OH NO!! Metal shavings in oil filter :(|

[dghii]

First off, I hope your situation is resolved quickly with minimum pain to your bank account.

Calling previous owner (after 27 months) to ask them why they hadn't changed the oil more often? Really? What difference does it make now?

It's not the PO's fault. It's not your fault. Unfortunately, it is your car.

Again, best of luck going forward.

[haz]

Thanks. Did you read my posts? I bought the car july 4.th. Shops Are closed is july and through mid august so I had it serviced last friday - which was the earliest possible time since I bought the car! Previous owner could easily have made two oil changes since may 2011. The reason I pointed this out, was to clearify that the damages has been done while he owned it, it is not something that happened the few weeks I have had it. And had he done an oilchange say a few months ago, he would have seen these metal particles for himself and would have prevented more damage. Tell me what you would have done differently than what I have done so far.

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by dghii

Calling previous owner (after 27 months) to ask them why they hadn't changed the oil more often?

The previous owner is the one who had not done an oil change in 27 months.

[madmods]

.................................

[Steve Tinker]

Phew, thank heavens for that - madmods will be "gracing" another forum with his diatribe.... I'm sure most of us will be relieved !!

Haz - sorry for this interuption to your problem - please keep us informed of the results of the inspections.

[madmods]

....................................

[southernstar]

Pothole, when I had my PPI the mechanic ran checks on everything while I remained. Once all else was well, he did (and I payed for) an oil/filter change - even though it had only 4000 km since the last one, and he cut open the filter and inspected it. If the oil had just been changed, I would have asked to have the pan dropped. Either way, I was aware of the IMS bearing issues and decided to include that as part of the PPI.

It added very little money to the cost of a PPI and gave me some additional
confidence and peace of mind. Many of us (including me) cut open the filter after each oil change, so why wouldn't you include that in your PPI?

Brad

[recycledsixtie]

I agree Southernstar that dropping the oil filter and checking for debris is the sensible thing to do. However unless instructed to do so I would think the norm is not to do this. When I had my PPI done by a reputable indy shop I had a printout of what was done. It did not include filter check or leakdown test.

I felt the private seller was a very genuine person and trustworthy. With only 30k miles I did feel good about buying my 2001 Boxster base. I feel bad for you Haz and this kind of failure can happen to anyone. If it was me I would look for another engine(buy it from somebody you trust!). However my experience in the 2 years I have owned the Boxster is frankly that I am disappointed with the poor quality of the car overall. Accessories seem to wear out too quickly. Get one thing fixed then something else comes up. Apparently my local indy says a wheel bearing is starting to go. I asked if it needed to be fixed right away and he said no.

I have attempted to sell my Box at this time but here it is not a good time right now. I will drive it through the winter and sell it in spring. In all honesty the last two years have provided me with the best driving experiences of my life but it comes at a cost of ongoing niggling problems which I did not expect. This does not compare with what you are going through Haz and you have my utmost sympathy.
We are fortunate to have Jake Raby on the same continent in Georgia USA and if what happened to you happened to me then I might ship my Box roller to Jake for the big rebuild. Haz is there anybody out in your part of the world that does the same thing? Conversely I might put it into storage and buy an econobox while I thought about it. My daughter's boyfriend does have a point when he says if you don't have your Boxster then you will likely miss having something sporty.

Yes Southernstar it is easy look in the rearview mirror and say you should have done such and such(check the oil filter before you buy etc) but many of us find out the hard way. Hoping that prospective newbie buyers do a more comprehensive PPI. Haz I am sorry for your loss. Try and make the best out of a bad situation. A few years from now your experience will seem like a bump in the road but right now it must seem overwhelming. Yes I would try and get compensation from Porsche. Talking to the previous owner I think is pointless as I am sure it is buyer beware....

[pothole]

Originally Posted by southernstar

Pothole, when I had my PPI the mechanic ran checks on everything while I remained. Once all else was well, he did (and I payed for) an oil/filter change - even though it had only 4000 km since the last one, and he cut open the filter and inspected it. If the oil had just been changed, I would have asked to have the pan dropped. Either way, I was aware of the IMS bearing issues and decided to include that as part of the PPI.

It added very little money to the cost of a PPI and gave me some additional
confidence and peace of mind. Many of us (including me) cut open the filter after each oil change, so why wouldn't you include that in your PPI?

Brad

Just doing the filter doesn't take too long, but dropping the pan would add cost if you do it every time you are looking to buy car. And you still won't really know if the IMS bearing is due to implode three months down the road or your open deck bores or heads have the early beginnings of cracks.

I personally don't think the really scary stuff shows up in an inspection. My car has had pretty much spotless oil filters (which I inspect / cut open when I change the oil roughly every 6-7k) for the last 40k odd miles. This guarantees me nothing. The IMS might fail the next time I crank her over.

[southernstar]

I agree Pothole, no guarantees, but it will certainly tell you if things are seriously amiss at the time of a purchase (and lets face it, haz's car was still running fine when they discovered all of the particles in the filter). So too would a small amount of metallic particles (lets say, anything more than about three very small ones), or to a lesser degree, the presence of plastic particles. One won't always be able to catch a problem before it happens, but your chances of finding a pre-existing one (or with short oil-change intervals, one that is just starting to develop) increase dramatically with an inspection of the filter.

Brad

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by pothole

Just doing the filter doesn't take too long, but dropping the pan would add cost if you do it every time you are looking to buy car.

You don't drop the pan every time. But neither does every Porsche go 2+ years without an oil change. One of the principal causes for IMS failure is simple oil starvation and or contamination. Once the inspector/mechanic got wind that po was neglecting a vital part of engine preservation/care he should have not hesitated in offering to drop the pan to gauge if there was damage. Any non-mechanic on this forum would tell you 27 months is a red flag, especially if this is a single row car.

I'm curious to know the total number of oil changes this engine actually had. Probably fewer than my trips to the dentist.

[Laredo]

If you keep this you are going to have a nervous breakdown. Until you know what's going on keep calm. The difficult part is a good diagnosis and Noruewan are intelligent honest people so is very possible Porsche Oslo share this qualities. It's not your fault, the filter residue is not typical. Wait for the diagnosis and fix it.

[haz]

Thanks. Please read my last update. I have the diagnostics. Btw, atm, I'm surrounded by beautiful people at a nice roof party, getting my tits off. Drinking the pain away.

[TeamOxford]

Please stay away from the edge of that roof, my friend, and enjoy!

We all share your pain.

TO

[TAKART]

I have been following your thread from the start and hope you are having a great party to drink it over. I hope getting my tits off is just one expression

I was in your situation 1 year ago with another car (bmw) and imported the engine from UK. It was very easy the truth is UK are the cheapest for used and rebuilt engines in all Europe. And you live right next so the transport should be reasonable.

[haz]

Some news: the previous owner says he will consider covering some of the costs of the IMS replacement. He will let me know very soon, hopefully.

The car is still in the shop and they will most likely start sometime this week. I just need to sort of how to finance the job.

And yes, I managed to resist the urge to end it all by running off and jumping into certain death on friday... Here is the always flattering before-image..

[haz]

Some more news: SS Performance [ About us | SS Performance ] will proceed with the IMS upgrade today.

THEY WILL PROVIDE PICTURES THAT WILL DOCUMENT THE WHOLE JOB. Looking forward to seeing the state of the bearing. I mean, how many times haven't we seen new members of the exlusive IMS-club being unwillingly recuited, and how many pictures have we seen compared? I can count on zero hands, that's how many..

SO, hopefully this will be helpfull to others also.. Looking forward to picking up my beloved Box in just two days

Let's hope this is the first and last time I see my Box like this... *knocks on wood*

[recycledsixtie]

[QUOTE=haz;360815]Some news: the previous owner says he will consider covering some of the costs of the IMS replacement. He will let me know very soon, hopefully.

This is highly unusual behavior for a previous owner. If he gives you something towards the ims replacement it is a bonus. Usually a sale is as is and buyer beware. I am happy for you that you are making the best of a bad situation...

[haz]

[QUOTE=recycledsixtie;361099]

Originally Posted by haz

Some news: the previous owner says he will consider covering some of the costs of the IMS replacement. He will let me know very soon, hopefully.

This is highly unusual behavior for a previous owner. If he gives you something towards the ims replacement it is a bonus. Usually a sale is as is and buyer beware. I am happy for you that you are making the best of a bad situation...

Highly unusual for where? All over the world? I heard many similar stories and also PC Oslo recommended me to ask the PO about this.. also, there is a "private sales law", but taking this to court (which would be madness considering the $$$ we are talking about) it almost always ends up being a 50/50 split of the bill.

Anyways.. thank you

I appreciate all the support! It´s a shame that Madmods "rage quit" the forums and deleted all of his posts.. I like having a class clown around

[stephen wilson]

Used cars are generally sold "as is" , the seller has no reasonable obligation to compensate the new owner. I can't see the buyer winning any payment in court in the US . On second thought, some idiot did get paid well for spilling hot coffee on themselves...........