Mike J

As I do every weekday, I started up the car to take the kids to school and then drive to work. Drove a couple of minutes to the school and as they opened the doors I hear the valves making a little more noise than usual. Shoot I thought, I need to get this car back home, somethings not right! Dropped the kids off, drove a couple of blocks home and got out with the car idling on the driveway...what a racket!! I hear the loud "TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP" from the drivers side engine...a metallic tap that makes your wallet shiver with fear!! Sounds awful..

I shut the car down, run into the house and do a quick search on the hydralic lifters on the list...sure enough they sound like the culprit. Went back outside and hesitated but started the car....sounds fine, runs fine and is quiet again.....and has been running fine ever since.

Its hard to describe the feeling as the possibility of something $$$ happening...although "deep dread" comes close.

Anyone experience this on and off again symptom? First time its happended to me in 1 1/2 years of ownership.

Cheers,

Mike

fbfisher

Yes, this happend two weeks ago. Get ready for bad news. My engine is completly apart and will cost nearly $20,000 to repair. A total rebuild. A valve spring broke and a ring broke and tore through 4 heads and at least one piston was missing a nice chunk out of it. No idea how this happened. Brand new heads, pistons, etc. Most covered by extended warranty.

First symptom was loud metallic banging in time with the pistons. Shut it down, retstarted went and sound went away. I let it sit overnight until I drove it to the dealer. Drove fine, no unusual noises. Started to bang again while on the rack at the dealer. Pulled off the lower head cover but could not tell what the problem was until the pulled and dismantled the engine. I had to approve 30 hours of labor to diagnose and restore the engine befor knowing that warrenty was picking up the bill.

The good news is I got to see what the carbon buildup looked like (not bad) and I will have a new engine when I get it back.

I can continue to post here or Email me if you want more details.

fbfisher

By the way, search for my post within the past few weeks with a very similar title.

mdsqwerty

20k...ouch

fbfisher

It can be done cheaper with machined heads, etc. but this is for all new parts and being done by a P-car dealer. Probably the most expensive way to go.

Speedraser

"A valve spring broke and a ring broke and tore through 4 heads." -- what 4 heads? I know there are 6 heads, but how could something go through 4 of them?

Anir

When a connecting rod bearing broke in our E46 M3, a brand new engine from BMW cost $12K.

So, should a rebuild really cost $20K? What's the cost of a brand new 993 engine?

ruffy

mike,
have you ever over reved your engine?
ever?... honestly?
just curious... i've had similar problems

Mike J

Hmmm, now you guys are really scaring me...I was hoping that it was just a couple of bad lifters, now we are talking complete teardown of the engine etc. !!

Have never missed a shift etc. but have hit the rev limiter a couple of times on the track...late last year. If the rev limiter hits you can go slightly over...

What does a bad lifter sound like? It it really loud or ???. I was playing with the idea of selling the car before (I am shutting down my company...no revenue for a while! ;-( ) but like it too much...but not to the tune of $20K US. That's just nuts, especially if its just a rebuild.

BTW, it now nice and quiet. How do I diagnose the problem? Drop the valve covers and look for broken springs? Wait until it happens again? Or am I driving a timebomb..

Worried in Vancouver,

Mike

Bob D.

Anybody else terrified by this post? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> Anybody else experienced a situation as dramatic as fbfisher? My maintenance budget does not have $20k of wiggle room....

Arthur Del Mundo

For that price you should go for the RS rebuild. then again you can look at what another stock 993 engine will go for. I even saw one used on eBay for somewhere in the neighborhood of $10K. I'm sure if you look around there will be a used engine available for alot less than $20K.

Dave Crellin

Before worrying about a 20k rebuild, the thing to check is the oil level. Sometimes the lifters take a while to pressurize, and I've heard that when the level is low you can get the same noise situation.

I had all the lifters changed on one side at a P-car delaer and total (parts and labor) was under $500.

Mike J

Oil level is fine...I just checked it the day before. I just think that lifters are getting old (&gt;70,000 miles on the car) and one failed to pressurize. Once I stopped and started the car again, some oil managed to get inside the lifter and it ran properly. That is my current theory, I don't want to go to the "broken engine theory" yet. Maybe I am in denial!

Mike J

Hi Dave,

BTW, before you changed the lifters, what did it sound like?

rutz964C4

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Mike J:
<strong>Hi Dave,

BTW, before you changed the lifters, what did it sound like?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Just in case I found this :

<a href="http://www.albertweb.de/1-main.htm" target="_blank">http://www.albertweb.de/1-main.htm</a>

go to "angebote" on the top, they have a 993 variocam engine rebuilt with 30000Km on it and 12 months warranty for 9.500€ more or less the same in USD. I think they ship worldwide

no affiliation with them. Just bought them a couple of things for my 964 c4

<img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

ALEX