2003 s engine failure?

[Lucky]

Here's what I would do...

1) drain oil into clean container,
2) visually inspect the oil for coolant (also check the coolant tank for any signs of oil),
3) take a powerful magnet and move it around in the oil (especially around the bottom of the drain pan) and see if it pics up any particles, and
4) cut open the filter element and inspect it for any debris.

If you find nothing at all, put in fresh oil and try to fire it up. If you hear bad sounds... shut it off proceed to a tear down. Odds are it will be cheaper to source a new engine off ebay than it would be to rebuild the current lump, but you never know. The tear down may reveal minimal damage.

I recently saw a low mileage S engine on Ebay for $4500. I was tempted to buy it as insurance...

[dsnell1004]

I am in swedesboro,nj

thanks for your replies. I will drain the oil and see what we have.

[stephen wilson]

No S*@*, I'm in Pedricktown, less than 10 miles away. I just bought an '06, we'll have to get together some time.
Steve

[dsnell1004]

sounds good. Let me know if you know of any good porsche mechanics in our area?

[stephen wilson]

Yeah, I'll have to find a local Porsche mechanic at some point. Hopefully not too soon! I'll do my own minor maintenance & non-warranty work. What year Boxster do you have?

[dsnell1004]

2003 s black on black 6 speed. you?

[stephen wilson]

Oh yeah, the title says '03S.
Mine is an '06 base, triple Black 5 spd.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by dsnell1004

I am in swedesboro,nj

thanks for your replies. I will drain the oil and see what we have.

Cool. I hail from Woodstown, where I still have family. (I know a good dentist in the area---my brother!---if you happen to be looking.) I try to have dinner at the Swedes Inn as often as possible when visiting, though it's been awhile since the last time we went there. It is still in business, I trust?

I gather from your current thread that the drained oil didn't look so good?

[Jake Raby]

Don't trust the Dealer diagnosis at all.. These days every failure they see is written off as an IMS failure, because thats easy.

How did they diagnose the failure? By pulling the cam covers you can tell a lot about how the crank responds to camshaft drive and then verify cam timing. If the IMS bearing has seen any sort of primary failure the cam timing will be off enough to note or the cams will not move when the crank is rotated.

It could be an IMS chain tensioner paddle failure, which appears like an IMS bearing failure when it really isn't..
Good score on that car!