Well about 11 months after I first discovered the intermix on my 2000 996 C4 Cab, and 2 ½ months after starting to drop the engine I took the first real drive today. Put about 50 miles on the car and everything seems fine. Total cost was about $2,000 in parts and repair of the cracked head (this included some misc parts unrelated to the cracked head) and a lot of hours of labor (but these days I am working pretty cheap).

I guess I will feel better after I put a couple of thousand miles on the car, but I am thrilled to be back in the driver’s seat of my 996 again. I had forgotten how much fun it is to drive this car, especially with the top down. The whole process of tearing down the engine, finding the problem and fixing it was quite an adventure, with a lot of side roads taken. But the final outcome seems to be good.

So those of you who have an intermix problem, TAKE HEART! When mine first happened I was told by many sources, on the boards and mechanics that the only fix was a new/reman engine. Well that is really not the case. I will do a longer post later recapping the whole process, but just wanted to let people know that the car is fixed and back on the road.

I also want to thank several people who helped and consulted on the project.

First, thanks to Doug Donsbach, who has a “twin” crack in the head of his car. We commiserated and he gave me help in fabricating tools, and the picture of his crack helped me find mine.

Thanks to Jake Raby at Flat 6. Jake is an incredibly nice guy, who has an unbelievable knowledge of these engines, and was extremely generous with his time and advice. I can’t say enough nice about Jake.

Also, a big thanks to 99firehawk, a tech with a lot of knowledge who was helpful in many ways. His time and help were really appreciated.
And thanks to Jeff Clark at Sunset Porsche. I have been getting my parts from Jeff/Sunset for several years and they are great.

Thanks to John Edwards/Costa Mesa R&D. They did the head repair and valve job on the 1-3 head. John knows the problem with the heads and has experience in fixing them. He was quick and very well priced to do the work.

Also thank to Rick and Ron at Valley Tool & Mold in Gilberts, IL who did the tapping and plugging of the cams. The expansion plugs on these proved to be a major challenge, but should never be a problem again.

There were a lot of others who helped and commented but I can’t name all of them.

So I AM ON THE ROAD AGAIN. If anyone else needs some help with their intermix problem I would be glad to help as much as possible, I have developed a little bit of expertise in this over the last few months.

 

Great news and great post Doug. Glad you're finally back on the road and it's so nice to see all of the help during this process.

 

Thanks for sharing your project. It has been exceptional helpful to the forum. I hope I never need to worry about this problem, but it is great that you shared a great fix.

 

Congratulations, Dharn! It must feel really good to have gone thru' all this hands-on, and finally be rewarded for all the patience and determination. Hope it will last you a loooong time and many miles of smiles!

 

Nice work! Sounds like your hard efforts paid off - congrats!

 

Congrats and well done!

 

Congrats. So would you say if someone were to take their Pcar to a shop to have this done the cost would be $5k or less?

 

A shop should be able to drop and reinstall an engine in 10-12 hours or less. Add 3-4 hours to take off a head, and another 3-4 hours to put it back on, so about 20 hurs or so in labor. I spent more hours becuase I did it on jackstands, with limited tools, and had problems with a sensor and the expansion plugs in the cams, so I dropped the engine several times. If the shop has the Porsche tools and experience I would say 20-30 hours tops. Add $500 for the head repair and another $750 or so for parts ( this is at Sunset prices, a shop may charge retail for them which adds alot). But $5,000 should do it, and if they are effecient on the labor, maybe less.

 

Dharn, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I'm sure it will benefit others in the future. Congratulations on a job well done. "First, thanks to Doug Donsbach, who has a “twin” crack in the head of his car. We commiserated and he gave me help in fabricating tools, and the picture of his crack helped me find mine." Sometimes we all need a little help.

 

That is awesome - may it run long and strong!!!

 

Great story, way to work through the trials and tribulations that can affect you during repairs for anything, not just a P-car. Pretty cool that you didn't go with the old adage of "gotta reman the engine" You ended up saving a bunch and now you're back in action!

Have fun!

 

Congratulations, Dharn. I'm glad to have seen it done at home. Super!!!

 

So are you the first shade-tree mechanic to fix the intermix? If so, you are the hero of the 966 world right now.

Well, you may have made some guys after knowing you only spent $2000 to fix your engine......

Good job!

 

Is this true... the first intermix home repair.... I have never heard of it being done.

a true mile stone in Porsche History....

I think that gives some special rights....aside from bragging rights form now till forever !!

 

Congrats on the completed project.
remember these things.

1 Nothing feels better then that first engine you fix.

2 The 2nd 3rd and 4th will not go any smoother, each will have their own unique set of problems

3 The butterfkys never go away, even after you have done 30.

So drive it and forget about it