jcb-memphis

Ok....now I am a bit freaked...been doing 5k, 5w-50....but probably should move to 5w-40 tdt soon if felt to be better at prevention by Kevin (UMW)....slightly more zinc/additives and perhaps other stuff that is not listed to protect the engine.

I do "use" the engine/car and I wonder if these cars fail more if they sit than if they get used....T2 is a perfect example....


Just a thought: let's put forward a recommended behavior for optimal engine protection with the full realization that these things will just fail for no reason very rarely too...like any other motor....



Here is my list:

1. Use the car: frequent use is probably better for all sorts of reasons...

2. For all drives: a 2min cool down after use.

3. A good oil good oil at 5k intervals (based on T2 using 0W-40 every 5k). Burning oil is not a sin if you keep up with it...I think that keeping the oil near top (one bar down) is best too. Search on all the oil threads in this subforum. In a nutshell, use the Porsche list. Varioram cars need thinner oil than the old air cooled. I cannot believe how many people think they are cool using these cars with 20w-50 or whatever racing oil....met at least 6 doing just that....and no matter of talk will change their behavior...those may be the people having engine problems...and who knows if they tell their builders about their behavior...

4. Checking the oil filter as per Kevin too.

5. Timing belt change per recommended mileage, inspections, and basically taking care of the car....avoiding overheating, etc.

6. Use the best fuel you can. I was once told Amoco is the cleanest....regardless, I think top tier fuel is worth a few pennies a gallon more.


More frequent oil changes are probably fine. As a side note, gear lube changes with Delvac or OEM porsche lub if streeted every 30k seems reasonable...if tracked, ymmv and I defer to others.

Been doing it every 30k and a track day is 3k equivalent (I am not advanced group). These are high end synthetic lubes, so I have some faith in Mobil 1, etc.

If any questions, probably best to copy T2 behavior and just hope for good luck...some will come down to simple luck.


Jeff

falcon7x7

Here we go with the internet worry, will my engine last, will it blow up in the next mile?, what is that noise?, should I use 0-40W or 5-40W, will my wife cheat on me if increase my tire air pressure?

Oi Vey, this is starting to sound like the RMS/IMS in the N/A 966 community.

haulinkraut

Falcon- This thread is intended to clear up all the paranoia about these engines, not increase it. I think that frequent use and frequest oil changes make a world of difference. I wouldn't worry about IMS noise unles it gets worse.

Jeff- No timing belt, but all else is a good suggestion.

Dock

I don't think it's gong to do the first.

falcon7x7

Thank you Dock!


I added my .02, never wanted to offend anybody.

Dock

Yep...the "Rennlist Hypochondriac Forum". This reminds me just a little bit of the hot summer day's ride in a UH-1 Huey, with a butt in every seat. Everyone was doing fine in the hot bumpy air until the first guy hurled. The next thing you know almost everyone else decided they were sick too.

haulinkraut

I am not offended. And I not worried about my engine. But other people are. And I like to try to contribute and get some valuable info to the people who need to know. I am an enthusiast who likes to know how these cars work instead of just throwing money at somebody else to solve my problems. I just thought that a helpful thread on these engines would be a great thing to ease owners minds on their cars. Knowledge on what causes these issues is what will help people to not worry about their cars, not vague cryptic posts about a cousin of a friend who had an engine failure. Then none of the important details like "hey, this guy was overrevving the crap out of his car" or "he was tracking his car every weekend and changing his oil every 10k miles with 0w oil". If this thread is contrary to what you or this forum wants, then don't contribute. And the mods can delete it. But nobody can blame me for not trying to help.

SoloRacer

Except that every "newbie" on the planet reads this thread and before you know it our cars are labeled as "unreliable - have same mass problems as 996 NA cars". All this does is feed into the "paranoia" that people seem to have about owning a Porsche - the cost of repairs. I can see it now, I'll be telling someone how great these cars are and I will be contradicted by an internet hero who says he saw this thread and how all our cars suffer these inherent "flaws" - basically that they are a ticking time bomb. In this aspect you are not helping anyone. I think it has to be clear that the vast majority of these cars are driven hard and don't have a lot of the issues named. Kevin says he has 4 or 5 in how long? He also says that these guys don't talk about it on the web. Well, how many thousands of these cars were made again? How many of those guys are not having problems and don't post about it on the web? Usually the most vocal are the guys who do have problems.

I have been on other car forums advocating for these cars because they are a fantastic machine and I can see now where people considering buying one would suddenly be discouraged because they find this thread about all the "problems" that the majority of these cars DON'T have. I think Dock and Falcon are right. Each car has a different service/use history. Plus they aren't brand new any more. All this hand wringing and speculation on why something "might" happen is counter productive in my mind. Just drive the cars, keep them serviced as required and fix them when they need to be fixed. The far greater majority of these cars are still on the road in good condition with few issues. Every brand/model of car will have mechanical failures over their lifetime. If you are that paranoid about your car then get rid of it as obviously you should be using another type of transport that will let you sleep better - like riding a bicycle.

haulinkraut

Okay guys, has anyone actually read this thread? Where have I posted anywhere anything about "how all our cars suffer these inherent "flaws"? In fact I have no idea how many people have issues with these problems nor have I stated it anywhere here. I am not stating statistics. And I am not telling people to feel any particular way about the relability of these cars. This is an enthusiast forum, not a sales forum. It is here to discuss problems and to educate people amongst other things. Why worry about what some idiot reads and twists? I also cannot make anyone interpret what they read in this thread anymore than anybody can with the other threads that people read here that actually talk about real cases of engine failures. I am trying to put it all on the table an discuss this so the facts are out. These engines do not just fail. Their are causes that people are not discussing the details of and I am willing to bet that the quality isn't the factor as much as outside influences.

haulinkraut

Because this forum can't discuss the 996TT engine and their issues here I am not going to participate any further here. I can't contribute to a forum that insists on living in the dark and only insists on listening to one engine builders input without discussing and clearing up the issues. The only way for people to not be paranoid about their cars is to know the facts.....

Mods can delete this thread. Nothing here is being accomplished...

Dock

There's some truth in parts of this.

As we have seen here, the establishment of the facts is many times near impossible.

I'd also offer that there are people who don't know "the facts", and are not paranoid.

SoloRacer

It's not a sales forum until you try to sell yours and have to deal with the misinformation. Ask anyone with an NA 996 or Boxster that has given them years of trouble free use about what the over hyped RMS and IMS failures has done to their resale values.

I really don't see what you are trying to accomplish with this thread other than to propagate paranoia. I don't doubt that there have been some failures that you have identified. But are they frequent enough for most of us to worry about? For example, I know of a GT3 that had a catastrophic engine failure due to a bearing delaminating. Should I start a thread over this? For what purpose? Should all GT3 owners suddenly assume they are driving time bombs? Or is this an isolated incident? Why did it happen? I am sure that there would be no end to the theories and speculation - just like this thread. In the end all you would get is a bunch of opinion and conjecture. How is that helpful?

Consider this from your original post:

It sounds more like people are on a witch hunt to me.

raineycd

I agree with falcon, this thread really has no data upholding common flaws. Most people will read this as truth when the facts are otherwise. These cars have proven very reliable, but they are an older model and any car 9-10 years old will have it's issues over time.

The perception that an issue is common from a few that have an issue is the problem, not the actual issues IMO.

haulinkraut

First off you need to realize that their have been real issues that these engines have encountered. Are they common? No. Are the failures due to use and maintenance more than design? Likely but that is still to be determined. I don't think they should just be ignored. I also don't think we need to loose sleep over them either. If you feel better sweeping the issues that quite a few people here worry about under the rug than good for you. I participate here and on most of the other common Porsche forums and I read their about the reputation of paranoia here. As somebody who reads most of the common porsche forums I notice that this particular one has alot of paranoia compared to others. I want to go record in saying that I think most of the paranoia here is perpetuated due to the lack of explanation of the causes of the issues. I am not worried about my engine personally. Do you think that we should just let a majority the rennlist community read these forums and feel paranoia due to the partial stories that float around here or should they know that most of these issues have a cause that can probably be avoided? You really don't have to answer that because I know the answer. This forum can keep reading the stories about engine failures that are vaguely explained and worry away. In the end it will just filter more business to the people who profit off of the paranoia. I have nothing else to contribute here

raineycd

So what is the goal of your thread? Wanting to get a count of who has these issues or just wanting to create a list of all the failures that people have had over time? Doubt you will get any useful data on why the issues happened, so this thread will probably just turn into a mess IMO...