j_beede

Points taken....However when last shut down this engine ran fine..... Based on that we are assuming that it has not lost timing and no interference damage has taken place. For the rest of your argument, if the engine is shot, it's shot. My friend who has a lifetime of destroying engines as a race car driver behind him, feels good about the engine, and is willing to throw a bearing at it. We'll rinse it out the best we can. As it is he's out 18 grand. There's a chance we can squeeze some more miles out of it for less than one. Plus we're having fun wrenching. I sure am learning a lot quickly. If I ever lose my sanity and end up wanting one of these things, I'll know a lot more than I did a week ago. I think your friend should come up with another $239 so you can head over to Harbor Freight and pick up a fiber optic camera to add to YOUR toolbox. This way you can post some photos for us to look at and you will earn some good will from those who are providing technical advice. After reading the description, I think I may go buy one. ...j Description of Cen-Tech 67980 View inside cylinder heads, behind wallboard and many other hard-to-reach areas. Sharp 640 x 480 resolution camera with tempered glass lens records and plays back still images or video clips. -Save images on internal flash memory or SD card (not included) -USB cable lets you stream video directly to your laptop or personal computer -Brilliant 3.5" color 320 x 240 display -Narrow 8.5mm probe fits most spark plug holes -38" watertight flex shaft with CMOS imager -Bright white LED illumination -Rechargeable lithium-ion battery -includes: 120 volt adapter, USB cable, video-out cable, hook, mirror and magnet accessories, clip-on mirror

I understand your situation. That is one great looking and crazy ride for $13,000! 996s age very gracefully--I think people get the impression that the youthful appearance correlates to high reliability. You have to remember that car retailed for $70,000-$90,000 when new. Parts and repair costs do not scale down as the car gets older. Your comment above makes this easy... I would say don't even think about it. A failed IMS or cracked head on a car like this can result in repair expenses exceeding the value of car. 20,000 miles per year could mean two sets of rear tires per year--have you checked tire prices for this car? 2-3 oil changes per year could be $600-900 annually. For $13,000 you might be able to pick up a decent 350Z--I know, not quite the same as a 911, but a better match for your situation I think.

I think 996 prices and their often youthful appearance is attracting a new group of potential buyers (me included). I believe that you are doing the right thing by reading these Porsche forums and getting an idea of what 996 ownership can be like. I may be "lucky" in an odd way in that 2 of the 4 996s that I considered buying have suffered serious (total) engine failures. I would prefer to get this sort of education pre-purchase versus after! m96 engines do fail and owner's of these cars really do pay $15,000-20,000 for repairs or replacement engines. Serious stuff... especially when you consider the resale value of a working 996. ...j

That sounds like a bargain. I wonder if it comes with the 3.6L DME.

$19,000 for repairs to your MY03... makes me think about a guy at the autocross that had the fastest, nastiest sounding Lotus Europa I had ever seen or heard. Later in the day I walked over to his "pit" and was stunned to see no engine under the hood--how'd he pull it out so fast I wondered... Then I noticed a blue anodized adapter ring attached to his transaxle, and a tiny, gallon paint-can-sized Mazda 13B rotary bolted to the adapter. My guess is that the Mazda "transplant" was cheaper than rebuilding the Lotus/Renault/Cosworth twin cam 4 the Europa came width. I guess you have more affection for Porsche than he had for Lotus :) I hope you get many issue free miles from your rebuild.

Are you replacing your IMS bearing with the factory part, or upgrading to a non-sealed bearing? ...j

I edited a posting today (no spell checker during the daytime) and noticed that there was no "delete" option. Could that feature be enabled as part of editing? ...j

p1340 is cam in bank 1 out of sync--is that what your OBD reported? Have you had any work done that involved the tensioners recently (IMS bearing)? Maybe cam chain or cam chain tensioner wear can store this code? You didn't specify whether the rough idle was a new condition... if it was, did it exhibit sudden onset? ...j

Keep in mind that Dremel carborundum cutting wheels are fragile and non-magnetic. Will you be using some other sort of cutting wheel? Good luck and post photos if you can!

...of course the air cooled crowd will say spend a little more and get a 993 instead of a 996! :)

It sounds like your engine is either original or was not replaced with a reman engine from Porsche. If you are concerned about IMSB failure, your engine should have the smaller bearing (13mm nut) making it a candidate for the LN Eng retrofit. I have been told that engines replaced during 2005 or later will have the larger bearing (22mm nut) which would require removal and tear down of the engine to replace.

I never would have found the engine code without this photo. Many thanks Richard. The number "plate" was visible when looking under the car while it was on the ground--but not readable. I slid my digital camera under there are took a few photos from a couple angles and could easily read the numbers on the LCD screen while in playback mode.

Interesting. I provided a Porsche mechanic with a photo of the engine code and was told that it was a 2006 m96, 3.6L. I never checked the code myself :( and now see from your table (posted elsewhere) that the code indicates 3.4L as you indicated. This is actually good news to me... I had stopped considering MY99/00/01 996s because I was so impressed with the reman m96 that I thought was 3.6L. My error. I will start searching again for MY99/00/01 3.4L coupes--saving some money or getting more car in the process! Nice. ...j

FYI: Here's an example... The 2000 C2 I have been considering had its engine swapped in Jan'06 due to sudden loss of oil pressure. The new engine code was M96/04AT66Y6xxxx. Note the "AT" as pointed out by logray. The new engine is 3.6L which pulls and revs great and it has the newer, "non-serviceable" IMS bearing. The engine replacement was not reported by CarFax.

Sorry to hear this and see the photos. In spite of what is being said on other popular Porsche forums... IMS failures do occur--and far too often. I have personally met two 996 owners whose cars have suffered catastrophic failures due to IMS bearing failure. In one case the engine was replaced (out of warranty) with a MY06 m96 in October of 2005 at a partly-Porsche-subsidized cost of $13,000+. The owner thought this was a nice upgrade and in fact the engine does run great. Unfortunately it is a "big bearing" motor with the 22mm IMS center nut and thus is not a candidate for the LN Eng retrofit. The owner does not know this and is not particularly interested in the topic. The second car suffered a total failure as the result of an IMS bearing failure while cruising on the interstate at 70 MPH. The motor shut off and the car coasted to a stop. $15,000 for a rebuild out of warranty, including the IMS retrofit. To add insult to injury... the owner of that car had just spent $3000 on a new clutch months before--and could have added the LN Eng upgrade for less than an extra $1000 while the transmission was off. Now that owner has $35,000 invested in a car that has a resale value of something like $19,000 to $22,000. He has stopped driving the car and is trying to sell it for way more than the market will bear. Back to your car... The center nut does not appear in your photo... 13mm or 22mm? I have a few comments and concerns: I think I'm pretty good with a Dremel and those amazing carborundum cutting wheels... but how will you get that bearing out with out ruining the bearing seat? Maybe a thin brass or steel liner to protect the seat? What about damaging the end of the IM shaft itself? How will you retrieve the pieces that fall as they are cut free? LN Eng suggests installing the new bearing with Loctite (presumably "red") when the seat to bearing fit is compromised. The LN kit requires the cams be locked in position before beginning the bearing removal process. Even if you got the old bearing out and get a new ceramic hybrid bearing back in... I think the motor would have to be R&R to confirm cam timing before you could spin the crank and cams. Is there another way? In any case, good luck. I will be watching for updates on what you learn or what progress you make. ...j

Porsche replaced a lot of engines in MY99 and MY00 cars. The engine number is struck into a vertical flat spot just above the sump cover on the driver side of the block just below the exhaust header nearest the front of the car. I cannot read it by kneeling down and looking. The car has to be on a lift or I was able to photograph it and read it easily by sliding the camera under there--I ruined my watch crystal in the process. The 2006 m96 replacement motors that I have seen have the letters "AT" in the code. Like this: M96/04AT66Y*****. The 2006 motors are 3.6L and sound better and pull harder than the original series one 3.4L--in my opinion. According to the experts I have spoken with, the replacement motors are not compatible with the LN Eng IMS upgrade. ~2005 and later motors have a larger IMS bearing that cannot be extracted without engine R&I and tear down ($$$). According to LN Eng, the only way to know for sure is to pull the transmission and measure the IMS bearing nut. This goes beyond the typical PPI! ...j

The fact that a twelve year old 996 can look so good not only sets reliability expectations high... it can cause people to buy too quickly without doing adequate research, searching--and even worse: not waiting for a proper PPI.