The car ran fine no smoke no huff or puff. Coolant light came on, I immediately turn the car off checked coolant level to find a milk shake residue in the cooling reservoir. Towed the car to the shop and had them start working on it. Found out it was a cracked head, they did not tell me which piston. But I can tell you it was the expensive one.

Some of you guys that have been throw this or are mechanics that work on these kinds of cars. I know this is a common problem for these engines once the rebuilt is done and things are back to normal (rebuilt normal). What are the chances of this happening again? Do I have to put put the car around town, is it time to cut my losses and run? Is it going to be a reliable car I can enjoy for the next couple of years? Or is this going to happen in 40K again?

 

I don't think anyone is going to tell you it can't happen again. Repairing Porsches, and other certain "luxury" cars, isn't cheap. I would let you make the decision to sell or keep. If you're having a reputable shop do the repairs, they should have some sort of warranty on their work and parts. I'd drive the car after you get it back then decide on whether you want to sell it or not.

 

What you have is commonly referred to as intermix, where the oil and coolant mix together, usually through a cracked head. Do some searches for intermix and you should get a lot more information on the topic. I would do a google search, such as 996 intermix, and what turns up should give you lots more information about the end result, re occurrence, etc.

GL,

DS

 

I had a head crack at 106,000 miles.

 

Sorry to hear. Same thing happened to me six weeks ago. My 2000 C2 with 47,000 miles intermixed with no warning. Called Flat6Innovations. Nine month wait! Found Beck's European in Scottsdale, AZ. They stock shortblocks w/LN nickies and quoted 3-4 weeks to rebuild. Personally, I wanted a shop closer to home (norcal) so i booked a rebuild w/ S car Go in San Rafael. I've decided to go the 3.4 to 3.6 LN Engineering +++ rebuild. Good luck with whatever you decide to do (repair or rebuild).
Porque

 

Are these daily driver 911? Did you guys notice anything different prior to, coolant level, coolant smells, anything during the oil changes?

 

Dharn55 who is a Rennlist member had his head rebuilt. I don't recall by whom, but check it out. He tore the engine down himself, and sent the head out to be rebuilt, I think it cost like $600...that was a few years back and he reported back after the fact that all was still well, may want to check out his posts. Good luck to both of you.

DS

 

Since it is a 3.4 engine which has the thinnest & weakest cylinder walls of any M96 engine, it can be a cracked cylinder wall. While the head is off the cylinders should be measured to see how out of round they are. If they are cracked or excessively worn the only fix is to have LNengineering resleeve the cylinders with billet 99mm sleeves which give you 3.6 literes.
I have a rebuilt 3.6 long block in stock if you want to upgrade. https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...gine-sale.html

 

Thanks to everyone that answered. The car has been in the shop for the past 4 weeks. The engine is almost done they will be installing it hopefully this week. Unfortunately I was not able to go with LN engineering parts, so it is going to be a stock rebuild . The shop told me it is a cracked cylinder head I will find out more details when I go to pick up the car later this week. What I was asking you guys that have been throw this before is, does the engine hold up the same way after the rebuilt? Can I still go mashing on it like I did before? Or is it like a horse with a broken leg? Yeah he can walk again but expect a full run.

I personally love the car its unfortunate what happen but I do like the car I don't want to sell it. But if I can not drive it like I stole it and throw it around corners like a go kart. I will sell it.

Symptoms that happened prior to temp light blinking were the engine cough once after leaving a gas station then the rpm started to fall a little and it started to run a little rough. A little bit of shaking not much but noticeable to some one that listens to their engine. That happened for maybe half the length of a stop light, after that it ran fine no signs of something broken. I did not think anything of it cause it went back to normal and this car seems to be a little bit moody. 2 days later the temp light started to blink. That's went I knew something was wrong. I checked the coolant fluid and it looked like a milk shake. Pulled the dip stick out and it was just a little bit mixed I mean I had to compare it with fresh oil to tell the difference. There was no smoke coming out the pipes and there was very little, I mean very little oil inside the oil filler cap. At this point the engine was not started any more. I had it towed to the shop and the mechanics had to drain the oil to tell the difference it did not get throw the whole system but the coolant fluid was a milk shake.

Prior to the cough and the rpm drop at the light and all the way till the light came on the car ran fine as usual. And I drive it like I stole it everyday all day long. Once the engine temp is up and transmission fluid is warm is go baby go.

 

sorry to hear about the bad news, I had the same thing happen to me.
PM on the way.

 

I haven't heard of any problems with a properly repaired head. **the key is to make sure that who-ever you're working with knows which technique to use (furnace welding, powder welding, tig welding, etc) - they each have their place and when used appropriately will result in a solid repair that you can count on.

 

Fozzybear lets hope so. The shop I went with is quite respectable I trust them. And they said the place they send it to specialize in this type of work. So I got my fingers crossed and hope to get at least 80k out of the car on this rebuilt.

Now when its done, I can consider this as a new engine? Does that mean I have to take it easy for the first 3k miles and do the rmp stretch that is recommended on brand new porches?? What are the things I should know when getting this car back? Plus in the past it used to burn oil one quart every thousand miles. Will it do the same again?

 

at the very least it will have all new seals, bearings and at least piston rings so i would still break it in like a new engine to seat the rings.
Where did your shop send out the motor to get rebuilt?

 

I forgot the name of the shop. Its in the La area.

 

For future reference to those in need. That shop would be Costa Mesa R&D.

Porque
03 996tt (metzger strong)
00 996 C2 (sold after rebuild)