Porsche Engine Failures MADE SIMPLE - Hartech Explain IMS, RMS, Bore Scoring for 911, 986 & 987

Allowing Julien to talk on camera, was a very, very good idea. Engaging, comfortable and clearly confident in what he's saying!

Here in Germany, quite a lot of these affected cars are on rebuilt engines now. The survivors with no rebuild & mega miles/km have a few things in common; They are daily driven, Have the 3.6 or non-S engine, driven quite vigorously on the autobahns and oil changes are done every 6 months when the car goes in for its winter wheel swap. The advise I got from the old engineer i bought my 997.1 from was: Drive it like the way you should make love to your spouse. Regular and vigorous 😂

Can’t believe a company like Porsche made so many design mistakes on these engines

Bore score and 7 years ago our Porsche forefathers brought upon us, oil consumption, sooty pipes, ticks, and misfires, and a dream that all 2000s Porsche sports cars are created equal.

Big Lee is the man saved me from a botched effort my a cowboy from paisley Scotland thanks Lee

Hartech are simply the best at dealing with these (shonky) engines. Would love to see a 4.1 996 test.

It seems James' shirt has also been a victim of bore scoring

I’ve been running a 996.1 self maintained for 7 years now. A few points: It’s a 20 yo car, I’ve had numerous issues to fix like worn engine mounts, exhaust brackets, steering pump hardline, ac hardline, heat exchanger, AOS. Things which were not broken were worn out like brakes, suspension, steering rack. Old rubber is old rubber, old plastics crack, old metal corrodes. Even though the chassis is galvanised, I’ve spent an entire summer cleaning and resealing a bit of surface corrosion. So it’s not as simple as “this car has an engine issue”. As for the engine, I’ve set aside £13.5k in case the engine goes pop. (AMS is cheaper than Hartech). But it’s not as simple as bore scoring, IMS, RMS. There are also bearings, chains, tensioners, etc. inside the engine. The important thing to note with any 911 is there is no top end / bottom end refresh- got a small issue? Got a big issue? If it’s engine related it’s the whole engine out, at which point a refresh is best given the cost. Usage is also key- the seller used his car sparingly and lightly. I use it every day and, when warm, driven it hard. Driven like that all the issues surfaced over the years. Context is key: go into it blind and it will be a nightmare, but understand what a 20 yo car involves, and you realise the active 911 community ensures these cars live.

All of these design flaws yet Porsche has never admitted their mistakes (apart from the North America IMS case), to me that really stinks of disrespect to their customers.

From our "not a lot of people know that department" - the 2006 Boxster S does not have IMS or bore score problems as it has an improved bearing AND cast pistons so is essentially immune. This nice sweet spot does NOT extend to the 2006 Cayman.

Great video 👍 Imagine if Lotus had suffered similar design flaws 🤷‍♂️the British automotive media have a lot to answer for in how these two brands are perceived.

IMS Failure: : .... It's the very best IMS failure video description - -bearing improvement I've ever encountered.

I drove those same 996 cars in Feb 23 and the 3.7 eco was the biggest surprise of the day. It pulled hard even from very low rpm, a great piece of engineering from the team. The 3.9 conversion definitely brought the 3.6 bang up to date with an impressive power delivery right up to the red line and bags of torque where you needed it for fast road driving. The 4.1L which was part of the line up on the day turned the heat up even more and i was lucky enough to become the owner soon after. The team at Hartech are exceptional at what they do and are leading the way in keeping these early water cooled cars on the road where they may otherwise have been uneconomical to repair.

James, that was a very impressive job of explaining highly technical facts and figures that require talent and skill to communicate clearly. Far harder to get a video like that right than a standard video. Well done indeed. I’m a Porsche owner and that’s the best summary I’ve watched on these issues. Well done and Thankyou.👍

I have a fresh built 4.1 hartech 997.1 .. 389bhp and 353ftlb, and I can testify, it is absolutely PERFECT for our B roads .. absolutely sublime!!

They rebuilt my 997’s engine to sort bore scoring. It went on a pallet. Worth the money as i knew what was buying when I bought the car & all the cost back when i sold it.

4.1 is a must, can’t leave the middle gen out. Great video!

Great video, my gen 1 3.4 is at Hartech now having a full rebuild & capacity increase, watching this just confirms my decision to spend the money is going to be well spent. I can't eait to get it back.

These small companies don't have buildings filled with marketing people or focus groups with their heads stuck in some text book going " we think more screens, more driver aids, more fake engine sounds". Its just a bunch of clever, proper petrol heads doing whatever they want, and you know what, AT THE END OF THE DAY THEY'RE TAKING THE BIG MANUFACTURERS TO SCHOOL......BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those 996 C4S are gorgeous, at least among 996s. 😮