Porsche 911 Engine Bore Scoring

Cylinder bore scoring can affect many brands of sports and high-performance cars, but here at Revolution Porsche Specialists in Birstall, West Yorkshire, we see this problem on the Porsche 997 more often than on any other model.

What Is Cylinder Bore Scoring?

Cylinder bore scoring is the name used to describe small, vertical scores or scratches on the inner surface of a cylinder wall and similar damage can occur on the piston skirts too.

What Causes Cylinder Bore Scoring?

Cylinder bore scoring only occurs in engines which have cylinders and pistons manufactured using uncoated, raw aluminium. Aluminium is versatile and lightweight but isn’t as enduring as earlier Porsche cylinders and pistons which had Nikasil plating on the wear surface.

Over time, and especially if regular maintenance isn’t carried out, these raw aluminium 997 Porsche cylinders and pistons will suffer “bore scoring” due to excessive wear and friction between the aluminium cylinder walls and the piston rings.

How Can I Tell if My Porsche 997 Has This Problem?

There are several signs that your Porsche 997 engine may be suffering from cylinder bore scoring. These are:

• a distinct ticking sound (“piston slap”)
• a noticeable increase in oil consumption
• soot in the engine oil
• signs of soot on the exhaust tailpipe(s) and bumper
• oil reaching the spark plug(s) causing cylinder misfiring

How Do We Diagnose Cylinder Bore Scoring?

Primarily with a tool called a “bore scope”. A Porsche specialist such as Revolution Porsche Specialists will know how to successfully scope the cylinders with the pistons in the correct position to reveal any early signs of bore scoring.

Used oil analysis is another way to reveal signs of cylinder bore scoring. We recommend having oil analysis done at each oil change so that any changes or signs of contaminants (aluminium, iron and/or silicon) will be easier to spot.

Our overall recommendation is not to wait for symptoms of bore scoring to appear.

How Can I Prevent Cylinder Bore Scoring?

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to completely eradicate the chance of this problem if you have raw aluminium cylinders and piston skirts. BUT, there are things you can do to greatly reduce the likelihood of it happening.

These are:

• regular routine maintenance, with oil and oil filter changes every 5000 miles or six months (whichever occurs sooner) with regular bore-scoping and oil analysis
• the correct engine oil as recommended by Porsche for your particular model
• high-quality fuel
• routine fuel injector maintenance – replacements rather than cleaning the existing injectors
• don’t idle your Porsche 997 engine when starting – always drive immediately after starting and ideally keep the revs below 3000rpm until the engine is warm

How Do Revolution Porsche Specialists Repair Cylinder Bore Scoring?

A diagnosis of bore scoring does not mean your engine has failed completely. At Revolution Porsche Specialists in Birstall, we can repair affected cylinders rather than rebuilding or replacing your engine.

Firstly, we start with a full bore scope inspection. When carried out by our experienced technicians this will identify which, if any, cylinders are affected. This initial inspection will enable us to inform the customer accurately about the size and cost of the work required.

We assess other related components such as cylinder heads, pistons, chain guides and bearings, and advise whether these should be replaced while the engine is stripped down. Depending on a customer’s budget, it is often sensible to do this work at the same time, avoiding the need to strip the engine down again, at a later date.

All cylinder bore scoring work is carried out in our modern, fully equipped workshop (except the cylinder engineering) to the very highest standards, only after approval is given by the customer.

How Much Does Cylinder Bore Scoring Repair Cost & How Long Will It Take?

This will vary from car to car, and on individual customers’ budgets. It is never advisable to just repair one cylinder, but rather, either one bank (of cylinders) or both. The price for repairing one bank starts at around £5000, rising to c£8000 for both.

This work takes between three and five weeks to complete.

Revolution Porsche Specialists are renowned for our sheer experience and expertise in all aspects of Porsche vehicle maintenance and repair, so if you know you have a cylinder bore scoring problem, or would just like your Porsche 977 checking for this problem, please get in touch with our friendly, knowledgeable team and we’ll be delighted to help.

Revolution Porsche Specialists in Birstall are PPN members (Porsche Partner Network). This status isn’t won easily and makes us very proud. It gives us access to Porsche’s own diagnostic systems, and further demonstrates the depth and breadth of our experience and skill working on all water-cooled Porsche models.

To find out more about Porsche 911 Engine Bore Scoring in Birstall, contact us online or call us directly on 0113 468 6020

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