Class action suit for 996 engines

[mdgcentral99]

To answer nylewis, I replaced the engine of my 1999 6-sp C4 996 this past March. The oil was leaking into the coolant and finally blew the cooling system in a very dramatic steaming mess with a yellowish milky mixture dripping from the radiator pipes and reservoir tank. Local Porsche dealer replaced the engine, all hoses, belts, water pump and all the other items attached to the engine from Porsche. All replaced components have a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty from the factory. Final bill $12,000+ replaced clutch and some other maintenance components. I basically have a new car. Obviously, the factory warranty had expired and since I am the third owner, I have no record of repairs or operation history. I've got nothing. :thumbup:

The car had 85,000 miles at failure. I paid a low price for the car in October, so I'm looking at it as a new car at old car prices, I'm OK with it. :cursing: So I skip some house payments... Of course if somone can find out why engines fail and get Porsche to admit some issues in the 1999 996 and Boxter manufacturing process, great. I'm not expecting a big payoff, just an answer to the question, "Why did my baby die?"

There was no autopsy done. Dead is dead. The dealer, who was very professional and efficient, said they replace engines a lot, some blown by customers, some because old, some unknown. but people just pay and drive away. Porsche owners are just like that. The car is worth it, we think. :clapping: For the record, I'm against lawyers, but some are good tools.

If you search the classifeds under 1999 Porsche. you find that many have "new engine" installed recently. I don't think its so unknown as we think it is. Its just such a small section of the auto marketplace that nobody notices the poor little Porsche owners. Porsche certainly has never addressed the issue.

One more note...I have a Toyota with 325,000 and all original parts and low oil consumption. For most Porsches, over 75,000 miles is "high mileage" Most people just don't drive them that much. I'm thinking that as the 996 enters maturity, we will hear more about engine replacements. But what do I care? I have a new one already... Good luck with that. :beer: But put me down in the "I'd be interested in more information camp."

Just to see what the cost would be, how many people would be in for a class action suit against Porsche for 996 engine failures? Please post your car year, miles and brief description of the problem. I will try and put a list together and forward it to a law firm and see what their response is. I found this firms link seaching around. If anyone has a better firm or any input, I'm all ears.

http://www.schneiderwallace.com/PracticeAr...C&ovtac=PPC

[porschinator]

Just to see what the cost would be, how many people would be in for a class action suit against Porsche for 996 engine failures? Please post your car year, miles and brief description of the problem. I will try and put a list together and forward it to a law firm and see what their response is. I found this firms link seaching around. If anyone has a better firm or any input, I'm all ears.

http://www.schneiderwallace.com/PracticeAr...C&ovtac=PPC

Hi,

I've got a thread relating to engine problems see http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...t=0&start=0

The thread shows a complete history of the situation.

As a brief summary of my actions, I took a series of photos of my problem engine the main complaint about which is a defective crank cradle identified when the engine was disassembled by the independent I use. Because I use the car for business I had to buy an exchange engine as I had to limit the amount of time the car was off the road. It was still off the road from November 11th 2006 to the middle of February this year anyway.

I have complained to Porsche GB Customer Assistance under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 within English Law and after a series of e-mails and letters they advised me to get an independent report done on the defects. This was done by The RAC (Royal Automobile Club) a motoring organisation in the UK. I subsequently got a specialist metallurgy company to report on the evidence as well as recommended by The RAC and submitted this to Porsche GB. Both reports said the component in question had manufacture-related defects, was sub-standard and should not have been fitted in the engine in the first place as it was not fit for purpose.

The latest letter I received last Friday from Porsche GB still refused my claim so I have obtained the direct e-mail address of Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, President and CEO of Porsche AG and have e-mailed him today with the details of the defects and have requested his assistance in resolving the situation.

I'll keep my thread updated with the next events.

Rgds

John

This is very disturbing!!! Porsche prides itself as a Top Notch Quality Behemoth. So far (knocking on wood) I have been lucky with mechanical issues (minus minor issues non-engine related). But when buying a Porsche you should not wonder if you are going to be lucky or not. Would be nice if a major Auto Organization did a report on the quality of Porsche. 20/20 or 60 minutes anyone???...lol.

It appears that you drove the hell out of that C4S. I am sure you did the recommended services.

Edited May 11, 2007 by porschinator

[cyclocross]

... Would be nice if a major Auto Organization did a report on the quality of Porsche. ...

Hi. A recent issue of Consumer Reports featured "The Best and The Worst" automoblies. Several times the issue stated that Porsche has bad reliability along with Mercedes and Audi/VW. BMW was rated as having "spotty" reliability (as was Nissan). Needless to say, Toyota and Honda had the best reliability. I guess CR missed the problem with blown Sienna mini-van V-6 engines due to overheating oil.

FWIW:

My 2002 996 has almost 52,000 miles on it. I purchased it CPO with 42,000 miles. I was able to obtain complete records for the car. The biggest repair was for a RMS at 32,000 miles. Both ends of the motor show the areas below the crank to be wet with oil (a film). Just after I bought the car I changed the oil and filter. A year later I changed the oil and filter at around 50,000 miles. The engine used only 1 bar on the indicator, about 4 oz.?,between changes.

One thing I have noticed is to keeps the rev's down, < 2,600 RPM, until the engine reaches operating temperature. My '01 Boxster with Tip (sold to get the 996) shifted at this point and the underside of the motor was completely dry. I now practice this with my 996 and there are no drips. The one time I had to use more than 3,000 RPM with a cold motor resulted in several drips for several weeks. Since then, October, there have been no drips.

Oh yes, both of my Porsches have the original -00 radiator cap. There have been no leaks or loss of coolent.

My observation is to drive the car as a normal car with only occassional "hot-rodding". I remember reading a SAE paper many years ago wherein it stated that engine wear was proportional to the seventh power of the ratio of engine speeds. (5000/3000)^7=35.7 times the wear or shorter life.

Dan

Edited May 12, 2007 by cyclocross

[PeterK]

My observation is to drive the car as a normal car with only occassional "hot-rodding". I remember reading a SAE paper many years ago wherein it stated that engine wear was proportional to the seventh power of the ratio of engine speeds. (5000/3000)^7=35.7 times the wear or shorter life.

Dan

Well, that kind defeats the purpose, doesn't it? In the world where chevy pushrods V8 reliably rev up to 7K, short shifting your porsche is ludacrise.

[cyclocross]

Well, that kind defeats the purpose, doesn't it? In the world where chevy pushrods V8 reliably rev up to 7K, short shifting your porsche is ludacrise.

You may have misunderstood my comment. The rev's are kept low until the engine is properly warmed.

[PeterK]

Well, that kind defeats the purpose, doesn't it? In the world where chevy pushrods V8 reliably rev up to 7K, short shifting your porsche is ludacrise.

You may have misunderstood my comment. The rev's are kept low until the engine is properly warmed.

Indeed, I did. Yes, proper warm up is the prudent way!

[kbliew]

This is my first post here. i've been a member at 6speeonline.com for quite a few years. anyways, i bought an 02 C2 in 04 with 18k miles on it and i'm the second owner. A couple of days ago i took my car to the dealer to have an oil change, i was told that the engine is leaking oil again and it appeared to come from the RMS. FYI, if its the RMS, it'll be my 4th RMS leak in 1.5 years!!! This is the thread i posted on 6speed last year (http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46379&highlight=RMS), the 3rd RMS was april 06 and my car had about 26k miles, now about 31k. Not sure what to do now. I'm not even sure if PCNA will pay for the repair this time. anyone here has more than 3 leaks? If PCNA refused to fix it, i might have to sue them or something.....

[Tool Pants]

Just 3 - stop complaining....

Back in 2004 it was a tie between Scouster/Berny and Jean on the number of replacement seals. I think Berny had another seal put in since then.

In Jean's case Porsche ultimately replaced the engine, again, and again. As far as I know Jean holds the record for the number of replacement engines.

Read all about it. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...618&hl=Jean

[nycebo]

Class action = thousands of those damaged getting 5 bucks each + one law firm getting millions.

Right on. But to correct you, if your law firm is run by Dicky Scruggs, then that law firm is getting Billions, not millions. Just check out his fees during the tobacco class action lawsuits. The whole notion of law firms even sharing in the punitive damages of a settlement or award encourages such a twisted legal environment in our country.

Edited June 27, 2007 by nycebo

[Johnnyceesred]

Just to see what the cost would be, how many people would be in for a class action suit against Porsche for 996 engine failures? Please post your car year, miles and brief description of the problem. I will try and put a list together and forward it to a law firm and see what their response is. I found this firms link seaching around. If anyone has a better firm or any input, I'm all ears.

http://www.schneiderwallace.com/PracticeAr...C&ovtac=PPC

Hi,

I've got a thread relating to engine problems see http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...t=0&start=0

The thread shows a complete history of the situation.

As a brief summary of my actions, I took a series of photos of my problem engine the main complaint about which is a defective crank cradle identified when the engine was disassembled by the independent I use. Because I use the car for business I had to buy an exchange engine as I had to limit the amount of time the car was off the road. It was still off the road from November 11th 2006 to the middle of February this year anyway.

I have complained to Porsche GB Customer Assistance under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 within English Law and after a series of e-mails and letters they advised me to get an independent report done on the defects. This was done by The RAC (Royal Automobile Club) a motoring organisation in the UK. I subsequently got a specialist metallurgy company to report on the evidence as well as recommended by The RAC and submitted this to Porsche GB. Both reports said the component in question had manufacture-related defects, was sub-standard and should not have been fitted in the engine in the first place as it was not fit for purpose.

The latest letter I received last Friday from Porsche GB still refused my claim so I have obtained the direct e-mail address of Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, President and CEO of Porsche AG and have e-mailed him today with the details of the defects and have requested his assistance in resolving the situation.

I'll keep my thread updated with the next events.

Rgds

John

This is very disturbing!!! Porsche prides itself as a Top Notch Quality Behemoth. So far (knocking on wood) I have been lucky with mechanical issues (minus minor issues non-engine related). But when buying a Porsche you should not wonder if you are going to be lucky or not. Would be nice if a major Auto Organization did a report on the quality of Porsche. 20/20 or 60 minutes anyone???...lol.

It appears that you drove the hell out of that C4S. I am sure you did the recommended services.

Hi,

All servicing was done as per the book right on each mileage interval. Most of the miles are on motorways and dual carriageways cruising at around 75-80MPH, so easy on the engine.

At 125,300 miles (23rd May 2007) the gearbox developed a severe whine around 2,500-3,0000 RPM. Luckily I'd taken out extended warranty on 1st May so I've had a new gearbox and front-to rear prop shaft with all costs (approx £9,300 + tax) covered by the EW.

I'm still pursuing my claim against Porsche GB and have updated my thread.

Rgds

John

Edited June 29, 2007 by Johnnyceesred

[Johnnyceesred]

I also noticed one of the guys on the Porsche Club GB website had also suffered a cracked crankcase and I've e-mailed him for more details.

Rgds

John

Edited June 29, 2007 by Johnnyceesred

[vazodnem]

I have a 1999 ML 430 and very grateful to the person who sued Mercedes Benz for engine failures of their MY 1998-2000 ML series. This was not even because of the engine itself but due to maintenance misunderstanding. The oil that Mercedes recommends was Mobil 1 0W-40 but for some reason this guy apparently used conventional oil and his engine failed. He sued Mercedes for this and I guess he won because I am a recipient of its settlement which is if your engine consumes more than 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles Mercedes will change the engine free of charge and they guarantee this for 150,000 miles. Maybe unbelievable but it was my dealership who told me this. My engine was changed at 149,000 miles and I have put 34000 miles on the new/remanufactured engine and no issues.

Hi Gas-man,

I just read your experience with your 1999 Ml 430. I have a 1999 Ml 320 with only 62000 miles. I bought this from a friend when it had 48000 miles about 2 years ago. I have had similar experiences...engine failure while idling and while about to accelarate, a quart of oil every so often. I even had to change my power steering rack just the other day. I thought the engine failure was because of the quality of gasoline I was getting, then I read your experience. How do I go about doing this? Who is your dealer? . Should I call Mbenz headquarters first or just go directly to the dealer. I understand from other sites that they could give you a run around. Appreciate the advice.

Thanks.

[Loren]

I have a 1999 ML 430 and very grateful to the person who sued Mercedes Benz for engine failures of their MY 1998-2000 ML series. This was not even because of the engine itself but due to maintenance misunderstanding. The oil that Mercedes recommends was Mobil 1 0W-40 but for some reason this guy apparently used conventional oil and his engine failed. He sued Mercedes for this and I guess he won because I am a recipient of its settlement which is if your engine consumes more than 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles Mercedes will change the engine free of charge and they guarantee this for 150,000 miles. Maybe unbelievable but it was my dealership who told me this. My engine was changed at 149,000 miles and I have put 34000 miles on the new/remanufactured engine and no issues.

Hi Gas-man,

I just read your experience with your 1999 Ml 430. I have a 1999 Ml 320 with only 62000 miles. I bought this from a friend when it had 48000 miles about 2 years ago. I have had similar experiences...engine failure while idling and while about to accelarate, a quart of oil every so often. I even had to change my power steering rack just the other day. I thought the engine failure was because of the quality of gasoline I was getting, then I read your experience. How do I go about doing this? Who is your dealer? . Should I call Mbenz headquarters first or just go directly to the dealer. I understand from other sites that they could give you a run around. Appreciate the advice.

Thanks.

Please - this is a Porsche technical website. Please keep your posts Porsche related.

Thanks.