Jimmy-D

The end result will be another new engine.

Yes- they have a problem. One who never tracks may never have this issue even at a 100,000 miles.
The problem is that is not the point. You may be selling it to somebody who tracks. When you tout and market a car that will be competent on the track you will eventually have to stand behind every one of these engines

I hope things turn out for the best for you. Nobody wants to see their Baby on the side lines.

SanDiegoDavid

Thanks guys for your supportive comments.
Yes Macca if you could get the bulletin to me, I'll forward to my SA as a friendly elbow to move along.
The oil level thing bugged me because if anything the level was high.
The RS at Big Willow is concerning. It is a new RS, so a possible issue with break in???

Macca

Hi David. Ive posted the bulletin below for all who need it. Its a very prescriptive process. I managed to get my tech to complete the lead swap, then the valve cover removal and the subsequent dismantlement of the rocker fingers, photographs of same and email to PAG with pictures within 3 days. A few days later PAg signed off on a new engine then it was a process of organizing shipping to the bottom of the world. All in all it was completed within 5 weeks of the issue arising but should be quicker due to your location in relation to Germany.

My failure occurred 09 Jan. A friend (the only other 991 GT3 owner with E engine thats done almost identical miles and usage as myself in NZ) had the same failure at the track 4 weeks later on 08 Feb. The wear on his rocker fingers was more server with one of the rocker arms on Cylc 6 snapping and jamming the valve - the car subsequently was running on 5 cylinders. His engine was expedited on 25 Feb and was in country 7 days later and installed in time for our annual track tour 06 March.

Of interest, even though there was a months between the events and 4 weeks between the shipping of the engines his engine number is earlier than mine by 22 units and produced 10/12 vs mine on 15/12 (see pictures below - his top mine bottom) indicating that there is a warehouse supply of these units, no doubt built at the end of the production run and ready for failures such as this...so much for FIFO (first in first out) warehousing management principles!

robmypro

I love this line...

Test-drive the vehicle until the fault occurs: Drive with full-load acceleration over a rpm range of 4,000 – 8,500 rpm. Observe all traffic laws. i.e. don't speed.

LOL

SanDiegoDavid

Thanks!

MaxLTV

Practically impossible in this country - in first gear it will be wheel-spin and thus not full load, in any other gear it will be speeding.

Macca

They managed to replicate my fault first time on a road test outside the inner city dealership using 1st gear to 8000 rpm. I did not ask how fast that was!!

ablee2323

An update on my 991 GT3 “e” engine. As a refresher, I am the first/only owner of a 2014 model with the replacement e engine. I do around 3 to 4 track days per year. I had 20k km on the clock when about two weeks ago (Mar 12), I took it to our first Porsche club track event. On the first lap, I got the engine light (posted earlier on this thread) that read “reduced engine performance, possible to drive on.”

After I pitted, I went out again and at around 7,300 rpm per the diagnostic computer, cylinder 3 misfired and caused the engine light to go on again. The car went to the dealer center. After 13 days, I went to the dealer center to see first hand the situation with my engine.

Macca, your comments here would be helpful.

First, a pic of the 991 engine. A sight to behold in all other circumstances.

Second, a couple of pics of the rocker arms for cylinder 1, 2 and 3. You can see the third rocker arm, there is significant scoring.

Third, a pic of just the rocker arms for cylinder 3 – although I don’t know what I’m really looking at, it doesn’t look good

Fourth, a pic of one of the rockers for cylinder 3 from a lateral point of view. If you enlarge the pic, you can see that the top of the rocker has flattened out due to the wear. Not sure where all this metal goes

Fifth, a pic of the other set of rockers for cylinders 4, 5 and 6. Not looking that great either. But again, my view.

I want to share all that I can to help everyone including myself on this forum. For sure, I was educating the mechanics there on the potential design flaw of the e engine - and I am not that technical. All my knowledge comes from you guys. Next steps, they will report to PAG. Then see what happens. For me, it is e engine or bust. Any suggestions and what I should do? Will keep you posted

neanicu

Oh WOW! That's a lot of scoring on the cam! Definitely lack of lubrication!
Thanks for the pics!

calpolo17

FYI in most states the Lemon Law rules carry for the length of the factory warranty. I was able to use it on my second-hand M3 after it took 7 weeks for an engine replacement. Instead of making them buy the car back, they compensated me several thousand cash for my time and put in a brand new motor, all while I was driving new loaner vehicles on them.

carz80am

Thanks for this, going to look into it today.

bronson7

Any Canucks out there know if such thing as "Lemon Law" in Canada?

MACH 86

WOW!!! Looks like a MAJOR lack of any kind of normal lubrication. I have never seen anything like that. How about the main bearings?

cbweaver1

I was wondering about this. Other than stroking it to 4.0L and incorporating the different air intakes are there any other differences between the GT3 and RS motors? While there was no recall on the RS motor that I'm aware of my dealer here in Germany informed me that it is no secret that many 991RS cars are driving around with replaced motors. I was shocked when he told me this. As much as I appreciate the 991GT3/RS for what it is, I'm beginning to think a GT4CS with a reworked gearbox by Manthey might be a better solution for what I'm looking for as a compliment to the Mezger.

<3mph

Thanks ablee2323 for those very detailed and informative photos. I hope your issues get resolved. Since I don't have an engineering background, can anyone please tell me whether any of this would be considered "normal" wear (ie. on all the other rocker arms there also appears to be a lesser amount of scoring, and I'm wondering how one distinguishes from unusually bad scoring and what might be expected in all engines, or is any degree of scoring considered bad)? Does crossing the line from normal wear and tear to dangerous by definition cause a misfire and thus other potential damage to the engine? Any more info would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

bronson7, no, Canada apparently does not have the same consumer protection laws.

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/oca-bc...g/ca02324.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lemo...have-1.2951106