealer network so they will maintain that the chain was not properly checked/replaced at service.
There's knowledge of what "main dealer servicing" involves, out in the public domain. OPC's can't keep secrets that well as technicians move from main dealers to work with independent specialists or set up their own businesses. The professionalism, technical know-how and workmanship of many independents is way beyond what OPC work can look like, so it's about time this excuse was killed off too. A little goodwill goes a long way in situations like this. If a car hasn't been serviced at all then that's a different matter.
SIKO said:
Thanks guys....definitely looking at talking to a solicitor....saved for four years for that car....and got a huge loan...house remortgage the only option.
I will never buy another P*rsche again...and certainly not from that "leading independent".
Unless the car came with a full written warranty, I do not think the dealer in question, (or any dealer for that matter) could be blamed, this is something that could happen at any time to any engine, and could not have been foreseen......
Still a sickener though...
Cheers for the advice guys. Don't feel quite as bad as yesterday...its wonderful what a night on the pop can do !
Were few if any indications of any potential problems. I did have a bit of mayo in the oil filler pipe over winter, but that cleared up with the warmer weather. also a couple of minutes before it went I felt a very brief loss of power but it was fine again straight away.
As a heads-up to anyone with an early 996:-
1-Join a breakdown organisation. recovery cost £100 to garage and the added piss-taking by the driver didn't make me feel any better!
2-Take out the OPC warranty, I had a warranty from the "leading independent" that was utterly worthless and only covered single items upto £1000 max.
3-Any minor hesitation, power loss, pull over ASAP, car in neutral, engine off. Call RAC.
If anyone knows of a 996 engine rebuilder or engine available at a breaker then please let me know. Thanks for your all help and please heed the above advice.
I REALLY wish I had!
Were few if any indications of any potential problems. I did have a bit of mayo in the oil filler pipe over winter, but that cleared up with the warmer weather. also a couple of minutes before it went I felt a very brief loss of power but it was fine again straight away.
As a heads-up to anyone with an early 996:-
1-Join a breakdown organisation. recovery cost £100 to garage and the added piss-taking by the driver didn't make me feel any better!
2-Take out the OPC warranty, I had a warranty from the "leading independent" that was utterly worthless and only covered single items upto £1000 max.
3-Any minor hesitation, power loss, pull over ASAP, car in neutral, engine off. Call RAC.
If anyone knows of a 996 engine rebuilder or engine available at a breaker then please let me know. Thanks for your all help and please heed the above advice.
I REALLY wish I had!
Speak to Porsche-apart
www.porsch-apart.co.uk/parts.cfm
They break loads of 911s and currently have
996 C4S 3.6 ENGINE BARE 12K MILES £2995
sure they can get anything
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