Ordering 2.5 tomorrow
 

I found a 2.5 with a new ims and internally checked and rebuilt where needed, cost is 3K plus my engine. Do any of you guys think it's worth it to try to sell the damaged 2.5 for more than 500 on the bay? My mechanic is going to put it on a lift, do all the heavy stuff and let me work and participate at his business as I am able then give me a final cost for the job. For me that's like a dream come true, lastly, need tips on making device to hold engine in place of Porsche special tool, thanks to all that tried to help, my car has a broken left bank tensioner for sure.

Hope the engine is coming from someone who knows how to do a tear down and rebuild. At lot of scammers out there. Good luck.

What is the source for this engine? the IMSB ? The metal loop by the throttle body can support that end of the engine as long as the front engine mount is supporting the front. when the engine is loose & ready to be lowered & removed the weight of the engine can be supported at the oilpan with some cushion to prevent damaging oil sump plate.

Before I order the engine, I'm going to talk to Pelican about the tensioner upgrade job. It looks pretty tough in the photo guide but if I'm throwing out the engine and it's a core only, it makes taking a shot at it more attractive. I don't know any indy mechanics in my area that can handle a job like this. The other motor looks good, plus the guy noted the IMS was non L&N, seems he's up on his M96.

here's the unit I'm looking at

http://www.ebay.com/itm/97-99-Porsche-Boxster-986-Engine-Motor-2-5L-RECONDITIONED-/400244638027?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &vxp=mtr&hash=item5d3070814b#ht_2440wt_905

Good luck Ghostrider. Keep us posted.

Will do thanks for all the support from the forum, here's what I'm trying to save

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee32/firesphotons2/momo013-1.jpg

here's what it looked like before I removed the grills I made by hand and before the spoiler lip

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee32/firesphotons2/skanny003.jpg

The replacement engine looks pretty good at that price. Good luck and I hope that you get the car back on the road soon!

Will a 2.7 run off a 2.5 harness and brain box? Whats the deal with motor meister? They make it sound like they do good work but I read a horror story in here once, anybody have any luck with them?

I don't know.... I'm a newbie with these water cooled engines, but the orange silicone would scare me. The amount on the outside is usually what ends up on the inside of the case. If he had to split the case for a new IMS shaft,( maybe he just meant IMS bearing in the discription) there would be more new seals than just the head gaskets, IMO. To me it just looks like he took the covers off and looked inside, then siliconed the old gaskets (could be new) back in place.
Like I said, "Just an opinion of a newbie"
Tim

Your opinion counts, this is all new for me too and 3K is a lot of cheese, I'm going to take it slow and read all the comments.

In case you missed it in thejack's thread where I replied to you, Ghostrider, I'd recommend you get in touch with Jake Raby at Flat6Innovations and have a conversation with him. If you're going to drop money on an engine, I'd say be willing to drop a little more on something that you know was done right versus trying to bargain hunt and get less than you pay for. People can type whatever they want about what they've done to an engine. If you weren't a fly on the wall or standing there hovering over them the whole time they did it, you can't believe a word of it unless they're a company with a reputation that involves satisfied customers that they didn't BS...at least in the latter case there's likely to be a legit warranty/guarantee involved.

Thanks OD, I'm investigating having my own engine repaired locally. I have a capable wrench looking at the pelican thread on tensioners, hopefully I can keep the motor in it assuming the internals are good and that he is up to the task, otherwise I'll keep shopping.

Just would like to express a personal opinion about that, accordind to what has already been said by overdrive.

Maybe you need to have a conversation with Jake Raby, he can tell you what would be the risk in swapping your engine with a unit where some other unknown hands have worked on. That engine doesn't get me convinced... You know... usage of orange sealing paste on the heads instead of original gaskets tells me something (negative) about the mechanic's skills and quality of job. Furthermore, a refurbished engine should have something more replaced than a IMS shaft (what about bearing?) and some other gaskets here and there...

Starting from the picture you have posted in my thread, that leakage could be addressed to a bad valve cover gasket and does not mean you have to face something expensive as an engine swapping. And honestly I can't believe that issue is coming from chain tensioner.

You have a number of checks to investigate your engine conditions, starting from a timing deviation check, oil debris check and some other simply checks that lead you to the best decision and action plan to save you car in the best and cheaper way.

Obviously, online diagnosis based upon a picture is always the best way to be trick...

Check your oil filter for brown plastic (tensioner) or shiny metal debris (IMSB), this will give you a clue on how the internal parts of your engine are on their way to go... and starting from this you can take your final decision about the action you have to take.

Let us know.

Straight up, it's 100% the tensioner, Wayne's website (a treasure trove of perfectly executed repair tips, thanks!) mentions that some cars have had this fail. I heard it for the last two years at start up, chain against ___ slide grind, then smooth as silk. What I couldn't understand is how that would make the cam gasket fail but oil leaked from somewhere. My engine is coming out, I will try to follow up with guys like Jake but honestly, I don't have the coin to put ten or twelve in it. The mechanic I have now graduated from a good place, has mad Subie experience and I truly believe is up to the task. I changed my oil at 1/2 intervals, I'd like to keep my own engine and agree totally with you guys on the red sealant used on the 2.5 engine.

Ghost,

Explain the sound you heard a little more if you would. Most Boxsters do make an unusual sound upon startup and we dont want everybody to think that what happened to you is happening to them.

Glad you can make it work and I will follow your post and wish you all the luck.

Uhm, not that I'm questioning your mechanic's knowledge but I wonder how he can state it's the tensioner to blame without any visual inspection. Starting from the left bank leakage, assuming it has been caused by the tensioner fault is pure speculation. Maybe your engine suffered a bad cam cover gasket as a stand alone issue with no correlation with the tensioner issue.

The M96.20 (and others) uses tensioner composed by metal polymer structure. In case of fail of the sliding surface you could suffer a lot of secondary effects as oil pump failure, oil pressure drop or lack of lubrication in a specific area of the engine aside from a huge variation in the timing of the bank if the tensioner cannot correct the loosen chain with its own spring effect. Don't forget that this will put a lot of plastic debris in your oil circuit that you should see in the filter cartridge.

My boxster sounds to be very noising at start up until the oil reaches its correct pressure and flow inside the engine (oil grade to be adjusted, now I'm using 0-50W). And that noise is coming from chain tensioner which operates without oil for the very first revolutions. Then you ear the engine running smooth and silky. In case of a bad tensioner, a noise would be audible also during normal operation.

Don't know... I am convinced that an engine should be swapped only if there's not any other chance. Oviously, imho. Let us know ;)

97, The sound was like a loose chain against gear or play in the system going out of the system at start up, wayne mentions the hydraulics in the tensioner sometimes going bad. More important is his mention of Porsche updating the tensioners. You think Porsche would have the bugs out of their tensioners by now, this isn't the first occurance of problems. As for Jack, my mechanic didn't say it was anything, I'm telling you I believe with my thirty years around cars (25 at a dealership) that it's the tensioner. The issue is only on the left bank. Also, the car will still start and run in timing, another huge clue. Whatever surprise lies within the "cracker-jack" I'll post pics of for all of your wintertime enjoyment..thanks to all

Whats the deal with motor meister?

You want to read some horror stories about Motor Shiester? Drop in on the 911 board and type in the name...it will be enough to get you running the other direction.

Looks like a real hack worked on the 2.5 and didn't even bother to update with the LN bearing...it will only cost you more $ in the long run trying to do it cheap.

Well ghostrider, this is something I'm interested into as it happens to my boxster too at each start up if I left the car unused for an hour. Good luck.

I had to eat codene like pez yesterday just from loosening the lugs and I did that with a persuader. If this mechanic takes a pass, I'm going to have him pull it, if I can have him do it where it sits, I have a boatload of stands just need to get er high up. buy an engine stand, put it on my bench and work on it like a puzzle with all you guys as puzzle participants..

Just so I can make sure I'm not confusing you, Ghost, I was really just saying talk to Jake, not send your car/block to him. He, Wayne, and others on here, as you know, know a hell of a lot about these engines and I can't imagine they'd be unwilling to answer your questions. And certainly not trying to bash your mechanic either, as it is certainly possible for these to be worked by good local indies. My ire was directed more at the questionable gooped up engine seller.

I think I misunderstood you at a point as well, as it seemed you were still planning on swapping the engine. Hope you can get it fixed, just don't get yourself messed up in the process and then be unable to enjoy it when it's back.

O, I'm at so many cross roads right now, my dad is suffering dementia, my body condition made me give up my career and my future isn't certain, especially financially. I will know more about where I stand midwinter, I always wanted to do an engine job, like an homage to my dad. If I could put him in a time machine he would have had the thing fixed. Hopefully, this indy mechanic will jump in, BTW, no dis taken on the mechanic or anything else you guys offered. There are a lot of great things about this board, one of them is the friendship and assistance on whatever we can do to help keep each other's joy cars in proper order.

+1
Run, don't walk away from Motor Shyster. :barf: Those guys are here in SoCal. Of all the Porsche owners I know that have used them, not one was satisfied... not one. Google will tell the whole ugly story and save you from big lost $$$. I don't know how those guys keep their doors open.

My neighbor who is strong and young said he'd do whatever I need to drop the engine. If I decide to take him up on it, what is the consensus on the best way to get the boxster very high up without dropping her? I have two floor jacks and ten stands. I have the butt in the air via the Bentley recommended jack point. Would it be safe to put stands all around the back, leave that jack in place and use another to raise the front? If so, one side at a time?

Right off the bat, the sealant that he goobered on the cam covers, using way too much, is the wrong sealant. its cheap permatex red (good product, just not the right one) instead of the german grey sealnt which is spec'd for the cam covers. That alone would raise a red flag for me.

For me, it's not so much the sealant as it is that it's dispersed like toothpaste, like it's his first go at it. The second issue is my engine had oil changes at the 1/2 interval, ran very strong and has matching numbers. Some of you guys may call this next part lore but my dad, (46 year head mechanic at his own dealership) always said: It's best to keep the original motor transmission together if you can. In his experiences he told me sometimes engine swaps just were not as crisp as rebuilding and joining back together what has already run together for a number of miles. He built race cars and could have gone to Indy if not for his kids, I'm going with his call and fixing my engine unless it has irreparable damage.

Motormeister......RUN!!!
 

I would not let Motormeister pump my gas let alone touch my car. I've been watching a friend repair his Motormeister rebuild for the last year. Now that it's all torn down it is a complete Frankenstein with mismatched parts from wrong motors and poor workmanship. It's garbage now. Since they rebuilt (and I'm being polite by using that word) his old motor, he's stuck chasing down correct parts to have his motor properly redone.

Report: Much of the dis assembly to remove the engine is done, my only concern will be raising the rear of the car with the front on stands to get the engine out. Regarding the oil & filter, both look like they were just changed, no particles in filter of any kind. Do you have to pull the transmission to get the engine out?

OK So let me make sure I got this straight, I have to pull the transmission and full exhaust to get the engine out? WTF X10!! I'm wanting to do this less and less...Guess I'll be getting a 10mm triple sq and trying some of this tomorrow, no wonder the job is so much, just to get the engine out is a ball buster, then the cams need to be screwed with, oh joy...

Just curious...
Why are you pulling the motor? Did you get a professional diagnosis that it is toast? Big chunks of metal in the oil filter? Zero compression? Connecting rods sticking out the side of the engine case? Scoped the cylinders and verified massive carnage? I haven't seen anything in your posts to indicate the motor needs to come out at all. It might be a simple repair for an experienced Porsche tech who knows these cars inside and out.

It would be a shame to remove the motor only to find a failed power steering line that lost fluid. I'm just sayin.......

Metal jingling sound in right head and subsequent loss of oil from same head, the only reason the car is not blown up is because the engine failed while parking. I am not the mechanic my dad was but I wrenched plenty long enough to know whatever is going on is internal to the head. Since the repairs are so expensive, the way I figure it is either it gets pulled and repaired or if it's not do-able then you will start to see parts show up on ebay, transmission, wheels, etc then I'll just junk it and start over. As for the "dealer" they can wrench on my next Porsche which will be extended warrantied out the yang, as for this 13 year old unit, they ain't wracking up 10K on me, It's not worth it for a car I can't even drive anymore! Ten gees would be a sweet down payment on a Boxster spyder and don't think Porsche doesn't realize that too, no game in it for them in just parts, an effective repair would be a huge victory in an otherwise grim year.

Today, I will remove the exhaust, I'll disconnect as much as I can, then it's coming off the jacks and going to my mechanic. I can't feel my right foot and my left leg is in bad pain, I'm scared of losing my health if I proceed. I will ask my mechanic to remove the rest and put the engine on a bench. Since the oil and filter are very clean, I'm confident that my prudence in shutting it down and flatbedding it is going to pay dividends, if not there will be a bevvy of awesome parts available for anyone who needs them, don't count me out yet though. I'll take a lot of pictures once Chopper gets the engine out. Yeah Chopper, I've known him since age ten, his father used to drop engine blocks in our gas pump lanes as a joke, actually it was funny..His kid is a good wrench and a graduate of some academy for automotive repair, we'll see what he's got in the tank soon.

Hmmmm, maybe just a valve spring. It happens and it is a much simpler fix. Doesn't sound like IMS bearing.

It's not the IMS for sure, I have the exhaust down except the cats the rear sensors are in there too tight to move. The good news is, Wednesday my car gets towed three miles from here to a four post lift, in a fully functioning repair shop where it can stay all winter, that should give me insane options.

That's good stuff, Ghost, just make sure it doesn't stay raised up with the suspension overextended for too long. Let's hope things aren't as bad as they seem and the car gets put back together sooner than later with minimal stuff needed.

Dibs on parts if you part it out. :p

I'll keep you guys posted with pics, car can be lowered or raised at will, I don't see a need to have the tires off so allowing it to rest shouldn't be an issue. If I part it, there are lots of cool bits to have, the side intakes were sent out for black chroming, just one example.

definitely willing to drive out there and pick up the parts, you're across the street compared to the rest of the country.

But I'm more hopeful that you won't need to go that route.

Well OD it leaves here Wednesday, maybe I'll have it out by Saturday, open next week and photographed.

I know your pain Ghostrider. I pulled my engine and replaced it with a used one last winter. You might want to put the front end up on ramps to level the car for the pull. I used ramps as I don't like getting under the car when it is supported by 4 jack stands.