psuboy

I guess I can join the "I never thought it would happen to me" club. I was driving a week ago and all the sudden, power loss. I look in the rear view mirror and there is a big cloud of smoke. I pull over, have it towed to my mechanic. He said he has not fully assessed the engine but the coolant is mixed with the oil and it is totally locked it is going to require a new engine to get it on the road.
So now, I am trying to figure out how much it is going to cost me.
My mechanic did not give me cost figures but I am thinking between $12K and $15K. Am I in the ball park for a rebuilt engine with installation minus what ever he can get for my old engine?
I kind of feel like I am playing the game of life and I just landed on the square that says you loose that deal pay $100,000.

PasPar2

That just plain bites. Sorry to hear. My engine replacement at the dealer totaled 15k and change. I would guess that same at an indie should cost less.

There is a rennlist member who rebuilt his own motor for a fraction (and months of headaches) but I understand most folks are not mechanically inclined enough to tackle something like that.

if you care to hear my 2c - here goes: if you can sell your 996 as is for 10k or so, I would do that instead of fix it. the 10k from the sale + 15k you would have spend on an engine = 25k which is MKII money (maybe even with a new engine already installed) or you can sit on the money and save up and not have to be locked into your car... My point is, I would consider this the end the road with this car and move on. Again my 2c only...

good luck.

Quadcammer

I'm not sure a 996 is gonna pull $10k without a motor, for the exact same reason as you mentioned ($25k gets you an mkII)

ivangene

WOW - 1st off - CRAP! that sucks!

Second off, not many indies doing rebuilds...one reason is risk. They invest about as much in rebuilding as replacing and then if something goes wrong they eat it instead of Porsche. There are exceptions and my indy rebuilds them with great success.

Not all motors are worth rebuilding... if it really filled a lung with water and hydrolocked it could have bent the crank and and and and....
Then again, a LOT of white smoke "could be" the AOS, but that would not cause it to lock so you have to check that out.

PasPar has an interesting take and he is kinda on the right track. Recently Porsche dealers have been giving owners what they feel is the "right amount of money" for broken 996/boxsters and putting them in a new(er) car.... might be worth looking into.

Again, sorry to hear this, strange how just recently there have been a few cars that just died with no warning - sucks!

psuboy

I have thought about just selling and taking my hit but I don't think I could get 10K for it. To add insult to injury I just sold old my old daily driver3 days before the engine blew so now I am down to just one car.
Sucks to be me right now.

ivangene

I feel for ya man

ivangene

So I was re-reading the OP and got to thinking, (although without a full teardown you cant tell) It could just be a cracked head... that might not set you back too far. I think if it was me I would look into the option of fixing it and keeping the cost under $5k (if possible) - Naturally they wont know if its D chunk or head till its apart unless they have a bore scope, pull the plugs and look in each cylinder I would start with #4 then #2.... might see a smoking gun... if not... keep looking... if none show obvious trama I might opt to pull it apart for eval and then decide what dirrection to go

If you choose to rebuild - call Jake Raby and ask him who to go to in your area.... all things being equal, I would pick someone he recommended over the next guy. He might not have any info, but phone calls are cheap

I will also ask today, we had a session a couple weeks ago and a fella came out from back east who I would rate very high..... I will get his info and pass it along to you. cant remember where exactly he was from, but cant hurt to pass along more names and options. This guy is really sharp and I would have no problem letting him do an M96 for me (if I was in need of one)

rpm's S2

Feel for you man...

DaveSpeed

PSUboy where in PA are you in? Easteren Western or central?

There are a couple indy shops around allentown that rebuild engines. For the price you can probably find a porsche rebuilt for the same price and 2 yr warr. You may have to call around to find an engine dont take a dealer answer that there are non available because a new crate engine is about $26K.

Or a Raby engine for $17k check out flat 6 innovations web site.

TomF

Sorry to hear about your troubles. As usual, great advice from the group. The only thing that I would add is that it is easy to assume it is a worst-case scenario, but take a step back and explore all the possibilities and remedies carefully. Hopefully, as my wise Seattle compatriot suggested, it is a bad head and can be repaired for less.

Would you mind posting miles and brief overview of maintenance history of your 996 for the edification of the group?

Here's hoping for a speedy and "reasonably-priced" road to health for your p-car!

francars

Sorry to hear that man. I really hate to hear these stories come up. BTW... how many miles did you had on the car when this happen?

PasPar2

from my pre purchase reading, the mileage doesnt really matter. I have seen care grenade at 30k and never grenade in 130k... mine granaded at 81k and it is a tip (supposedly less prone to this issue)

psuboy

Thanks for all the support. I had 110K on it. I had just purchased it in September. I had a PPI that came out mostly positive. Once I got the car here in Central PA, I drove it back from Louisville, I took it in and had about 3K worth of work on it over 2 visits. I had all new fluids placed in it and it was driving well. No indication of a problem like this.
According to CarFax the car had been regularly serviced by Porsche for about the first 80K miles I found out by calling around that it had been serviced by indie shops for the next 20K.
I am waiting for a price from my mechanic. Depending on what the price is I will have to make a decision then.
It is getting a bit cold for riding my bike.
Pete

Pac996

Good luck on the repair bill total. Kind of a pricey xmas present you have get yourself. Maybe try for a deal with a porsche dealership.

911mike99

Where in central PA are you? Im near York haven near Harrisburg. There is a place in Harrisburg that works on Porsche.