"35 mph and whammo, total loss of power. There was no eerie sounds or warnings. No CEL and no codes with my OBD reader"
"I have no clue what the damage is but at the minimum it sounds like a rebuild."

sorry for whats happened
stupid question coming: how did you go from your first sentence to the second sentence? did you take it into a shop and have it diagnosed?
just curious

 

Fair question. I had emailed Jake with my symptoms, hoping it was a blown fuse. HA! Anyhow, he recommended that I try and turn the crank manually. I used a 24mm socket on the crank pulley and tried to turn it. A healthy engine should turn without much effort. Mine didn't budge, no matter how much force I put into it. So, if the crank is frozen, something catastrophic went on inside. At a minimum it would beca total tear down, inspection and god knows what else. I could do a rebuild with an Indy locally or just go with one already done by Jake, drop it in and be on the road in a few weeks with peace of mind.

 

With the spark plugs in, it takes effort to turn the engine by hand. Did just that last week. But if the engine is siezed up, try turning it over with the starter. If that doesn't do it, you have a locked up engine. As for being able to rebuild it, well thay all depends what kind of damage there is. Also, keep in mind that not evergthing can be rebuilt.

 

Gator996,
I know that punch in the gut feeling too well. The feeling comes back strongly every time I read about someone else experiencing it with their car. Based on my personal rebuild experience, your decision to use Jake and his guy's expertise to get you back on the road is a very sound one. He did mine about a year ago and I am beyond satisfied.

I didn't go to him initially and paid a heavy price for trying to save a few thousand dollars. I visited the F6I skunkworks after my unsuccessful first attempt to have it rebuilt. I had spoken to Jake few times prior to going down the wrong path but wanted to see the operation myself prior to plunking down the big bucks. I left there very impressed with the people and facilities but even more impressed with the scope of the F6I rebuild. The depth of that scope was not apparent to me from reading the website or speaking to him on the phone. I believe you will be very pleased once it is delivered to you with what will essentially be a new, and better constructed engine.

Quick note on Daytona and my and a buddy's M96 motors. We were both there for a PBOC event in October or November the year before it was closed to DE events for re-paving. My 996 was totally stock at the time except for Pagid Orange pads and Sport Cups. By afternoon I was lightly feathering the throttle to keep it at 7k in 5th gear exiting NASCAR 2 and thru the tri-oval and on the back straight heading towards the Bus Stop. I wasn't confident enough at that speed to take one hand off the wheel to shift into 6th. It was quite a thrill and the car was quite stable except for the slightest sensation of front end lift. That was with the body totally stock as well.

I signed up for two days but in the race that same afternoon, a Scuderia version Ferrari Challange race car hada rear tire let go at over 180 on the exit to NASCAR 2. His in car video is on you tube he spun 8 - 10 times down the front straight and fortunately didn't hit anything. That took the starch out of me and i drove home the next morning on my used PSC tires.

The point of all of thus is my buddy and I suffered engine failures some months later. His 2002 Boxster S had what the mechanic said was an IMS bearing let go and cause the dreaded catastrophic motor failure while driving on the highway (please save all the how did the mechanic know it was the IMS - I'm not a mechanic). Mine spun a bearing causing the scavenger pump to give up and damage the valves serving cylinder 5. I was at HMS for my first DE after Daytona. I drove it the 70 miles to my home (really, freaking dumb, right?) before having it flatbedded to the wrong rebuild shop. The point of all this is, I relayed all to Jake and his opinion was it was the extended full throttle running you do on a roval like Daytona that puts the unusual stress on the engine which likely led to the failures.

I'd talk to him about if you run Daytona regularly. Best of luck - you will soon be falling even deeper in love with your baby. And your wife too for offering such great advice!

 

If it happened to me I'd make the same decision you made - good call IMO!!

 

Please substitute NASCAR 4 for all NASCAR 2 references in my earlier reply to Gator996.
The Editor

 

You are driving along normally and the engine cuts out and all of a sudden you need a new engine???????????????????... I think I need to stop this message right there before I really upset someone. oh is it a mazda you are driving.. sorry...

 

Gator,
You need to understand what this engine is that I have offered you. It is not rebuilt and has not been reconstructed. This engine is something that we haven't had in over a year because we can't find acceptable donors to become our CPO engines.

We have disassembled the engine completely and added the list of items to it that I emailed to you along with the IMSB, water pump, AOS, RMS and etc.
lots of the posters here don't know that we offer anything other than our full blown reconstructions like fasteddie and 996c2 have purchased and that's not the case with your situation.

BTW 996c2 is the guy that wrote the testimonial that I sent you the link to. Ask him how cost effective a cheap engine with a written warranty actually is. I am sure the pain is still quite fresh in his memory even after over a year has passed. It's seldom that we can offer any repair solution is only a month and for less than 18k, but honestly I am not positive that this engine is for you, because I believe you have an over expectation for it and because you expect a warranty which is something we only extend if an engine sees ALL of our reconstruction points and that's what starts at 18k today.
I refuse to guarantee anything produced by any other.. That includes Porsche. Unless our hands and minds developed, applied and tested the entire arrangement we offer it with an up front understanding that the engine family has 23 modes of documented failure and we have only addressed 3 of them with our lower cost alternative in the CPO offering.

Anything that we reconstruct sees 12 months unlimited mileage warranty with no fine print involved. These days the truth is hard to find and direct communication is harder to find. We offer both.

 

Gator, sorry for your car but maybe you could go into it yourself? Its not a Chevy SB V8 but its not a Space Shuttle either. Service manuals, proper tools, clean work area, and time, is all you need. Any machine work needed you can send out the parts. Maybe its a spun main bearing? Other option is the salvage auctions. Many wrecked 996's out there with used engines. Best of luck.

 

sorry for your loss but extremely jealous of your new engine!

 

Have it checked out locally before you throw in the towel.

 

 

$18K and no warranty. A lot of work can be done for 18000. Since your mechanical knowldge is very limited. Spend a couple hours of labour and get a proper diagnosis. Think of it as a PPI for a repair.

Engines can be repaired and not always just rebuilt. My latest project is a '99 996 that had bent valves. I'm in the home stretch of finishing fixing it and the total bill, not includimg my labour, is well under $2000.

 

You have misunderstood the cost of this CPO engine. It is not 18k, that's what my full reconstructions cost. The CPO engine is roughly 1/2 that cost if you consider that the installed cost including all fluids and lubricants for 12.5k.

I spoke at length with him concerning repair but with over 100k miles and a questionable service life after the repair the economics support that option less. We repair engines with big problems all the time and take pride in saving engines but the return on investment has to be there before I offer that option.

Considering the engine is locked up it probably needs a crank. Try to find a crank today, used ones are going for 2k if you can even find one. Unlike other engines no under or oversize bearings are available so restoration through regrinding is not an option.

We have developed bearings and should have them available to the public in the next 18 months.

 

The CPO Jake has makes perfect sense. Firstly, I would not have a rebuild on my motor done by anyone else but Flat 6. But like Jake stated above, it doesn't make financial sense to spend that kind of money for a car of my mileage and year. With the CPO engine, I am still very close to market price for what I am into this car for. I will have full faith knowing that the IMS, RMS, etc has already been taken care of. Could I have mine rebuilt locally? Sure. Would I have full confidence in the build? Probably not.

A 18+ grand rebuild for a car worth in the very low 20's just doesnt work for me. If I was really married to this car or it was something I just couldnt live without then maybe I would do it. But, it is a car that I enjoy and can now have some peace of mind and confidence in its engine. I know the CPO engine is not a rebuild but, even a rebuild can blow up in my face at some point. Mechanical things are mechanical things.

So, I have full confidence in Flat 6 and there expertise and know that they would not steer me in the wrong direction just to make a buck. Hell, Jake is trying to talk me out of this thing now. Not gonna happen. I will be making the arrangements this morning with him and hopefully talking with a shipper in the near future.