996 towed to shop from track: not looking too good

[pjalexandre]

Car lost power all of sudden on the track. No signs of anything before that. Engine light came on, vibration through clutch pedal. Car running very rough (missing). Came straight into pits... engine idled fine but when revved up to 3k you can hear a thumping noise.

Codes: P0300, 0301, 0302, 0304, 0305, 1531 and 1313

Had it flat bedded to a shop in near home. Car starts and runs, moved it in the pits to position for tow truck and then again in the shop parking lot to park it.

Today the shop tech took it for a test drive and it died and won't restart about 1/2 mile from the shop. They don't know yet but think it needs a motor.

May look at a 2nd opinion... would the dealer be better than an independent?

Thanks.. -Paul

[deschodt]

>would the dealer be better than an independent?

Depends if you are under warranty... And if you plan to keep the car. Assuming you are not under warranty, a dealer will certify the new motor for I think 2 years ? If an independant does it, the parts only are warrantied for 2 years.

[viper501]

I replied to your post on Rennlist as well but didn't address some of the questions. Having just gone through this, I'll offer my two cents. I was cruising on the interstate when things went south and the car started running rough. Dealer in Tennessee (Rick Hill Imports in Kingsport) did a good job looking at it and diagnosing with no compression on number 2. They suspected a valve issue but said that the labor alone to get the engine out and repair the valve, whether a spring or a bent valve, would be astronomical. Book says that remove engine, remove accessories, replace accessories, and replace engine is over 33 hours of labor. They suggested replacement and qouted me 10k +/- for complete RAR with Porsche reman'd engine.

I was a bit reluctant to drop that kind of money at a dealer out of my area so I trucked the car back home to my local dealer. They independently verified no compression on number two and said RAR was the suggested solution. Astoundingly, they qouted me 16k for the same *exact* thing as Rick Hill. Obviously, that was crazy. They were trying to get full retail on the engine (cost for the dealers is about 6800) and tacked on an extra 20+ hours of labor for the install.

I took the car to my indie and ordered the engine from Sunset (tried ordering it from Brandywine and they took me for a real ride. You can search here or shoot me a P.M. and I'll fill in the details on that but bottom line is DO NOT GO TO BRANDYWINE.) Once I ordered from Sunset, the engine got here in about 11 days, including the date of the order and the arrival.

My indie tech and I removed the old engine, installed a new clutch, LWF (AASCO unit from FVD), reassembled the engine, transferred a couple parts that had been updated on the new engine, and installed the new engine in about 12 hours of work time. Could have easily done it in less had we done one before. Very very simple to unhook the necessary lines and swap things over. She started on the first try and is running like a top. Finally put 1k miles on her and now feel comfortable winding things out a bit.

Now I have to ship the core back to Sunset. :( I'd love to find a local buyer so I wouldn't have to ship it back.