keep us posted.

 

Well, I finally took the car to the shop. It turns out that one of the spark plugs was wet; they went ahead and verified that it is going to be a cracked head or cylinder. Lucky me. I did not talk to the shop in depth, but my options seem to be:

- To fix it. but, it could happen in any of the rest... theoretically.
- To fix it, and while at it, retrofit the remaining cylinders.
- Rebuilt engine. expensive, and actually no idea of where to get it FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE. Let me know guys if you know of alternatives here.
- New engine. Lots of cash. I'll check again but 3.4's were going for around 12k, plus labor.

Instead of looking at this as the beginning of a bad year, I am choosing to look at it as the beginning of a good year... fixing the mess of the last one.

Will keep you posted. Suggestions WELCOME.

Cheers.

 

Did they check the DME history to see if it was over revved? Just curious on this one, seems like quite the coincidence...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-911-996-Carrera-3-4-Rebuilt-Engine-C2-C4-Motor_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2a03d7dec6QQitemZ 180453105350QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAc cessories

Also ask sun coast they are even cheaper from what I remember.

If you want to keep the car, do it right and put in a rebuilt. If they open up the engine to replace a cylinder head, its just a waste because of all the consumable seals, timing chain/tensioners and updates that have come out for that engine. Honestly if you really shop around I bet you could get it done and out the door for 9ish, and yes including a clutch and some other various parts you would do when in there.

If you were local I would pop a new engine in for you, its really easy, and doesn’t take too long when you know what your doing.

 

will get results tomorrow... just in case. Yep.

 

Edmonds... used to live in Shoreline... thinking about moving back next year!

The issue would be to find out a place that sells a rebuilt engine and knowing that it is what they claim... I read some scary stuff.

 

Friday I'll know what is really going on, as they will have the engine open.

 

If it is a cracked cylinder head it is pretty easlily repairable, I know because I did mine. Cost is $1,500-$2,000. Less is you do the labor yourself as I did. Depends on what you replace while you are in there. To fix or replace a head (a new head is about $2,800) does not require splitting the cases.

So I have to disagree with 19000RPM about replacing the engine. With the 3.4 cars only worth about $20K (often less) these days it is hard to rationalize $15K to replace and engine, and the lowest cost you will find for a 3.4 Porsche reman engine is about $12K, just for the engine, and this assumes a good core. There are other rebuilders out there, some with "rebuilt" engines for only $6K-$8K, but they are not like the Porsche reman where just about everything but the cases is new.

Flat 6 has a great rebuild program, with great mods/upgrades, but the engine is $15K+ I believe.

The bottom line is if you can sepnd $2K-$3K, and get another 40K+ miles (who knows how long it will go) if is not a bad alternative. If you would like more info on this let me know.

 

I hear you Dharn55,

After talking with my mechanic, we both agree with you; if it is the case that it is a cracked head, just to change the head and hope for the car running for a while longer. Who knows, it could be years before it pops again.

He also mentioned that he could rebuild it, but the porosity issue will obviously still be there so he argued that the best way would be getting the Porsche engine... and that would be too much compared to the old car's price.

Thanks for your support; you "almost convinced" to do it myself reading your threads The fact is that I need the car or a replacement as it is a daily driver and wouldn't be able to spend the time to learn to fix it myself. Let's see what they say on Friday. My hope is that I fix a head for a couple of thousands and move on for now.

Cheers,

 

Got a call form shop... Cracked cylinder. Not good. Will go there and see what the deal is. It seems like it all points out to new engine. !#$%@#$%

 

Sorry to hear that it was the cylinder and not the cylinder head. More of a problem. However, if I was going to consider a new/reman engine, I maight go the extra dollars and get Flat 6 to rebuild my engine. He does upgrades that are way beyond what Porsche offers in their reman engines. I think there is quite a wait for them to rebuild your engine though. Good luck on this!

 

It is my understanding that if I go with engine rebuild, and since it is the core (cylinder) what is cracked, I am looking to machine/fix the core... adding the cost to take engine apart and back together. Thus, a new engine it is more cost effective.

Is this correct or am I missing something?

 

The Flat 6 rebuilds include all new cylinders, pistons, rings, IMS shaft, seals, upgraded chains tensioners, etc etc. etc. The cost of a reman 3.4 is about $11,800 (last time I checked with Sunset) plus the core of about $2,000-$2,500. If your core is accepted than Flat 6 is several thousand more. But if your core is not accepted, and remember that it cannot be disassembled, then the cost of the 3.4 reman is very close to Flat 6. Now I am not sure of the cost of a Flat 6 rebuild, but it has alot of upgrades and improvements that the reman does not have. And you can go 3.6 or more. So it is at least worth exploring. I also like the idea of giving someone other than Porsche the business.

 

I'd assume that my core would not be accepted... as it is cracked. That's what I have been told.

 

Yes cores accepted with failed components. The engine has liners that are replaceable. If I were in your shoes, shoot Sun Coast Steve a email, he’s on the 6. Even with shipping they can get you a Porsche reman for 9ish if memory serves me right. Too bad you aren’t in Shoreline anymore, I have a shop and would swap over the engine for you 6speeder discount. As to even attempting to open up or rebuild any part of these engines yourself, that’s a negative. The tools required are cost prohibitive alone. The ones needed to set the timing and install seals, and pistons are very spendy. If done improperly, first startup will be ka-blamo. Even if it were replacing just one head which is stupid anyways seeing how all the seals and gaskets would only be new on one side leaving plenty of room for failure in the future. If your not going to do it right, don’t do it at all.