Q: I just found out I have a small amount of oil in the coolant and a small amount coolant in the oil. I have owned the 996 C4 Cab for 3 years, and the only symptom is I need to add a quart of coolant after a 500 mile drive. The car seems to run good, however, I have been told it is either a leak in the heat exchanger or an engine gasket. I am the second owner and the car has 63000 miles. Most mechanics tell me I need to replace the engine. Any advice would be helpful.

A: I don't know how big Oregon is, but I would seek out Steve Weiner or Jeff Gamroth. If you already have, then follow their direction. Meantime, here is an answer I just wrote for a very similar question not even a month ago right here. My brother once said (in relation to software problems), a gallon of sewage with a drop of wine is sewage, but a gallon of wine with a drop of sewage is also sewage. A little bit of oil in the coolant is not the end of the world. But a little bit of coolant in the oil sure is, because it will ruin the engine main bearings and destroy the motor. I am not very familiar with the porosity problem. If that is what you have, it was an early manufacturing defect, and Porsche may "participate" in some of the costs of engine replacement. I don't know if this was still possible by 2001 though, but they will know. You would have to work this through a Porsche dealership. As Scott Slauson has covered repeatedly in the Boxster section, the porosity problems were seen back in the early Boxsters in 1997-1998 for example, and would usually fail in the first few thousand miles. I don't see how you could suddenly come down with a metallurgy problem during manufacturing after 55k miles, though there is plenty I don't know about porosity and metallurgy. However there are other causes, perhaps a bad head gasket or a bad water/oil heat exchanger. A compression or leakdown test could be worthwhile to check the head gasket, and if it passes the test, and if Porsche says it isn't a porosity problem, then it might be worth changing the oil/water heat exchanger as cheap insurance. We do have reports of some of these cracking internally. Joel Reiser - PCA WebSite - 9/24/2008 In the example above, the owner was concerned about the "porosity problem" for his 2001, and was willing to risk changing the heat exchanger, on the idea that if the engine was already totalled, there was little left to lose. Let us know how you make out.

Joel Reiser - PCA WebSite - 10/23/2008
Reprinted with permission from PCA.org

Vehicle Information: Model: 996; Year: 2000; Body Type: Coupe; Total Mileage: 44500

Q: Hi. I have a 2000 996 (and a 1986, mint condition 944 Turbo). In the 996, every 100 miles or so, the Check Engine Light goes on. I have a scanner and it gives me two codes: 1128 and 1130, Fuel and Air Mixture. What do you think it is? My mechanic said he doesn't really know what it is, we need to spend about $700 and then see if the problem is fixed or then continue spending money... He also said that, as long as I get those codes, I should not worry too much about it. Thanks

A: P1128 is an overly lean mixture on the left side of the motor, while P1130 is the same code for the right side of the motor. Common causes include a bad mass air flow sensor, an intake system air leak, a fuel system problem, or an exhaust system leak. The most likely is an intake system air leak. Check the brake vacuum booster in the front trunk for rust, since a rust pin-hole will cause this fault. Check the famous bellows hose for a tear, this will also cause this fault. They all tear, it is only a question of when. It is on the bottom side of the motor, just ahead of cylinder 3, on the left side. Before spending money to replace the mass airflow sensor, clean it with mass airflow sensor cleaning spray (for example from CRC) and see if that helps. Smoke-test the intake system for leaks. Let us know what you find.

Joel Reiser - PCA WebSite - 9/24/2008
Reprinted with permission from PCA.org