EMan 928

I have a friend who has a 2006 997.1 Carrera 4 with about 100000 miles on it. He took it to the dealer because he noticed a ticking noise in the engine and an increase in engine temperature from 200 to around 210 degrees. The dealer told him they found metal in the oil and suspected that the sleeves were destroyed thus requiring a new engine (they quoted him $25k).

When my friend asked what could have caused the engine failure, the dealer was very vague and said it was an old car with a lot of miles. They offered to send the engine oil out for analysis, which is what my friend is having them do. The only other thing my friend noticed that seemed different with the car was the oil pressure. Usually, it was close to 5 on the gauge. Lately, it has been "hunting" between 3 and 5. Also, he said this engine behavior seemed to start after he had a mild under steering accident that caused front end damage to the car. Nothing to the back, though.

Have any of you had something like this happen? Any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks in advance, Eric

myw

my condolences to your friend.

sadly its THE most common problem amongst the M series engines starting from the 996's ->2008.

do a search on here and 6spd and you'll see that this is reported once a month on these forums...

lol 'old car with a lot of miles' (9 years 100k). that is as lame as it gets for an excuse to have an engine completely replaced. porsche is aware of this problem.

xG3

to be fair.. 100k miles is alot of distance.... i have heard TSX that needs replacement then too..

jhbrennan

Sorry to hear this...but why do these stories usually begin with "I have a friend"?

xG3

i think is cause he doesn't have a 997.. lol..

EMan 928

True, I do not have a 997. Mostly 928's. I place a lot of value on the people who make Rennlist what it is and I know you 997 guys are very knowledgeable.

Surprised that this is such a common issue with these engines.

mjsporsche

I think you need to define "common issue". All the fear mongers use these examples to create unnecessary anxiety. The failure rates of these engines are less than 1% which is consistent with many other models (both Porsche and elsewhere).

Can it happen? Sure. Is it likely...No! If you change your oil frequently, you can sleep well at night.

porterror

I have a friend who likes to start up internet drama.

EMan 928

Didn't realize it was less than one percent. Last oil change was 6000 miles ago and supposedly no metal particles in oil.

mikeborden

I think he means that when they do break, this is the most likely reason why they break. Most people dread the IMSB from March of 2005-2008 models whereas that is the least of the problems with the stated MY models.

This problem really is weird, happens with little miles to quite a few, to someone has put over 150k miles and no problem.

One of the most common threads with the cars having bore scoring is that they are from the Northern part of the states where it gets cold and they are driven year around.



OP, did your friend live in the North and drove it yearly?

EMan 928

Yes, you are correct. He lives in Michigan and has driven it year round for the last 5 years (which is when he purchased the car)

theporscheguy

Eric,
You might have your friend do a little more research concerning the effects of the accident. It seems to coincidental that the effects starting occurring right after the accident.

mikeborden

This is the highest mileage that I have seen so far with bore scoring. Jake Raby has stated the highest he has seen this with is about 80k miles I believe.

The theory is that the lower mileage with closer tolerances and driven in the North during cold weather, it's more likely to happen. Usually, the higher mileage cars don't suffer this because the tolerances should be a little looser.

You can do a search and see quite of few of these. On the 911uk.com board, bore scoring is the most talked about and seems to be the most common failure there. However, they don't have really cold weather there so, what's the cause there? Jake has also stated that he hasn't seen scored bores from a hot weathered car.

Most things that I have read to hopefully prevent this is keep RPM's about 3000-4000 when cold, especially in the cold weather and keep the oil changed about 3-5 thousand miles.

OP,
Can the dealer even get another engine? I've read all they can get is a short block. For $25k, you can probably send it to someone like Raby and get it built to what they want. That is, unless it's still under warranty.

Mike

Jerrsnbrg

Tell hime to go to carmax and trade it.

mattyf

Came here for this. Did not disappoint.