steepsnow

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for keeping up with this forum! I have learned so much here, that I have had few un-answered questions by reading through the archives. This is a great resource that helped me though my purchase process and shot 10K miles of ownership.

Sadly, the engine in my 1999 C4 has died at about 80K miles. More details to come, but there is oil and coolant coming our of my left tailpipe. There was a LOT of smoke. It happened at full throttle in third gear at about 5500RPM on track.

I have am interested in thoughts comments about what I should do...

1) Shop Responsibility
I started to get the RMS spots in my garage. I took it to a local shop which did the RMS and clutch work about 2 weeks ago. (I also had a H&R, rear-sway installed at the same time). For the work order, I did request that the shop replace the IMS seal during the process; which was not completed based on the shop's analysis that is was "OK." I do not recall the link, but I remember reading in this forum that replacing the IMS while working on the RMS is in a Porsche service bulletin.

If this is an IMS-related failure, could it have been prevented by replacing the seal or could it have been diagnosed as "an issue" during that process?

BTW - Upon initial glance, the RMS area is still clean, thus it does not look like the RMS was related - directly the work that was recently done (i.e. - no obvious signs)


2) What next?
Regardless of the "cause," this will be a costly fix. If the shop is not at fault, I will have a big decision to make. These days, 996 prices have fallen to the low- $20K range. Although I do not have a quote, I have read that a new engine could be in the $10k range. Thus, I will either have to fix it or sell it for parts - which makes more sense?


Peace,
Douglas

Dharn55

Reman engine from Porsche is now $14,000+ for a 3.4. And that is just for the engne, add labor and you are looking at north of $16,000. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and sorry to hear about your failed engine. I just fixed mine that had an intermix, but nothing as serious as oil and coolant out the exhaust.

weatherthedecision

Tippy

RMS didnt cause your failure.

Someone here is selling a 996 with an extra engine, maybe you could buy that if it is not dead.

gota911

Cory,

I think he was asking if replacing the IMS seal could have prevented the melt down.

fpb111

Dharn55,
Wasn't your 1-3 (left) head cracked? I think It was very hard/impossible to find a good used 1-3 head.
Maybe Steepsnow could do repair similar to yours? Need a tear down to find out what is kaput.

Dharn55

Yes it was my 1-3 head, and finding a good 1-3 was next to impossible. However I never had any smoke, or oil and coolant coming out of the exhaust, just an intermix. The crack never extended to the combustion chamber. Sounds like Steepsnow's problem must be more involved than mine was. Might be a cracked sleeve, or a bad head gasket. Has to be something that would let oil and coolant into the comsution chamber if he is getting smoke, oil and coolant out the exhaust. Only way to tell is to start tearing down the enigne. although you might see someihing with a scope.

Tippy

I highly doubt it, its just a seal. My 996 always marked it spot, all the seals leaked......hehe

Tippy

What?!?!

You paid only $13k for a '99?!?!

That is huge outlier if it is......I paid $10k for an '01 4Runner that is not near as cool as a 996......

Macster

Failure would not have been prevented by IMS seal/bolt upgrade. Suspect failure a cracked cylinder. My initial info was this was common in the 3.4l engines and almost invariably appeared in one of the center cylinders. However, Jake Raby says -- via posts here and elsewhere -- he's seen it in all M96 engines and in all cylinders.

If you can swing it having dealer source engine from Porsche and have dealer install engine is imho best route in long run. More expensive in the short run though.

Obtaining an engine from some other source and having it installed by an indy shop more risky in that either the replacement engine will be bad or go bad or the labor will be defective. The labor risk can be mitigated by using a reputable shop that of course word of mouth indicates does good work and stands behind its work. If this shop also selects the replacement engine that can work to mitigate the risk of the engine.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Macster

Oh, forgot to add: Very very unlikely RMS repair has anything to do with the problem. As I mentioned in earlier post cylinder wall failure which is unfortunately one of several too common failures these engines can experience.

As for what to do: A runner car is always worth more than a non-runner and parting out a car is a pain.

You are much better off if you can of course afford it to have engine replaced. Having dealer obtain engine from Porsche then installing engine best route. Most expensive short term but least risky and likely the cheapest long term. Also helps bolster car's resale value should you sell it down the road especially if you sell it with some remaining "new" engine warranty remaining.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Tom R.

joe (jr944) has a 99 motor for sale in the metro denver area. send him a PM. that may be your least expensive bet.

steepsnow

Tom,
Thanks for the referral to the motor in Den. I'll send a PM.
Budget is a big concern at this point. I won't have pricing from a shop until early next week.

Doug Donsbach

[QUOTE=Tippy;6740636I paid $10k for an '01 4Runner that is not near as cool as a 996......[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but on the plus side your 4Runner doesn't come with an M96!

Tippy

I am not touching that with a 10-ft. pole......