Porsche 997 3.8 needs a new engine
Discussion
Hi Folks
Ive read numerous posts about the issues with the 3.8 engine and it appears mine is on death row. I recently changed the exhaust manifolds and noted that No.4 cylinder exhaust valves were black and sooty compared with a light coffee colour of the other 5 pots. The engine has also started a ticking sound and the L/H exhaust tip is sooty compared to the R/H. The ticking noise sounds like a follower and decreases when the revs are raised hence i have a few options as follows, any advice.
Option 1. Break it, or try and sell it declaring the condition of the engine and hope a German guy rocks up with €20k+
Option 2. Remove the engine, strip the it back to a long block and head up to see Baz and Grant at Hartech and spend £8.5k for rebuild with the later spec IMS, new big ends and thrusts , timing chains , head over haul and modified block and recoated pistons etc
Option 3. Fit the later Gen 2 engine (is it fairly straight forward)
I must admit i kinda favour either the 2nd or 3rd option but its hard to justify spending £8.5 k on it. The car is stolen recoved in very good order on a 2004 with full history and 63k miles and probably worth circa £18k due to being listed as "condition inspected" . Long term i like the car and wouldn't mind keeping it.
Anythoughts
Thanks
Ive read numerous posts about the issues with the 3.8 engine and it appears mine is on death row. I recently changed the exhaust manifolds and noted that No.4 cylinder exhaust valves were black and sooty compared with a light coffee colour of the other 5 pots. The engine has also started a ticking sound and the L/H exhaust tip is sooty compared to the R/H. The ticking noise sounds like a follower and decreases when the revs are raised hence i have a few options as follows, any advice.
Option 1. Break it, or try and sell it declaring the condition of the engine and hope a German guy rocks up with €20k+
Option 2. Remove the engine, strip the it back to a long block and head up to see Baz and Grant at Hartech and spend £8.5k for rebuild with the later spec IMS, new big ends and thrusts , timing chains , head over haul and modified block and recoated pistons etc
Option 3. Fit the later Gen 2 engine (is it fairly straight forward)
I must admit i kinda favour either the 2nd or 3rd option but its hard to justify spending £8.5 k on it. The car is stolen recoved in very good order on a 2004 with full history and 63k miles and probably worth circa £18k due to being listed as "condition inspected" . Long term i like the car and wouldn't mind keeping it.
Anythoughts
Thanks
Is the 3.8 the Carrera S? If so, that's what my dad bought. Luckily, his had a fully documented rebuild via Hartech from the guy that he bought it off, not long before he got it.
The receipt's for my old man's rebuild was for around 8 grand i think. The issue is how long it will last until it ends up needing the same again. How much is it to buy and fit the Gen 2 engine?
The receipt's for my old man's rebuild was for around 8 grand i think. The issue is how long it will last until it ends up needing the same again. How much is it to buy and fit the Gen 2 engine?
Edited by culpz on Thursday 22 February 17:09
I was seriously interested in an early 997 when they went down to low £20k. That was until I read about all the issues with these engines and the potential of facing a near £10k rebuild.
If a car suffers a problem mine will suffer from it in the first week of ownership so I knocked that one on the head.
If a car suffers a problem mine will suffer from it in the first week of ownership so I knocked that one on the head.
If the car is running as it should and not consuming large amounts of oil there is no need to take such drastic action.
I would spend some money on finding out what the ticking noise is, it might be nothing to do with bore scoring,
My 2005 997S has had a blackened near side exhaust pipe for the last 40000 miles. It runs like a dream and hardly uses any oil.
I would spend some money on finding out what the ticking noise is, it might be nothing to do with bore scoring,
My 2005 997S has had a blackened near side exhaust pipe for the last 40000 miles. It runs like a dream and hardly uses any oil.
Many thanks for the comments, i must admit i'm concerned about how long even the rebuilds from Hartech are lasting are there any high mileage cars still going with 100k +, either way i won't be going anywhere near an OPC after being ripped off by them with constant failures on my 964 engine due to head sealing problems. They even charged me £450 to tell me the head bolts they supplied and fitted had come loose !
Gen 2 would be good if i can locate an engine at a reasonable price (please send me a PM if you have one for sale)
Is it fairly straight forward plug and play or do i need to modify the wiring loom and get a different ECU.
Hartech have quoted me £10,080 to drop the car off and collect a month later providing there aren't any surcharges for damaged pistons etc.
Gen 2 would be good if i can locate an engine at a reasonable price (please send me a PM if you have one for sale)
Is it fairly straight forward plug and play or do i need to modify the wiring loom and get a different ECU.
Hartech have quoted me £10,080 to drop the car off and collect a month later providing there aren't any surcharges for damaged pistons etc.
Thanks for the updates, i did tick all the options reference the Hartech route and this came to over £10k however i also have the option to remove the engine myself and strip down and then take the block up to Hartech c/w old pistons for modification.
I have the car booked in at AW motorsport next Friday for a bore inspection and will probably see what this uncovers.
I've also been quoted £2k to remove and replace the valve lifters on the R/H bank hoping this will fixing the ticking issue but i will be gutted if this is actually No.4 piston hitting the head.
Its a shame the Gen 2 motor is not as simple to Plug and Play as i've been offered a couple for circa £7500 + import charges
I have the car booked in at AW motorsport next Friday for a bore inspection and will probably see what this uncovers.
I've also been quoted £2k to remove and replace the valve lifters on the R/H bank hoping this will fixing the ticking issue but i will be gutted if this is actually No.4 piston hitting the head.
Its a shame the Gen 2 motor is not as simple to Plug and Play as i've been offered a couple for circa £7500 + import charges
thanks cmoose
i did tick the heads option aso. I did look into how much i'd save doing it myself but also hadn't factored in the cost of oil, gaskets etc etc.
next on the list is do i fork out anoth grand and have a set of Wossner ? pistons fitted instead of re using the standard original items. I must admit that i paid far too much for this car which will stand me in over £30k after the engine work. Will wait until i get the results of the bore inspection next Friday before i commit the additional £10k investment in a stolen recovered 997 !
i did tick the heads option aso. I did look into how much i'd save doing it myself but also hadn't factored in the cost of oil, gaskets etc etc.
next on the list is do i fork out anoth grand and have a set of Wossner ? pistons fitted instead of re using the standard original items. I must admit that i paid far too much for this car which will stand me in over £30k after the engine work. Will wait until i get the results of the bore inspection next Friday before i commit the additional £10k investment in a stolen recovered 997 !
cmoose
I think your comments are spot on, as you say it's not as if i can save £5k unless i just scrimp on what actually needs doing whilst i have it in bits. It just means long term i will have to hold the car.
I've got a few big ticket items coming up over the coming months so it will probably have to wait for the time being.
Thanks for your comments
I think your comments are spot on, as you say it's not as if i can save £5k unless i just scrimp on what actually needs doing whilst i have it in bits. It just means long term i will have to hold the car.
I've got a few big ticket items coming up over the coming months so it will probably have to wait for the time being.
Thanks for your comments
So are you actually considering doing the rebuild yourself and just getting hartech to modify the block?
If so, do you have the skills and expertise to do that? Hope that's not a rude question!
Bert
If so, do you have the skills and expertise to do that? Hope that's not a rude question!
Bert
Rossco196x said:
Thanks for the updates, i did tick all the options reference the Hartech route and this came to over £10k however i also have the option to remove the engine myself and strip down and then take the block up to Hartech c/w old pistons for modification.
I have the car booked in at AW motorsport next Friday for a bore inspection and will probably see what this uncovers.
I've also been quoted £2k to remove and replace the valve lifters on the R/H bank hoping this will fixing the ticking issue but i will be gutted if this is actually No.4 piston hitting the head.
Its a shame the Gen 2 motor is not as simple to Plug and Play as i've been offered a couple for circa £7500 + import charges
I have the car booked in at AW motorsport next Friday for a bore inspection and will probably see what this uncovers.
I've also been quoted £2k to remove and replace the valve lifters on the R/H bank hoping this will fixing the ticking issue but i will be gutted if this is actually No.4 piston hitting the head.
Its a shame the Gen 2 motor is not as simple to Plug and Play as i've been offered a couple for circa £7500 + import charges
I've had the weekend to think and ideally I would like to get another engine to rebuild with Hartech performing the mods to the block . IMHO the only bit that's difficult about reassembly of an engine is getting the can timing correct . if any one has a short engine that doesn't need a rebuild then let me know the cost but unless its already been rebuilt by Hartech its value is probably limited
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