John Harman

Plenty to worry about. This car won't be one of them. I now the issues and risks. It's only a car.

jdjones2010

Good way to look at it John & a pretty Inexpensive car at that! GL on finding what you're looking for, keep us informed!

silotwo

Have you tried visiting a dealer and asking them to run the vin for you? Makes sense to me any authorized dealer would need to have access to warranty information and I personally witnessed my dealer enter the vin and not only give me the warranty info but the build sheet and original invoice. This is my regular dealer so perhaps the fact that I have a relationship with them helped.

John Harman

Yes, I went into my local dealer (not one who has ever performed work on the car since I live 2 states away) and gave him the VIN. He wasn't able to look up anything on the car. He told me that if it was an Audi he would be able to see everything done to it by any Audi dealer but that Porsche doesn't offer the same system. I did call the 2 dealers the original owner used an neither of them could help. I guess I could stalk the original owner since his name is shown on some of the service records I have, but hoped to find a different solution before bothering him.

L8 APXR

John,

Please post any progress. I have the exact same situation and have been unable to find any record of when the motor was replaced. I also have a CarFax as well as tracking down dealers in both FL and OH that performed maintenance but nothing on the engine replacement.

m3driver

Who cares?

John Harman

I get that it may not be that big of deal, however if I have a better of idea of how many miles are on the engine I can better plan the timing of future maintenance.

Chiamac

Well, make a few safer assumptions and then pick a number. Chances are you're going to be within 10-20k miles which should be enough of a ballpark for your needs.

I'm going to throw out it was replaced at 35k miles.

SeattleC5

Seems like the best choice. I also went through something similar with my 2002 C4S that I believe I am at least the 4th owner. The factory exchange engine serial number shows it as a 2005 date coded engine. If I look at the Carfax registration and mileage history, in 2005 the car had about 35K miles on it. If that was the earliest the engine would have been replaced and the car now has 67K miles, the engine would have 32K miles worst case. It may have less but I am using that number to plan for preventative maintenance. Good luck!

fpb111

So replacement engine #M96/03AT66566575 =
M96/03 engine type
6 = number cyls.
6 = normally aspirated
5 = 2005 MY engine so rebuilt some time 2005 or later. Replacement rebuilt engines assembled in 2005 most likely had BIG bearings??
66575 = Sequential? serial number

According to "Porsche 996 The Essential Companion" there were 68,095 MkII 996 NA cars built (out of 89,706 total 996, 21,611 were Turbo, Gt2 & 3) of which 1821 were 2005 996MkII NA catrs, out of 4012. The 997 took over and 24,596 additional cars were produced in 2005.

Your NA engine serial #66575, if they numbered engines sequentially, probably was ~301st engine for 2005, so early 2005 engine back for rebuild. Your engine swap probably couldn't have been before mid-late 2005. With 15k miles on the car in November 2005 maybe something came up in the service,15K oil change?, that precipitated an engine swap?

fpb111

[QUOTE=fpb111;12621956]So replacement engine #M96/03AT66566575 =
M96/03 engine type
6 = number cyls.
6 = normally aspirated
5 = 2005 MY engine so rebuilt some time 2005 or later. Replacement rebuilt engines assembled in 2005 most likely had BIG bearings??
66575 = Sequential? serial number

According to "Porsche 996 The Essential Companion" there were 68,095 MkII 996 NA cars built (out of 89,706 total 996, 21,611 were Turbo, Gt2 & 3) of which 1821 were 2005 996MkII NA cars, out of 4012. The 997 took over and 24,596 additional cars were produced in 2005.

Your NA engine serial #66575, if they numbered engines sequentially, probably was ~301st engine for 2005, so early 2005 engine back for rebuild. Your engine swap probably couldn't have been before mid-late 2005. With 15k miles on the car in November 2005 maybe something came up in the service, 15K oil change?, that precipitated an engine swap?

fpb111

Sorry for the double post?? iPad and I are still getting acquainted.

GLIDE

I'm also generally wondering about engine history. My 3.4 has an A/T designation but the s/n doesn't really align with fbp111's breakdown. M96/0166W10052AT - looks manually stamped. W?

It's in a 99. Confirmed dual row (I swapped out the IMS already). Runs great. Just wondering! Not keeping me up at night!

Byprodriver

Whoever installed that engine properly stamped the vin# after the engine type.

ltusler

Must be hand built. Most engines are machine stamped with dots.