Lost my engine- another one gone.

[jdiba]

Would really appreciate opinions:

Would an extended service contract take care of this type of failure ? I have one, and am considering canceling it. Every time I do, I end up reading about some poor bastard having this type of thing happen. Got it thru dealer when CPO expired. (Fidelity Warranty Services).

2001 Boxster S 6spd Artic Silver,black 69k miles
LN IMS
RMS

[Ghostrider 310]

I think the only way to know is to arbitrate that with the company before you renew or parse out the details now while you don't need it. If you got it through the dealer and it's a Porsche policy, it should!!

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by jdiba

Would really appreciate opinions:

Would an extended service contract take care of this type of failure ? I have one, and am considering canceling it. Every time I do, I end up reading about some poor bastard having this type of thing happen. Got it thru dealer when CPO expired. (Fidelity Warranty Services).

2001 Boxster S 6spd Artic Silver,black 69k miles
LN IMS
RMS

Proper way to do that is to 1ST SEARCH for the info you seek, THEN if you need additional info insted of hijacking this member in real need thread, Start a new thread on the subject you want to discuss. Everyone: Would really appreciate that.[/B]

[Jake Raby]

I will post tear down pics of the engine tomorrow.
It's a complete loss.. To include the crankshaft and carrier... But the LN IMSR bearing looks perfect and has gone to the lab for analysis.

Looked like oil starvation...

[Perfectlap]

JHandy,
you upgraded the IMS? You didn't make mention of that in your initial post.


Anyone know the cost of swapping in a different engine like a Subaru?
I'd love to see someone send Porsche NA a picure of that finished product along with a note regarding the decision making rationale.
A proud group of engineers won't take that lightly.


By the way, if you think the there are too many IMS related threads on this forum you should see how sensitive the Carrera folks have become on other forums after umpteenth prospective buyers and current owners chime in to stress over possible engine issues. I think its starting to sink in that first time Porsche buyers are becoming very gun shy about the pitfalls of these engines. Which leads me to believe that you'll be able to pick up a modestly used 996 on the ultra cheap before long-- it's not just Boxsters. This market is too soft and this 996/986 market community is too small to have these sorts of stories flying around. Perception is trumping reality and there's nothing sellers can do about that.

[jhandy]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

I will post tear down pics of the engine tomorrow.
It's a complete loss.. To include the crankshaft and carrier... But the LN IMSR bearing looks perfect and has gone to the lab for analysis.

Looked like oil starvation...

Oil starvation sounds right. It died on a sharp turn. The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do.
It is hard to mistake the sound of rod knock. Before it stopped, the motor had super loss of power, oil light turned on and then stalled out. I was warned that putting wider tires, lowering with stiff springs, and driving hard could result in higher G-forces. It had been burning oil recently with the 0-40 so I went with the 10-40 and this slowed the loss.

[Jake Raby]

The IMSR bearing looks fine and feels fine.. It faired better than I would have ever imagined seeing how much foreign object debris was in the oil. The IMSR bearing has a very low tolerance for contaminated oil with ferrous material as it is an open bearing with close tolerances.

This IMS bearing will add to our data base due to the mileage and the severe shock that it experienced, endured and lived through. It can't get any worse.


Here are some pics of the teardown post-mortem.

From SH100

From SH100

Now here is what was lurking as a totally unrelated issue just waiting to fail... When we pulled the engine from the car it had some coolant in the oil and vice versa but it was yet to mix.. Upon teardown this is what a trained eye found.. A classic

From SH100

From SH100

This is a magnetic drain plug.. Whats attached to it is the rod and main bearings. The IMS Guardian would have saved the life of this engine undoubtedly.

From SH100

The entire engine is grenaded. The crank is trash, carrier is trash, all the rods, the oil pump, one cylinder head and the scavenge pumps. The IMS tube and IMS bearing are all thats really left, even the case was damaged.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by jhandy

About 86k miles- 2002 S
Let me say first that I was the poster child for preventative maintenance.

Originally Posted by jhandy

Oil starvation sounds right. It died on a sharp turn. The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do.
It is hard to mistake the sound of rod knock. Before it stopped, the motor had super loss of power, oil light turned on and then stalled out. I was warned that putting wider tires, lowering with stiff springs, and driving hard could result in higher G-forces. It had been burning oil recently with the 0-40 so I went with the 10-40 and this slowed the loss.

Sorry this happened to you, but you hardly sound like the "poster child for Porsche preventative maintenance". Good luck with your new BMW toy.

[DenverSteve]

[QUOTE=jhandy;263415]...The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do. It is a shame that Porsche can not understand that people are expecting much more from a car when the cost is over 50K. /QUOTE]

Sorry again for your loss but you seem to have had an oil problem for some time...and drove it "half-empty" (-/+ 5 quarts low?). You can't blame Porsche or the engine for that. Preventive maintenance would have been to have the seals or whatever repaired that was causing your oil consumption. It's all on you brother. Try to part it out and get what you can. That was totally preventable.

[ddb]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

and drove it half-empty -/+ 5 quarts low.

I'm thinking jhandy may be referring to the electronic oil level gauge indicating "half-empty" which would translate to the crankcase being a quart or less low.

If that isn't the case, jhandy, let us know.

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by ddb

I'm thinking jhandy may be referring to the electronic oil level gauge indicating "half-empty" which would translate to the crankcase being a quart or less low.

If that isn't the case, jhandy, let us know.

Oh. Possibly. He still indicates that he has to "usually" put oil in. Which he, this time, did not.

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by jdiba

Would really appreciate opinions: Would an extended service contract take care of this type of failure ? I have one, and am considering canceling it. Every time I do, I end up reading about some poor bastard having this type of thing happen. Got it thru dealer when CPO expired. (Fidelity Warranty Services). 2001 Boxster S 6spd Artic Silver,black 69k miles LN IMS RMS

Possibly. Repairing a spun bearing is likely less expensive than buying a BMW. I also don't know where you are but 2002's here, clean with low mileage, are running closer to 25,000.