Rennlister Mulls Options Following Porsche 996 Tragedy
Track day claims a beloved Porsche 996. Now the question is, should the owner rebuild or move on to another car?
There’s no question that track day is a blast. But as much fun as testing out the limits of your Porsche (and yourself) can be, it’s also hard on the car. And as anyone who’s ever spent more than a couple of weekends at the track can attest, things will inevitably and eventually begin to break. Unfortunately for Rennlister brwilson and his beloved Porsche 996, that turned out to be the entire engine.
“Track day. Session 1, something not right – no codes. Session 2, check engine light flickered – off by the time I pitted out. Durametric, misfire cylinders 4 and 6(?). Tried to drive easy to town. One mile down the road, the engine would not come off throttle/rpms easy, too loose. Another 1/2 mile, grinding, then loud knocking, getting worse and worse. Pulled over. Engine died, no codes. Tow-strapped to a track shop. Turned it over for everyone’s entertainment. Engine fired and REALLY loud knocking for one second. Raised eyebrows, ignition off and done.”
Sounds like something straight out of a nightmare. And sadly enough, it turned out to be. Even sadder, the OP didn’t exactly run his beloved Porsche 996 too hard, either.
“Car has 154k miles. Daily driver. Never gave me major issues except for an O2 sensor and a MAF sensor. Not counting parade laps, I have only tracked it twice: once with the PCA at a track day event, the second two days ago. And I am a novice for sure who just wanted to have casual fun with his car.Â
I really love this car. Everything on it works (except one of my key remotes). Well maintained, clean and solid, but not to the level that would make the car very valuable. I have done a lot of simple work on this car myself, and spent too much on it already. I just don’t know if I can stomach a new engine.”
Shortly thereafter, the OP was able to confirm major issues with the presence of metallic bits mixed in with the oil.
After doing a little bit of research, it appeared that rebuilding might be the better option at this point.
“I have done some research, and there are at least two shops here in Long Beach, CA referenced here and other sites as doing rebuild work – UFO Motorsport and 9xx motors. UFO is also mentioned on the PCA website, but their phone is no longer in service.
9xx has a website that explains their exchange procedures. They also offer rebuilt motors on eBay and offer to install at no extra charge if you send them your vehicle. I called 9xx and spoke with Jason, but this was BEFORE I dropped my oil filter and revealed the glitter. Seemed very knowledgeable, asked a lot of detailed questions trying to diagnose the problem with the few details I had.
He didn’t push me into a rebuild he had on the shelf, and said that all the ready engines he had at the moment were spoken for. Thought it would be best to look at my engine to see if it could be fixed. If I need a rebuilt engine, we should probably stick with mine if possible. Turnaround time would shoot for about a month.”
With that said, the OP receives a couple of conflicting opinions on what caused the problem to begin with.
“I told the local engine builder what I found, and he was able to describe it before I could finish. Apparently, and I am simplifying, the gold flakes indicate a rod bearing failure. Most likely, the bearing was starved of oil when cornering and failed, probably also causing damage to the connecting rod and crankshaft. So a rebuild would at minimum involve replacing the rod, probably the crankshaft, and any other damaged internals. Heads are likely OK or salvageable. He would have to crack it open to find out.
He is fairly certain that the high-g cornering in tracking this car caused the problem. Since I did not have an upgraded baffle in the sump, necessary for tracking, parts of the engine were momentarily starved for oil. I guess this failure is not common in everyday driving, but because I tracked the car when it died, that is the most likely culprit. Even a inexpensive baffle upgrade may have helped alleviate this.
I spoke to another engine builder here in the SoCal area. He disputes there are starvation problems, generally, but says there is a weakness in the rod bearings and the amount of oil they hold during high RPMs. Also, he agrees that there was probably an AOS failure that caused some hydrolocking that exerted additional pressure on the connecting rod and bearing. Many opinions.”
Either way, the OP now faces a tremendously difficult decision – rebuild or move on? So he’s seeking advice from the fine folks at Rennlist in a new thread. You can (and should) help him out by lending your educated opinion here!
