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Engine Rebuild by RedTek... how long will it last?

owend

Member
Joined
31 Oct 2018
Messages
8
First time poster, long time lover..

About to join the fold and buy my first 911!!

I'm looking at a 997 3.8s which has tons of history and a full RedTek £7.3k engine rebuild. I can't get hold of RedTek to understand exactly what they changed. The invoice talks about "Strip down engine, replace 6 cylinders and 1 piston" and then the full rebuild kit inc bearings/rings etc.

This was done 5yrs / 30k miles ago. She's now on 100k miles.

So, the question is, am i back into the bore score & IMS territory again. Or are RedTek like Hartech in that they would have future proofed it?

Many Thanks guys.
 
If say you really need to get hold of Redtek to understand what actual work was carried out. Get it from the horses mouth I'd say. Keep plugging away
 
Its very hard to tell without speaking to the rebuild guys , there are many that can and do rebuild these engines but they use new OE parts unlike Hartech who have redesigned parts to overcome the weaknesses , So in theory if it was rebuild using OE parts it would potentially have the inherant weaknesses having said that only about 5% of these cars fail from borescore and about 8% from IMS failure .
Depending on the age of the car as to whether it had the newer IMS originally or again during the rebuild did they rebuild using the newer IMS. this info is important as you would then be able to discount that.
Then you left with Borscore as its 5% ish of cars it would be bloody unlucky if the same car suffered scoring twice in its life , but potentially still a possibility although I would think the odds very low considering the mileage .
But thats only my thoughts without seeing or knowing the car or what was done or even knowing much about redtek and the std of their rebuilds . from a positive point of view the rebuild cant be bad if its done 30k in 5 years and still happily going .
 
Nick Fulljames at RedTek is very well regarded, so I would imagine the job would have been done properly.

If you can get hold of the spec of the rebuild that it would be helpful for the history of the car.
 
I am not familiar with Redtek. Quick google reveals they are more in to aircooled cars. If the invoice only states replacement parts then that will mean they've likely just ordered them from Porsche and Porsche have sent what they had at the time of the build. What I mean by that is Porsche do tweak the designs slightly if they become aware of issues. Harlech manufacture there own parts / carefully select after market parts which are manufactured to reduce the known risks.

The only way to know for sure what was done is to call Redtek and ask. Reality is it has covered 30k miles so if it was a botched build it would have let go by now. If it was rebuilt with standard off the shelf Porsche parts then I would be inclined to treat it like any other car that has not had a build.
 
replacing cylinders doesn't sound like a straightforward strip down and rebuild, the cylinders are machined in to the block. Definitely get more info from the company who did the work.

MC
 
Yea, unfortunately although RedTek seem to be highly regarded, i don't think they still operate. Think the guy retired? And hence why i can't get hold.

I've seen some stuff about them, and by all accounts they are top notch? Be interested to hear views on here of experience etc.

i'm unlikely to be able to get detailed info other than the original invoice.

So, i really like the car but trying to go in with eyes WIDE open...
 
owend said:
Yea, unfortunately although RedTek seem to be highly regarded, i don't think they still operate. Think the guy retired? And hence why i can't get hold.

I've seen some stuff about them, and by all accounts they are top notch? Be interested to hear views on here of experience etc.

i'm unlikely to be able to get detailed info other than the original invoice.

So, i really like the car but trying to go in with eyes WIDE open...

What year is the car :thumb:
 
March 2006 06 reg (C4S)... 'think' that was just before Porsche released the new IMS?
 
owend said:
March 2006 06 reg (C4S)... 'think' that was just before Porsche released the new IMS?

March is the accepted date they were all changed over by but some 05 cars got the newer bearings the only diffinitive is to check the engine number against this info to be sure . that way at least your aware if your concerned about 1 or 2 issues. hope this info helps you sort the has it hasnt it IMS issue ,

Last IMS revision before no IMS (Gen2 MA1 block):

997 Carrera 3.6 with engine numbers from M96/0569507475 are the new IMS design.

M96/05 = 997 3.6 Carrera NA
6 = 6 cylinders
9 = design revision
5 = year (2005)
07475 = cumulative production serial

This means some MY2005 benefit and all MY2006 onwards benefit.


997 Carrera S 3.8 with engine numbers from M97/0168509790 are the new IMS design.

M97/01 = 997 3.8 Carrera NA
6 = 6 cylinders
8 = design revision
5 = year (2005)
09790 = cumulative production serial

This means some MY2005 benefit and all MY2006 onwards benefit.
 
You obviously need to know what they did but finding out is going to be difficult, hopefully there are others with the same rebuild and they can tell you what was done to theirs?

The main and probably only thing you need to know is what did they use for their bore material, there are lots of engine builders that are sending their engines for work by Hartech and the like because they just don't have the full machining facilities but as far as the consumer is aware it was all done in house unless specifically asked, could also likely be ductile as this is cheaper but the rebuild was reasonably expensive.

There is a clue though, if only one piston was supplied it would suggest that only one bore had scored, this then raises the question, why did they renew all six bores unless it was to upgrade to Nikasil liners

If it was just a single bore that scored and ductile liners were used you probably would not bother renewing all the others with the same material? :dont know:
 
infrasilver said:
There is a clue though, if only one piston was supplied it would suggest that only one bore had scored, this then raises the question, why did they renew all six bores unless it was to upgrade to Nikasil liners

If it was just a single bore that scored and ductile liners were used you probably would not bother renewing all the others with the same material? :dont know:

like your thinking. Nick at RedTek seems to be top notch, so i'm hopeful he'd have done a hartech standard of work.

This could also be a nice dab of confirmation bias... i'm itching to get into a 911
 
Robert SausageTrousers said:
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of money are they asking for the car?

£25k

But that's not what i'll pay for it if i'm honest. Prices seem to be all over the shot at the moment.
 

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