996 Variocam failure

Guest · Mar 21, 2004

I purchased a 996 Carrera 2 (1999 T Reg - 60k miles - full service history) last Thursday from a southern TVR dealer.. on the way home after a long drive up the motorway with no problems at 70 (ish) I pulled onto a dual carriage way, I put my foot down and as the revs hit the limiter in 2nd the yellow engine warning light started flashing, as I slowed it went steady ! Heart in mouth! After calling a local dealer I limped home and booked into JCT600 .. The diagnosis is a failure of one of the Variocams with a bill just short of £1600 ! ... fortunately this is being covered under a warranty although the dealer is unable to complete for 2 weeks !

The question is ... just how fragile are these engines, has anyone experienced a similar problem ?

..... going forward can anyone recommend a decent Porsche dealer in the north of england with a bit of enthusiasm for the product, I know I am well down the foodchain of Porsche ownership but I would expect the kind of service you would get from a TVR or Subaru dealer.

Two weeks is going to feel like a lifetime!

gaxor · Mar 21, 2004

having had Porsches for 7 years (1 993 and 2 996's including current Turbo) I have never heard of a Variocam failure, although I guess it does happen. I also assume that your warranty is an after market warranty, supplied by the dealer you bought the car from. You didnt say where you are in the South of England, but there is no shortage of unofficial Porsche specialists, if you look in one of the Porsche magazines you will find some addresses.

Guest · Mar 21, 2004

Gary, Thanks for the quick response ... To clarify I live near Harrogate, North Yorkshire and there is a Porsche specialist within a couple of miles in Scriven however for this repair, which is being coordinated by Henley Heritage who supplied the car, I figured that a main dealer (JCT600 Leeds) might be the best approach + they can ensure that all the recall stuff has been applied. My request in the original posting was for an alternative main dealer for the next service within a reasonable distance OR I could switch to the local specialist but am concerned about maintaining a main dealer history (should I be?)

gordon · Mar 24, 2004

have had same trouble on my last carr 4 had both replaced and asking parts dept found this to be a common fault on 3.4 and boxters as well both were changed at diff times as car was only over1 year old so when left bank goes youll prob find it ll be not long before right bank goes as porsche will only repair onr at a time so watch youre warranty !!!!

grant_goulding · Mar 25, 2004

Hi

I am intrigued as to what exactly went wrong - perhaps you could let us all know when the repair is done. Was it the cams, the drive or the followers etc.

Anyway best of luck with it. Also re service history. A good specialist with a good reputation will, in my opinion, be worth as much as an OPC stamp. People such as Autofarm have a wide reputation that is second to none. I use a specialist for my 996 - I personally don't trust the OPC at all.