I am probably #30 of 30 in the queue. I'll be picking my car up in December of this year.

My future engine work with Jake is more than the price of the car. I only did this because I always wanted a 911 and can't afford a 996 GT3 nor a newer 911. Not that the 996 is a "consolation prize." I see it as an opportunity into the 911 world.

 

Nope, there's two behind you :-)

 

" ... Not that the 996 is a "consolation prize." I see it as an opportunity into the 911 world."
Well said and to the point for my situation.
Fingers crossed for what Jake finds out about your engine.
Hopefully, we will hear of those lessons learned in the coming months.

 

Going to Georgia....

 

We'll see it in a few days!

 

My future engine work with Jake is more than the price of the car. I only did this because I always wanted a 911 and can't afford a 996 GT3 nor a newer 911. Not that the 996 is a "consolation prize." I see it as an opportunity into the 911 world.[/QUOTE]

Some would say a 996 with a rebuilt, more powerfull engine is the perfect everyday driver between standard & GT3.

 

Some would say a 996 with a rebuilt, more powerfull engine is the perfect everyday driver between standard & GT3.[/QUOTE]

'03s are going for $25k to $30k. Throw in a JR 3.8 ($20k my guess??) will put you at 45k-50k, which is '01 TT or '09 IMS-less C2 territory. Any comparison between those?

 

This is my thinking as well. Once Jake does the diagnosis, I'll be looking for the most cost effective way to get at least 100k more miles out of this car, including maybe about 1000 miles of DE/track without further modification or prep. This is my DD and I take it everywhere, and want the confidence that I can hop in any day and go on a 1 or 1000 mile trip. Like my '87 :-).

If I had known ahead of time that my engine was going to develop this problem, I certainly would have taken a different path. Maybe an older TT, or as Ahsai says an IMS-less engine, but these have certain reliability issues as well or are too new to know. As mentioned before, it's water under the bridge, and you do the best you can to play the hand you're dealt. Jake's experience with failure mechanisms and their solutions is maybe an even better path for overall longevity. That we'll need to discuss in some detail once he gets the engine apart.

 

'03s are going for $25k to $30k. Throw in a JR 3.8 ($20k my guess??) will put you at 45k-50k, which is '01 TT or '09 IMS-less C2 territory. Any comparison between those?[/QUOTE]

I was refering to current 996 owners in need of a major service & wanting more compromise free power. I prefer the 996 looks inside & out, & AWD is a deal killer not to mention higher maintenence cost & depreciation.

 

Agreed. One of the good things with this route is one can choose to do a cost effective way to bring the engine up to spec, or do an all out 3.8, or anything in between. Sounds like lots of choices and flexibility depending on how much one is willing to spend.

 

My schedule is now booked for exactly one solid year for a complete engine reconstruction. Of those cars that are in the queue only 3 of them are being done electively and the rest are reactive, following some form of failure.

Of all those cars only 6 of them have a current value that exceeds the cost of the engine thats being fitted to the car, and a couple of those will be very close to the cost of the engine for the value of the car. Like I have said over and over again, if you are concerned with what the car is worth, Vs what the engine will cost, don't even bother inquiring with us.

This concept and mindset isn't new with Porsches and Porsche engines. We were building 356, 912 and 914 engines that were cost more than the car was worth 20 years ago. Today, we still do that on the aircooled side here. If you think an "expensive" M96 engine cost a lot, just wait till you see how much a cheap one costs you.

We'll help mklein9 make the best decision based on what we find. With such low mileage my primary objective is finding the source of the issue and applying the least invasive process possible to rectify it. I'd much rather NOT disassemble the entire engine. I have a good idea of whats going on within the confines of that engine.

 

mklein9's 996 arrived today from California. I think considering the weather that it arrived very quickly.
All is well, we'll begin diagnosis in the coming week, so we can gather a plan about the best course of action.

 

subscribed.

2003 Carrera 4S Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 Rust Red

 

Got a chance to carry out an evaluation today. Here are just a few pics.

Mike had the oil changed only 500 miles before the car was shipped here. The material found in the bottom of the oil filter housing showed heavy copper material from main bearings, so we are going to have to go inside to see how bad it is. The good news is that collateral damages are expected to be limited, once we determine what started to wear first, which will obviously be pretty wasted.

This is the most material I've ever seen on a mag drain lug in just 500 miles. It was doing its job well, because there was little metal in the sump (all on the magnet) and the filter lacked any small material, too. The only metal we found in the filter housing was non-ferrous, and heavy copper.

Here's the drain plug, thats 5X more than should be present even in a 5K mile service interval. This much in 500 miles is extreme. The picture doesn't do it justice, it's literally 1/4" deep atop the magnet and even more around the crown.

 

Is that copper on the drain plug? I didn't think copper stuck to magnets.