another (?) 996 3.4 engine broken...

[MaximumNoise]

Hi, I'm from Italy and I own an immaculate 996 C2 cabrio, built in june '99.

The car has a total of 67.000 Km (42000 miles) and it's been always serviced (last service 500 km ago).

Saturday, after a little 50 km highway ride, when I stopped at a red light near home I heard a big mechanical noise coming from the engine... but the engine was running great since i stopped.. no warning lights on the dash and strong oil pressure.

I was 500mt from home so I ride very very slow to park the car in the box... On monday I put the car on a truck and I went to my service....

He found some small copper pieces in the oil!

He first thought to valvle guides, but when he removed the crankcase oil screen he found... parts of bearing shells!

I've heard that this is a very well known problem of 3.4l engines and Porsche redesigned the entire crankcase... and the solution is: ENGINE REPLACEMENT.

The problem is that the car is out of warranty and the cost here in Italy will be about 8-9Euro (10-12K US$) for a replacement engine.

My question is: do Porsche recognize that this is a design mistake?

If my engine had 100.000 miles I'd be prepared for the replacement but not on a 40k miles engine!

I bought a Porsche, a brand whose reputation is also made with reliability... next time will I have to buy a Jap?

Someone has some previous references?

Thanks

[djantlive]

Sorry to hear about your mishap.

I don't think there is a recall on engine failure. You'll have to pay for a new engine it looks like. You may try to file a claim. Sometimes Porsche will split the cost of engine replacement with you since it failed prematurely.

Make sure it's installed by dealer properly to minimize possible RMS due to misalignment of engine & tranny.

[gian61]

Ciao Massimo!

Tranquillo,tengo la bocca chiusa sull'altro Forum.

[Richard Hamilton]

I've heard that this is a very well known problem of 3.4l engines and Porsche redesigned the entire crankcase...

I don't believe they have redesigned it - that's the problem!!!

[MaximumNoise]

today I found this: http://www.alldata.com/TSB/50/99503540.html

note TSB Number 11A/0 of august 2003 "Engine - Modified Crankcase/Bearing Housing Usage" that seems exactly my problem...

and, finally, regarding the redesigning I found this on PCA web site

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_question.a...3-A86727374661}

[Loren]

TSB 1a/01 1010 Crankcases and Bearing Housings (dated 8-22-2003)

Vehicle Type: 911 Carrera (996) / 911 Carrera 4 (996)

Model Year: 1999 (X)

Concern: Crankcases and bearing housing use for repairs/replacement parts.

Information:The parts department will be supplying modified crankcases and bearing housing. During repairs, if the crankcase is damaged, the crankcase and the bearing housing must be replaced together.

Reason:

Due to the crankcase modifications, the previously installed bearing housing can no longer be used. This applies for all engines in the model year 99 (X) up to following engine numbers:

M96/01 66 X 11005 or M96/02 68 X 05167

Note: During installation of a new bearing housing the oil spray jets for piston cooling must also be installed. The modified bearing housing can be installed retroactively in a pre-modification crankcase.

Parts Information:

Part Numbers    Description

996 101 901 01 Crankcase

996 101 018 51 Oil spray jet (6 ea. required)

996 101 007 05 New / Bearing housing

996 101 012 64 Previous / Bearing housing; no longer available

996 101 205 10 New / Crankshaft bearings (14 ea. required)

[MaximumNoise]

Many thanks Loren! But... what should tell this? That if I'm going to repair the engine Porsche will provide me a new modified crankcase and bearing housings (that is the correct word for those things that started to damage the engine, followed by the bearing shells..).

The point is: why they have modified the crankcase?... Anything else?

(I think customers would had been happier if P had recall this problem instead of 993cabrios...)

[AGUIRREMoore]

Many thanks Loren! But... what should tell this? That if I'm going to repair the engine Porsche will provide me a new modified crankcase and bearing housings (that is the correct word for those things that started to damage the engine, followed by the bearing shells..).

The point is: why they have modified the crankcase?... Anything else?

(I think customers would had been happier if P had recall this problem instead of 993cabrios...)

make sure that the oil, fuel, anti-freeze intakes will be the same.There are a lot of factors to consider also: car computer, transmission, etc

____________________

Edited July 8, 2008 by Loren
Removed commcercial signature

[perryinva]

Dude, you just replied to a guy who posted this thread more than 3 years ago!! Read the dates!!

[juniinc]

LOL

Dude, you just replied to a guy who posted this thread more than 3 years ago!! Read the dates!!