wow...!very rare, though not what you want to hear, best of luck with speedy and cheep! recovery...

 

OMG! Good luck.

 

Bummer. You have three choices at this point (1) replace the engine (2) rebuild the engine or (3) sell the car as-is as a roller.

If you go with replacement there are used engines out there from some of the dismantlers. The down time might be less with this route. Not sure if the costs would be that much different than rebuilding but honestly I just don't know. The downside is you get a used engine in mostly unknown condition.

If you go with rebuilding you will likely reuse your heads and replace the block. The rebuild can go back to OEM specs, can improve upon OEM, or go all out (nickies, more robust IMS bearing, pistons, 4.0L, etc.). I'd consider the rebuild to better than OEM if you plan to keep the car for a long time. The thought of going all out with a 4.0L bulletproof engine are very enticing but expensive. You need to talk with Jake Raby at LN Engineering directly. He will give you rebuild options and pricing for the various levels of rebuild from stage 1 through a monster engine. Jake is very highly regarded in the Porshce engine rebuilding community and can give you the real details you need here.

Then there's the "cut your losses and move on approach" which is to sell your car as-is, also called selling a roller. There's money in your car without a engine or even with the known broken engine. There are people who buy rollers and rebuild it themselves. Ask Jake Raby about buying your roller too when you talk with him - LN Engineering will buy rollers.

There are many rebuilders out there. Jake is definitely near the top of the list for experience and it will come at a price. Using a local rebuilder is perfectly fine provided you are not the first Porsche engine they have ever rebuilt. Just be sure whoever you use is very familiar with rebuilding Porsche engines and will stand by their workmanship preferably with a warranty.

 

Wow, thanks semicycler. That was very thorough! I'm going to reach out to Jake; I just have to find out what his email address is.

Right now I am leaning toward rebuilding using the Nickies 4.0L with the JE pistons. My understanding of the process is this:

1) remove my block and send it to LN Engineering to get re-sleeved with the Nickies 4.0, assuming my crack isn't too deep. If it is too deep, LN Engineering may not be able to salvage my block.

2) Get back the re-sleeved block from LN Engineering along with JE pistons, rings.

3) Get my mechanic to put the motor back together using the original heads.

Is there anything I am missing? My mechanic says he's very familiar with LN Engineering and the whole process, but I want to do my part to minimize any roadblocks along the way.

 

If you go the rebuild route consider an IMS bearing upgrade at the same time. Your 2006 has the more reliable and larger non-serviceable bearing. But it can be replaced when the engine is apart with a better one. Another part offered by LN Engineering. I highly recommend talking to Jake on the phone - he can describe in detail all the options they offer to upgrade an OEM engine for reliability and/or performance. Jake posts here on 6speed from time to time, use the advanced search feature to find him. But he's definitely more active over on the rennlist forums.

Other things to research while the engine is out: water pump, AOS, battery harness cable, coil packs, coolant overflow tank, clutch, etc. Basically there are common failures for 997.1 so perhaps some preventative items could be done now to save on expensive labor later. For example there should be no additional labor to replace the AOS now since it gets removed while rebuilding the engine. You would only pay for the new replacement parts. Same thing for the clutch. How much you do is up to you - it can get expensive doing a bunch of preventative add-ons.

 

great post. should be a sticky.

 

any idea as to how it happened?

 

semicycler: yes I am considering the IMS from LN Engineering. If I end up doing the conversion to the Nickies 4.0, I will get them to do the IMS and bearings too. I'm going to discuss other things to change up with my mechanic. He suggested the water pump as something to seriously consider to ensure proper cooling. Will discuss more as we go.

caslca: no idea how this happened. We still have to open the crankcase, so maybe that will shed some more light on the issue.

As an update, we rolled back piston 1 to reveal what looks like the start of a D chunk. Based on photos we sent to LN Engineering, it looks like we should be able to salvage the block and install the Nickies 4.0. Heads are also back from the machine shop. They are good except for minor warping and were machined and cleaned up. Next step: open the crankcase...

 

Looks like you have a competent mechanic working on your car. Can you share the name of the shop ? PM if you feel it is more appropriate. Thanks

 

PM'ed you lowbee.

 

I believe that I posted in your thread on Rennlist but if not check out this shop as another option: http://www.mbmotorsportsrepair.com/index.html

 

There was an article a while back in Excellence about the use of "waterless coolant" th keep temps down on these motors. I'll have to look for it. Fugly pic. Sorry to see it come to this.

 

Good luck on which ever route you decide to take. I purchased a 997 with scored cylinders 2 years ago. It is a very time consuming subject all the info you have to read to get knowledgable on. I decided on building it myself. I also have a friend that had scored cylinders and got his built to 4.0.