MOORE996

Hello all,

I have been surfing this site for some time now doing as much research as possible on the Porsche brand. I love the Porsche brand, culture as well as the cars.

Unfortunately my experience in owning one has been less than enjoyable in the last 8 months.

I purchased an '03 996 C4S tiptronic with 60k miles in August of last year. Prior to purchasing, I did a carfax and discovered it was owned by 1 owner, was routinely serviced at a Porsche dealership when it was needed. Everything checked out great with the car so I purchased it. 2 and a half months later, while stopped at a light, the engine went completely dead on me. Tried restarting the car and there was nothing. Had the car towed to a local shop that deals with Porsche's, Ferrari's, etc and they determined the engine had gone bad. Somehow antifreeze got into the cylinder head and waterlogged the engine causing it to seize. I wasn't convinced and had it towed to another reputable shop who also determined the same.

As you can imagine, this was a blow to me. I was forced to purchase a new engine. The shop was able to negotiate a used 997 C4S engine for me. They did the installation and all was well for about a week until things just started going bad again. The first issue was an axle bolt that came loose somehow. I had the car towed back to the shop. They fixed the issue and returned the car back to me. Once again, car was well for about 4 days. I was driving when I lost complete power to the gears. Car was still on but there was no power going to the wheels. While in drive mode, the RPM climbed while on the gas but there was no power at all to the wheels. Once again, I had the car towed back to the shop and they determined the linkage cable had somehow got loose. Received the car back after 2 weeks. The same evening of me picking up the car, the same thing happened to me again where the car lost power in drive and I was forced to coast to the side of the road and wait yet again for a tow truck.

Car has been at the shop for the last 2 weeks and they couldn't figure out what was going on with the car. They checked all the wiring, software etc and couldn't figure out what was going on so they sent it to another shop that has more equipment to diagnose the car.

They too have done a thorough diagnosis of the software and have come to the conclusion that the transmission has gone bad. I have been experiencing my own March madness as I recently had to have my BMW's transmission rebuilt.

In my research, I have not come across any 996 C4S transmission's that have just suddenly gone bad without warning. I had warning at least from my BMW and had a feeling it was ailing.

As of now, the car turns on, the gears change on the dash when moved up or down but the car does not move. I am worn out from this entire experience and I find myself at a serious crossroad in the direction I should take.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the long rant but I need a forum to just vent and this seems to be a forum for just that.

Thanks

C4CRNA

Did you have a Pre Purchase Inspection done?
Where are you located?

MOORE996

Yes I had a Pre Purchase Inspection done by the Porsche dealership and everything checked out which is why I went ahead and purchased the car. Located in Long Island, NY

jsmirand

I am sorry about your bad experiences and you are certainly entitled to the long rant.

It seems like a couple of your issues were related to the engine replacement itself in which some items were not completed properly - loose axle bolt, then loose linkage cable?

I would stop going to third party shops, and try either a dealer that has high 911 repair volume and thus deeper diagnostic experience or someone who has extensive 996 Porsche experience to get things right.

As you said, it seems like a transmission, would show some signs prior to failure. Also, in reading these boards, TIP failures are very rarely reported - in two years of reading many posts I don't recall a single example.

Hopefully, your transmission is fine, and the real cause is something else that has not been properly diagnosed.

I hope that is the case,
John

twebb

Best of luck with your car's issues. I think each of us on this forum fear that our car will at some point and time cost enough or have enough problems that we may feel the same way. I hope that once you get through these issues you are able to enjoy your car as you did before.

kent

thats is a really horrible story i ever heard so far in this forum regarding a 996 C4S, especially after you have the PPI done with good results. sorry to hear that buddy, good luck.

Dennis C

Sorry to hear about your trouble.

Pac996

Page 3-11 and around there in the service manual has info that might help you track down connectors and such to check. I'd be highly questionable of the mechanics that are fooled by the problem. I hope it isn't a major problem and just a mechanic not knowing what to check. I am always remembering all the times I have seen flood damaged vehicles and wonder who takes the damage later buying them.

pl

sorry to hear your problems.
something went wrong with the engine replacement.
check out those porsche shops http://www.metronypca.org/advertisers.html
good luck

Bozbomber

I am really sorry to hear this. I've always like the C4S but wondering why would the shop put in a 997 engine instead? I would have think this is how it caused the issues?

C4CRNA

That is a truly sucky story.
You have a right to complain, a lot!!

Barn996

Hopefully the shops that worked on your Porsche will stand behind their past repairs and engine replacement. Otherwise it's time to seek out a better Porsche mechanic/shop as mentioned. GL

soverystout

I seriously doubt the tip is just ruined. What about a torque converter? electronics?

Did the indy have to change all the wiring harnesses and ecu for a 997 engine?

MOORE996

Thank you all for your well wishes and suggestions.

@jsmirand -- The shops I went to are well known in this area for tuning Porsche's. I did extensive research before taking my car there. Not to mention a few of my friends with Porsche's have taken their cars there. The issues do seem to stem from the engine replacement. I am hoping the transmission is in good shape and it's something minor they have overlooked.

@Bozbomber -- They had access to a 997 engine and so I figured since I'm spending the same amount of money anyway, I might as well put in a 3.8. It would be faster, the performance would be better and I wouldn't have to worry later on about any major engine issues. They assured me everything would bolt up minus a few hoses like the brake lines and other hoses that would change as well as a new ECU. They had done this type of modification in the past and was pretty simple to do.

@Barn996 -- At this point, the shops are saying they have done everything right in terms of the transplant and they never touched the transmission. They are trying to remove themselves from any responsibility in the matter. I personally think whatever the problem is now, is a chain reaction of things that happened prior. Like the axle bolt coming loose and ending up on the floor, the shifter cable disconnecting etc.

@soverystout -- I am really hoping the problem is not the tip. Checked pricing on a rebuilt transmission from Porsche and I'm looking at $9k and $1300 for the core charge plus another $2k in labor. I can't handle that right now.

Getting this Porsche was supposed to be a great thing and it has turned into a nightmare.

MOORE996

Yes the indy did have to change some wiring harnesses and ecu to fit the 997 engine. Everything seemed to work fine at first. Started up, no faults, all the gears changed and then the problems started about a week later first with the axle bolt and then the linkage cable and then now they claim it could be the torque converter.