timing issues are a very bad thing in a boxster. where in canada are you, as you need a shop that can save your engine at this point. certainly do not run it again.

In Vancouver.

lemme guess - is your car at jacobs?

mcl and weissach are good dealer mechanics. jeff at pacific western performance and james at scan automotive are both good guys that know the m96 engine (james races a 3.6 boxster and jeff tracks a cayman).

Sounds like the IMS might have let loose, hope it's something else. I'd try and get the car to someone who specializes in the M96.

Not naming names as I want a decent resolution to this.

Would an IMS failure cause some obvious piston/valve interfacing?

Wouldn't an IMS failure be more obvious?

I'm not a tech so I've really no idea.

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i'm no expert but, from what i've read, timing chains can jump teeth if given the opportunity by wobbly ims bearings, failed chain ramps, worn tensioners, etc.

If you have had a failed IMS with piston/valve contact, both your oil and oil filter should be full of metal. Drain the oil and look at it; pull the filter and cut it open. If the IMS went, it will be obvious.

They allegedly performed a maintenance service on it (usual suspects oil, filters etc.) whilst waiting for fuel pump to arrive.

So I guess they would've caught that immediately.

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if you have access to another car, drive to the shop and have them show you everything they're talking about. don't say you don't understand, don't say you're a neophyte. write it all down, then go home and search for it. learn what they're trying to sell you.

to me, a shop that can't tell the difference between a bad fuel pump and a catasrophic engine failure is not reputible.

Time for any Vancouverites to help out with a list of recommended m96 specialists.

My pump went out in the garage when trying to back out. 2 days and $216.95 later The car started and ran perfect. Looking at the old pump I see a plastic impellere semi/glued to a small shaft of a 12 volt dc motor. This failure is due to the "start" of the spin after years of weakness brought on by chemical deterioration/reaction/attack on plastic. At 90 K it was expected. Just like any of my service trucks. "It's a fuel pump" Hope you are back on the road soon !!!

Rolex, Once you put it on, you can't take it off !!! WARNING DANGER !!!

What!! 987s don't have a fuel filter??

We know it's not the fuel pump.

It's a major catastrophic engine failure that the 'specialist' somehow missed for the 1st two days.

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987's have the strainer/ filter combined as part of the fuel pump assembly.
The earlier 986's have a seperate fuel filter just forward of the engine

Ok so my options as presented to me by the shop.

New engine from Porsche at $20k plus fitting.

Used engine but they can't find one.

Spend 15 hrs extracting engine & splitting the case, diagnose & fix the issues, spend 15 hrs refitting everything.

Option 3 will cost 30 hrs labour at $125/hr plus taxes & plus whatever it costs to remedy to fault.

Damn!

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You need to get to the shop & see the evidence of this in the oil filter! The shop should show you this. Before you go call on the phone & tell them you can't afford to fix it & what you owe them so far for the bad diagnosis. Have the car towed to 1 of the other shops mentioned earlier!

It's already at one of the shops previously mentioned.

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apologies; sounds like i might have given you a bum recommendation.

the more the car is run after a failure like this, the more opportunity for damage. given the misdiagnosis by the shop, they are now complicit in any damage that arose from them running the car once it arrived. given that, i doubt that they'll be forthcoming with oil filter contents or other standard diagnostics that should have happened long before the fuel pump got messed with.

if it were me i'd look at two options - get the car out of there asap, or make them acknowledge that they are complicit in the current state of your engine and do the right thing.

Not your fault at all. The shop is one of the most highly recommended shops in town.

At this moment they're assessing their strategy after I told them I'm coming over to tow the car.

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