997S Engine Issue(s)

[500]

The engine in my 997S with less than 20k fell victim to the dreaded left side exhaust soot issue with very high oil consumption (1/3 quart in 100 miles).

The car was bought new by me with only 3 miles on the odo and was carefully broken in and had the oil changed by the dealer at the one year mark (never hit the 20k first). For the past several months or so the car was also exhibiting an engine knock no matter the brand of gas or station with 93 octane fuel; perhaps the plugs which became coated with oil and caused the knock? Some may remember I started a thread a few weeks ago where my engine's valvetrain made a terrible racket at start up which I attributed to it sitting for a week or so without being driven (but never heard it before) apparently that was not the case.

The dealership is now removing the cylinder head to see the exact extent of the problem(s) and a replacement engine may be in order (I'll know tomorrow).

My car also has had a very annyoing clutch chatter issue since new which could never be corrected even with a new replacement clucth and dual mass flywheel...the interesting thing is my loaner (08 Cayman S 6 speed)has a magnifcent clutch with no chatter at all...none. Cayman S's also have the DMF.

Questions:

1) The dealership told me that only remanufactuered engines are available...is this true? I thought new replacement engines are available if one insists. I am hoping once the head is removed and the issue fully identified that Porsche will ok replacing the engine vs trying to repair the damage/defect.

2) Since the engine is out and the clutch is now easily accessible is it reasonable to ask Porsche to rectify the chatter issue once and for all. Several months ago the factory rep tried to tell me it was the dual mass flywheel set up I was feeling to which I laughed and said dual mass flywheels are supposed to lessen vibrations etc not make them worse and I've owned quite a few new 911's with the DMF setup that had no chatter at all. The clutch on my loaner is simply wonderful with 0 chatter.

The dealership's service people have been great and I hope Porsche lets them do the right thing...if they don't my 27 year relationship with Porsche may come to a very unhappy ending.

Thanks for the opinions.

Edited July 1, 2009 by 500

[phillipj]

I'm sorry to hear about your issues on such a new car.

I would insist they fix everything to your liking. That is very funny about the rep telling you that the DM flywheel was causing the chatter. What a freakin moron. I wonder if he knows what a flywheel is??? :jump:

Although there are "new" engines they (Porsche) typically replace with a "reman" engine. This possibly could be a better choice because typically they have updated suspect parts and addressed issues that have failed in the original engines.

I would press them to make the car right or you could persue the "lemon" approach and have them replace the entire car. Sound like you may have a case for that.

Good luck and keep us posted.

:beer:

[500]

I'm sorry to hear about your issues on such a new car.

I would insist they fix everything to your liking. That is very funny about the rep telling you that the DM flywheel was causing the chatter. What a freakin moron. I wonder if he knows what a flywheel is??? :jump:

Although there are "new" engines they (Porsche) typically replace with a "reman" engine. This possibly could be a better choice because typically they have updated suspect parts and addressed issues that have failed in the original engines.

I would press them to make the car right or you could persue the "lemon" approach and have them replace the entire car. Sound like you may have a case for that.

Good luck and keep us posted.

:beer:

Thank you Phillip and thanks for addressing the new vs reman issue. My car is 2.5 yrs old so I think I'm out of the lemon law window (2yrs in FL ) but I'll check to be sure.

The rep just tried to double talk me and I let him...this time he won't get away with it. My loaner is an 08 Cayman S and it's clutch is 110% chatter free.

Edited July 1, 2009 by 500

[rob545]

I think the engine issue will be addressed to your satisfaction but I am curious to what the second opinion you get about the clutch "chatter" you describe will be. I have a non-s 2006 997 and have complained to the dealer about an annoyingly rough clutch engagement issue with similar response. Other 997's I drive from base model to DM GT3's do not exhibit such a characteristic and are very easy to drive. I find my own very finicky and virtually impossible for others to drive smoothly. Please keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

[500]

I think the engine issue will be addressed to your satisfaction but I am curious to what the second opinion you get about the clutch "chatter" you describe will be. I have a non-s 2006 997 and have complained to the dealer about an annoyingly rough clutch engagement issue with similar response. Other 997's I drive from base model to DM GT3's do not exhibit such a characteristic and are very easy to drive. I find my own very finicky and virtually impossible for others to drive smoothly. Please keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

I know exactly how you feel! The clutch stuff is really BS, as the clutch in my loaner '08 Cayman S (also with a dual mass flywheel) is great...no chatter, 0! I hope to find out about my car on Monday and will keep you guys posted. If Porsche does not do the right thing it may very well be my last...

[Gundo]

Amazing that this happened, and I'm very sorry to hear about it. This is a truly unfortunate case of PCNA ignorance. they ignored your claim, they didn't do anything about it, and waited for your engine to self destruct.

When you took to dealer, was it running? Would it run at all? were you really burning 1 qt / 100 miles??

I had a very severe oil consumption issue (1qt / 700 miles) that has since abated to 1 qt / 3,000 miles and I'm at 15k miles.

Again, sorry to hear about it.

I think the engine issue will be addressed to your satisfaction but I am curious to what the second opinion you get about the clutch "chatter" you describe will be. I have a non-s 2006 997 and have complained to the dealer about an annoyingly rough clutch engagement issue with similar response. Other 997's I drive from base model to DM GT3's do not exhibit such a characteristic and are very easy to drive. I find my own very finicky and virtually impossible for others to drive smoothly. Please keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

I know exactly how you feel! The clutch stuff is really BS, as the clutch in my loaner '08 Cayman S (also with a dual mass flywheel) is great...no chatter, 0! I hope to find out about my car on Monday and will keep you guys posted. If Porsche does not do the right thing it may very well be my last...

[500]

New (reman) engine on the way...apparentely one of the pistons was scored pretty badly and they did not get into any other details (he seemd to try to downplay it) I also asked them to check on the clutch and related parts to find out about the chatter.

I asked about a new engine vs a reman and he said "there are no new engines, only reman units for the exchange". I did not push for new engine as he assured me that the remans are almost completely new with all wear parts replaced with new. The way I look at it is my orginal engine was new and it was defective, so new doesn't guarantee/improve anything.

I hope the new engine will be great and they get my clutch chatter straightened out.

Gundo,

The car was running when I brought it in, but drinking oil like a drunken sailor.