Antifreeze leak in exhaust

[69911e]

I have a friend with a 2000 996, 100k miles with antifreeze dripping out the exhaust of the right side.
Obviously this is a problem.....
I don't know anything about the water-cooled Porsche engines other than they did have some issues on the early ones. Not sure if this qualifies as early.

Is this a symptom of a known common problem?
Is there a way to make an educated guess without pulling this apart?
Any test procedure to determine is it is a cracked, head, block, gasket, other?

What the value of these in this otherwise nice condition car if he decides not to fix?

Thanks

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by 69911e

I have a friend with a 2000 996, 100k miles with antifreeze dripping out the exhaust of the right side.
Obviously this is a problem.....
I don't know anything about the water-cooled Porsche engines other than they did have some issues on the early ones. Not sure if this qualifies as early.

Is this a symptom of a known common problem?
Is there a way to make an educated guess without pulling this apart?
Any test procedure to determine is it is a cracked, head, block, gasket, other?

What the value of these in this otherwise nice condition car if he decides not to fix?

Thanks

Excellent post & questions.

This is the 1st 996 engine design 98-01 & therefore "early". Headgaskets never fail so this leaves the "early" thin head castings that crack easily & the thinnest cylinder walls of any watercooled flat 6 that can crack &/or wear the bores out of round.
Starting & running of the engine should be kept to a minimum as the possibility of hydrolocking the engine exists when the leak increases.
I would 1st remove the sparkplugs & inspect for signs of the suspect cylinder by looking at the plugs & then cranking the engine over without the sparkplugs installed & watch for coolant squirting out the cylinders. A borescope will help inspect the inside of the cylinder for damage. If this reveals nothing pressure test the cooling system & listen for escaping coolant/air. If this still fails to reveal any clues the crack may leak only at operating temp & probably require removing the heads to inspect the heads & cylinders.
At this point the accepted value of the 996 = pre-defect market value - engine replacement cost. Which depending on the engine selected ranges from $10K- $20K

[txhokie4life]

Originally Posted by 69911e

I have a friend with a 2000 996, 100k miles with antifreeze dripping out the exhaust of the right side.
Obviously this is a problem.....
I don't know anything about the water-cooled Porsche engines other than they did have some issues on the early ones. Not sure if this qualifies as early.

Is this a symptom of a known common problem?

Either a cracked cylinder liner or a cracked cylinder head.

Is there a way to make an educated guess without pulling this apart?

Like the prev poster suggested -- look for coolant in the cylinders
pressurize the coolant system and let sit overnight.

Any test procedure to determine is it is a cracked, head, block, gasket, other?

What the value of these in this otherwise nice condition car if he decides not to fix?

I bought a 99 with half the mileage 2 years ago for $8k.
The rest of the car was in perfect condition.
I also had a 3.4L engine lying around at the time.

Mike

[69911e]

Thanks for the excellent responses.
Any estimate of cost for a rebuilt motor installed?

[tonythetarga]

As BYprodriver said, the motor alone could be 10k for a used one to 20 for a new crate motor from Porsche. Jake Raby at Flat6 Innovations could rebuild yours and it would involve an engine resleeving as well as the LN IMS bearing and other improvements. Check with them for prices as it varies depending on what you do. Then you need to factor in the R&R of the engines, new clutch, AOS or other items such as new water pump etc. You will need to likely keep the car for a while to get your moneys worth out of it as selling it will certainly be at a loss. BTDT!!
Whatever you do, make sure you don't let the car sit idle for a long time. The intermix will also get in the cooling system. I had to replace all the coolant lines (24 soft and 8 hard) for close to $1500 to get rid of the sludge. The rads had to be sent out for cleaning as well.

[tonythetarga]

This is what I found when we opened up the coolant system.

[txhokie4life]

Figure a complete rebuild with resleeving will run you about
9K-12K depending on what you replace inside the engine.
The resleeving (and new rings/pistons) is a $4k cost by itself.

My colleague did an 02 996 last year for one of his customers who had it bored out to a 3.8L.





Mike

[FPB111]

if it is just a cracked head it can be repaired
Intermix/Cracked head repair - Rennlist Discussion Forums

[jvmcnair]

More details in later posting about my failed 2000 996, but let me just say this; Porsche has produced an entire generation of cars -circa 2000/M46- that have ended the tradition for second generation enthusiasts like most of us. Wealthy people buy the new Porsches and, in the past, we buy them used, often in like-new condition, and care for them and enjoy them. This is no longer true. These first and second generation 996/7 are failing at a 5-10% rate (which is astronomical) and cost more to repair than book value. Junk yards that specialize in Porsches are filling with 996 bodies and Porsche will not produce, or acquire, the number of engines needed to repair them, especially at a price that makes sense. We have owned Porsches for 35 years and have a new Cayenne on order. I do not understand why we are so faithful..... jvm