I bought my second Porsche this year, a 2000 996 in October for $18K. I have spent some time and money updating plugs/coils and new coolant reservoir tank, as I had been battling a "Misfire Cylinder 1" check engine light code, in addition to leaking coolant. Those fixes still did not solve the problem, and the car began running rough upon start up. It had run rough once in a while before, but now it does it every time. I brought it to a local Porsche indy last week and he gave me bad news. Coolant is leaking into Cylinder 1. He says it's prob either a head gasket or most likely a cracked cylinder. He'd have to pull the engine to be 100% certain. I'm looking at a bill of between $7K-$10K in my estimation. He has a used engine with roughly 90K miles with IMS done, from one of his customers crashing their 996. He said he's selling it for $4,500.

Here's my dilemma.....I have a loan on the car, so I cannot sell it as a roller and pay off the loan immediately. I don't have $10K laying around to sink into this vehicle. I planned on budgeting $1500-$2000/annually for this car and i've spent close to that already on tools and parts. The mechanic said there is no temporary fix available. At this point, i'd either have to park it until the loan is down enough to sell it. Or I save up to replace the engine. Or pursue some other option.

I've read about products such as "K-Seal Pour and Go" that can repair cracked cylinder heads and stop the leak. Reviews online seem to show positive results, although the product is usually used in cheap beater cars that are on their last leg. I guess mine is on my last leg too, but it's not as cheap. I know something like this is certainly not ideal. But, has anyone used this and had success? If I could get the car to drive for another 10-15K miles, I'd be happy. Are there any other alternatives that I'm missing? I'm so frustrated with this vehicle that I don't even want to spend the money, because i think there's alot of other things lurking. I screwed myself and learned a very valuable lesson by not getting a PPI inspection done, as the car had good history and previous owners appeared to have spent the time and money to address things as they popped up.

If anyone has any ideas at all, please send them my way. I'm desperate!

Thanks

 

it was sold as-is with no warranty. Doesn't matter what else the ad said IMO.

Those solutions in a bottle will not work, you don't have anything to loose at this point though so you can go ahead and try it for yourself.

$4500 for a good motor is a steal, I'd be looking at that for sure.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. Head gaskets on our cars are never the problem. So it is either a cracked head or cracked cylinder wall. No chemical product will work and will create huge additional problems. The engine will have to be pulled and the head removed to find out what is the exact physical problem. Why not make the indy a deal...buy the used motor and have it installed, and get a core charge for your engine? Maybe he will throw in a 90 day warranty as well. And BTW, as-is is as-is. Caveat emptor...
Heads can be replaced and cylinder wall linings can be installed...it's just going to cost big time. Good luck!

 

yeah, you can probably get $2000-$2500 for your motor as a core. that could offset the costs of the used motor. Either way, Id be taking advantage of a $4500 motor.

 

Lesson learned, the hard way. A used Porsche 911 is not a sensible transportation option if your finances are tight and you are purchasing a "cheap" 17 year old, very expensive to maintain vehicle. So now you are stuck, what to do? Do not dump another dollar into this car, cut your losses. You simply can not afford to keep dumping money into a car you can't afford. You will have to pay it off and sell it later for $6,500 - $8,000. If you need transportation to survive lease a KIA Forte for $2,000 down and $140 a month on a 39 month lease. It will be reliable, brand new, and only cost you gas and oil. You have dug a hole for yourself. I have been there. A person can completely transform their life in 3 years if they start making sensible decisions, work extremely hard (day and night), and remain completely focused. No excessive partying, no excessive spending on trips, brand name clothes, electronics, (you know stupid sheet).

Get to work, hustle, it's going to take years. Accept that. Don't buy another Porsche until you can easily afford one less than 5 years old with less than 40,000 miles.

 

$4,500 for a M96 motor is a steal. Keep the old one and learn to tear it down.

 

yeah. as much as your situation stings. You shouldn't pass up a 4500$ motor if it really is in good running condition. Swallow the pill and get your car back up and running. Then decide to keep it or sell it even you do take a bit of a bath on it.

Sell some other toys if you have (motorcycles, guitars, boats?).. i know i have wayyyy too many toys and sometimes sell on to pay for another. the wife and i call it "moving play money around" :-)

 

Take the used engine at 4500. Sell the core. Drive happy and enjoy the car as you originally intended.

 

Do a search here. A cracked head can be repaired. If your indy thinks it's a head gasket, he doesn't have much experience with 996's.

 

I have a set of heads for a 3.4. However, I would also go for the $4500 engine....make sure you put your IMS into it since they will both be out. Just make sure the engine is truly good....I bought a roller Boxster and a used engine that ended up having issues, in the end I bought a rebuilt engine and the the car cost me more than 2X what it is worth. So make sure you see the engine running before they pull it and check leakdown.

 

OP doesn't seem to know whether its a cracked head or cylinder. This seems important, as some Rennlisters have had success repairing the head, while the cylinder is un-repairable. I would take it to an indy that knows a little bit more about these cars and locate exactly where the coolant/oil is leaking before making any decisions.

Or just buy the used engine. Most guys would be happy to get away with a ~$4,500 repair having the same issues.

 

repairing the heads will be close to the price of that $4500 engine. If its the cylinders, it will be a lot more than the cost of that used engine.

 

Put a deposit on the used motor and try to work out a payment plan that works for you and the seller. Once your done get the old motor properly diagnosed and fixed. Id bet you could sell it for more than what you payed for the used motor. Good luck with your decision but, do not pour some miracle juice into your motor to try and fix a cracked head or cylinder!

 

Jaycote, my advice would be to park it and pay off that loan, first. You'll have to do some soul-searching to determine where you have to sacrifice - I'm assuming you will need to sacrifice based on your comments - and really get aggressive towards getting the title for that car. At this point, despite the attractive engine offer, you're not in a position to make this hole any deeper. Not to mention, the $4,500 engine is not a guarantee - it's a cheap engine. If you were in less of a bind, you may want to take the gamble, but I wouldn't, and I'm from Vegas.

When you're squared away with the bank, then you can come back to the unenviable position of what you want to do with the car, which will also result in further financial loss. At least, in this case, with your own money and not the bank's.

 

Do you have any advice to offer the OP? Or just slumming? At least I tried to offer some practical solutions. It appears (I can't know for sure) the OP can't afford an expensive repair. Most are saying "take the $4,500 engine and install" which will really cost at least $5,500 - $6,000 with installation. $6,000 will pay for the down payment AND two and a half years of leased vehicle while he gets his finances together.