Kel

You should upgrade to LN Engineering Intermediate shaft bearing and replace RMS.

The ticking was indeed a gudgeon bush. On dissassmbly, the conrond could be moved on the piston by hand. Bore was oval 4+ thou. Other cylinders and gudgeons also showing similar signs. Hartech (see elsehwere on here) theorises that this ovality is precursor to D chunking of #2 and #5. Car (3.4 man 996) had done 72,000 klms in 10 years since new. Used no oil. Ran well, but had a "lifter noise" when warm at idle. Started to become a hard metallic, unfriendly noise. Disappeared with revs. Thicker oil quietened it. Torn down - now has LN Eng Nickies, JE forged pistons 3.6litre with IS upgrade and other durability mods. Bore thickness vs. std. is - O/D of cylinder std. is 110mm, OD with the 3.6 litre Nickies - 115mm and the Nickies are said to be stronger cylinder material. So 2.5mm thicker wall, stronger Al. cylinders and a larger bore.. Got to say that it is fast...esp. with 12:1 compression. Another car in the shop, similar vintage, same 3.4 996 motor being torn down had same oval bore issue - again well represented by the Hartech article. After assembly and drive for a day - had intermixing. Used the Brad Penn 30w run in oil as recommended by LN. Theory is maybe too much oil pressure with new motor and stressed the old oil coller. Oil pressure at 75+psi vs water at 23 psi meant that the oil traffic was one way into the coolant (yes water and oil pass through the cooler in seperate chambers - it ruptured.) Oil in water - no water in oil. A pain to fix - removal of radiators, a days flushing, disconnect, regas air etc let alone more work in the engine bay... My advice - this is another dodgy Porsche part - change it if your car is several years old and is still on the original. I read on here people give up on their engines from intermixing quickly and think the worst- like cylinder head or bores... Try the oil cooler if you have no water in the oil and its just oil in the coolant.

I hope you are right. My 99 C2 996 man. had a ticking noise when warm - thought to be lifters- lifters rt. bank replaced - no change- turned out to be #5 gudgen pin failing - discovered by cutting fuel to cylinders in turn to cut load. Rare but known amongst Porsche specialists. Car had done 73klms. Tear down revealed other gudgeons not far behind. #5 cylinder ovality was way outside tolerance (but oil consumption only 250ml every 7000klms!)- needed new cylinder, could not be bored to too thin - off to LN Engineering for their nickies upgrade. This all started late June. Yet to get car back. Couldn't put std. gudgeons back in. Fitting X51 sump. Oil changed inside recommedations. Tracked twice. Fragile things these M96 engines. Upgrading with LN intermediate shaft , billet cam tensioner (big wear on original at only 73klms, or 42k miles!), full flow oil system (IMHO oil system or oil quality has failed the engine in my case - original fill brand), higher quality gudgeons( gudgeon failure - you are kidding me...), JE 3.6ltr pistons, but stock rods. Motor will be new front to back.

Ticking at idle when warm, rev it it goes away - my 72klms old 98 year build 996 3.4ltr Manual has same problem. Went in for new lifters. No fix... Discovery is that the 5th cylinder gudgeon bush is worn/damaged - a not uncommon problem I am told. Car uses no oil, otherwise runs very well. Engine in process of tear down now as I can not be sure of time to total failure. Tick has become worse over last 4klms. Devastating outcome on such a low mileage car that has had no other issues. By the way when lifters replaced has issues with exhaust manifold bolts breaking off in dissassembly and v. worn timing chain ramp. Buying a reman is not an option - the LN Eng. options seem good if there is an bore issues. will get LN Eng IM shaft/bearing upgrades as a minimum. Kel

My 98 model 996 now has 62klms, or ~36k miles -so its a low mileage car for the age. New clutch, f/wheel, oil seperator, RMS & int. shaft seals/bolts at ~30k miles - end float of crank measured well within the limit at just 0.135mm. This would be helpful I guess if I knew where it started life at. The engine performs strongly with only a minor tick when warm from right bank - valve hydraulics probably. Clutch was just starting to slip - but when removed was worn to the rivets, the flywheel was stuffed ( the rubber part in the 2 piece was loose) and the RMS had started to leak - actually there was a lot of oil in the bell housing, but I only had a few drops on the floor when I put it in to fix. The radiator system water tank in engine bay was replaced ~ 2.5 years ago just before I bought it.

My 98 C2 had same problem. Its the cater rods in teh front. There is a ball joint that wears out at one end. My car only had 36k miles. There is a replacement part number. In Australia they are a US$300 part each.

I have 98 Carrera C2- 36k miles - maybe similar noise - and have been unable to find it. Mine occurs on sharp bumps when wheel is sharply pushed up and perhaps back. I have checked whether its engine lid loose or spoiler etc - no. The service shop report nothing wrong with left rear shock and can not find anything wrong with the rear control arms that have the ball joint on them although they said these are difficult to check for wear in the shop. All other connections/links report OK. Mine sounds like a "pop", a bit like a bunch of wooden floor boards in unison going up and then making sound on landing. Vey odd. I'll be interested in this one. The front castor arms were replaced recently - they had a different rattle noise. Also I am not sure whether I am getting a bit of rear end steer in a straight line.