treetrimmer

I'm sure that this is covered to death somewhere on here, but I can't seem to make the search function work at the moment, so:

Was there any fundamental change on the replacement 3.4 motors that so many early 996 cars have, including mine? The stories I've heard revolve around a RMS issue that leads to catastrophic engine failure. Surely they did not simply put the same POS engines back in under warranty, right?

Right?

RyanPerrella

the issues that lead to engine replacement are different then the leaky RMS

Engine replacement was brought about usually because of a cracked case in one of the cylinders, i think its usually 2 or 5 but i could be wrong.

ALL THE "RMS" IS IS A FRRICKING OIL LEAK! People throw around "RMS" like its the black plague, its a leak! Thats it, its annoying and the leakiy rear main seal in and of itself will NOT LEAD TO ANY ENGINE PROBLEMS! That being said, the lower balance shaft which runs under the crank can also leak. Later engines were updated to rectify this problem.

RMS problems are just leaky engines and when has a 911 powerplant NEVER LEAKED. They all do, in this case for another reason but RMS dosent lead to replacement engines, thats another issue.

treetrimmer

OK, so did they rectify whatever the problem was that made cylinders/cases crack?

I agree that a leaking RMS in and of itself is nothing to cry about. I build motors that do not leak, including my (former) air-cooled 911 engines. So I was wondering about any updates to the REAL problem w/ 3.4 motors. Keep the replies coming!

JC3D

I haven't had an issue with mine which was replaced under warranty last november. You are lucky being in this area because the warehouse that has them is in Ontario.

Ahsai

My impression is MY99 and 00 are prone to engine oil and coolant intermix, which Porsche fixed in all 3.4L engines from '01 and later. So if your 3.4L was replaced in '01 or later, your odds are much better.

jasper

Don't forget the intermediate shaft sprocket and gear failures. This is a design that has been redeveloped and redeveloped again over the years. My friends 3.6 litre even suffered a catastrphic failure because of this. Reman motors have the upgraded sprocket and gear from the 997. It's not a straight swap because the design of the chain changed, so the sprocket at the crank has to change too.

There's an article which talks about this. it's actually a piece on an english shop that modifies a new style IMS (bigger bearing) to accept the old style sprocket. Actually I see that it discusses the cracked cylinders too, and their fix for that (spoiler: they sleeve it)

I'll try to attach otherwise search for the Total911 article from July 2006. Nope sorry - file too large. PM me and I'll email it to you if you can't find it.

Mark Wilson

Yo Speeder - what's up with 996 questions? Did you get a new toy?
Mark

newport996

Porsche replacement engines come with the latest updates. I bet if you looked inside there would be alot of 997 part numbers....

treetrimmer

Dude, where've you been? It's all on PPOT. Go home, son. Go home...

treetrimmer

I guess my next question would be whether there is somewhere online where I can determine the approx. build date by my (replacement) engine#. It was not done under warranty, so the dealer computer does not have a record of it and I got no history w/ the car.

newport996

When was it done...thats probably the only way of knowing.....No record of it, sounds like the dealer didnt do it because they would have a record whether under warranty or not. If you are looking to buy the car, I would be a little worried, and I wold have the ca checked out VERY well...other than that enjoy it, the replacement 3.4L's are STRONG and run great...I am at nearly 70k on my replacement....strong as the day I got it.....

treetrimmer

I already bought it, and for the price I paid it could have no engine at all and I would be fine. FWIW, it runs like an open sore and I plan on going x-country in it soon but I would still love to know how many miles the engine has and the vintage of it.

newport996

congrats on the buy at the good price....I dont think there is any way to know how old the engine is...and that makes it tough to service I guess..not knowing what the mileage on the engine is....just get it checked out before the trip and you should be fine....

Ahsai

I heard you could read the operation hrs of the engine using Durametric. From that, you could probably estimate how old the engine is.

treetrimmer

OK. All I have to do now is find out what "Durametric" means and I'm all set.