Porsche 996, cabrio 2, 1998 - motor revision -

[Tangsir]

Hello Everybody,

First of all happy new year to you and best wishes for 2023!

I have a Porsche Carrera Cabrio 2 from 1998 with full options. In 2018, while I was underway the motor stopped working which mean that I could not start the motor whatsoever. Completely quiet. Other things worked perfectly. I spent 1500 EUR to do a diagnosis of the motor (with camera) and the result was that cylinders 5 and 6 are not having compression. Not sure what this means technically and I can relate/trace this back to the problem. I left the car in Grage until now (I was traveling for some time) that I want to have the motor repaired or revised or whatever people may call it.

Lately, I started to discuss the issue with a few suppliers in the NL and DE to see what this means and what are the minimum and max. scenarios. I am still doing this. Until now what I have noticed is that there is a gap of 10K EUR for doing the same job between some of these which puzzle me. I respect the names of the suppliers and I am not going to name them. Prices offered by some are between 6K EUR to 10K EUR (full revision) excluding the crankshaft. And the other offer the same between 12 EUR and EUR 25K.

I have a question for you and perhaps you would be kind to let me know your thoughts, strategies, and or smart ways to pick this up and conclude.

Questions:

- Who do you trust and would advise as a supplier for revision of such a motor (no matter what is the issue)? Pls advise and provide the reason why you think so.
- Does any of you have had this experience in which the motor stops working completely and there are also cylinder 5 and 6 issues with compression?
- What would be your approach for each stage of revision and what scenarios would you advise to ensure there is control on the costs and that I won't be paying more than what the work is?
- Would using another motor be advised if your own motor can be revised?
- What should be a typical revision (list of major items, not the details) and what costs do you expect assuming the cylinders are the issue or for that matter if everything except the crankshaft needs to be revised?

Feel free also to write in Dutch, I am fluent in it. Have a bad habit of writing in English.

Thank you!

[Maupi]

Good morning Tangsir,

I have sent you a private message.

[Hahe85]

Good morning Tangsir,
I am sorry to hear that your 996 engine is damaged. I myself have never had this specific issue with my 996 but whenever there is an issue, I go to AutoResto in Nijmegen. They are known as specialists on these cars and in my experience they have fair prices as well. I also bring my car to them for general maintenance even though they are located one hour from where I live. They do these kind of engine rebuild/revisions jobs all the time.
Hope you'll be able to it again quickly!

[Binko]

AutoResto would be my first option as well, but with MH in Peize as a close second. They can deliver revised Porsche engines from the shelf.https://www.mhautomobielen.nl/motor-revisie-en-tuning/
They work mostly with parts designed by UK's specialist Hartech you may be familiiar with, as they have quite a good reputation with Porsche watercooled engines.https://www.hartech.org/

[GinnFizz]

Regarding AutoResto I have read a lot of very good comments and I have visited one of his seminars. Michel is very down to earth and he shares a lot of knowledge regarding the M96 and M97 engines.
MH in Peize is new to me and I took a decent look at his website and his philosophy regarding the M96 and M97 engines.

They have totally diffrend approaches: one says the water cooling of cylinder 4 5 6 (right bank) is inadequate and the locasil cylinder coating sucks -> bore scoring.
the other says the water cooling is OK, the oil cooling also but the oil jets are in the wrong place in right cylinder bank -> bore scoring.

Both agree that the IMS can cause engine failure but a lot less regarding > 2006 model 997.

Only one says the EMS of the M96 sucks and M97 is OK.

Who is right or are they both?
Where does one go for an engine restauration?

[disciple]

No one knows the cause of bore scoring. The solutions once this has ocurred can be different among revision specialists. Auto Resto places steel cylinders with are a lot cheaper than nicasil ones, and only replaces one bank (and both if you prefer this). MH also lets you choose how many banks you want to be replaced, with either steel or nicasil ones (which he orders from Hartech in the UK). So its up to you how expensive you want to make it, not to mention the collateral damage encountered when dismantling the engine. The cheapest version is only replacing the scored bank with steel cylinders, and hope that nothing else needs replacing.

[Tangsir]

Thanks, guys for the help - appreciated! I think I will talk to auto-resto. I have tested this with Chat GTP. You won't believe what comes out. It divides the service into 3 parts. 1. basic revision, 2. intermediary revision, and full revision. It explains each part and what needs to be done. Try it:). I will tell you more what I did and update you.