3.4L Engine Rebuild Cost

Indy SIngh · 13 Mar 2017

'ello.

N00b member here so watch the low blows and rabbit punches.

I was considering buying an E46 M3 but then noticed the outrageously low prices that 996's sell for. A few weeks reading up here mulling over whether I should buy one or not, I think that I'm going to bite.

Since I'm skinter than Flint I could afford to spend circa £10k on a highish mileage 98/99 model but what then, what about maintenance and servicing? These I would all do myself...

If something major was to go wrong like the IMS failure I'd have to rebuild the engine myself with the help of my dad. So my question is how much more complicated than a normal engine rebuild is the 996 rebuild. What kind of money would I be looking at for parts?

I've rebuilt two engines in my time, a Rover 3.5 V8 sometime in the early 90's and I helped on a BMW E39 engine rebuild around 10 years ago. That aside I've helped my dad who is now retired to pull apart gearboxes, diffs etc so I'm not a complete n00b when it comes to working on a car.

I understand that I'd need to invest in special tools if I am going to buy a 996 but I'm just trying to how difficult these cars are to work on, and what would be a worst case scenario? I could probably afford around £3k/ year to spend on my hobby which really isn't a lot when it comes to high performance cars.

or should I just accept that I'm too poor to own one?

Reality checks please.. :sad:

T8 · 13 Mar 2017

:welcome: to 911uk

Normally I'd dissuade somebody with your budget from considering a 911 but you sound like exactly the sort of person that should be buying one of these excellent value for money cars. :thumb:

There's a few rebuild experts on here so you should get plenty of fresh advice but in the meantime 'infrasilver' rebuilt his 3.6 a couple of years ago and his comprehensive write up is here.

==> http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=94361&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=rebuild

Happy Hunting. :thumb:

wasz · 13 Mar 2017

Hi,

I had even less money than you for purchase 3 years ago, and I have spent around £3k in total in that time on maintenance and servicing myself.

That included a complete set of new suspension arms (4x coffin, 4x forked, rear track, front inner and outer track, rear dogbone, top mounts) and engine mounts to make it drive right.

I am looking at a full set of new dampers now (£700 bilstein b4) to make it drive 100% like new.

The 3.4 is the strongest engine (piston coasting and IMS bearing), but any engine on this kind of mileage can have anything fail as you will know. I would also rebuild myself if mine needed it, but its in rude health.

Others on here have rebuilt their engines, there aren't that many special tools needed - and many have workarounds - the USA forums are packed with people doing this.

Parts can be a little pricey direct from Porsche but theres many other routes - e.g. tapped from INA via BMW, MAF sensors direct from Bosch and suspension arms are cheap as they are shared by the Boxster.

Its quite easy to work on, the only difficulty is engine compartment is cramped, but if you have the equipment (lift) the engine drops out really easily.

Do it.

infrasilver · 13 Mar 2017

I have done a few rebuilds now and T8 has linked to my second rebuild above but don't expect to do a rebuild, some of these engines are putting on a lot of miles without needing engine work.

I paid around £3.5k in parts for each rebuild, this also included machining work where required and worn parts renewal, as I did the work myself there was no labour cost on top. To remove the engine it should take a day if there are two working on it.

They are reasonably easy engines to work on and I have made up some of my own special tools, there are a few of us on here now that have done a rebuild so there will be plenty of advice if you ever needed it.

Indy SIngh · 13 Mar 2017

Thank you for the feedback gents, this is exactly what I wanted to hear!

Good going on the crankshaft build infrasilver! This is exactly the kind of work that I could undertake with a little bit of help from forum members. The price of a rebuild at appx £3.5k should I need one doesn't put me off in the slightest.

I have access to heavy lifting equipment including Genie lifts etc but as I'm rebuilding my garage now I'll just drop an RSJ in an appropriate place so should I need to lift the engine out I could do it using a hoist pulley. I'll refrain from digging out a pit area though...

I'm no grease monkey but I think I'd enjoy working on a 911.

HSC911 · 13 Mar 2017

Indy SIngh said:
or should I just accept that I'm too poor to own one?

NO.

Just go and buy one, worry about the problems as, and IF, they happen.

:thumb:

Harv · 13 Mar 2017

Welcome
Go for it, as the others have said if you are handy with fixing mechanical things you will be fine and you'll get one of the best sports cars that 10k will buy.

Just get and keep ontop of routine servicing, bear in mind that things will need to be done, these cars are now approaching 20 years old.

Sounds like you are just what a lucky 996 needs :thumb:

cobrars · 13 Mar 2017

Welcome....

Just do it...

My philosophy - Buy Now, worry Later :thumb:

Excellent cars... you won't regret it

Indy SIngh · 14 Mar 2017

(in the voice of Murray Walker) All systems are GO GO GO

/

Money is in the bank

Her indoors has reached a verdict and permission has been granted :judge:

And the nice members on the 911 forums think it can be done. :thumbs:

I am now officially in the market for a Porsche 911 996.

Thank you all for your input!

Harv · 14 Mar 2017

Hurrah

I'm sure if you post up links to potential purchase we can give some advice too

The C2 manual early 996's are just great but quite hard to find now at the lower end of price scale. I would go for one of those or a c4s for long term price stability/ease of sale/potential price rises

:thumb:

Martin996RSR · 14 Mar 2017

Try to buy a 1998 car if you can. It has a double row bearing for the IMS which is much much more likely to not fail when compared to the later single row bearing cars.

Good luck in your search. I spend about £500/year on maintaining my one but I do all my own spannering.

Indy SIngh · 14 Mar 2017

Ouch the cheapest C4S on Autotrader is 18k.....ouch

The cheapest on ebay, 12k with tatty interior
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-9...851200?hash=item33c4b9ecc0:g:GhsAAOSwA3dYih~D
It's still 2k more than what I have right now. I could swear there were loads of sub 10k cars just a month ago :dont know:

infrasilver · 14 Mar 2017

They do come up but a lot less than they used to for that price, prices are sneaking up so if you see a good cheap one you can't hang about too long.

Jamesx19 · 14 Mar 2017

Keep with it. Prices seem to go up and down. You may find a flurry of cars come on at a lower price, they sell, then were back to cars that have been hanging around for a while £14,000 ish.

Although I've got mine and am happy with it, I can't seem to help myself but keep an eye on adverts.... for the last 2 1/2 years!!!

Also look at Gumtree and Pistonheads.

Get the BEST maintained car you can afford. I can tell you that because I bought the CHEAPEST I could find, and while I enjoy a project, it can be frustrating when I just want to get out and drive the thing.

If you buy a good car with lots of history, etc etc, it will still be worth the money when (if) you come to sell, and it'll be easier to sell. Buy a cheap high mileage one, and it'll stick around. Not a problem if you want to keep it of course.

As an example I bought mine for £8,500 last October (yes really) I have now spent £4500 since, and I've done most of the work myself. I could have bought a Hartech maintained car just 2 months previous, same spec, slightly lower mileage for £13,500. The Hartech maintained car may have been £500 more, but it will surely hold its value better than mine will, due to its history and provenance.

Just one opinion of course, and I'll echo what others have said. These things are just the same as any other car to work on, and parts costs are not extreme.

Cheers

Harv · 15 Mar 2017

Jamesx19 said:
Keep with it. Prices seem to go up and down. You may find a flurry of cars come on at a lower price, they sell, then were back to cars that have been hanging around for a while £14,000 ish.

Although I've got mine and am happy with it, I can't seem to help myself but keep an eye on adverts.... for the last 2 1/2 years!!!

Also look at Gumtree and Pistonheads.

Get the BEST maintained car you can afford. I can tell you that because I bought the CHEAPEST I could find, and while I enjoy a project, it can be frustrating when I just want to get out and drive the thing.

If you buy a good car with lots of history, etc etc, it will still be worth the money when (if) you come to sell, and it'll be easier to sell. Buy a cheap high mileage one, and it'll stick around. Not a problem if you want to keep it of course.

As an example I bought mine for £8,500 last October (yes really) I have now spent £4500 since, and I've done most of the work myself. I could have bought a Hartech maintained car just 2 months previous, same spec, slightly lower mileage for £13,500. The Hartech maintained car may have been £500 more, but it will surely hold its value better than mine will, due to its history and provenance.

Just one opinion of course, and I'll echo what others have said. These things are just the same as any other car to work on, and parts costs are not extreme.

Cheers

Agreed with all James has said.

My C4S was 9k but I will have spent a good 5k on it all told to bring up to scratch which includes an engine rebuild and overbore to 3.9 litres with supporting mods.

Personally I wouldn't go for a C4 in the 996.1 early 3.4 config and would hang out for a C2 which is much more raw and a drivers car or see if you can stretch to a C4S if you can save a little extra cash during up your search. I think everything is a bit more expensive this year as price firm up.

A PPI can be a good bargaining tool.

One other thing... If you buy from a dealer/trader make sure you purchase some of the car on a credit card, this will protect your consumer rights for the whole purchase price amount if anything goes wrong in the short term.

Good luck :thumb:

3.4L Engine Rebuild Cost

Indy SIngh

New member

T8

Super Moderator

wasz

Paul Ricard

infrasilver

Moderator

Indy SIngh

New member

HSC911

Sebring

Harv

Suzuka

cobrars

Spa-Francorchamps

Indy SIngh

New member

Harv

Suzuka

Martin996RSR

Montreal

Indy SIngh

New member

infrasilver

Moderator

Jamesx19

Hockenheim

Harv

Suzuka

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