Quick question: Given all circumstances are normal, how long does a 996 3.6L engine last?

My 2002 has 39,700 miles.

 

I don't know that that can yet be answered. In know 996's with 180k+miles on them now. Those guys are on this forum somewhere...

 

I just turned 50k miles and it has not blown up...yet

 

39K?.....by my experience, it's just about ready to go.
Sorry.
And oh.....it will be the left bank timing chain......that will bend your rods and pretty well chew things up.

 

ur kidding? thank GOD I bought a extended warranty upto 100K

 

Mine just blew yesterday. 73k

 

My '02 Boxster w/2.7l engine is going on 182,000+ miles (and on original clutch). I change oil (Mobil 1 02-40) and filter every 5000 miles. Had a couple of coolant changes (don't believe in that life time coolant thing).

Other services at schedued intervals or more frequent, though a few things have gone a bit longer than I would like: Overdue on new plugs. Overdue on tranny/diff fluid change. These will happen later March when I plan on leaving car with dealership service department for a few weeks for these services (while I'm traveling overseas). If I don't travel, I'll just drop car off for a couple of days.

Just take care of things, don't let engine overheat (cooling system integrity is critical on modern engines!) and drive it every day!

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

i had a boxster for a bit, it had 180,000 kms on it (so like..130,000miles? maybe more?). It had clearly been driven hard and riced out with tacky stickon trim pieces by its previous owner but the motor was strong. Clutch not so much.

My 996 is at 50,000kms and climbing with some good hard track kms on her. I'm going to try to set the record for highest KM 996

 

I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth - care to delve deeper into your cars history to ease my worries

 

73K? first owner? how hard was it driven?

 

Not hard at all and serviced regularly. It's been a great car up until now. Intermediate shaft took out about half the engine. No warning.

 

Correct......'hard' often has little to do with it.
I take good car of the cars....all get attention before neccesary.........this car is my wife's drive, never tracked.

 

So typically, when these engines go out like this....are they repairable? or you have to repalce the whole thing?

What can I do to prevent this? maybe some maintenance checks? like what?

 

The M96 engine/driveline was never really designed to be mod-friendly or rebuild friendly......ie you don't see replacable pistons & cylinders, and gearboxes really have no servicable internal components (bearings, gears, shafts).
There is an upside to this.
A good 'rebuild' (that may be new) comes with many improved 997 components......and can go in your car for under $10K.
If the engine was GT1 based (Turbo, GT2, GT3, etc) the cost would at least double that.

 

I think we all like to scare ourselves to death. These engines are made to last. There are some that don't though. You find that in any car. The more miles the more the risk, nothing lasts forever. My 1999 C2 is now up to 95,000. Am I worried the engine will blow, sure, but do I lose sleep about it, no. I do my service and drive the car like it was meant to be driven. In my book a Porsche with 39,000 miles is still new.