It's more than $10k.
A 997S 3.8L engine, new (not rebuilt) runs $14k. Expect another $2k in labor.
CATTMAN

 

I doubt it would make sense to attempt to rebuild it. You would be best off finding a used or rebuilt engine. I had to buy a whole new engine. Good times.
CATTMAN

 

proper rebuild is apparently about of $6-$10K in parts plus 100 hours of labor.
if you cannot do labor yourself then it renders whole rebuild strategy pointless from financial perspective.
only people who do rebuilds are racing shops as they do their own work and mostly attend upper engine parts without splitting the case. if internal damage is extensive enough like bearings, IMS, etc - no one even opens this thing.

i bet as 997 cars get older there will be more enthusiasts who will work on their own but right now number of pro shops who can and know how to repair m96/m97 engines is very limited and prices are, well, astronomical.

 

I found out a few hours ago that cylinder #2 has a cracked wall and I need a new engine. Car has 40K miles, few track days, now needs new engine. Not a happy camper. Just thought I'd share my experience.

 

sorry to hear that. i feel your pain. i'm in the process of having my 2005 engine replaced with 22,700 miles on it and a perfect maintenance record. i've researched issues with the 2005-2006 Carrera's quite a bit over the last few weeks since mine went down.

the issue is much wider spread than we know. mileage isn't really an issue with the intermediate shaft. evidently many failed very early on in ownership and were covered under the standard warranty's. porsche has dealt with the issue on an individual basis owner-by-owner, sometimes helping people out in some way, but more often, no help. this is my 6th and last porsche. i cancelled the order of my 2012 carrera.

 

i offered some time ago people in the forum to contact PCNA and headquaters of Porsche regarding all that - in response most people only sneer and no one really cares, so, that is why most folks will have to shell out their own money for what would be a massive recall and free replace in case of Honda, Toyota, etc.

 

Not sure what you are talking about, but I did contact PCNA, as have many others. BTW, when you take your car to the dealer for a new engine, they can complete a "goodwill" form that they send to PCNA. It includes lots of data, including year, model, miles, where bought, where services, ODBII data, how many other Porsches does the owner have and where are they all bought and serviced, etc.
CATTMAN

 

Are you going to publish your research here? I'd love to see what you've discovered.

 

My girlfriend has a second generation Nissan Mirrano. Some of the 1st gens had a problem with the CVT and it was expensive to fix if it needed it. Nissan extended the CVT warranty to 10 years 100,000 miles on all 1st gen and 2nd gens, despite there being zero issues (as far as I know) occurring in the 2nd gen cars. She was ecstatic, they took a remote risk that impacted very few owners and turned it into a huge positive for all owners and built a heck of a lot of brand loyalty and appreciation. Too bad Porsche doesn't do the same.

 

Wow, that is terrible! What was the issue that made you aware there was a problem? Is it related to the IMS that the OP brought up? What do they do to fix that?

 

Oil analysis is definitely a good idea for any high end car, particularly ones with this known failure mode. I purchased a 2005 997 S this spring and have been keeping track ever since.


I also proactively installed the LN Engineering IMS retrofit kit, which has a two year warranty attached to it from them. The porsche dealer did the install, which actually puts them on the hook as well. I hope to never have an issue.

 

I thought they had these issues sorted out in the early 996/Boxster motors. PCNA does not seem to want to admit they have an ongoing issue with defective engines. For awhile first gen V-8 M3 motors were coming apart and BMW put a 100,000 warranty on all of them.

 

I like the idea of the oil and analysis! I'm considering it right now. What are the things (red flags) we should look for? Should the oil be relatively dirty, meaning close to the next change? Anything you can share is greatly appreciated!

For the OP, I really feel for you and would love to see Porsche step up and take care of this failure!!

 

I also see it as incredibly unfortunate that a company that sells itself on engineering can't find a way to make these right. A limited warranty is one thing, but sudden and costly engine failure with no evidence of abuse by the owner in a car with less than 100K miles should be covered fully.

But, alas, this is probably why I'm not a billionaire with Porsche for a last name!

 

recently I had a big scare, initially I though my engine went kaboom, it turned out to be ignition coils. When I was waiting for the diagnosis, I called porsche to see how much a new engine was, its around 22K plus about 2.5k to install.
They do not care, nor will they contribute anything to it.

I have to say I was very disappointed with the company. As someone here mentioned, when I bought my 01M3, they had a similar issue with engines blowing up. But (a very big but) BMW has a recall, which they performed for free, cost around 5k.

General public is not aware that porsche brand has any of these issues.
After having this scare, the engine blow up is on my mind now.