Porsche 996 Engine Teardown What Exactly Went Wrong With My M96 Engine

Porsche 996 Engine Teardown What Exactly Went Wrong With My M96 Engine
Nathan's Porsche Workshop
Po Box 115 Altenburg Mo 63732
[e-mail]

[@993mike]

Man, unless it’s a Mezger (GT3 & turbo) engine, I think the 996 motors are crap. I would personally stay away from any 911 between ‘99 - ‘08. Porsche didn’t really get it together on the water cooled side until the ‘09 model year 997.2.

[@9jfd1]

Mean while I am doing 3000km oil changes and this M96 engine has caused no issues for me. Do not make general statement like that without asking about maintenance practices. Garage queening these cars is also not advisable. I have 310,000 km and it still rips like new. Too much bs on IMS issue.

[@branetraveler]

I have a 996.2 that has been extremely reliable. I follow the Porsche recommended maintenance interval to the letter. Most miles are highway miles though I do use the Porsche as my daily driver. The only non use replacement was the alternator which failed because a garage attendant didn’t jump the car correctly. Currently at 105,000 miles.

[@dkjens0705]

You can pick up a 996 6-speed manual coupe at auctions for down to US$3,000 with a blown engine. With sleeving you can add up to 400cc to the engine size so making a 3.8s to a 4.2 with steel sleaves and forged race pistons for an additional $5,000 during the rebuild and $2,000 in tuning. Add a free flowing exhaust and an $800 extra 2 liter deep sump and you have a close to 400HP fantastic and fun car for $20,000 to $25,000. But yes, the aluseal and iron coated piston skirts is pure shit causing many engines to only last 50,000 miles.

[@cayman9873]

Is this car when done something I could buy ??

[@NathansPorscheWorkshop]

It will be for sale

[@stuart6143]

Nathan I'm currently rebuilding my mezger engine 996 turbo, I had a timing chain failure on bank two my build cost currently stands at 15k GBP and counting. Great video, I'm very impressed with your knowledge and the fact you can narrate to camera whilst working I'm normally shouting and screaming at my engine.

[@baitse7676]

You can also hammer a torx bit that's a little bigger than the stripped out hex head, and try to break it loose that way. The torx will bite into the rounded corners

[@YogisGarage]

Nathan, I'm reassembling my resleeved 996 engine on my channel. i'm following the Jake Raby series to put it back together. Nice work!

[@warrenlucier5796]

The early 5 chain engines came with different cast in cylinder sleeves and a better piston coating, which was outlawed and then the bore score problem started. I think you will find the other items you suspect is where the problem lies. Take a good look for wear on all the chain guides, as the early engines had more of a problem with that.

[@miamirice6840]

any way to ID the earlier engines when looking at cars?

[@fmmrz5]

You need to throw a bore scope from the oil pan to visualize the cylinders from under the pistons. That is where the bore scoring starts and may not be visible from the top of the pistons

[@anteneupitra]

he dont need it...

[@anteneupitra]

crap porschas

[@cayman9873]

Looks like frequent oil changes on that engine. Looks like a ton of work just getting the engine out. I would do new air oil sepeeator and intercooler.

[@johncoss5604]

Maybe a 3 out of 10 for you. That’s why I watch you make it look easy.

[@cayman9873]

Thanks for showing this. A 996 is my dream car.. but they have gone from 16k to 20 k 18 months ago to 27 to 33 k now

[@DonziGT230]

I'll sell you mine for the old price.

[@jonathanowen6147]

I’m a BMW guy but dang this is fascinating. Mmm…kinda interested when this one goes up for sale.

[@lp2565]

Same here.

[@darrenjones9504]

Great video with lots of detail Nathan 👍👍 Looking forward to the next one

[@AdaandHaven]

I want a little Porsche shop. For nearly 30 years, since I was 5yo. I've gained alot of the knoledge, at least. I even have plenty of land but I don't even have a car port. Think I'll start a mobile Porsche shop out of my 955. Then I'll make the money to rebuild dad's and mine 996.

[@westr70]

A three? Okay, it would be 100 out of 10 in my book. Very impressive.

[@pulaskicondoassociation6799]

Just a heads up to anyone looking for a rebuild beware of nein lives rebuilds off eBay mine lasted 1700 miles has piston slap one yr exactly. Will not honor warranty and said they will go out of business in 6 months. Yet they still selling motors. Professional scumbags

[@johnbrevard5966]

I admire you, Is there a video of this being assembled and running,. I love also your family, "sister" has helped in past...lol, all my sister ever did was throw rocks at me

[@stampedetrail2003]

That AOS will cause a billion annoying problems, always better to replace it and that's a lot easier with the engine out.

[@NoName-ll5hf]

You'll find a cracked head more than likely. It may take a while to find it. Hoses start to rapidly deteriorate after 3 months of exposure to intermix. Flush the system ASAP with hot water, mixed with Shout. The 996 MY 1999 is not prone to bore scoring.

[@miamirice6840]

no broken exhaust manifold bolts? insane.

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Excellent video. I am thinking of going over my 997 in the same way. I was concerned when you removed the valve cover. Should you have locked the cams down at the far end? Or did you turn it to such an angle where 5 and 6 were closed?

[@RickCT2000]

Amazed by your knowledge. So impressive. How did you become so technically savvy on so many types of cars and engines? This car makes for a very interesting video series. Thank You.

[@markdaugherty6378]

I agree on the engine being pulled once you do it and realize how easy compared to other vehicles. Great video, enjoy your depth of knowledge on this engine, thanks for sharing.

[@IIAKOYMedia]

I’m just here for the knowledge.

[@garylarson6386]

only own a supercar under warranty unless money is no problem

[@brianOmaha]

Good purchase and great content!

[@lukehayvaz9194]

I would say that is a 7 out of 10.

[@cayman9873]

So it sucks the life out of my car buying fund

[@TexasRiverRat31254]

Put some of that fund into mods on your 987. You already have a better handling car than a 996 and with some bolt ons and a real dyno tune it will outrun a 996. Unless you're just wanting to join the 911 crowd.

[@ol48spring]

Some you do from underneath and use a scope to check your work. I have skinny hands so that helps👍 my name is Nathan also so that helps too! Good job my dude

[@paulgibson490]

No sign of water ingress in your cylinders so must be ancillary parts failure just from what you have shown.

[@MrKingola]

I’d guess that the engine out was to address the variable timing system guides/solenoids. Just had that done and it sounds like exactly the parts that I had replaced were freshened up in that engine. Will keep watching, looks fascinating!

[@EdA-bz3bu]

These are good videos for the people that complain about why do mech charge so much for engine work.

[@NoPrivateProperty]

Honda engines are far superior to Porsche engines. It's not even funny

[@DigitDesign]

Wait until it goes back together and you break the banks apart. Mine was like a Swiss Watch.

[@tonychan4526]

This is as horrifying to watch as it is fascinating. Good work. You are a real masochist!

[@JUNJUN-lw2vr]

I recently had my 987 motor replaced. It was not cheap

[@davidmendoza2378]

Hello, did you ever pressure test the oil cooler? If so, how did you do it?

[@sdgsdgsdg54]

does bore scoring occur on MA1 2.9 cayman engine?

[@rhiantaylor3446]

Must admit, I was thinking (hoping) it might be the oil/water cooler but I wondered why you didn't test those two potential failure points you mentioned before stripping off the head(s)? I can see that you might want to inspect heads and bores while you had the engine out but not sure the $3k parts cost would be justified if you didn't have the fault to fix. Makes an interesting video of course - thanks.

[@NathansPorscheWorkshop]

Needed to do it all, so when i go to sell the car the next owner knows its all good

[@johnmorgan7262]

So is dropping the engine a valid diagnostic procedure?

[@tech42long35]

hahaha.. classic last video.. Nathans Drama channel..

[@blairmanstevo2013]

Great to see you back with wrenches in hand.

[@berndowermann1528]

...very good Nathan...

[@captainkai9989]

awesome content

[@lp2565]

Are the air-cooled 911s easier to work on?

[@NathansPorscheWorkshop]

Alot easier to work on

[@cayman9873]

Yes. Yes..yes

[@tomthompson7400]

just harder to buy.

[@MA-vr8gp]

Really appreciate your show….great job!!