C4S Head Gasket

[gnetwerker]

I took my C4S (about 85k miles) into the shop the other day, and my mechanic noted that there was some (not a lot) coolant weeping from the head gasket.  He said it would probably self-seal, but suggested that I might want to look toward upgrading to a 997.2 or a 991.  Any commentary on whether it is ever worthwhile (financially) to grin and bear this repair bill, sell the car, or take some other path?

[Ahsai]

Has the head (on the leaking side) been removed before? The head gaskets are quite strong on these engines and they seldom fail. Also, is he sure the leak is from the head gasket and not dripped from somewhere higher above? A photo of the leaking area might help.

[JFP in PA]

Have to agree with Duncan on this one; in all the years we have been working on these engine's, I have never seen one of the MLS head gaskets fail, simply because the head gasket is stronger than the cylinder head it self.

[gnetwerker]

No record of previous engine work.  Did the IMS bearing thing a while ago, and it wouldn't take the new bearing but did take the increased lube alternative.  

[jaekormtb]

Self-sealing coolant leak on an M96?? That's even rarer than an M96 head gasket failure. I think a bit more diagnostic work is in order before you go dropping the engine or selling the car. Has the coolant level dropped? Is there any oil in the coolant? How about coolant in the oil? 

Your real question was, "is it ever worthwhile (financially) to grin and bear this repair bill, sell the car, or take some other path?"

996 C4S is likely worth between $28-32,000. Replacing the head gaskets is going to be minimum $4,000, but because there are so many "while you are in there" jobs, (AOS, clutch, RMS, rebuild lifters, fuel injectors, assorted sensors, broken exhaust studs, etc) it could easily go to $8,000 or more.  

[Ahsai]

I wanna see a pic of the area in question.

[dporto]

On 6/22/2017 at 7:57 PM, gnetwerker said:

I took my C4S (about 85k miles) into the shop the other day, and my mechanic noted that there was some (not a lot) coolant weeping from the head gasket.  He said it would probably self-seal, but suggested that I might want to look toward upgrading to a 997.2 or a 991.  Any commentary on whether it is ever worthwhile (financially) to grin and bear this repair bill, sell the car, or take some other path?

Get thee to a different shop...

[gnetwerker]

OK, thanks for the input, I'll explore this further.  The coolant level in the tank dropped severely.  Don't (yet) know if there is any coolant in the oil or vice versa -- that's the next thing to look at.

 

I trust this mechanic, but I'll talk to them again about it and explore some more.

 

Being able to say to the SO that I **really** need to upgrade to a 991 had a certain amount of native appeal, however.  OTOH, manual transmission 991 C4S Cabs are as scarce as hen's teeth.