Mark Dreyer

A good friend of mine, Steve, recently bought a nice 2000 911 cab from an acquaintance of his. Steve lives in the Louisville Kentucky area. Unfortunately his car suffered a cracked head. Regrettably this is his first foray into the wonderful world of Porsche ownership, and he is floundering a bit. He needs some guidance on options. Steve is a RL member but was having some difficulty navigating the forum on his phone so I am starting a thread on his behalf. I’m attaching a bid he received with 3 different options. Thanks for any help you folks in the 996 forum can provide Steve. He loves his car and I’m hoping he can find a way to get it back on the road without breaking the bank!

Quadcammer

This shop is terrible. Seek other options

Mark Dreyer

Steve will chime in on the thread soon.

GC996

Mark, for that price I would want a GT3 engine swapped in my 996, a RPM technik carbon fiber ducktail and a complete paint refresh. Tell your buddy to call LN engineering. The have more engines variations than you will know what to do with. They have certified shops around the country that can figure out what he needs for less than half the price he is being quoted.

hbdunn

I think you are having trouble comprehending the quote.

It has three different options.

Used engine $22k

Replace the head $17k

The third for a short block is confusing since that wouldn't address the head failure.

Mark Dreyer

Yes that quote confused me at first also. One of Steve’s questions which I’m sure he’ll explore once he joins the thread is weather it’s worth keeping the car. My thought was maybe he should just cut his losses and buy a 996 TT cab. My guess is that model will appreciate enough in future to offset the loss from ditching this car. He really likes this car so if it’s a long term keeper, I see no problem putting the $ into it, in order to enjoy it for years to come.

gbarron

Not to be a downer...but a buddy had the same issue on his 2000 cab a few years ago and went for a set of replacement heads. Guess what...he's now back in the same situation with cracked heads again. Long story short, without any history of prior repairs you can't be sure this won't happen again without deeper investigation. In my buddy's case, I suspect his car had experienced a water pump failure prior to his ownership and pieces of the impeller are now stuck in critical cooling passages restricting adequate flow. The only way to confirm would be a full disassembly/inspection. Yes, it's an expensive proposition, but cheap when compared to repeated failures. Other options would be a exchange/rebuilt engine from a known vendor or a Porsche short block with new heads. I would personally stay clear of a used engine unless the history is known. Now comes the big question...repair the car and continue using it or cut the losses and walk?

Just one more

With only 52,000 miles on the car why not fix the cracked head , I see no reason to replace the engine unless there is more to the story .

De Jeeper

I have core heads that r good but need refreshed from my 2000. Ill let them go pretty cheap. Hoffman is under $3k i think for a rehab. If the rest if the motor is good just either repair or replace the heads.


I can imagine more then 40hr to swap heads and r&r motor. So at $125/ hr thats $5k. No need to split the trans off and do any of that other work unless a new imsb is needed. Maybe another $500 of misc.

So $9-9500 should get him on the road again?

GC996

No question, I can't make heads or tails out of it. KY is a hop, skip and jump from Momence, IL. Just saying...

Unless the owner has wrenching skills...

Swbink02

I am the owner of the 2000 911 that my good friend Mark started the thread for. Appreciate all of the responses so far. I am going to need a little time to digest. Thank you to everyone that has responded. Will post more later tonight.

cdk4219

$10,000 to $17,000 for a set of heads on a 23 year old 996 that prefers to eat ims bearings and scratch the cylinders at any time, especially after overheating. Run like hell.

Porschetech3

If trying to be thrifty, three important questions need to be answered...

1. Is the intermix , oil in coolant only?

2. is the intermix , coolant in oil ony?

3. is the intermix , both oil in coolant and coolant in oil?

With only 52k miles on the engine, if the answer to question #1 is YES, then no need for any new or replacement engine...just a head repair....( and some cam pads+ gaskets)

In-fact I would buy this engine if #1 is YES and fix the head and put it in my own car...I did this exact thing to my late 99 SAlly 15 years ago and have put 90k very hard miles on it since...( 140k miles total ) I paid $2250 for the core engine with scenario #1 from a shop that did an engine replacement under Insurance. I would do the same thing again..

Hoffman would charge about $2500 to repair the crack and rebuild both heads...labor to R&R the engine and both heads should run about $3500..gasket set for top end about $250...

So for a total of about $6250 you could repair back to before the head cracked/intermix. But this does not included any deferred maintenance that should have already been performed, or any winfalls from "while your in there" items to get ahead on maintenance..

If you did all the labor yourself, you could fix the damage in scenario #1 for less than $3k. and be right back to where you were before the "event" ..so nothing to sweat about ...

You can easily spend another $10k on deferred maintenance or" while your in there's" maintenance to get ahead..

Of course like I said, this only pertains if question #1 is YES, if question #2 or #3 is YES, then a new or replacement engine will be needed..and the cost goes way up and there is nothing thrifty or frugal about that..

pdxmotorhead

Check the LN engineering rebuilt engine prices, I think you'll see what everybody is pointing out.

My local shop would charge 2500 to remove and replace the engine,
stock clutch only don't bother with upgrades.. I cant figure out where they got the other 20+ thousand in that job.

Swbink02

So it sounds like this specific local shop may not be the right fit for me and my issue.
anyone know of a trusted Indy shop in the louisville/Lexington/Cincinnati area they would trust to accurately diagnose the problem and offer a reasonably priced solution?
I do love the car but have a hard time sinking another $20K into the vehicle.