996tnz

John, good on you for being up front on the pipe pinning but the difference between buying one pinned or not is the same as buying with fresh versus end of life tyres as the cost is similar. I would urge any new owner to get them pinned though if they'll use the car in anger - and particularly before committing to any multi day events with it (track tours/targa tours etc). As mentioned before, some of these engines have been opened with 500,000+ kms on them and they were still mint inside, though some of the seals do start to get tired by then. At 167,000 odd kms, yours may no longer be a teenager but it's still only in it's mid-twenties if looked after. As you say, some leakdown and compression tests should easily prove it's still in fine fettle.

John McM

Walter. Check the current thread on the 996 forum #$@! Blew my engine today #&*#@! To get a sense of the grief when an engine lunches itself.

The worst that happens with the GT3 and Turbo coolant issue is that the coolant comes out on the ground as a green shower and you need a flat bed home.

Macca

CCS had two 997.2 GT3 in for full engine rebuilds this year. One had ingested part of its intake manifold and that didnt go down too well. There was a recall on the manifold plenium and flaps so Im guessing this may be covered by the factory. The other was a very unusual situation. Car had gone down the straight at Highlands backwards after a spin. Blew the engine. I saw the engine in parts a few months back but at that time they hadn't ascertained what had gone wrong...

RS ZWEI

The car that spun and lunched it engine, was thats the one caught on video? A white one that spun in the rain?

Macca

I dont know nick. It wasnt Neils 997.2 GT3 on here as that spin was at HD. This one happened at Highlands.

nzskater

Unsure at this point if it's particularly related to any one engine, painful to read regardless. Be interesting to see what the root cause and subsequent damage is (both mechanically and financially).

996tnz

I believe that plenum is GT3 specific and have never heard of such problems on a Turbo, though you could perhaps achieve the same thing by running without an airfilter, drawing in some junk and having smashed compressor blade fragments make it to a cylinder. The original intercoolers for the non-X50s (and maybe the X50s too?) have bypass channels for something like 10% of the airflow to help reduce lag, so don't quite filter everything again before it goes in. Not likely with a decent intake air filter though.

That GT3 engine damage post spin is interesting. First thought is that maybe the clutch didn't stay down or was perhaps let out in a forward gear or even just reverse gear at too high a speed while travelling backwards, without the wheels locked under brakes. Does the GT3 driveline have a sacrificial guibo? The other obvious possibility is that the engine damage caused the spin rather than the other way around.

The Turbo's Tiptronic S actually has a fail safe for when it goes backwards in a spin. I presume it works but I threw mine in neutral just before it went past 90 degrees so can't fully confirm. It seems to engage anyway though and the scary/annoying thing about it is that it goes into a failure mode that leaves the drive train disconnected (makes you think it's been an expensive track day) until you stop and restart the engine. But that's no problem compared to engine or drive train damage.

For the technically inclined here's a pic of those bypass channels I mentioned - they are the squarish gaps at left with no fins:

Macca

Yes its specific to the 3.8 GT3 I believe. I will find out the details on the GT3 that spun when Im at CCS on 22 Dec.

kiwi 911

https://www.facebook.com/porsche993club

OK - shamless promotion of the facebook 993 club - it only has 57 likes vs. approx 13K for 964 club.

(Facebook say the first goal is to get to 100 likes)

Macca

^^^^^ Probably more says something about the average age of ownership of the two models IMO.

Macca

Buba. This is where the grown ups go to hang out. The largest Porsche resource forum in the world ( I believe over 30 times larger than its closest rival). The last two columns are threads and posts:

mjg

How many of the posts in the 993 forum are questions about deviated stitching or if my PTS choice will match my handbag?

Macca

None that Ive seen Matt. I think you are getting confused with the 991 GT3 forum on Pistonheads (was a running joke for a long while).

John McM

Macca

Interesting point though. The cars in the 993 forum are by and large entirely original compared to the the 964 forum.