We knew this would happen sooner or later. We had hoped for later with Monterey Car Week approaching - we are committed to a booth at Werks Reunion!
On our recent Canyon Run the car started flashing a Check Engine Light near the end of the run. I pulled over to check things and oil level and pressure was good. I restarted the car and the CEL was gone. I drove the car back at a reasonable pace but the light came back on after a few miles and I pulled over as she stalled. Upon restart a loud mechanical cacophony came from the engine so I shut her off! We were within 5 miles of the shop so we went got our trailer and towed her back. The good news is that we learned a 996 will fit in our custom Lotus trailer!
The 996s are known to have valvetrain issues. The noise suggests vavletrain failure. We had previously replaced the IMS bearing and it was still in good shape. We will have it disassembled later to understand what actually failed on our car.
I found a good used engine with approx 60k miles on it and decided to get her installed. The boys got the old engine out in under a day and 'new' engine back installed in another day (see image above). We will fill it with fluids and fire her up later this weekend...after we make progress on client cars!
We plan to send the blown engine to Slakker for a rebuild. I went to visit them last year in anticipation of needing this done. They are a good team who addressing these water-cooled engines in a very serious manner. I was impressed with their operation and plan to have them build ours.
