Go hug your 993 today
08-01-2009, 09:48 PM
#16
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Or otherwise do something nice for it..............
Was vaguely looking at the 996 board as a couple of people I know are being bugged by the seemingly low cost of entry to a 911. Then stuff like this always pops up.
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=21505
Was vaguely looking at the 996 board as a couple of people I know are being bugged by the seemingly low cost of entry to a 911. Then stuff like this always pops up.
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=21505
I know the 996 mfg volume is much higher than 993s and the % impacted is relatively small.. and this was a track failure... but still.
I have a cousin looking at a '99 996 now and was asking for advice. I had always thought if you made it past 50K or so miles you would probably be in good shape. In the past few weeks I have heard of a few 70-80K mile 996s with catastrophic failures... cracked cyl or IMS.
Totally anecdotal, I know, but we still haven't seen anything more than a RMS issue at our shop.
Still, the current prices are very tempting!
08-01-2009, 11:58 PM
#17
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Thread Starter
08-02-2009, 12:01 AM
#18
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Thread Starter
An issue (pulled studs) we could fix in the field, not just plug in another engine. Chain tensioners were there from day one through at least 1979, if not 1983 or 1989 depending on how critical you want to be. (The only benefit of a poorly designed chain tensioning system was that the crappy valve guide ended up being changed out/upgraded for little $$$ as part of the repair.)
08-02-2009, 12:11 AM
#19
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Thread Starter
What I read was 5500 revs at full throttle. Anyone ever done that on the street? I don't know this guy's particulars, but I'm guessing it's not a fastest run group car that sees 2-3K mi/yr. on the track.
If any of you remember Todd Serota who used to run track events under the name of Tracquest, he bought a '99 new and ran the **** out of it for five years. It puked it's guts right in front of us at the start/finish of Buttonwillow one day right about when it hit 80K miles. We ran over with the fire extinguishers fearing the worst!
Bottom line is that you never know where it's going to come with one of these engines. Which is polar opposite from any of the air cooleds. I've caught many a broken stud on a 3.0 that was just fine from my last service. How many thousands of miles did the owner run without realizing anything? Or high oil consumption that you can live with until you can repair it on YOUR timeline. Absent the previously mentioned chain tensioner failures, nothing on an air cooled brings a car in on the hook from the standpoint of (lack of) design.
If any of you remember Todd Serota who used to run track events under the name of Tracquest, he bought a '99 new and ran the **** out of it for five years. It puked it's guts right in front of us at the start/finish of Buttonwillow one day right about when it hit 80K miles. We ran over with the fire extinguishers fearing the worst!
Bottom line is that you never know where it's going to come with one of these engines. Which is polar opposite from any of the air cooleds. I've caught many a broken stud on a 3.0 that was just fine from my last service. How many thousands of miles did the owner run without realizing anything? Or high oil consumption that you can live with until you can repair it on YOUR timeline. Absent the previously mentioned chain tensioner failures, nothing on an air cooled brings a car in on the hook from the standpoint of (lack of) design.
08-02-2009, 12:15 AM
#20
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go to the 996 board - do a search on 'bob porsche' - and sit back and have a drink..
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
08-02-2009, 01:49 AM
#22
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Geeez...that's one scary story.
08-02-2009, 10:04 AM
#23
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I understand what you're saying, but on the other hand I think back to HH's quote in the 993 promo vid with regard to the factory -- something to the effect of: "The guy's in the factory go to work each day knowing they are building a car that will be driven on the Autobahn for hours on end, just about as fast as it will go...."
08-02-2009, 10:39 AM
#24
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On a factory tour a few years ago the guide also showed how each engine is tested at the end of the assembly / build process, he made a point of mentioning the old air cooled testing required a considerably longer cool down period then the new water cooled engines, thus requiring more short-term storage in the engine plant to support their just-in-time just-in-sequence techniques used at Zuffenhausen. Now a days the guide said engine assembly starts at the same time as the body hits the assembly line and they are mated up a little over 1/2 thru the 4+ hour build cycle. I seem to recall the guide said 30+ minutes to assemble / build a boxter engine and run for a 5 min test cycle. He also mentioned they keep 1 spare of each type of engine in case an engine fails the test cycle, the spare gets inserted in the assembly process and the failed engine gets a tear down.
I know, I am heading down a rat hole . . .
08-02-2009, 11:10 AM
#25
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The 996/987 is a mass produced car that can be made for a profit. The older cars almost sunk Porsche financially. I once read that they didn't even road test each car nowadays like they used to.
08-02-2009, 11:28 AM
#26
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In any case, I am with ya... this is too common with these engines, street or track.
Nice pic. I cannot wait for the historics in a couple of weeks!
08-03-2009, 12:42 AM
#27
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08-03-2009, 03:42 AM
#28
go to the 996 board - do a search on 'bob porsche' - and sit back and have a drink..
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
What an awful story. I hesitate to make light of anyone's car drama, but this just cracked me up.
And I think in the US at least, emissions was going to be an issue staying with air cooled.
On a factory tour a few years ago the guide also showed how each engine is tested at the end of the assembly / build process, he made a point of mentioning the old air cooled testing required a considerably longer cool down period then the new water cooled engines, thus requiring more short-term storage in the engine plant to support their just-in-time just-in-sequence techniques used at Zuffenhausen. Now a days the guide said engine assembly starts at the same time as the body hits the assembly line and they are mated up a little over 1/2 thru the 4+ hour build cycle. I seem to recall the guide said 30+ minutes to assemble / build a boxter engine and run for a 5 min test cycle. He also mentioned they keep 1 spare of each type of engine in case an engine fails the test cycle, the spare gets inserted in the assembly process and the failed engine gets a tear down.
On a factory tour a few years ago the guide also showed how each engine is tested at the end of the assembly / build process, he made a point of mentioning the old air cooled testing required a considerably longer cool down period then the new water cooled engines, thus requiring more short-term storage in the engine plant to support their just-in-time just-in-sequence techniques used at Zuffenhausen. Now a days the guide said engine assembly starts at the same time as the body hits the assembly line and they are mated up a little over 1/2 thru the 4+ hour build cycle. I seem to recall the guide said 30+ minutes to assemble / build a boxter engine and run for a 5 min test cycle. He also mentioned they keep 1 spare of each type of engine in case an engine fails the test cycle, the spare gets inserted in the assembly process and the failed engine gets a tear down.
mongrelcat - glad to be, in a 993
08-03-2009, 03:51 AM
#29
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The cars are mass produced now. The numbers will grow. What can you say prices will continue to drop! The motor problem does not occur with every car built. If you have one drive it and enjoy it. When it breaks simply fix it. If you cannot afford to do that you should have never bought the damn thing!!!!
08-03-2009, 05:05 AM
#30
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go to the 996 board - do a search on 'bob porsche' - and sit back and have a drink..
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-99-996-a.html
My 993 is quite the opposite. I have been a very happy owner for 3 years. Only things broken were aircond compressor ($350 parts and labor) and some minor stuff not even worth mentioning.