986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Intermix is not the oil cooler

xr_guys · 04-18-2018, 01:58 PM

I have to share you firsthand experience.

2002 Boxster S with 87K miles. Got it last year with similar issue. The previous owner complaint it was overheating and oil on the water (heavy milk shake or batter like consistency on the coolant reservoir) but no water on the oil side. The car run fine and no smell of coolant coming out the exhaust. The car sat for almost two year in this state, previous owner think he can fix it.

After buying the car, further investigation draining the coolant under the car and an obvious enlarge coolant houses I knew I was in deep trouble. Damage to the hoses is done on the cooling system, due to the length of time the oil is in contact with the rubber hoses. I proceed to disconnect the two primary hoses that connect to the two-aluminum pipe. I was further horrified to see the inside of the aluminum pipe was almost plug with the batter like coolant and oil mixture. I knew that much oil just didn’t come from a small leak to the oil heat exchanger. Two weeks of research and reading, they all point to the head cylinders cracking, very well documented.

So with this new information I decided to investigate to find answer why would the car developed over heating issue? This lead to another issue common to the Boxster by design that debris build up plugging the cooling fins of radiator making the cooling system inefficient. Pull the front bumper and you’ll see what I mean.

If you want to do it right, you’ll have to replace the entire rubber hoses on your cooling system including the heater core side. If not, highly probable you’ll crack the replacement engine or you new heads later due to burst hose. I must admit pulling the engine & tranny down is the easy part, getting to the rubber hoses and flushing the radiators is very time consuming. Cost wise I would recommend unloading the car, the cooling hoses alone total to about close to $500, you add the following items, water pump, IMS bearing, AOS, clutch, gaskets, spark plugs, o-rings and plastic hoses & IMS tool. The 2nd option is you’ll have to either source a used engine or rework the heads for ~ $1500 each plus the cost of head gasket kit and head bolts. Ohh don’t forget tools you may have to buy. It will add up quickly.

On the positive note, you’ll get to know this car very well. You won’t be afraid drive it hard because you can fix it. Good luck!

04-18-2018, 01:58 PM	#8
xr_guys Registered User Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Washington Posts: 23	I have to share you firsthand experience. 2002 Boxster S with 87K miles. Got it last year with similar issue. The previous owner complaint it was overheating and oil on the water (heavy milk shake or batter like consistency on the coolant reservoir) but no water on the oil side. The car run fine and no smell of coolant coming out the exhaust. The car sat for almost two year in this state, previous owner think he can fix it. After buying the car, further investigation draining the coolant under the car and an obvious enlarge coolant houses I knew I was in deep trouble. Damage to the hoses is done on the cooling system, due to the length of time the oil is in contact with the rubber hoses. I proceed to disconnect the two primary hoses that connect to the two-aluminum pipe. I was further horrified to see the inside of the aluminum pipe was almost plug with the batter like coolant and oil mixture. I knew that much oil just didn’t come from a small leak to the oil heat exchanger. Two weeks of research and reading, they all point to the head cylinders cracking, very well documented. So with this new information I decided to investigate to find answer why would the car developed over heating issue? This lead to another issue common to the Boxster by design that debris build up plugging the cooling fins of radiator making the cooling system inefficient. Pull the front bumper and you’ll see what I mean. If you want to do it right, you’ll have to replace the entire rubber hoses on your cooling system including the heater core side. If not, highly probable you’ll crack the replacement engine or you new heads later due to burst hose. I must admit pulling the engine & tranny down is the easy part, getting to the rubber hoses and flushing the radiators is very time consuming. Cost wise I would recommend unloading the car, the cooling hoses alone total to about close to $500, you add the following items, water pump, IMS bearing, AOS, clutch, gaskets, spark plugs, o-rings and plastic hoses & IMS tool. The 2nd option is you’ll have to either source a used engine or rework the heads for ~ $1500 each plus the cost of head gasket kit and head bolts. Ohh don’t forget tools you may have to buy. It will add up quickly. On the positive note, you’ll get to know this car very well. You won’t be afraid drive it hard because you can fix it. Good luck!