Today I got in touch with SunCoast after only voicemail yesterday. For the 2002 6-spd 3.6 they quoted me 17.8K minus 3.1K on acceptance of the core net price 14.7K shipped out of state for a P reman with 2 yr unlimited miles warranty. They have several in stock, which may be the reason there prices are lower, hard to know.

 

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Strasse Auto (or Auto Strasse) in Costa Mesa, Ca.(949-645-1928). They reman their own motors and have a great reputation incuding several Rennlisters including me. I've been racing one of their stock 3.4 remans for over a year now about 65 hours without incident. I don't know their current pricing but it's usually about half of Porsches. Comes with 1 year warranty.

Anyone else care to comment on Auto Strasse?

 

Bingo.

Any one care to second the recommendation?

 

Let me add that all the Spec Boxster's built by Speed Gallery in Studio City, Ca. have his motors. That's something like 20 cars over the past 2 years with 1 failure and that failed almost immediately. They replaced it of course....

Owner's name is Robert, please let us all know what he's charging these days. I'll probably want/need a refresh at the end of this season.....

 

I just don't understand why choose any other option, when
LNE is the only one that has ceramic coated bearings,
which are supposed to be 5x stronger, and perhaps never break.

 

I have not heard of any alternative solution for upgrading the IMS bearing. If anyone knows of one please post it. Unless there is a known good P stock bearing, but nobody has suggested that and how do you know if it is the right one. There will be more on the topic of bearings later on this thread, I am gathering more information. Check back in a week.

 

You are basically repeating what I just typed: the LNE is the only ceramic coated bearing I know of,
and the OEM is five times weaker, at least according to LN's data.

According to LNE, the technology was not readily available for mass marketing, at least not for MY 2002.

The bearings for the 996 were made in Brazil, and sealed with grease. However, mechanics notice
during oil changes that the grease comes out- now you have a sealed bearing with no grease,
and the regular engine oil cannot get in. Some people actually remove the seal.

The result is overheating and eventually failure.

We have not yet heard of a LNE ceramic coated bearing failure- only time will tell.

 

+10, Kyle I couldn't of said it better myself!

 

As fantastic as LNE possibly is we should not forget that engines fail for multitude of other reasons not only due to the IMS bearing. Transmissions are not the best in 996-es either (mine failed at 72k km), cooling systems (mine needed repairs at ca.60k km) etc.

The only things giving the true peace of mind (and, in my case, substancial financial savings) is either factory or aftermarket warranty.

Why spend over $1000 on one isolated potential problem and STILL remain vulnerable in other areas?? Can anybody give a valid reason?

 

~$1500 per year for warranties is what I've heard here. I'm currently looking and have been turned down by 3 companies so far for my 2000 C2 Tip with 37k miles. They say "we don't have a policy for your vehicle", but I'm still waiting for a few call-backs. So $4500 for three years, and then what? Get another 3 for another $4500? Or spend 3 grand to upgrade several key areas and put the rest away for a rainy day.

I'm not preaching, I'm playing devil's advocate. My point is there is no automatic decision and you can't fault anyone for the path they choose. My car is going under the knife on Monday for the IMS, RMS, X51 Oil pan, and Low Temp Thermostat. If I can find a reasonable warranty, I'll get that as well.

 

Why not try the Renegade Hybrid (Las Vegas) LS1 V8 Vette all aluminum motor, not nearly as expensive as the 996 or 997 motor & its suppose to be a good bit lighter & definitely more hp, change the plugs in 30 minutes. I've heard its sacreligious to do it to the older air-cooled Porsches but it shouldn't bother the purists as much if its a 996! Good Luck on whatever you do.

 

I thought about a warranty around 80k miles, I don't remember the details but it was not widely available and I thought the car was one of the more reliable I had owned, given the high miles I was putting on it. Anyone else got a warranty for high miles / long age?

Also I heard something interesting today about the X51 Oil pan. But rather than repeat it, can anyone explain the theory of it and direct experience?

 

Did you buy your car new? All your posts are just problems about the issues with your car. Did you get a PPI if bought used? Sounds like you bought someone's track bitch.

 

Your question assumes that every mode of failure is equally probable, equally disastrous and equally expensive. This is very obviously not the case.

The failure of an intermediate shaft or its bearing can result in the complete destruction of the engine, and this risk can be diminished for about 10% of the cost of repairing the failure. That's easy math, in my opinion.

Whereas, most other possible modes of failure are reparable if they happen, which changes the math. The 'insurance policy' is as or more costly relative to the repair cost, so it's more like you're paying it forward rather than protecting yourself.

With respect, there are people out there who think that these engines are time bombs in every possible way. They think this because don't know very much about engines, and/or about the history of this one (I just love it when they rhyme off the litany of porous blocks, d-chunks, slipped sleeves, on and on...). To me, rationally, the one problem worth preventing is IMS failure. The rest was either long since solved, or is just part of the bargain with a high performance motor.

People forget that the failure rate for every engine everywhere is 100% by design. From farm tractors to fighter jets, the only way an engine keeps going forever is constant and preventative maintenance.

 

With the increase in the price of the replacement engines ($8,000 3-4 years ago, now $16,000+ according to some of the posts here) and the fact that they may be discontinued, the price and the availability of the warranties is sure to follow, higher cost and less availability.