I think my engine just took a #$%!!

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by tholyoak

The RMS issue, is not an issue in most cases, Porsche has never made an engine that didn't drip a little oil. Talk to any air cooled 911 owner. Replace the seal with the latest seal when you need to replace the clutch, no big deal.

There's another source of RMS failure beyond the seal itself being poorly made or fitting loosely or stretching due to heat and age, etc.

It's easy to assume that seal itself is bad and just needs replacement (Dealers often make this assumption when they replace a RMS under warranty). Porsche did make a bunch of crappy ones in the early years of the 986 and 996, but they still have RMS issues with the 997's and the 987's.

But that's not the entire nature of many RMS leaks by any means.

The shaft being out of round causes the RMS to wear out prematurely, stretching it and even tearing it in places. My MY97 had its engine replaced before I bought it... although I have no records, I wonder about this very thing as the cause for my engine replacement.

So, we have two problems surrounding the RMS issue. Crappy first, second, third, and even fourth generation rear main seals; and crappy manufacturing going on inside the engine which causes the RMS to fail.

Just thought I'd throw in this mix to add one more reason for RMS failure and how to attack the problem if you have more than one RMS failure in a relatively short time span.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by tholyoak

Sorry but I think this issue is completely overblown and people get all emotional because of the significant amount of money to fix the problem.

Yes the '99 cars had a problem, only those cars that have very low mileage will still be affected since if they were driven at all most affected cars blew their motors during the warranty period, including mine, since it typically happened before 30k miles.

The RMS issue, is not an issue in most cases, Porsche has never made an engine that didn't drip a little oil. Talk to any air cooled 911 owner. Replace the seal with the latest seal when you need to replace the clutch, no big deal. Again, my opinion is that this is more of a problem on infrequently used cars than ones that are actually regularly driven.

The intermediate shaft failures are pretty rare and Porsche has been pretty good at taking care of them even out of warranty but can you really expect them to honor an engine replacement on a 8-10 year old car? This is another reason I place no value on very low mileage cars as all the problems that would have normally come out during the first 1-2 years of ownership are lingering for the next unsuspecting buyer.

Look at Porsche's engine history, no engine was without trouble. Magnesium case 2.7s pulled their head studs, 3.0L had collapsed tensioner issues, blown CIS airbox issues, 3.2S had broken head stud issues and valve guide wear issues, 964s had valve guide issues, 993s have SAI and valve guide issues. I don't hear the aircooled guys whining about their engines being junk. These motors were >$30k if you wanted to replace one from Porsche, and rebuilds were not a cheap proposition. Now you can buy a 3.8X51 from Porsche for ~$12k including a core charge. Quite a deal.

The M96 engines are putting out close to 100hp/L, while getting very good mileage and very low emissions, in my opinion these are great motors. Yes their have been some hiccups along the way, but that is nothing new in Porsche engineering history. Again if the cars were driven, most of the issues would have sorted themselves out during the warranty period.

Just my $0.02.

Todd

This is basically an excuse-rest for Porsche. Our engines have alwasys leaked, so buck up and suck up?

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

These cars simply don't inspire long term confidence in the 2nd hand market and dealers holding used Porches on the lot are sweating out "of warranty bullets" until there is a sale...They are very happy to see Porsches leave the lot ASAP.

But this would effect resale prices if it were true and it doesn't appear that it has.