2001 996 antifreeze in oil HELP

[tommie60]

just picked up this car 2001 carerra 4 3.4 eng
idles ok , found antifreeze in oil, press. tested ok when cold, overheats when idling for a bit and with the press tester conn. builds up high press . run smooth but can smell sweet exhaust and is visible. compression good on all cyl. pressure tested all cyl with plugs removed and not leaks holds press.
small drops of antifreeze visable on exhaust ports of cyl. #1and cyl. #4
if this is a head gasket issue can it leak over to booth cyl 1 & 4
i am aware of the listed oil cooler issues but that would put oil into the anti

thanks in advance for all replies
new to porsche engines

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by tommie60

just picked up this car 2001 carerra 4 3.4 eng
idles ok , found antifreeze in oil, press. tested ok when cold, overheats when idling for a bit and with the press tester conn. builds up high press . run smooth but can smell sweet exhaust and is visible. compression good on all cyl. pressure tested all cyl with plugs removed and not leaks holds press.
small drops of antifreeze visable on exhaust ports of cyl. #1and cyl. #4
if this is a head gasket issue can it leak over to booth cyl 1 & 4
i am aware of the listed oil cooler issues but that would put oil into the anti

thanks in advance for all replies
new to porsche engines

No need to post this three times............

These engines were prone to crack cylinder heads and walls, particularly if overheated. In all the years I have been working on them, I have never seen or heard of an M96 engine blowing a head gasket. And before you totally discount the oil cooler, pull it and pressure test it; if it passes, drop the engine and start looking...........

[tommie60]

sorry about the triple posting it was to read cyl #1 & 5
thanks for your response
can the oil cooler cause antifreeze to leak into the eng
thought it was just the other way around from what i read
i can see with the exhaust off dscoloration on the valves on cyl #1 & 5
im sure the engine overheated since the right front cooling fan was dead
could i get lucky and it just be the heads
if its in the cyl wall should one have it sleeved
only 21 k on the car
it is worth fixing
your thoughts

thanks

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by tommie60

sorry about the triple posting it was to read cyl #1 & 5
thanks for your response
can the oil cooler cause antifreeze to leak into the eng
thought it was just the other way around from what i read
i can see with the exhaust off dscoloration on the valves on cyl #1 & 5
im sure the engine overheated since the right front cooling fan was dead
could i get lucky and it just be the heads
if its in the cyl wall should one have it sleeved
only 21 k on the car
it is worth fixing
your thoughts

thanks

Yes, the oil cooler can leak coolant into the oil; when the car is shut off, the cooling system is still at 18-20 PSIG, while the oil pressure is zero.

You can do a leak down or bore scope the engine, but I still think that if the cooler pressure test OK, it needs to come out an apart. You would not only need to find the source of the leak, but carefully look at the bearing and journal surfaces; these cranks cannot be cut, and there are no oversized bearing shells available, so it the crank is damaged, it has to be replaced.

LN Engineering makes excellent cylinder liners for these engines, so if a wall has failed, that would be the way to go. If the head is cracked, it may be saved by welding, but that has to be examined on a case by case evaluation.

[ltusler]

Don't run it anymore. Perhaps you could call Flat 6 Innovations and discuss your next move with Jake. If you're not mechanically inclined, he will most defiantly recommend shipping the car to him. Depending on that outcome you may well be upside down on the car, but on the other hand you won 't need anything other than routine maintenance for a long, long time. There are also other rebuilders around, maybe one close to you. Check references closely. Begin thinking about the ROI on a 10-20k expense on top of your purchase price vs the loss of your purchase price minus a current value of 6-12k with the damaged engine and your love of the car and the Porsche marque.

Good luck and we are here to help.

[tommie60]

thanks guys for all your help
engine is out and plan to do work myself just never did a Porsche engine. it will be a learning curve for me
its great to have feed back from knowledgeable people who know the ins and outs of the car

[ltusler]

Ah, nice. Better get ahold of the Bentley 996 Manual and have a look at RennTech if you haven't already.

[Coloradocurt]

Originally Posted by tommie60

thanks guys for all your help
engine is out and plan to do work myself just never did a Porsche engine. it will be a learning curve for me
its great to have feed back from knowledgeable people who know the ins and outs of the car

In your situation and with your DIY intentions, this might make for a worthwhile evenings worth of primer reading:
http://hartech.org/docs/buyers%20guide%20web%20format%20Jan%202012%20part% 205.pdf
I don't know what shops address all of these issues, but if someone wanted a truly bullitproof engine these would be on my question list.

[baloo]

Tommie,
Give a status report -- I'm interested to hear what you find out on engine tear-down, if anything...

[chamilun]

Isnt this indicative of cracked head?