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purchased in August 2015 in VA. drove home to CA 3000 miles.
Discovered scoring in all 6 cyl in May 2016 after doing plug/coilpack change and HF scope inspection.
did not have excessive oil consumption, or excessive soot but had ticking and vibration
stopped daily driving car in June 2016 per Jake Raby guidance. drove 125 miles May to Jan 2017.
Decided to do Flat 6 4.0 build over new Porsche or RND off-the-shelf.
Car currently at Flat 6 with engine out and on the bench.
4.0 build
edit. Update. Feb 28. Engine is apart now and the scoring is less than first thought but the failure of pistons has begun. Pistons and bores measured out of tolerance and the piston skirt coating is peeling off. I caught this early- its in early stages of failure- but failure none the less. It would of only got worse (and probably very quickly) from this point forward. There is no damage to other components which has potentially saved me lots money.
Last edited by granprixweiss928; 03-01-2017 at 02:02 AM.
2006 S Cabriolet. noticed oil consumption then blue smoke at 100,000 K. took it in had 3 cylinders scored. Car came from US to Edmonton. I bought it from Porsche dealer in Edmonton (could have had a lot of cold starts???) and had it shipped to Kelowna. The good news had insurance which resulted in a new short block installed. YAAAA.
I've got what is likely one of the higher-mileage 997.1s out there. An 11/04 build, its my daily driver. I'm the 2nd owner since '09/33k. Driving is mostly mountain highway & town/country, with ~10% low-speed dense commuter traffic. I have a +/-2000ft altitude commute daily, so I'm up and down through the (tip, typically manual mode) gears and try to go >5k revs at least once a week--maybe during weekend fun drives. I've only hit the rev limiter 3 times (tip saves on over-revs) and have seen a buck fifty once. In other words, I drive it like a Porsche. I also grew up in flat fours and have a 356, so I don't favor low revs nor stomp-on starts. I do, however, lean more on downshifts and engine decel than braking if I don't need to. Also probably due to old habits of smaller brakes on older cars. I love this car and though it has scuffs and scrapes, they're mine and reflect our history together. It goes without saying it is rigorously--nay, zealously-- maintained on the mechanicals.
Last July, ~155k mi I was following a bicycle down a mountain rd (hwy 9 to Saratoga for the local readers) and was in a lower gear letting engine compression do its thing, enjoying the sounds. In town, shifting up, I got a flashing CEL and it felt like I lost a cyl. I parked it and had it towed to my local independent.
They found to my embarrassment that I'd let my K&N get too dirty. I'd swapped in the filter and neglected to add the check to my list--okay, so not completely as zealous as I'd like to believe. The failure story was MAF confusion on air starvation, which loaded up a cyl and fouled a plug.
2 mos later, I notice significant oil loss (.25-.5K/~200-500mi), black on left exhaust tips. Noticed just once a big cloud on take-off from a freeway metering light. Not excessively aggressive, but again with an engine-braking load in the stop-go line leading up to the light (i.e., keeping it in low gear and not really using the brakes). A CEL for SAI pump (checked on my Durametric) on one bank came on soon after. Back to the shop, I suggest the 2AP might have a hose leak (tubes are 10 years old) or maybe the pump itself--heard ticking--has a diaphram leak. This time a coil pack was diagnosed as the cause of another plug on the same bank fouling. On my way.
3 mos later (winter rains in NorCal meant less driving) I get the same 2AP code again. Back again, and we have a long conversation about root causes since this is essentially the same issue. They call back with the SAI port on one back being clogged ala the infamous 993. I have them clear both banks. 2 days later the code is back. I bring it in and get to watch the diagnostic. There's a code for a variocam fault. Hmm. That fits somewhat--one piston stuck in the wrong profile, bad fuel flow to that cyl on the bank. They keep it to rule out electricals by some swapping of cylinders connections. They find no change to the offending cyl (#6). They hand it back no charge with the recommendation: "detail it and sell it." My gut sank. Though this shop has a very good reputation, they lean more towards air-cooled motors; they admit straight up they don't disassemble the vasserpumpers.
So up the peninsula to a shop that focuses more on Porsches made in the last two decades. With a discussion only, the immediate advise was the same as the other shop! Sell it and get a lower-mileage car. But I'm on the books for a full inspection with borescope this week and I'll report back. The tech suggested that cylinder scoring could be the root cause of my woes. And we'll know if the Variocam code is real.
Update: Yep. #6 scored. Borescope through the plug holes showed significant scoring around 90º (couldn't tell from the recording which side/top/bottom). The plug had significant fouling at ~250mi with a new coil pack.
Now onto the decision about the car's future. Fire-up the spreadsheets, lads, full appriasal & cost/benefit analysis ahead!
72,000km and scoring on #6. Vancouver daily driver, garaged always. Booked in for a Raby 4.0 this winter! After test driving some 991's it was a super easy decision financially and emotionally to go for the engine rebuild. 4.0 is the silver lining. And all the other add ons!!
Update: Yep. #6 scored. Borescope through the plug holes showed significant scoring around 90º (couldn't tell from the recording which side/top/bottom). The plug had significant fouling at ~250mi with a new coil pack.
Now onto the decision about the car's future. Fire-up the spreadsheets, lads, full appriasal & cost/benefit analysis ahead!
any updates? at your 166k miles imo you definitely got your money$ worth + happiness out of the car!
I am new on here. I am in the process of buying a Porsche 911 Carrera 2S. It is a well looked after car but after a bore scope check, it was found that one of the cylinders has a small single mark.
The Porsche garage that did the test said it is very slight but I wanted some advice as to whether I should still buy the car or not. This car is within my budget, I cannot afford a newer one and the garage have told me that this may only get slightly worse over the next few years!
The car is 11.5 years old and has covered 80,000 miles and it is honestly immaculate. I am only planning on keeping the car for about 6-12 months and then I will be changing it. Don't tend to keep my cars for long.
Here is a picture of the bore in question, thanks guys!
As long as you know it will only get worse, not any better. Oil consumption may go up, and that engine will get a knock sound soon enough that will only get louder. Probably some smokey start ups also are in your future.
If you're ok with all of that, and you are getting a VERY good deal (that motor needs a rebuild, no questions about it, and that is minium $15-18k DIY) then go for it. you can use that as some ammo to further reduce the price of the car.
Karma would be good to you if you were honest when selling it also
It's a draw of luck or ticking time bomb really... like the other guy says, it will only get worse, but will it blow up during your ownership, that's another question...
when you sell.. you will face the same problem, you will need to find a buyer that's willing to take the risk or else you will be stuck with it longer than you want and chances of needing a repair will grow.
Originally Posted by David_Cannon
Hi Guys,
I am new on here. I am in the process of buying a Porsche 911 Carrera 2S. It is a well looked after car but after a bore scope check, it was found that one of the cylinders has a small single mark.
The Porsche garage that did the test said it is very slight but I wanted some advice as to whether I should still buy the car or not. This car is within my budget, I cannot afford a newer one and the garage have told me that this may only get slightly worse over the next few years!
The car is 11.5 years old and has covered 80,000 miles and it is honestly immaculate. I am only planning on keeping the car for about 6-12 months and then I will be changing it. Don't tend to keep my cars for long.
Here is a picture of the bore in question, thanks guys!
02-07-2017, 11:14 AM
997.1 - 166k mi: yes
