AS05NOVA

PCNA posted Workshop Service Action W545 on December 28, 2004 to inform a limited number of 997/987 owners that certain VINs had a machining error on the crankcase.

The CNC machine cut the crankcase too deeply in two areas: the oil filter flange and the base for the intermediate shaft bearing cover. This error causes "increased wear on the chain drive and the intermediate shaft bearing."

Any owners affected?

If so, I would be interested in hearing whether you, or other unaffected but mechanically savvy owners, accept Porsche's proposed solution to make up the gap by inserting a spacer plate on the intermediate shaft bearing cover.

jboyko

December 28th; I wonder if my engine's intermediate shaft failure at 4000 miles on Dec 1st, had anything to do with that recall. Also, I wonder why I had never received a call from the dealer about my new engine's potential problem before they put in the spacer panel (#996-105-924-00), when the new engine had the RMS replaced at 6500 miles in early March.

Does anyone have a copy of the Service Action W545. I'd be curious to see if my car was within the Vin #'s, or if it wasn't, then why not.

jb

AS05NOVA

Send me your VIN in a private message and I'll let you know whether your's is affected. You should have been sent a copy in the mail if it was.

SrfCity

FWIW, the dealer can run your VIN and tell you instantly whether you are affected. Fortunately mine was not.

AndrewSS

my dads is, it really sucks too- they have to take the tranny out !

SrfCity

What a pain. Better get it all fixed before the good weather starts

AS05NOVA

And your Dad is going to accept having them put a shim in the engine of his $90k car that, by Porsche's own admission, has suffered intermediate shaft bearing damage and accelerated chain drive wear due to their factory machining mistake? All with no consideration or dispensation?

AndrewSS

Whoa, whoa, whoa, please elaborate - this is sounding more serious than i thought!

Also, funny thing is earlier I got off the phone with the dealer, sounds like they *supposedly* ran the VIN # and the car doesnt need the recall fix, but PCNA sent us a letter... sounds a bit fishy to me, do you think i should call directly to PCNA and run the VIN # by them?

Any ideas, i wonder if the dealer could be lazy, but maybe i am being too worried...

Moogle

wow, the last thing porsche needs is a defect related to the intermediate shaft, and thusly, perhaps exacerbating the RMS issue

AS05NOVA

Elaborate? What is there to elaborate about? I'm simply restating the facts and you need to re-read the workshop service action notification:

Some knucklehead in Zuffenhausen incorrectly machined a limited run of 997/987 crankcases in two places, the oil filter boss recess and the section next to the intermediate shaft bearing cap.

As a result, the intermediate shaft is not sitting in the crankcase where it's supposed to -and- the chain driving it is ****-eyed i.e. not running in a straight line. So, the intermediate shaft and drive chains are suffering damage and accelerated wear. It says this right in the service action.

The extent of the accelerated wear and damage is a product of the miles driven between production and the time it took Porsche to discover the problem, notify owners, check the cars, and order and install the part. In most cases, this is three to four months and potentially thousands of miles. And Porsche is giving owners NOTHING in return except quietly notifying the owners and installing a washer in the engine to close the machining gap.

This is NOT insignificant folks, and even though a relatively small number of VINs (according to Porsche) are affected, I'm shocked there hasn't been more of an uproar about this.

SrfCity

Try calling another dealer anonymously(or not) and ask if your car is affected. IMO you have nothing to worry about. The puter should tell you the story.

AndrewSS

yeah, the dealer didnt sound all that educated on the recall, PCNA sent us a letter - i am tempted to call PCNA tomorrow, or a different dealer???

Alan Smithee

It was discussed on this forum a couple months ago when it was realized a recall existed on the 987/997. However, it only affects a couple hundred cars, which IS insignificant in the whole scheme of things.

AS05NOVA

I have the entire Service Action with the complete list of affected VINs.

PM me if you want me to check yours.

jboyko

As I had said in the past, do you think that you would be able to post what the service action said, or is there a web site where it could be found. I really do think that the vin # recall must be in error, due to the fact that my vin # was clean, but had the intermediate shaft fail, and the new engine RMS also fail.

So, nova do you think that 1 CNC machine was out of tolerance for a few hours,days weeks, or months. Could all of the machines been programed incorrectly? Could it have been a CAD engineering or design flaw (I'm a big advocate that true engineers have been replaced by graphic designer fools, that just know how to use a CAD)? Is it possible that Porsche is using different CNC makes or models to make the same part? Finally, if it was just a QC issue, then who was the jackass that was hiding in the bathroom, while both of my engines were being messed up.

jb