996 C4S - Help needed, any advice appreciated!

[furiousnotfast]

Firstly, I have been a Pistonheads fan for years, but have never before posted anything in the forums.

I am very fortunate to own a 2004 Porsche 996 C4S coupe. I purchased this last year with c34k miles on the clock and have done c8k trouble free miles since, including trips to Scotland and Wales.

Sadly last Wednesday night I set out to run an errand after work, and 1 mile after setting off came to a grinding halt. I was pulling slowly out of a roundabout on a residential street and all 4 wheels seemed to lose traction (road was bone dry) and almighty clattering erupted from the engine. I pulled the car off the road very gently and stopped. I opened the engine bay and had a look under the car but could see nothing wrong. I restarted the engine and the clattering was still there (very loud - sounds like marbles are being thrown around in the engine), coming from the front of the engine on the RHS. There was no fluid spill (oil or coolant) on the road or leaking from the car. The AA came and towed me home and the car is awaiting repair.

Has anyone had / experienced a similar issue to this? If you do, please share them as I want to be able to try and tackle this problem with some knowledge.

Couple of other points to note:
Car has full SH, 8 stamps in book last serviced by the dealer I purchased it from in Feb last year (had been emailing around to organise one for this year last weekend...).
IMS bearing has been replaced (documented).
There was no warning sign of note (ie whining from the pinion bearing etc) prior to this.

I live in London and have had a bad experience with one independent specialist, but have been recommended Jaz Porsche or GT One to try and fix this by a friend of a friend. Has anyone had any experience with these guys (feedback looks pretty good)?

Many thanks in advance and apologies for the long note.

[furiousnotfast]

Ps

Should have mentioned:
The engine started and ran smoothly when I started it to check it, but with the massive rattle. Also there were no iron filings in the oil when I checked the dipstick which makes me think it must be related to the transmission (though the car still drove).

Are there any fans / pumps at the front of the engine where bearings could have failed?

There are no messages on the onboard computer.

[Roberty]

Don't start it again, get it to a decent independent and hope for the best.

[996TT02]

So it lost power suddenly, but after you stopped, and started it again, you also tried test driving a short distance and that was fine?

Albeit very noisy?

This is just a WAG, but perhaps it's a timing chain flapping about because the tensioner failed. If so there may or may not have been other consequences.

But, as previous, just a WAG, something to include in the list of possibles, no more.

[Shaoxter]

I use Jaz, they're excellent and a very honest garage.
I would not recommend starting the engine again, get it trailered and hope for the best!

[furiousnotfast]

Thank you very much for the feedback, I certainly won't dare start the car. Will try and get it trailered, investigated and sorted in the next few weeks and will report back with what the issue was, who I used etc.

[mollytherocker]

It does sound like the IMS bearing has let go but lets hope for something less serious.

Good luck.

[furiousnotfast]

Quick update. Car is now in the garage, they have checked the oil filter and it he oil has got metallic fragments. They are going to start stripping the engine down in the next week or so and will hopefully get more of an idea of the extent of the problems then...