Dubbyfreshquire

Hello Board...

I am new here- in fact this is my first post... I am a mild mannered... scratch... I am An avid car guy and have been so for years... I mean I even built a NorthStar V8 Fiero Gt when I was 16... That said... In all my years of cars... from the Fiero, to my Old School Espirt... to My M3... Or even my Acura... I have never... ever... ever had this happen to me before...

So... I just picked up this 997.1. I was in love... her name is Nebula aka Nebi... She is super clean passed a PPI test and I liked the way her hips looked... So I brought her and drove her home.

I have had her about two weeks... So far I changed the oil, tranny fluid, fuel & air filter, balanced the tires and had the water pump replaced. The previous owner noted to have "performed" a 90K service which I did not see in the Porsche dealer service log (why don't these things have chips like the BMW of the same year had...?) ...but somehow that water pump item was not changed... So I figured to get ahead of the curve and attempt to enjoy the German during an very warm winter here in the District.

That shytizerhousa was a plan that never saw light... I was driving along minding my own business... I swear... after the aforementioned services... And kerpow...kerplunk... kaput... But there were no lights on the dash... Mind you... I have stalled a few times but her clutch is so tight... But I haven't even done a 60 launch or taken it over 100...

So I stopped from the 20mph in which I was driving...and looked under the car.... To my surprise... or better yet assured demise... Was this... The engine was literally falling out of the car....

So I hopped on here and 6speed to see if anyone posted about this and I used a lot of search terms... all the possible search terms... few worked to show this exacting issue... I decided that I would write a quick blurb and post this horror story with the right search terms so we can all know it is possible and you will need to endure to agony... Thank you the the 914 owner and the 997 race car who posted the few items I could find out engines falling out...

After, I deduced that I was screwed... So I slow rolled and got a tow to my guys at German Auto Group in Springfield, VA... They shuddered when I shared the news and felt badly that they did not predict this happening through inspection. I guess we all know it is possible now....

So enjoy the pictures of a COMPLETE 997 MOTOR MOUNT FAILURE AND ENGINE FALLING OUT OF THE CAR....

Dubby
























All clean after surgery doctor....



Dubby

Lvt19672

They should have caught it on the PPI.

SJP3003

Holy Scheiss! Glad it was just the mounts. Time for a backroad shakedown drive to Shepherdstown via Potomac.

hollywood1053

What is the prognosis?
New mounts and everything good - or was more damage done?

Philster

I had this happen twice... to the same car... and that car is the Shelby Z in my signature. And that was 25+ years ago, when she only had about 30,000 miles on 'er.

.

gpjli2

Most Porsche drivers I know carry roll of duct tape for this very reason!

to self.

To you: Sorry could not resist. Seriously bad luck. Post a pretty pic when you get to finish your ride.

Wayne Smith

Don't forget the coat hangers, tie straps, and vice grips!

Hopefully no secondary damage. Your car should be up and running in no time and you'll have a great story for the future.

chuck911

Motor mounts do wear and need replacement, but don't often break as yours did. Usually the owner will eventually notice the extra sloppiness in handling from the engine/transmission swinging around, or the slop as the engine rotates when revved, or eventually if they get worn as bad as yours there may be a knocking as the worn mounts or even the engine moves enough to start hitting things. In your case though the car was sold right about that time, and you had no time really to notice before it went.

Hopefully you upgraded with some semi-solid mounts. Even if stock though it should feel a lot better now. Not that you had much chance to get to know how it felt in the first place!

As you can probably guess, motor mounts are not the only rubber parts subject to wear. At 90k miles and about 10 years they are all getting old enough to benefit from replacement. This is one of those things that can really make an old car feel new again, restore that supple compliance and responsive handling (even upgrade it with the right parts) and be done rather inexpensively by a guy like you with a few tools and the inclination. Hopefully after this experience you will be so inclined. But if not no worries. Your engine may have almost fallen out, but your wheels will probably not fall off. I hope.

Bruce In Philly

15 years of reading these boards.... yours is the first I read of this.

Big bummer.....

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Linnm

So, what is the plan?

MaddMike

Had this happen to an old, rusty Beatle back in the day.

ADias

I have seen reports of that in cars who have seen corrosion, like salt. Probably the case here.

Dubbyfreshquire

All clean after surgery doctor....



Dubby[/QUOTE]

I wish they had caught it... I would have negotiated a better deal. But such is life... She apparently is a vampire...

I certainly have to find a good flow to drive... I am excited for A Skyline run. Does this forum gather often for those type of roundups?

She was fine after a bit a cajoling... I was very pleased with the toughness of the car. Mechanical to the core and took a pop and a bump to correct the mis-alignment from the 6 in drop from the mount point. I was sure there would be more damage, but prayer that there was not... Thanks God The transmission mounts and other items were fine. Since, I know where they are now and how to take out the air box and I will continue to be diligent in a replacement schedule. I wish I could make the judgement as to what is positive performance part upgrade and what should remain OEM. Coming from the M community I was able to make the logical connections to upgrade vs butt grade fail readily.

Wow... That is an AMAZING CAR! My guy in HS had a Daytona... we put on the 200$ Maaco paint job and tinkered with it until is was our very own Shelly. Now that I think about it... Almost everything went wrong with that car... I could see that happening... Sheesh Louise... Great memory... Thank you @ Philster

Dubby

mike9186

Someone also posted about a broken engine mount a few months ago.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...on-damage.html

PorscheDoc

Wow, that is an extreme mount failure! The good news is the motor can't fall out of the car, the crossmember will support it