Cheers, Lee! Yeah, just replaced all six plugs and coils on my 996.1 C2. Wouldn't say it was easy but it's not as horrible as people would have you believe either. You definitely do need small hands and an assortment of extensions and swivels for your socket wrench.
I think I used a standard stubby 3/8 extension and the special swivel spark plug socket, the ratchet and 8mm and 10mm spanners for the whole job. All in all it's only marginally more of a pain than my Jag as you have to jack the car up to do it, but you do get to lay down whilst doing the Porsche so it wins there too 😄
Nice work, I've never seen that before! P.s. 996 turbo is bumper off, heat shields off, absolute pain in the @*** to change the coils & plugs. P.p.s. 100% agree, do not 'upgrade' to M030 suspension. I've tried Standard, M030, KW V3 with Center Gravity custom springs (almost as good as standard), Ohlins and the original non-sports option springs are by far and away the most suited setup for a 996. Anything else spoils the cars natural ability to flow with the road following the surface without being upset by bumps or transferring to the cabin. I've also tracked the car on standard suspension and found it surprisingly capable. Here the Ohlins came into their element, but the standard suspension is perfectly capable, the body movement actually aiding the feedback of the weight transfer."
Thanks for sharing Lee, just put six of those on mine with plugs. Something to watch out for. 987 Spyder is also easy to change the plugs on 👍🏻 Car sounds great too.
Glad you got sorted, could have turned really nasty really quickly especially parked on your drive. How long is it since the rebuild now in terms of time and mileage? I have done just under 5k miles in my 4.1 since 1st June and loving it.
Yeah I thought it was the main loom that melted at first so I was pleased to see the damage was limited to the coil lead. Mine is used little but often, 7k miles in 18months, looking forward to more trips in it this summer, sounds so much better with the windows down.
How many miles have you done on it since the rebuild. My 997 2004 3.6 engine just let Go 6 weeks ago with 80000 on the clock. Still waiting for a build slot at my indi.
Damn I bet that was a scare on the day. Good outcome though. I wonder if the failing coil pack was the reason for the slower results on your 3.8 997 comparison video. Also noticed from the roads we're in the same area 😅
Yeah it was a scare, never seen anything like that especially when the car wasn't even running at the time. And yes this could have been brewing for a while, it had felt a bit sluggish recently, I'll have to get some more stats soon. Not sure where you are but these videos are filmed around Royston, Bassingbourn, Baldock and Letchworth.
@@leeevernden I'm outside Barley village near Royston. I drive these roads and recognised the house opposite in your vid when you were doing spark plugs from many years ago when looking at properties! I've not bought a Porsche yet, looking at Caymans and 996/997, probably Cayman to try and get .2 car to avoid the engine rebuild stuff however the 4 seats of the 911 are more useful and the engine note of the non DFI cars sounds better. Do you go to Barrington on the Green at all? Thinking about attending when/if it stops raining. I've got a Corrado VR6 in dark purple/violet colour. Currently refreshing the rear axle with new parts/powder coating but will be back on the road in a month or so's time. If i see you I'll say hi or vice versa :) Matt
@@mattscars Oh you'll know exactly where I am then, those houses are pretty distinctive! If I had my time again I would have bought a car with a known/confirmed engine issue from the get go, I sort of did that with the 996 but I paid too much for it given the knock it had, not the end of the world as the plan was always to get a rebuild with some modifications but I could have played that better. Also the DFI engines are newer so they may not actually be anymore reliable as the older ones, it's just they need more time for things like bearings to go etc - Hartech have started to see more DFI cars come in for engine work recently. So I'm very happy with my reengineered M96, I would have been equally happy with a reengineered m97 too, but I bought at the peak of demand for 911s at the tail end of covid, lots more options on the market now at reasonable prices. Barrington - yes I went to pretty much every one last year, but the silver Carrera there was basically invisible so I pretty much took the Jag every time as that's much more of a crowd-pleaser. I will start to go again when the weather picks up so I will look out for you, I do like those Corrados especially in purple and with the VR6!
@@leeevernden Cheers Lee, good insight and thoughts re the DFI. WIll be good to bump into you at Barrington some time and chat. I'm not doing tongiht's even though the weather has improved since this morning. Creme de la creme for me would be just to buy one that had the work done. There as a blue 996 available at AMS for just under 18 that had the engine rebuilt already. Seemed good value in my mind.
@@mattscars Yeah I just spotted on the Barrington FB group the complaints about cars younger than 40 years old not being allowed on the green anymore! That sucks - however I will still go to the one in May and see what's what. I'll look out for you then. And yes getting one that's already had a rebuild is ideal, looks like someone may have snapped that blue one up already at AMS - I know I won't ever struggle to sell mine, someone will get a great deal when the time comes.
I’m thinking about purchasing a 996 with the 3.9 oversized rebuild already completed….did you need to declare engine mods to your insurer after yours was done?
@@maximgoodings7563 yes it’s always a good idea to declare to insurance, it’s hard to tell if this had a massive difference or not in my premium though as insurance costs have gone up anyway over the last 2 years.
@@leeevernden thanks Lee. I had a cursory look and selecting bored out engine or engine mods increases the premium by 3x. Looks like it might be one for having a chat around. Are you with a specialist like Adrian flux?
@@maximgoodings7563 I'm with performance direct now - who obviously don't seem to care that much about mods. I've just checked my premiums and a couple of years ago as a 3.4 it was £300pa, now it's £445pa. Some of that rise will be inflationary and some would be the engine.
If you have a basic socket set, 10mm and 8mm ratchet spanners(you don't need any 'E' sockets for the coils, a 12 sided 8mm ratchet spanner is the ideal tool to remove and refit the coils) and the special tool in the description it's really easy. Once the car is in the air it's around 20-30mins per side. Just watch this - ruclips.net/video/OQ6r06LSfcg/видео.htmlsi=vRWfdK6u7DGvSSN_
@@leeevernden that’s good to hear, but from what you said in a previous video, Hartech didnt seem too concerned about it? I did find it interesting that it had engine work in the past but only one piston done! lol
@@Ussyb10 Hartech were just keen to point out that my engine didn't suffer from the usual suspects like misshapen cylinders, bore score, big end bearings etc so they couldn't be sure about where the knock was coming from and therefore not sure that a rebuild would fix it. The theory is that it was the 1 new piston that caused an imbalance on that side of the engine which led to small end bearing wear and caused the knock. But to be honest I had so much of the internals replaced we'll never know for sure what was causing it. And yeah I agree changing 1 piston is crazy, especially given that the piston wasn't the same part number as the others! Similar story elsewhere with this car though, like the radiator on one side corroded and failed so they just replaced that one - also pretty dumb as the one on the other side was not too far behind and the first thing to fail when I bought the car. The previous owner clearly loved the car but was not a car enthusiast I think it's fair to say.
@@leeevernden thanks for the comprehensive reply. Regarding radiators, i was guilty of changing on side on my boxster many years ago… a month later the other side went 😂😂. I have a 996 3.4 1998 now. Sold boxster last year. Mine does make a slight noise sometimes at idle, but it’s quieter than what I heard on yours and it’s not always there. The car has been to hartech before my ownership so I wasn’t too fussed. Now 3 years into ownership it seems to have gone with a different grade of oil. Thanks again and keep up the good content! Would have loved to buy a 3.7 996! Feel it’s the best of performance, rawness and practicality and lower road tax!
@@Ussyb10 When the 2nd rad went that must have been a FFS moment if you'd just done the 1st! And yeah I agree the 3.7 is all the 911 I'll ever need, it ticks all the boxes. 3.4 is great as well though. Hartech did also say a slight noise at idle is normal anyway, as there are a lot of things(tensioners etc) demanding oil pressure and at idle there just isn't quite enough oil pressure to go around, which is why they also say it's better to shut the engine off rather than to sit and let it idle for long periods. I've also heard running the AC all the time helps with this as that raises the idle rpms slightly, every little helps.
Did not expect a coil pack to be the culprit of that smoke, bit of a weird one that, glad not too much collateral damage.
Yeah surprised me too, never seen anything like that before.
Cheers, Lee!
Yeah, just replaced all six plugs and coils on my 996.1 C2. Wouldn't say it was easy but it's not as horrible as people would have you believe either. You definitely do need small hands and an assortment of extensions and swivels for your socket wrench.
I think I used a standard stubby 3/8 extension and the special swivel spark plug socket, the ratchet and 8mm and 10mm spanners for the whole job. All in all it's only marginally more of a pain than my Jag as you have to jack the car up to do it, but you do get to lay down whilst doing the Porsche so it wins there too 😄
Nice work, I've never seen that before!
P.s. 996 turbo is bumper off, heat shields off, absolute pain in the @*** to change the coils & plugs.
P.p.s. 100% agree, do not 'upgrade' to M030 suspension. I've tried Standard, M030, KW V3 with Center Gravity custom springs (almost as good as standard), Ohlins and the original non-sports option springs are by far and away the most suited setup for a 996. Anything else spoils the cars natural ability to flow with the road following the surface without being upset by bumps or transferring to the cabin. I've also tracked the car on standard suspension and found it surprisingly capable. Here the Ohlins came into their element, but the standard suspension is perfectly capable, the body movement actually aiding the feedback of the weight transfer."
Makes sense, cheers !
Thanks for sharing Lee, just put six of those on mine with plugs. Something to watch out for. 987 Spyder is also easy to change the plugs on 👍🏻
Car sounds great too.
Thanks!
Caught that just in time Lee,! hope all is well, cheers Peter
Cheers Peter! Hope all is well with you? You going to Supercharged Saturday next month?
Glad it’s all okay for you
Thank you!
Really appreciate the detailed explanation and fixes!
Thanks, if the car wasn't parked out in public I would be able to film a lot more of the fixes....I'll get a garage one day.
@@leeevernden Picking up my Slakker/Hartech USA 3.7 996 in a few days, and a huge thank you for your posts!
@@rstephens3683 I'm excited for you! Hope you enjoy it!
Glad you got sorted, could have turned really nasty really quickly especially parked on your drive. How long is it since the rebuild now in terms of time and mileage? I have done just under 5k miles in my 4.1 since 1st June and loving it.
Yeah I thought it was the main loom that melted at first so I was pleased to see the damage was limited to the coil lead. Mine is used little but often, 7k miles in 18months, looking forward to more trips in it this summer, sounds so much better with the windows down.
It sounds fantastic 👍🏻
Thanks!
You'd think the fuse should've blown a bit sooner before all the heat build up..could've been a lot worse I reckon.
Agreed, I don't know how that wasn't a fire, it left a puddle of molten rubber/plastic on the ground.
I’ve now also got a 996.2 3.9 Hartech if you fancied a drive / compare.
@@marshallsonmotorsltd2101 yes please! Are you the garage in Walsall?
That’s us 👍
@@marshallsonmotorsltd2101 thanks, I’ve sent you an email.
You got lucky there pal
How many miles have you done on it since the rebuild. My 997 2004 3.6 engine just let Go 6 weeks ago with 80000 on the clock. Still waiting for a build slot at my indi.
7k miles since rebuild now. What bit of your engine failed?
@@leeevernden not sure yet still waiting for a spot
@@stuntcar Ahh ok good luck with it, hope there isn't too much damage to deal with.
Damn I bet that was a scare on the day. Good outcome though. I wonder if the failing coil pack was the reason for the slower results on your 3.8 997 comparison video.
Also noticed from the roads we're in the same area 😅
Yeah it was a scare, never seen anything like that especially when the car wasn't even running at the time. And yes this could have been brewing for a while, it had felt a bit sluggish recently, I'll have to get some more stats soon. Not sure where you are but these videos are filmed around Royston, Bassingbourn, Baldock and Letchworth.
@@leeevernden I'm outside Barley village near Royston. I drive these roads and recognised the house opposite in your vid when you were doing spark plugs from many years ago when looking at properties!
I've not bought a Porsche yet, looking at Caymans and 996/997, probably Cayman to try and get .2 car to avoid the engine rebuild stuff however the 4 seats of the 911 are more useful and the engine note of the non DFI cars sounds better.
Do you go to Barrington on the Green at all? Thinking about attending when/if it stops raining. I've got a Corrado VR6 in dark purple/violet colour. Currently refreshing the rear axle with new parts/powder coating but will be back on the road in a month or so's time. If i see you I'll say hi or vice versa :)
Matt
@@mattscars Oh you'll know exactly where I am then, those houses are pretty distinctive!
If I had my time again I would have bought a car with a known/confirmed engine issue from the get go, I sort of did that with the 996 but I paid too much for it given the knock it had, not the end of the world as the plan was always to get a rebuild with some modifications but I could have played that better. Also the DFI engines are newer so they may not actually be anymore reliable as the older ones, it's just they need more time for things like bearings to go etc - Hartech have started to see more DFI cars come in for engine work recently. So I'm very happy with my reengineered M96, I would have been equally happy with a reengineered m97 too, but I bought at the peak of demand for 911s at the tail end of covid, lots more options on the market now at reasonable prices.
Barrington - yes I went to pretty much every one last year, but the silver Carrera there was basically invisible so I pretty much took the Jag every time as that's much more of a crowd-pleaser. I will start to go again when the weather picks up so I will look out for you, I do like those Corrados especially in purple and with the VR6!
@@leeevernden Cheers Lee, good insight and thoughts re the DFI. WIll be good to bump into you at Barrington some time and chat. I'm not doing tongiht's even though the weather has improved since this morning.
Creme de la creme for me would be just to buy one that had the work done. There as a blue 996 available at AMS for just under 18 that had the engine rebuilt already. Seemed good value in my mind.
@@mattscars Yeah I just spotted on the Barrington FB group the complaints about cars younger than 40 years old not being allowed on the green anymore! That sucks - however I will still go to the one in May and see what's what. I'll look out for you then. And yes getting one that's already had a rebuild is ideal, looks like someone may have snapped that blue one up already at AMS - I know I won't ever struggle to sell mine, someone will get a great deal when the time comes.
What video do you overview the suspension updates?
I don't think I mention it but it's detailed a bit in the JayEmm feature - ruclips.net/video/KWQFMyXZayA/видео.htmlsi=J49ZMxUP40Bo4A2f
I’m thinking about purchasing a 996 with the 3.9 oversized rebuild already completed….did you need to declare engine mods to your insurer after yours was done?
@@maximgoodings7563 yes it’s always a good idea to declare to insurance, it’s hard to tell if this had a massive difference or not in my premium though as insurance costs have gone up anyway over the last 2 years.
@@leeevernden thanks Lee. I had a cursory look and selecting bored out engine or engine mods increases the premium by 3x. Looks like it might be one for having a chat around. Are you with a specialist like Adrian flux?
@@maximgoodings7563 I'm with performance direct now - who obviously don't seem to care that much about mods. I've just checked my premiums and a couple of years ago as a 3.4 it was £300pa, now it's £445pa. Some of that rise will be inflationary and some would be the engine.
Thanks for taking the time to explain!! Love the content
@@maximgoodings7563 Thanks, my pleasure. 2 more videos in editing so coming very soon hopefully.
I've been putting off doing my spark plugs as people have suggested its a bit of a pita. How much time would you say it took you?
If you have a basic socket set, 10mm and 8mm ratchet spanners(you don't need any 'E' sockets for the coils, a 12 sided 8mm ratchet spanner is the ideal tool to remove and refit the coils) and the special tool in the description it's really easy. Once the car is in the air it's around 20-30mins per side. Just watch this - ruclips.net/video/OQ6r06LSfcg/видео.htmlsi=vRWfdK6u7DGvSSN_
Did the knocking noise go away or is it still there on the car?
All knocks were taken care of by the rebuild, no nasty noises now.
@@leeevernden that’s good to hear, but from what you said in a previous video, Hartech didnt seem too concerned about it? I did find it interesting that it had engine work in the past but only one piston done! lol
@@Ussyb10 Hartech were just keen to point out that my engine didn't suffer from the usual suspects like misshapen cylinders, bore score, big end bearings etc so they couldn't be sure about where the knock was coming from and therefore not sure that a rebuild would fix it. The theory is that it was the 1 new piston that caused an imbalance on that side of the engine which led to small end bearing wear and caused the knock. But to be honest I had so much of the internals replaced we'll never know for sure what was causing it. And yeah I agree changing 1 piston is crazy, especially given that the piston wasn't the same part number as the others! Similar story elsewhere with this car though, like the radiator on one side corroded and failed so they just replaced that one - also pretty dumb as the one on the other side was not too far behind and the first thing to fail when I bought the car. The previous owner clearly loved the car but was not a car enthusiast I think it's fair to say.
@@leeevernden thanks for the comprehensive reply. Regarding radiators, i was guilty of changing on side on my boxster many years ago… a month later the other side went 😂😂.
I have a 996 3.4 1998 now. Sold boxster last year. Mine does make a slight noise sometimes at idle, but it’s quieter than what I heard on yours and it’s not always there. The car has been to hartech before my ownership so I wasn’t too fussed. Now 3 years into ownership it seems to have gone with a different grade of oil.
Thanks again and keep up the good content! Would have loved to buy a 3.7 996! Feel it’s the best of performance, rawness and practicality and lower road tax!
@@Ussyb10 When the 2nd rad went that must have been a FFS moment if you'd just done the 1st! And yeah I agree the 3.7 is all the 911 I'll ever need, it ticks all the boxes. 3.4 is great as well though. Hartech did also say a slight noise at idle is normal anyway, as there are a lot of things(tensioners etc) demanding oil pressure and at idle there just isn't quite enough oil pressure to go around, which is why they also say it's better to shut the engine off rather than to sit and let it idle for long periods. I've also heard running the AC all the time helps with this as that raises the idle rpms slightly, every little helps.
When are you going to pick me up and take me out for a spin me old pal ❤
For you anytime mate 🙂
Promo'SM 🤗
all the money and I see a rusty pully and screw heads on the engine?
The M96-M97 engines are total crap engines just waiting to gernade...
They are great engines they just like to surprise people with catastrophic failure every now and then is all.
@@leeevernden lol