During PCA DE at Road Atlanta this weekend, the engine in my 2001 996 Turbo let go! It has 81K miles. I had got the dash light a couple of sessions earlier to add oil, which I did. After that, the car was smoking out of one bank. I looked at it and thought that I may have overfilled it a little. Some others suggested it might be a seal going bad in one of the turbos. As you can see in this video, it was not a turbo.

Coming down the hill to turn 10a you can hear the beep of the low oil pressure warning. 2 seconds later the engine dies and I coast up to the bridge. Engine won't turn; case is still intact; didn't drop any oil but the low coolant warning light comes on when the key is turned. Yes, I know I am a dumbass. Yes, I should have known better. Looking for some answers now. Anyone with rebuilding experience? Any ideas on what may have happened? I was trying to keep an eye on the oil pressure, and I didn't notice it falling to 0, but according to Harry's Lap Timer, it was zeroing out several times on this lap!

 

It may be more cost-effective to procure a replacement engine vs. rebuilding depending on how bad the damage is. Is it a stock motor? Sorry to hear.... sucks.

 

sorry to hear about your misfortune bro but lookin at the brighter side it's time to fortify the motor and improve all areas of concern.

 

You mentioned low coolant warning. Did your car have the coolant fittings pinned or welded?

-V

 

Bad news and sorry to hear I would look for good replacement unless building a performance set up really seems worth it.

 

Yes, the coolant console had been welded. The coolant light was only when I tried to restart after the event. I am traveling for work over the next several days so it is just sitting on the trailer. I will keep this post updated on my progress.

 

Ugh. Puke

 

Wow, that would be my worst nightmare

 

did you have some intercoolers? waht octane? boost?

 

Stock intercoolers on pump gas. It was a mild chip with that supposed to deliver 1 bar, but I only ever saw .9.

 

Its fine was probably hot outside why it ran .9 only ..find out who tuned it... you may have gotten some second hand crap- I have seen some junk... ( not bashing anyone )

 

Wow,,Sorry..
Look at the bright side though,,the next build..
Good Luck

 

my sentiments exactly. Byron@ if you do have to rebuild? vivid has a 4.0 engine kit on firesale now for 10K! a steal.. next guy needs a motor, well...

but sorry to hear. hopefully it isn't catastrophic.

 

Having gone through a bunch of motors, loss of oil pres and the engine locking means it's probably all toast. I haven't gotten to much into these 3.6s. I haven't seen anything but are they prone to losing bearings under a ton of heat and load for prolonged times?

Also to the OP any idea what your oil temp was?

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. If you where at zero oil psi I would say this happened. Something valvetrain shed some debris that where pumped back to the dry sump by the pumps driven off the exhaust cams, which then went to the oil pump and trashed it. The low coolant may be from the piston galling and cracking the sleeve. Really good chance the drive off the ims to the oil pump broke. Drain the oil if you would like to see the coolant. It is common to see failures on the intake lifters on 01 turbos. I would think the easiest would be a engine swap as your core is most likely toast. Again sorry..