Flat6 Innovations

To clarify:
The turbo and GT3 engines of the era do not have this problem. Both of these engines utilize factory Nikisil plated cylinders.

I have never experienced cylinder scoring with either of these engines.

BIG smoke

I just sold my car. It was driven year round for 9 years. 20 months with me. Snow past the fog lights can be a problem with my lowered car. Snow plow hump were not pleasant. One freezing rain day, the drivers window went a little crazy. It wanted to dip down, when you opened the door. As soon as the cab warmed up, it stopped. No crazy smoke, snow tires on lobsters. Yank strap in the frunk, battery booster and air pump. Fresh battery. Heated seats were on a lot. I was more concerned with others, and their stupidness.

Flat6 Innovations

Lots of reports like this one are out there... At the same time, some won't have the same results and the common denominator has always been cold operation with cold starts, specifically.

The engines that suffer worst are very low mileage. Normal wear that comes with miles is the best way to avoid this issue. I currently have a 14,000 mile, 2008 997 here with this issue and lower miles is generally a constant with the issue. The highest mileage I have seen this occur at is 81K miles and that was a 2005 997S from earlier this year. I videoed the symptoms, and documented the teardown. I plan on including that in my winter newsletter.

Flat6 Innovations

Just received this one. I referred the person to this thread to do some research:

Hello,

My name is ****** ******. I live in **** ****** WI and I'm looking at a 2006 Carrera S for sale. It has 81,600 miles on it and when checked at the dealer for PPI they scoped it and discovered it had cylinder scoring and needed a new engine. Of course the sellers insist that the dealer's opinion is an exaggeration.

Thats today's cylinder scoring email..

LexVan

Jake, time to invent a temporary/removable block/oil pan heater owners can easily use.

A magnetic one won't work, right??

Thanks for everything you do here on Rennlist. Ignore the noise and haters.

Flat6 Innovations

Its been done for a couple of years.. Little to no interest in it from distributors, and I care nothing about direct parts sales. We even have one for the DFI Gen 2 engines.

Sneaky Pete

Jake, is that my car waiting for your 4.0? Can't wait.

Flat6 Innovations

Thats yours.

nyone

Cross post from another, related thread: any experience with oil pan/engine block heater such as this one: http://proheatproducts.com/index.php...products_id=17?

p.s. no affiliations

alexb76

+911...

To Op, while Jake raises some good points, problem is, he is the one person that gets the worst case scenario engines, that are probably treated poorly. Porsche tests these cars in extreme conditions, and if you lookup any of the spy pics of testing, they're tested in crazy cold weather in Norway, Finland, etc...

It is NEVER a good thing to park ANY car over-night in below-zero temp and start it in the morning, as engine parts, fluids, etc... simply contract and are in sub-optimal conditions. I assume you have a garage for the Porsche, right? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. Otherwise, I wouldn't park any nice car outside in the winter and attempt starting it in the morning. Many Canadians have block heaters for extreme cold temps, to ensure car starts ok, but then again I don't believe that's applicable in your situation.

I drive my car (2007 C4S) all year, it's my daily and only car, it's parked inside and have never had any issues in winter.

@Jake, would ANY car have no issues starting up in below freezing over and over again? I bet the Russian car was neglected and used in such manner, which could have been the case with pretty much any car, but more so with tighter piston clearance (almost all performance cars)!

gpjli2

Perhaps a better question is whether this thread creates a new focus for those of us with OCD tendencies. Any want to guesstimate what percentage that would be? (I'm thinking pretty high

Kidding aside in EXTREME climes there was in olden days a heated dipstick to address this. Having no dipstick kinda rules this out tho. And modern lubricants certainly mitigate the problem.

Many years ago I took my 860 Ducati to work. Over 8 hours the temps plummeted. When I tried to start it I could not budge the kickstarter. That was straight 50w oil for you.

Schpee007

Alex,

Thanks for the post. Yes, I keep my 997 in the garage, don't take it out if temps are in the teens or lower, and never turn it off in cold temps unless the oil has reached operating temperature.

Goal of this thread was to get data for best practices. What I'd love to see is a bunch of data points from fellow 997 owners in colder climates that shows these motors, with common sense treatment in cold weather, are as durable as any other motor out there with the added benefit of loads of driving fun! Don't know that the data is forthcoming, but I'm optimistic over time enough posts will trickle in to say something of value.

Cheers!

TommyV44

Here's my 2 cents from a guy that lives in the Northeast and owns a 90 year old house and no garage and I drive the car all year long……..1999 C4 Cab….leased for 5 years and no issues at all. 2006 C4S Cab……lost an engine at 4K miles (2-3 months old) and then Porsche put a new engine in with no argument and I had no issues at all for 4 years……..2010 C4S 4 1/2 years and no issues.

All of these are serviced regularly at the dealer with oil changes every 5K or once a year.

Tom