So I dropped off my car at the dealership shortly after I put the speedart exhaust on and did a fresh new oil change for a ticking sound coming from the engine. I did not think much of it hoping that it was just a small issue like a timing chain or something, but after a day of waiting I called the dealership to see what was going on with my car and they said that the engine is out of the car and that they have to take it apart to figure it out. They ran several tests and when they opened the engine they discovered scoring on the cylinder wall and that the seals where bad which caused the scoring. Not sure what caused this exactly as I change my oil every 5-7 thousand miles. More than what is recommended. They said I will be receiving a brand new engine under warranty thank god!
A small ticking sound to engine replacement
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The ticking was probably an IMS (intermediate shaft) bearing about to fail. The scoring probably would not have caused any noise but only a loss of compression and increased oil usage. If this was the case, you're very lucky that the bearing did not break up and destroy the cam timing chain. Porsche has replaced untold engines with catastrophic IMS failures. They refuse to say how many have been replaced under warranty over the years. The new 2009+ Cayman engines use the improved A91 design which has no IMS to fail and other improvements as well. Only in 2010 did the non-turbo 911s get this new engine. Being a 2006 model, you probably have the M97 engine which has an improved IMS but still fails occasionally. Your mileage is consistent with this type of failure even though you may not abuse or race the car. A trade up to a 2009+ is the only way to avoid this in the future.
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The A91 engine block was introduced first in the MY 2009 997.2 (4/08) and then later in the 987.2 series (11/08). The new 2011 Turbo (997.2 TT) has the new A91 rather than the previous GT1 derived "true dry sump" block which is distinct from the M96/M97 blocks used in the 986/996 and 997/987 series. The GT3/RS retains the GT1 derived block.
When I spoke to the service manager he told me that it was difficult to diagnose at first because when they did check the compression everything was fine at top dead center but lost compression after that. You are also correct about the loss in oil. I just replaced the oil about 150 miles before i brought the car in and they said i was nearly over a quart low! Sounds like your on the money gasman! I was not aware of any IMS problems with our cars 
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Another solution is to retrofit an LN Engineering ceramic IMS bearing into the new M97 engine before it's installed. Those bearings are very race worthy and simply don't fail! I doubt that the dealer would do the upgrade for you and still warranty the new engine, but you could ask. Trading up to a Gen II is a better solution IMO.
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I do not believe LN offers a part for the later M97.21 engine. It has a redesigned IMS that is not (as) prone to fail. This would be the first I personally know of. Most failures have resutled from poor oiling to the #1 rod bearing.
To the OP - what air filter were you running?
Also, it is likely that the ticking was a failing variocam actuator. Not sure how or if it is related to the scoring (poor scavenging?).
Cheers,
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OK. I certainly do not know whether in contributed to the scoring and ring (seals?) failure, but it looks a lot like what happens to a motorcycle cylinder when an oiled foam filter fails. Did they give you any grief about the K&N filter?
Cheers,
Pinoy,
I believe that to install the ceramic IMS bearing you have to disassemble the engine because on the 987's engines the OEM bearing is larger than the shaft housing and cannot be "just pulled from behind"
I'll second this from experience with K&N filters on bikes.
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Absolutely without question. The stock filter is a far superior filter media to the K&N.
The KN, when clean, may flow more air, but it does that with bigger openings that allow more dirt. A dirty K&N just, well...
I run the OEM paper filter on the race car and it makes a lot more HP than stock. If the paper filter can flow enoguh air through the stock intake to make the addtional HP it is more than fine for a street engine.
Cheers,
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Did they ever actually tell you what caused the failure? I have the same issue. I'm heading over in the morning to take a look at the damage. They are recommending a new block.
45k mikes, CPO warranty ran out in Feb....$$$
45k mikes, CPO warranty ran out in Feb....$$$
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