997 Engine Failure

I write on behalf of my boss who has instructed me to spend a day a week researching this subject. I would like to hear from anyone who has suffered a similar problem. Legally he accepts he has no leg to stand on, but morally he is furious at how dismissive Porsche have been on what is increasingly appearing to be a fault with the engine of the 997 and wishes to build a case for professional presentation in the media based on the facts collected from this exercise. Had it not been for my initial research on the Web then he was pretty much accepting that he was an "unlucky one off" but my initial research has unearthed numerous identical cases accross the world. He is not internet "savvy" and is convinced there are many more 997 owners out there who are not "internet savvy" and will be unaware thier case is is not isolatated. As such, he has agreed a budget for me to place notices mainly in national journals and "High Net Worth" publications for owners past and present who have suffered similar problems to come forward.

The problem:

He purchased a Porsche 997 as they came out in 2004. It has been serviced exclusively by Porsche. He does very little mileage and as a result did not extend the warranty. It was last serviced in October 2008 when the mileage was aproximately 19,000 miles. A full service was carried out including full oil change. 1,000 miles later, during a drive the management system requested a visit to the workshop.

Porsche have diagnosed a fault with the sixth cylinder compression. The net result is a new engine. Like many other owners whom I have liased with the left hand exhaust is very black apparently from excessive oil being passed through a "score" in the sixth cylinder.

There seems to be huge inconsistencies as to how Porsche deal with thier customers depending upon where the car was bought and how it was serviced but the under lying fault appears entirely consistent.

It is the facts I wish to concentrate on and would be very grateful to hear from anybody who has had a similar, or most likely EXACT problem with the engine of thier 997 ONLY.

Should you wish to remain anonoymous then that is understood but the intention is to build a fully researched and accurate case and therefore your full support would be gratefully recieved.

He will be funding this research entirely from his own pocket and while initially the only costs involved are my time and publication of notices, ultimately the professional presentation to the media could prove costly. Should anyone who feels sufficiently strongly about this issue wish to donate towards this project thier donations will be greatly recived but the primary objective is to gather as many cases as is possible and it is in this regard that I would be most grateful to hear from you.

Like so many Porsche owners his loyalty and commitment to the Porsche brand has been total and it is only the dismissive and unsupportive response from Porsche when a clear fault on thier part is materialising that has shattered this commitment and led to this project.

Thank you for your time.

If Bigfish isn't your boss, you may want to PM him. As he also has 997 engine issues :?:

Duplicate thread deleted...

Have to say I'm glad I didn't go down the 997 route now

That's 3 or 4 997 engine failures reported on here in the last few weeks alone!

Question.

If you had a Porsche, and had no problems with the engine, my guess is you wouldn't seek out a forum, and post about how your engine has NOT failed.

So - out of all the 997 engines that have been made, as a percentage, what do you think the failure rate is?

Not arguing here, BUT - bad news travels fast. Good news generally doesnt travel.

So maybe its not the best form of research. IMHO.

Equally it seems to be the way large companies are going, shitting on the little people that made them big in the first place.

Not good business.

Interesting case, I've been chatting about this with a couple of friends who are highly regarded motoring journos on big titles for the big publisher.

FWIW I dont think statistically there are any big issues, any issue like this should be resolved by the manufacturer in a sensible manner and its shocking to hear of how customers have seemed to get treated.

ETA Its no surprise 2 long time and well known 911 owners here have left the brand, I'm sure questionable or perceived product/brand/service issues have played a small part in this.

This is becoming a joke now!

What the hell type of job do you do where your boss can order you to research porsche issues... i would love to apply! :floor:

How can there be suddenly all these engine failures in 2009? I blame the heavy snows!

Lada's seem like a better option, tell that to your boss.. also tell him to stop being cheap and sell his 2004 relic and buy the 2009 997 II.. he can clearly afford it as he's got researchers looking to engine issues! :floor:

Well, I'm with Matt on this one.

My engine has been fine (touch wood). But then I drive it and don't leave it in the garage. Seems to me that there may be an argument that the garage queens are having the problems.

I was always told by Porsche Engineers, "a driven Porsche, is a good Porsche". If you want an ornament, buy a Royal Dalton figurine.

Oh, sorry to hear about your boss's car. Not good at all.

Exactly as I said on another thread I reckon... Drive it hard from cold and you will trash the engine. Until it is warm there is not enough oil in the bores, so the risk of scoring is massively increased.

Personally I think this accounts for a high proportion of 996 and 997 engine failures as they are not generally owned by mechanically-sympathetic Porsche enthusiasts from new.

Wattie said:

Exactly as I said on another thread I reckon... Drive it hard from cold and you will trash the engine. Until it is warm there is not enough oil in the bores, so the risk of scoring is massively increased.

Personally I think this accounts for a high proportion of 996 and 997 engine failures as they are not generally owned by mechanically-sympathetic Porsche enthusiasts from new.

Click to expand...

Actually a good point. My car has never gone over 4k revs until the oil reach at least 90 which takes about 10 minutes or so. When I say never I mean when I've driven it. A Porsche engineer was test driving my car last year and he took it over 4k before it warmed up. By god did he get a f*****g.... :nooo:

I can't see Porsche wanting to admit there are problems with the 997 engine so if someone wants to try and gather information they have my support. And in the event he does discover something, all you 997 owners should buy him a drink. Bet one thing he will discover is just how inconsistent customer service is between the various OPC, some doing all they can and others washing their hands.

I have had anengine failure - 30,000 miles 54 plate 997 S

In the Porecshe dealership at EXACTLY the same time was another 997 with the SAME problem

I too an livid the way Porsche have treated me

Count me in

I would also contat Brillo with post entitled "997 9114s engine failure?"

He has had exactly the same problem

Have all these people with "engine failures" had there cars from new or bought second hand.

All presumably have taken a conscious decision not to buy/renew either a full Porsche warranty or some other form of Insurance.

I ask because it is common knowledge that the cost of an engine replacement is expensive in any performance car and unless lucky you cannot tell the true condition of the engine internals from an inspection. Also unless you have owned the car from new you have absolutely no idea how the car has been driven and let's face it - it's a high performance car so chances are it has been driven pretty hard (pity the poor sod who bought my last one from the OPC :floor: )....or by the sound of some garage queens not at all :roll:

If you have not renewed your warranty when a car is getting older or bought second hand outside the OPC network and you have not had Porsche service and warrant the car subsequently why should Porsche now be interested (unless of course there is a catrastophic failure rate but from a few isolated instances does not appear to be the case). It's like complaining to your house builder or previous house owner that your house has just burned down and you decided not to take out Insurance.

It is a personal and financial decision as from where you buy your car and how you cover the risks of ownership but when with hindsight these decisions are wrong then no matter how unfortunate there is generally only really one person to blame.

If the few people with engine issues had bought warranties then most of these recent threads would not exist.

If you are not prepared to cover the risks yourself get a warranty - that's why the market developed them. If you can't afford to cover the risks or the warranty then consider whether you should have a high performance car of any brand.

Now off to get my flak jacket .

I have to agree with David M and my thoughts have been the same on other threads.

I made a clear choice to buy new, to have all maintenance through the OPC and to keep the car in official Porsche warranty. It's not cheap but then buying a Porsche was never meant to be. Anyone that chooses to buy a used Porsche at bargain basement prices right now should factor in the cost of a warranty. IMO.

OK, in an ideal world things would never go wrong but why would Porsche support a 3 / 4 year old car that has potentially had numerous owners and potentially serviced outside their network or has modifications and is not under warranty?

In the case of the poster of this thread, it sounds like he might have bought from new, serviced by the OPC and the car is low mileage. So, its not under warranty but I would have thought that would be exactly the kind of case that they should support?

With me - the car had full inspection that showed the engine had not been redlined, and had average speed of 25mph. It is driven every day & not hammered

My view is more Porsche attitude. They told me it was totally unpreventable my myself.

And they paid 60% to one guy, nothing to me

problems to happen - I accept that....but I can see how they can treat one guy one way & me another...

They are not the company I though they were...and thefeore will never give them my hard earnt cash again