Living the Legend

Our contributing enthusiasts from around the world share their real-life experiences with their Porsche 911s

It had to happen sooner or later. After 150,000 miles, of which 71,000 have been completed by yours truly in the past five years, the M96 engine has been lifted out of my 996.1 Carrera, aka Little Irish, for some maintenance.

For the cause of this drastic action, we need to cast our minds back to October, and the 9WERKS Driven Not Hidden Collective road trip to Porscheplatz. About half-way through France en route to the Porsche Museum in Germany, my 996 conked out and left me at the side of the road, unable to restart. After finally getting going again, the same thing happened in Germany later that day.

The fault was diagnosed as a knackered crank position sensor, which seemed to rear its head when the car got warm. Indeed, the 996 behaved itself over winter, when ambient temperatures were cool to cold, which is why I waited until March to have the corrective work done, fully aware that the engine might need to come out to do this.

Although it’s possible to change a crank position sensor with the engine in situ, my preferred specialists for maintenance on the car, Wrightune in Oxford, warned that mine was crusted pretty firmly into the block, situated at the back of the engine. I would therefore need to brace for the inevitable.

And so to D-Day, with Little Irish on the ramp at Wrightune and the guys trying to tease the sensor off as gently as possible. Thirty seconds later, with all of us staring at a crusted and sheared sensor bolt head, the inevitable was confirmed: the engine was coming out!