My engine mishap story
05-11-2010, 05:48 PM
#1
.org
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Reality
Posts: 7,635
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My engine mishap story
At the risk of raising the anxiety levels of the owners here, here is my engine story.
My 2006 S 6 speed has 19,500 miles.
I bought it new, and the warrantee has expired. Up until now, a perfect car.
In the fall I started to notice a slight hesitation at the point where the engine was just about warmed up, just below the 175 degee marker.
When it was fully warm, everything was OK.
At the point of hesitation, I'd hear a sound of rushing air.
My thoughts were that it was some sort of temp sensor that needed replacing.
As this is my second car, it spent most of the winter garaged.
On one occasion it finally threw a CEL and I stopped at a dealer I'd never used and they told me that the engine scan only showed that there was a fault, but did not identify the cause. The CEL went out by itself. The advice was to drive it and see what happens.
Fast forward to 2 months ago.
I made an appointment at my servicing dealer, Porsche of the Main Line in Newtown Square, Pa.
On the very day that I'm driving to work (intending to drop the car off later that day) I hit the point where the hesitation would start, the damm thing just stops dead in it's tracks on an entrance ramp.
The car is towed in, and I'm told that there has been an engine failure, and that they need to start breaking down the engine to find out the problem.
The good news was the engine software revealed that I'm a ***** and never over revved the engine.
They discovered that the bolt that holds the upper sprocket that the timing chain rides on had loosened, the camshaft and the intake valves have hit things they were never designed to.
The block was not involved.
The car required the replacement of the intake valves on one side, plugs, gaskets, the machining of the head and a few other bits and pieces.
The tally for the repairs would be in the neighborhood of 9 K.
My only statement to the dealer was..."Do what you need to do to fix it, but this seems very unusual, can you see if Porsche is willing to get involved".
No threats, no screaming, no lawyer.
Happy ending time, 2 weeks later, Porsche picked up the majority of the bill, and asked me for 1,500 towards the repair, and the car came back to me completely detailed, filled with gas, and running like a new car, with a 2 year guarantee on the engine work.
I can't say enough about the professional way I was treated by Porsche itself and by Erik Haas, the service manager at Porsche of the Main Line.
My 2006 S 6 speed has 19,500 miles.
I bought it new, and the warrantee has expired. Up until now, a perfect car.
In the fall I started to notice a slight hesitation at the point where the engine was just about warmed up, just below the 175 degee marker.
When it was fully warm, everything was OK.
At the point of hesitation, I'd hear a sound of rushing air.
My thoughts were that it was some sort of temp sensor that needed replacing.
As this is my second car, it spent most of the winter garaged.
On one occasion it finally threw a CEL and I stopped at a dealer I'd never used and they told me that the engine scan only showed that there was a fault, but did not identify the cause. The CEL went out by itself. The advice was to drive it and see what happens.
Fast forward to 2 months ago.
I made an appointment at my servicing dealer, Porsche of the Main Line in Newtown Square, Pa.
On the very day that I'm driving to work (intending to drop the car off later that day) I hit the point where the hesitation would start, the damm thing just stops dead in it's tracks on an entrance ramp.
The car is towed in, and I'm told that there has been an engine failure, and that they need to start breaking down the engine to find out the problem.
The good news was the engine software revealed that I'm a ***** and never over revved the engine.
They discovered that the bolt that holds the upper sprocket that the timing chain rides on had loosened, the camshaft and the intake valves have hit things they were never designed to.
The block was not involved.
The car required the replacement of the intake valves on one side, plugs, gaskets, the machining of the head and a few other bits and pieces.
The tally for the repairs would be in the neighborhood of 9 K.
My only statement to the dealer was..."Do what you need to do to fix it, but this seems very unusual, can you see if Porsche is willing to get involved".
No threats, no screaming, no lawyer.
Happy ending time, 2 weeks later, Porsche picked up the majority of the bill, and asked me for 1,500 towards the repair, and the car came back to me completely detailed, filled with gas, and running like a new car, with a 2 year guarantee on the engine work.
I can't say enough about the professional way I was treated by Porsche itself and by Erik Haas, the service manager at Porsche of the Main Line.
Last edited by Graygoose997; 05-11-2010 at 07:52 PM.
05-11-2010, 07:02 PM
#6
Nordschleife Master
Kudos to you for handling it the right way. 
Trending Topics
05-11-2010, 07:37 PM
#9
Drifting
One can only hope that P-USA handles similar cases the same way. That when a failure happens, not from wear, or something that could have been identified prior, but as a result of something unusual that is effectively a design or assembly flaw that just manifests itself well after the end of the warranty, that Porsche carries some of the water for the repair.
05-11-2010, 07:43 PM
#10
I'm personally relieved that this wasn't an IMS story. I've been watching closely as I want to buy a 997S in a few years. It seems that so far the M97 engines (06-08) are generally not experiencing IMS failures.
Cheers,
Joe
Cheers,
Joe
05-11-2010, 08:13 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
Great story and great dealer! This is the exact opposite of some other posts of bad experiences with other dealers.
Points out that our direct experience/impression of a brand is at the point of sale/service and Porsche should really ensure all dealers treat customers in the same fashion. I can't say the same thing about my local dealer for instance!
Points out that our direct experience/impression of a brand is at the point of sale/service and Porsche should really ensure all dealers treat customers in the same fashion. I can't say the same thing about my local dealer for instance!
05-11-2010, 09:24 PM
#14
Nordschleife Master
One can only hope that P-USA handles similar cases the same way. That when a failure happens, not from wear, or something that could have been identified prior, but as a result of something unusual that is effectively a design or assembly flaw that just manifests itself well after the end of the warranty, that Porsche carries some of the water for the repair.
05-11-2010, 10:14 PM
#15
Straight to Video
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Posts: 3,599
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry to hear but glad things turned out OK.
Can it be determined why it happened? I'd be curious.
Oh yeah and drive it more you *****
I've got an 06 with 32k miles.
Can it be determined why it happened? I'd be curious.
Oh yeah and drive it more you *****
I've got an 06 with 32k miles.