Clunk - Expensive Clunk... in 2003 996 TT...Big Engine Problem

[willf_ie]

Hi,

Hate my first post to be on such a downbeat note. About 10 days ago while driving through the city in 3rd gear at appox 30 mph, I heard a "clunk" from the engine of the car, power dropped off, engine warning light came on and the engine died.

Recovery truck to OPC in Belfast. Phone call from Service Manager. "William your car is sick, very sick. Its not an electrical problem or any diagnostics problem. The engine has to come out, and be stripped so we can see whats wrong. Its going to be 15 hours work before we have any idea and can visually inspect the engine internals. Our suspicions is a broken timing chain......" Owwww.

24k miles on a 2003 car that is treated like a baby - (garage/concours/drive for sunday paper/No track Days)....I hadnt planned for this one. The OPC have assured me they are way to busy to start tearing a Turbo apart. I know they do very good work there in Isaac Agnew. I just remember them telling me I should go for the extended warranty and feeling very ill now at my boyish judgement on the 995Stg annual fee for same.

Anyone any idea's where to from here.

Thanks guys,

William

[SpawnyWhippet]

Ouch, sounds expensive. Are there any Porsche specialists or Porsche race teams near Belfast who can look at the car? I would not go anywhere near OPC for a job of this size, unless your wallet is as big as your house.

My car is out of warranty, so for anything major I take my car to the guy who prepares the Porsche Carrera Cup cars in Sydney. He is a lot cheaper and probably knows a fair bit more than the mechanics in the OPC. For example a minor oil service at my OPC for my car is $850 AUD + 10% VAT ($770 USD), whereas this guy can do a major service (oil, plugs, filters etc) including full suspension strip down and setup for around $1200 ($1000 USD).

Edited September 4, 2007 by SpawnyWhippet