slicer

I recently experienced an engine failure on my 2001 996 at 48k miles. I know there are many victims like myself but I thought you all could benefit from the research I conducted during the process.

• My failure occurred on the track. The event happened to be the very first track day I ever attended.
• The previous owner of the car had used it on the track and made a number of modifications for track duty (Bilstein PSS9's, GT3 Sway bars, DAS Sport Roll Bar, Fabspeed Exhaust & CAI, 0.5 QT Oil Pan Spacer - AKA Deep Sump Kit)
• I added Recaro Pole Positions and HRE C20 wheels in GT3 spec (18 x 8.5 front and 18 x 11 rear with 235/40 and 295/30 STREET tires)
• In march of 2012 I installed a double row, LN Engineering IMS ceramic bearing upgrade.

This was my first track event and I was on street tires so I certainly wasn't pushing the car to it's maximum. During the high speed sweeping corners at Willow Springs I observed some smoke emitting from the rear of the car (only happened during the corner(s) and would disappear once the car was on a straight). I had just added oil prior to my first stint and thought it could be due to an over-fill (I had only filled to upper mid level). I pulled the car off, checked the oil and observed that it was on the lower end of the range so I added a quart to top it off. If I knew then what I know now I would have stopped at that point! I went out for another stint or two without incident (no smoke, good oil pressure, etc). I went out for my third, and final, stint, the CEL came on, and the car began running poorly over 3k rpm. I observed oil leaking from the RMS area. The car was towed home... Jae at Mirage International in San Diego pulled the oil filter and observed metal shavings. I knew I was toast at that point.

I called the following shops, engine builders, and salvage yards to get pricing and advice:

Shops:
Mirage International
Dieter's
Black Forrest
Vision Motorsports
Performance Porsche
Hergesheimer Motorsports
Auto Strasse
Speed Gallery
UFO Motorsports
Flat6Innovations - Extremely knowledgable, very helpful and well respected!
Road and Race Motorsports

Salvage:
LA Dismantler
Parts Heaven
Autobahn

I determined the following:

• The car likely failed due to oil starvation around the sweeping corners at Willow Springs.
• The smoking I experienced could have been a symptom of the air oil separator being unable to handle the cornering loads (see this link:http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...manperformance)
• Porsche crate engines cost $22k + install.
• Engine Rebuilds range from $7500 (UFO Motorsports) to $18,000 (Flat6Innovations).
• Flat6Innovations also had a $13k engine option that didn't have their full menu of upgrades
• The rebuild price range is dictated by the level upgrades added to the motor. FSI does upgrade all of the weak components in their builds
• 996 engine failures are far more common than I expected. These builders are busy!
• A vanilla 996 mk1 with a blown engine is worth $3000 - $5000
• Some of the venders were willing to pay more for my car considering the aftermarket parts on the car

I was fortunate enough to find a buyer for my car with a blown engine for $11,750. The buyer was willing to pay that price because he saw value in the car's modifications and he is capable of rebuilding the engine. The sales price included all of the above listed parts+. I knew that I did not want to keep the car so I made the decision to sell as is. Best case scenario the rebuild would have cost $8k and I would have been left with a car that was worth $20k+/-.

The new owner has torn apart the engine and determined that the crank shaft has failed. He believes the failure was driven by oil starvation when cornering. The car had a Deep Sump Kit installed which increased the oil capacity but when the oil pan spacer was added they did not install a spacer on the oil pick-up. He believes that this contributed to the oil starvation. See this link for details on the spacer / pick-up: http://www.lnengineering.com/deepsump.html NOTE - Some venders (such as FVD Brombacher) sell Deep Sump Kits without the pick-up spacer!

After going through all of the above, I would make the following recommendations:

• Avoid the M96 engines - especially if you take the car to the track. The air cooled cars and GT3 / Turbo's all use a dry sump system that is much better suited for the track.
• The IMS bearing is one of many possible failure points of this engine.
• Prior to tracking your car - Upgrade your oil pan and oil delivery system (Deep Sump Kit, X51 Baffle Kit, Accusump, Motorsports AOS)- See this link: http://www.lnengineering.com/accusump.html
• Prior to tracking your car - Consult with a mechanic that has actual track experience with your specific make / model. Your mechanic's advice may differ from mine (I'm certainly not a mechanic) but at least I have provided you with some questions to ask!

kent

thanks for sharing those useful informations. what will you pick up next? 997.2?

slicer

987.2 Cayman S is in route

BruceP

Sorry to hear about your mishap, and appreciate the share.

For general consumption, I would focus on your third piece of advice, and this probably belongs on the doorstep of the previous owner: if you raise a car's ability to generate lateral G-forces without improving the oiling system accordingly, you're kind of asking for trouble.

slicer

I thought I was covered because I upgraded the IMS bearing. I didn't do enough research on the oil starvation problems with this engine prior to tracking it. The flip side is that I frankly would not have spent the time and money on the upgrades for my first track event - and the first upgrade was already done (It had a Deep Sump Kit installed)!. I would not have expected that it would have been an issue at the speeds that I am capable of at my skill level. The only thing that may have changed is that I would have quit after observing smoke on my first stint.

D6lc

I'm sorry that your first track experience with the car ended this way.

However I don’t agree with your advice to avoid M96 engines. To be fair to Porsche your car was modified and the failure was linked to the modification, if your engine/sump was stock you may never have had this issue and still be driving now.

I think it is tough to blame the manufacturer or engine series for a failure on a modified car

slicer

Thank you for your sympathy . I see your point but I don't agree with you. If you track your car please call around to the experts. You will find out that this car can not handle high-g corners on the track without modifications. Maybe my expectations are too high from a manufacturer that has built it's name on motorsports and building high performance cars. There are many other cars out there that don't require this level of engine modification to survive on the track. Even after stiffer sway bars and coil overs are installed.

BruceP

Wasn't meant as a criticism. More of a general lesson. Your car was modded literally from the contact patch all the way to the driver's seat to corner at higher speeds. Even if you don't think you were going that fast, I think it's a good reminder to any aspiring trackie anyway.

(Personally, I think that the oiling system in this car was overmatched for track work even out of the box, but I don't have any qualifications to say so).

Capt. Obvious

So, you're recommending that people avoid these cars because your engine was improperly modified and was destroyed as a result?

Macster

Good point.

What I get from the OP's experience is avoid a shop that when it installs a deeper oil sump fails to extend the oil pump pick up tube the same amount.

slicer

I think you are missing my point. I based my advice on all of the information I gathered during my numerous conversations regarding this issue. You saw the list of people I spoke with about the car. All of those who were familiar with the engine talked to me about the oil starvation issues in addition to IMS, and a list of other problems that I don't remember. I'm not impressed that an engine made by Porsche, with their pedigree, would need modifications to handle high-g corners on the track. That to me is a reason not to buy a car with this line of engines (on top of the IMS bearing issues which of course is another topic). You obviously think differently and your logic is probably reasonable if you don't intend to track the car.

Some people install the Deep Sump Kit with the pick-up spacer and some don't. The person who tore apart my engine (and LN Engineering) believe that it is better to have the pick up spacer installed. After my experience, I think that they are right. This still doesn't change the fact that M96 engines have an oil starvation issue.

The goal of my post is to allow others to learn from my experience. Prior to this incident, I did not know that M96 engines had oil starvation issues in addition to the well known IMS bearing weakness. Needless to say my experience was very frustrating, resulted in an instant $10k+/- loss in value and lots of my time. I would not knowingly put myself into that position again. Others can feel free to ignore my advice.

Shark Attack

Im confused.. So you modded the oil pan, but not properly?
The stock oil pna unit will also starve the engine of oil in hard sweeping turns?

halik

I would chalk this up to improper mods - presumably with a deeper pan, yet shallow pickup, you will end up with less immersion of the pickup in the pan under loads, as the oil will have more space to crowd on the side of the pan.

slicer

The previous owner installed a deep sump oil kit (I didn't even know it was installed) which adds 0.50 qt of capacity to the oil pan. The installer did not also install a spacer on the oil pick-up. This spacer is optional. This is believed to have contributed to the oil starvation.

This is correct. This is the reason why the previous owner of my car installed the deep sump kit. See these links for more information:

http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...e=996EXHAUST34

http://www.lnengineering.com/accusump.html

Another upgrade - Air Oil Separator NOTE that the symptoms listed in the product description match those that I experienced:
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...manperformance

Ahsai

That sucks! Sorry to hear your bad experience and thanks for sharing. I think we will never know why and how the engine failed. With all the mods, sounds like the previous owner was fully prepared to push (or did push) the car's limit.

The deep sump mod without the spacer on the pick up tube will be worse than stock oil pick up so making the mod harmful. I think it's very difficult to assess the health of an engine that has seen the tracks. With R-comp tires, these cars can pull quite a bit of g's. So it's possible the car was already on its last legs when you bought it...

Again, sorry for your misfortune.