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My 2005 996 C4S was shipped to Flat6 Innovations for an engine rebuild due to scored cylinder liners on 5-26-19 by Reliable Carriers. I am going to try to keep a log here as the rebuild progresses.
I will start with some history. Bought car June 2014 with 52,600 and had no personal knowledge of Porsches. No service or maintenance records. Car was in Houston, TX area from 2004 to 2013. It was traded in and did the dealer/auction/dealer deal and I bought it from the guy who had it for about eight months. Nothing of note in CarFax. Had a PPI done without a pan drop due to lack of knowledge. Nothing found related to the engine. Previous owner said it did use some oil. I noticed minimal oil usage the first two years and had read that some of these cars use some oil and was not concerned. In addition the first two years the engine made no unusual noises. On occasion would get a puff of whitish smoke on first start of day which would clear up immediately, driver side tailpipe only. Drivers side exhaust pipe was more sooty than passenger side. Regular oil and filter changes plus car was stored over the winter.
In 2017 noticed small but distinct "ticking" sound on passenger side of engine which was louder when engine was hot. As the season went on the sound became more noticeable. Also notice increased oil consumption approaching 32oz added over the summer. Also noticed some driver side tailpipe spitting on initial start that appeared to be water and carbon. This symptom would go away before the time the SAI would time out, so less than 1 1/2 minutes. This symptom disappeared. Tested AOS thinking maybe pulling oil up during infancy failure. AOS tested perfect...right in the "sweet spot" per Jake.
Start of 2018 season after initial oil change noticed sound was less compared to end of season 2017. As season progressed noise grew louder and, again, more noticeable when hot. Added 12oz of oil in approx. 350 miles. Got a CEL for P0306 #6 cylinder misfire. Ran rough but cleared up and light went off. Next time out after sitting for a few weeks got another CEL same code. Thinking coils and plugs changed both. Found three of the six coils cracked. Two with ginormous cracks! However #6 spark plug was fouled with oil and bridged over with "oily-carbony" looking deposits. Boroscoped through spark plug holes and found significant scoring in #6 and lesser but still significant scoring in #5 easily seen with pistons at bottom dead center. Did not drop pan to view from below as mine had progressed up into the bore at this time.
So that is the sad history. I can tell you by 2017 I had read enough here to be suspicious and in denial at what was causing the noise...and knew it was NOT a lifter.
A pic of the scoring:
Last edited by wildbilly32; 06-08-2019 at 11:13 AM.
Reason: adding additional history
Going to move up to 3.8. Engine is named "Street Performer". I don't track nor AutoX and this option keeps the car stock appearing. My car is the last year for the 996 and one of 728 C4S produced for 2005. Doesn't make it rare or super valuable but kinda unique and wanted to keep it "stock appearing".
Originally Posted by lowpue
how many miles on car right now?
54,752 miles when it was loaded on the truck. Yeah, I know didn't put many miles on it in 4.5 years!
This is disheartening to see. Southern car, low miles, nothing that would have indicated a problem other than bad luck. Sorry to hear. Glad you are giving it a new lease on life with a proper motor.
Will u have an agreed value with insurance company? Would hate to back it into a corner or get rear ended.
Sounds likes it's going to be a very nice car.!
I have traditional insurance and will cross that bridge if I need to. My feeling about a car is I will never get my money back that I have put in it. I just enjoy what it is while it is healthy. I don't drive all that aggressively and can't control a rear end event from some dork who was texting!
Thanks! It is a nice car now and will be nicer when I get it back from Flat6I.
This is disheartening to see. Southern car, low miles, nothing that would have indicated a problem other than bad luck. Sorry to hear. Glad you are giving it a new lease on life with a proper motor.
Agreed. It is disheartening, but it is what it is(and I hate that saying). Luck of the draw, I guess. I'll just get it fixed and drive on. Lack of cold weather starts is not the only contributing factor possible in scoring. As I said in another thread I'm just grateful and fortunate to be able to send the car to a guy I believe to the best at rebuilding these engines. I guess you could call me a fan boy, but I have done a lot of reading, researching and talking to the Flat6 folks and am convinced I made the right decision for me. So how about an educated fan boy?
06-06-2019, 11:40 PM
2005 996 C4S Bore Scoring and rebuild info
