I have wanted to find out if my car [purchased maybe 4 months ago] had its engine replaced.

So, I went to Suncoast and they 'decoded' my VIN.

From the engine serial number they found and the serial number actually there on the car, I can see I have a replacement engine in there.

Is there anything that can be deciphered from the new engine's serial number such as year? I'm trying to narrow down when it might have been replaced.

Original: M96/01 66W08684
Current: M96/01 66X16766

Does the X vs the W maybe denote the year?

thanks

 

I think, read it here on rennlist the X denotes a replacement engine.

hope others can help with the year.

 

Yes it does.

W is for 1998
X is for 1999
Y is for 2000
1 is for 2001
2 is for 2002
and so on

...Rickker

 

Thanks
I called PCNA and they offered to do an investigation. They just asked that I fax registration or title to prove it is my car. It will be interesting to see what they provide in terms of mileage, etc.

todd
99 coupe

 

I stand corrected then, my bad.

 

Pulled this from another thread.....

If you look at the S/N on the bottom left side of the case next to the sump you will see a number like: M9603AT665XXXXX Which is a M960 engine (M960 3) that is a rebuild unit (AT) 6 cyl (6) , version (6), manufactured year (5), and the rest is the actual S/N

Of course it has also been noted here that an "X" denotes reman motor as well.

 

My info is:

M96/01 denotes type (M96) and 01 engine size. (For instance I've been told "20" is the 2.5l engine, "22" is 2.7L and apparently "01" is 3.6l -- I have a pic of my 03 Turbo's engine serial number but not at home it is on work computer so I can't call the picture up and do some sanity checking).

66 is 6 cylinder, version number 6, and X (or other letter) is model year. The 5 digits after is the serial number.

It would appear the engine is a replacement engine.

If I'm correct when it was replaced all you can know is it was replaced before you bought the car.

If you haven't already, get a full CarFax report on the car and see if any engine replacement noted on report. If not see where car spent some time then call Porche dealers in those areas and with VIN see if they'll tell you what services the car had. You might find dealer that did engine replacement and you can then know when.

But why do you want to know when?

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Ok. No Turbo and no Boxster engine serial number but I found a pic of my 08 Cayman S engine's serial number.

Its serial number is (was -- sort of long/sad story):

M97/0167807473

M97 is self-explanatory.

"01" confusing cause engine was a 3.4l engine not a 3.6l engine.

"6" of course still could be number of cylinders.

"7" could be engine version number.

"8" matches up well with year cause car was a 2008 though I don't recall now the build tag date so I can't confirm when the car was built: mid/late 2007 or in 2008 (I bought the car in early April 2009).

Oh wait, I vaguely remember now I did note build date and IIRC it was built sometime in 2008. I bought the car in early April of 2009 and car roughly one year old. (In fact it may have been exactly one year old, cause the service engine soon (change the engine oil) warning message appeared just a few days after I bought the car and it came on cause one year's time elapsing even though car was new and had just a few score of miles on it.)

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Thanks

I do have a carfax but nothing regarding this shows up. There are a few 'vehicle serviced' items from Newport Auto Center. Maybe I'll call them. The rest is smog or title.

My reason for wanting to know when is simply to know how many miles are on the engine, that's all.

Also, in the info from Suncaost, there were two campaigns listed; 'A209' and 'W103'. Both have status '1' noted. I wonder what they are.

thanks again
todd
99 coupe

 

Well, this may be overkill on this subject, but for what it's worth...

As Jake Raby has reported, the engine number is etched on a sloping panel on the crankcase, per the attached pic. On my engine, the numbers are hard to read, but come out as:

M96/03 663 09588

- The M96/03 is the code for the 3.6 liter 996 engine
- After this, there are 8 digits, of which the last 5 are the specific serial number of the engine.
- The digits "663" stand for: the first "6" = six cylinders, the second "6" = normally aspirated engine, and the "3" = 2003 year of production, as I have reported earlier.

The above deciphering comes from page 559 of "Porsche 996 - The Essential Companion", see attached chart.

The above is in agreement with what Macster has reported earlier in this thread.

...Rickker

 

My understanding is that there were actually two kinds of 'reman' engines. A completely remanufactured motor got an 'AT' serial number, where one that just had the top end rebuilt but retained the original crankcase got an normal serial number.

 

Porsche might support an engine runtime counter. If a dealer installed the new engine the counter could have been reset so if you can get a dealership service department to read it at least you'll know how many hours on the engine. Roughly est. average speed 25 to 30 mph and you have distance replacement engine has traveled. Rough estimate of course.

If the number even exists.

Call Suncoast and ask what the campaign numbers refer too. Or visit your friendly local dealer and speak with service manager.

If a city or region is indicated by the smog or title reports search out Porsche dealerships in the area and call and see if you can get any info on the car's service history.

How important is it to you to know the miles on the engine? When you bought the car you should have received some history of past recent services and from these you can know when the engine was last serviced, say given an oil/filter service. Your service clock starts ticking from when you buy the car if that info absent.

I called around and found my 03 Turbo had received an oil/filter service last Oct. (I bought the car used in June this year) and it just so happened that the odo turned over the 10K mile mark shortly after I bought the car so I had the oil/filter service done -- along with an alignment (it needed it) at a dealer at the 10K mile mark.

The car's oil/filter service schedule started at 10K for me. I change the oil every 5K miles but did an early one at 12.9K miles and another at 17K miles (before and right after a long road trip) and the next one will happen at 20K miles. Just before road trip had brake fluid flushed/bled along with front diff. fluid changed.

(Wanted both front/rear diff fluids changed along with transmission but service at dealer screwed up so I'll have a closer (local) dealer do this shortly.)

Due to some radiator damage from hitting a deer the coolant leaked out and as a result of fixing the accident damage the radiator replaced and the cooling system refilled with fresh anti-freeze/water and pressure tested. So coolant out of the way for a while.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

If you haven't found out already, the A209 is a recall for the fuel filler cap.

 

W103 campaign added sealant to rear deck lid to prevent paint bubbling along the edge.

 

Newport Auto Center graciously ran all the warranty records for the car and Beverly Hill Porsche looks to be where the car apparently spent its first six yrs. I called them and they opened to car's dealer records and found they put a reman engine in at 30k miles. They didn't have the reman engine's serial number so I couldn't directly confirm that the car hasn't had another 'new' engine. So, I guess the bright side way to look at it is that, since the car has 75k on it, my engine has a mere 45k on it.

todd
99 coupe