Mark Hubley

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 5, I was having a great time driving in a DE at Road America. Until I saw the big cloud of white smoke. I got off the track quickly, but that will be my last time on a track for a while. Dissection of the motor revealed a failed freeze plug and a failed #1 rod bearing. The working theory is that the plug failed, coolant rapidly got into places it shouldn't go, and displacement of oil by coolant quickly killed the bearing. Anyway, having put over $20K into rebuilding the motor over 2018-2019, I decided I wasn't going to put up the kind of money required to get the car back on the road. If you have some time to kill and care to read about my previous issues, here is the link: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...il-filter.html

Earlier today I sold the car as a roller, and I am out of the Porsche game for the first time since 1997. Maybe I will get back into the game when I can afford something with a 9A1 motor???

I did have a lot of good times in the 996, but the dollar/year ratio certainly ended up being higher than I hoped it would be.

dporto

Bummer!

mdsarch

Tough to read. So sorry as it seemed you were very thoughtful on your journey to a 3.8. I feel your pain as I had a 73 2.4 that was rebuilt with S pistons and E cams let go on the track. Replaced it with a 3.0 and all was good!

clubracer6

Wow, I have never heard of either of these issues. Truly sorry.

With the recent failure, what caused the failed freeze plug?

Prelude Guy

So sorry to hear. These cars have a higher probability of burning through money and leaving behind many engine carcasses as participation awards in the 996 game. Always makes me sad for the owners.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with your next car.

michaelo

These stories remind me of why I am so glad I sold my 996 when I did.

Billup

Sorry to hear about your bad luck OP. Can definitely see why you'd call it quits after a second go. Hopefully you'll get back into something down the road.

A lot of sports cars aren't bullet proof. Sure the 996 carries some potential issues, but that's not to say other P cars (and other makes) don't have their faults either. Part of the game.

user 8298308

I mean, that's the common theme, but empirically is that really the case? Sorry to open this can of worms, but my assessment is this is a statement without much evidence to support it.

Over 175,000 996-generation 911s were produced. Perhaps the reliability isn't so bad relative to the overall production run, especially for those who, at most, engage in some spirited driving and don't track our cars? Sampling bias plays a part too, I think, given the audience on Rennlist and similar sites.

Mark Hubley

I was driving a car with over 100K miles fairly hard on race tracks. In the time I had the car it spent plenty of time over 6K RPM.

motoo344

I've said this before but lots of German cars have potential catastrophic modes of failure. M3s, M5s, Audi's of various vintage with Turbos, and timing guides on the S4 V8 and Mercedes with its own share of issues. Hell, my GTI was part of an era where the timing guides got stuck and could grenade your engine. Happened to me but I got lucky and didn't have a catastrophic failure. I think what makes the 996 bad is that it just costs so much money to rebuild or build an m96 engine.

JSETarga

Mine misfires on the track over 6k rpm. Had smoke the first time I took to the track a few months ago and swapped to a motorsport AOS. Took it back to track yesterday and no more smoke. However... WOT over 6k produces CEL misfire and when I come off track at idle it says low oil pressure.

jllphan

So sorry to hear this Mark, a total bummer and wish you all the best in the future. Thanks for sharing and thusly adding another data point for the rest of us to note.

As for the impending argument over M96 reliability: all high performance motors have weak spots. By design making a Motorsport inspired engine requires reliability to fall off the top of the totem pole. 996’s are now 20 years old and a track environment will take their toll. Same with any 20yr old HP engine of any make. As the saying goes, ya gotta pay to play.

Rdrcr

Well, that blows...literally. I'm sorry to hear about this.

Mike

3_PDLS

This really really sucks and most Porsche owner's worst nightmare. Sorry man.

lowpue

Sorry to hear about this....Always a bummer to see this and yes, we all share the pain. ( my engine blew with a rod bearing failure three years ago) Certainly having a second failure can be discouraging...truly a big time bummer and I have to say, I would choose your path as well and move on. However, As someone that owns a 2014 Turbo S(which arguably is the best overall sports car I have ever owned, I am obsessed with my 996 platform....and particularly the Aero variant. To me its the best looking 911 and is most fun car I have ever owned and really the only car I enjoy on the track. It has adequate power (ok so I have a 997S engine in mine), it has no PSM but it is not as big as the newer 911S. Most importantly, they are at the right price point where you can mod them and change them without thinking you are devaluing the car. In fact, while it wont be a true aero, I am colleting parts to build another 996.1 Aero just because of my obsession. My son also recently bough a 996 C4S which is phenominal to drive. So with all of my cars the 996 is the most fun....not the best, but the most fun.

Now as far as these car being prone to failure, lets face it, when you track a car you are not only putting yourself at the limits but the car as well. The cars get beat up mechanically and cosmetically. This is true even with new platforms....look at the 991.1 GT3 and all of the engine problems it had...so much so that they had to add a 10 year warrantee. When you build cars that out perform every other car in the market, you have to give up on something....in this case reliability. Otherwise you and I could not afford it or it will weigh to much to get the performance you want. Its all a trade off. If you want most fun per dollar, I still think you want a 996. If you want the best sports car on the planet for the money, get a 991/992. If you want reliability....I hate to say this, get a Toyota (and frankly I don't have anything from that continent).

So the bottom line is I hate seeing these stories because it makes people move on to better cars but not necessarily have more fun...and isn't the latter what life is all about.

OK...I am done preaching.

Once again truly sorry about your loss.