Boxster S 2003 Engine issue

[fiveseven]

Its taken a long time ( nearly a month) but the diagnosis that I got yesterday was that the intake valve at cylinder 1 is broken.
Besides that the cam shaft have timing issues with cylinder 1, 2 and 3.
I am no car expert but they tell me they will look deeper into the engine on monday to decide whether it can be fixed or whether to replace the engine.

The thing is that fortunately my car insurance will handle the costs and for my own expenses it should only be around 1000$.

I am in doubt as whether the repair they did a couple of weeks before this happened might have caused this?
I dont know what the difference is between drive shaft and cam shaft.
But they did as written in my first post:
- Change of gaiters at the drive shaft (not a car expert but it sound to be around the engine)

So could this have been caused by the Porsche mechanics when they repaired my car?

[Cloudsurfer]

Originally Posted by fiveseven

Its taken a long time ( nearly a month) but the diagnosis that I got yesterday was that the intake valve at cylinder 1 is broken.
Besides that the cam shaft have timing issues with cylinder 1, 2 and 3.
I am no car expert but they tell me they will look deeper into the engine on monday to decide whether it can be fixed or whether to replace the engine.

The thing is that fortunately my car insurance will handle the costs and for my own expenses it should only be around 1000$.

I am in doubt as whether the repair they did a couple of weeks before this happened might have caused this?
I dont know what the difference is between drive shaft and cam shaft.
But they did as written in my first post:
- Change of gaiters at the drive shaft (not a car expert but it sound to be around the engine)

So could this have been caused by the Porsche mechanics when they repaired my car?

Nothing even remotely similar or related. The "gaiter" refers to the CV Boot in common terminology, but is basically a rubber boot (or gaiter) that covers the CV joint to keep contaminants out of the joint itself and its lubricant. These joints (there are 2 per axle) are between the gearbox and the wheel's hub. The camshafts (your engine has 4) are inside the cylinder heads, and actuate the valves (both intake and exhaust, of which there are 4 per cylinder, with one cam on each bank for the respective rows of intake and exhaust valves).

How exactly did they diagnose a broken valve?

[fiveseven]

Hi Cloudsurfer

Thanks for explaining. That helped.

I cant say how they came to that conclusion. All I know is that they removed the engine to have a look at things.

How about the oil leakage they first mentioned when I had a major service done and then they rechecked 2 weeks later, concluding there was no leakage. Couldnt this leakage be the cause of the failed engine?

[clickman]

I recall one fellow on Renntech who tried to inspect his IMS bearing, but without locking things down properly, which resulted in a chain slip and therefore a timing issue.

Apparently the IMS flange and/or bolts can leak, which a tech might try to fix by taking all of the bolts out at once. And if things aren't locked down, this could result in the timing issue.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=29492&hl=IMS+slip+timing

Probably a longshot, but it might be worth asking where the oil leak was and how they fixed it.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by clickman

I recall one fellow on Renntech who tried to inspect his IMS bearing, but without locking things down properly, which resulted in a chain slip and therefore a timing issue.

Apparently the IMS flange and/or bolts can leak, which a tech might try to fix by taking all of the bolts out at once. And if things aren't locked down, this could result in the timing issue.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=29492&hl=IMS+slip+timing

Probably a longshot, but it might be worth asking where the oil leak was and how they fixed it.

In retrospect this likely isn't the cause of your problem, as you say you were on the road when the engine died. If the mis-timing had occurred as I supposed, the valves and pistons would have contacted as soon as the car was started up at the shop.

[fiveseven]

Status of my car is that they are replacing the engine. No news on root cause of the fault unfortunately. Good neews is that the insurance is covering it and in the end of the day it seems like a pretty good deal for me. I have also ordered a clutch replacement since my clutch was so hard I usually think its broken every few times some days pass without driving it. In total I get a new engine and clutch for 2000 $ of which half is the amount i have to pay for the engine because of some speciel conditions in the ensurance policy. Cant be too sorry about that can I?

Do you guys think this will make a significant change for the value of my car? I would personally love to get my used porsche with a new engine and clutch.

[dallison]

is it your warranty that is covering it or do you have insurance for it?

Originally Posted by fiveseven

Status of my car is that they are replacing the engine. No news on root cause of the fault unfortunately. Good neews is that the insurance is covering it and in the end of the day it seems like a pretty good deal for me. I have also ordered a clutch replacement since my clutch was so hard I usually think its broken every few times some days pass without driving it. In total I get a new engine and clutch for 2000 $ of which half is the amount i have to pay for the engine because of some speciel conditions in the ensurance policy. Cant be too sorry about that can I?

Do you guys think this will make a significant change for the value of my car? I would personally love to get my used porsche with a new engine and clutch.

[mikefocke]

No one goes around checking engine serial numbers on Boxsters...they are "drive it" cars, not collectibles.

While the engine and trans are out of the car, you may want to consider installing an LNengineering IMS bearing.