Finally pulled the engine out and its a goner
 

So ive been procrastinating for a while with my car and I finally took it to the shop to confirm the problem I had with the coolant and oil mixing. And yes its a cracked head. "V shape crack in one of the cylinders" Mechanic was surprised it never made any noises.

Nevertheless car needs a new engine. Worst timing too, just bought a house last week. So it will be sitting in my new garage for a while until i figure out a solution...

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tough luck! 996 3.4 or ln/raby fix and bump to 3.6. both good options. both spendy. say $5k for your roller, $10k to $20k for engine fix. for that you can get a newer boxster, a 996, an appreciating 911, a chunk off the mortgage ... decisions!

Yeah, that is the classic question that us 986 owners face. Reality is that a new engine cost is 2x what the car is worth. And considering you can probably drop a 500+ HP LS7 in for the same money, that REALLY adds to the difficulty of the decision.

Best bet might be finding one that has been whacked and put the used engine in if you can find one...

This is not a characteristic failure for a 3.2 as they have the tickets of all cylinders. The failure is also at a strange position of the cylinder thats not typical. Had you recently had the cooling system opened up for any reason?

This failure also generally occurs with cylinders 2 or 5..

But, the only thing that stays the same with our research and these engines is that everything continually changes.

Such a shame. You clearly love your car based on your mod list. And then there's the colour! If it were me ( and yes I've contemplated this often) I'd commit to never selling it as- is and wait until a solution is clear. I think I saw crate engines from EPS or Vertex for $10 000 in a recent Excellence mag.

I have a 2000 boxster S with an running engine, but not perfectly running I'm selling for 7000$ canadian. I could be a good start for a engine plus spare part or sold part for cash to pay for any repair.

Later
Chris

I have not had anything done to the cooling system. Why do you ask?

Not sure if this piece of info is helpful but I drove like this for two seasons no noise ever and never overheated even driving for hours straight

Love that car and color - tough break. Look forward to hearing about the full recovery. Too nice of a color to sell as a roller.

Hope this isnt off track, but why are the cylinder walls a white color? Is that like a moly coating, or are they not made of iron?

Because they are made of an aluminum alloy, as is the rest of the engine cases.

Tough break. This is my biggest fear. But some back of the envelope math says I've got a lot more money sunk into the car than the cost a replacement engine...by a WIDE margin.

BTW, can an aftermarket flywheel play a role in cracking a cylinder?

[QUOTE=violametallic-S-;402895]

Nevertheless car needs a new engine. So it will be sitting in my new garage for a while until i figure out a solution...

I am in the same sad situation as you.I drove the car for a week before it died and became an instant $4k roller.I paid somewhat more than that for it!
It would be helpful to have a consolidated "so what did you do when you needed a rebuilt engine" thread. There are lots of similar threads with similar sympathy & advice which is nice -but what did people actually do ?Perhaps there would be some wisdom to be gleaned in what they eventually did?
In my case I am reluctantly and hesitantly plodding through a diy rebuild. I am gathering as much published knowledge as I can so I make intelligent choices about what I do(R&R ,striping & cleaning) and what I pay experts to do. And which experts to do the work.
The only thing worse than having all this to do and the expense will be if the rebuild is a failure ! Can you imagine?
Some people on other Forums describe similar situations and basically told -"you took a risk" -not helpful.Whcih is why I am here!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/boxster-cayman-forum/812902-metal-shavings-oil-filter.html

Talk to Martin at Porsche Land;

WELCOME TO PORSCHE-LAND! - Porsche engine repair and maintenance service

He rebuilt my 996 engine.

Yeah that would be great! Fortunately I can't contribute to the subject yet.

Thank you for the suggestion of Porsche Land.A rather forbidding name that suggests momentary exhilaration but endless expense.I should have rented?
I am embarrassed to add ,I also need to have the gearbox rebuilt! Yup the usual bearings and 2nd gear.
All after one fleeting week of enjoyment -sounds like my first wife:ah:

Given my income at the time, just maintaining my car has cost more than my first wife...and at almost 2 years, I've had it longer!

Tough break Viola! Love that color, and keep it forever. A clear solution will come when the timing is a little better (after you have settled into your new house and financially also0.

$5k for the roller would be an insult, considering what you have into the car already.

I will for sure keep it. One day it will become a classic and its value will go up like the 993s :P

It’s been 5 years since my motor failed on my 2001 Boxster S and it’s been 4 years since I got a serious concussion which made me just leave the Porsche in my garage untouched. It was a bad concussion which I’m still dealing with many of the symptoms every day. So I haven’t had the motivation to engine shop, let alone even think about my car.

But recently I have been thinking how much joy driving it used to give me. Even though I can’t drive it like it should, because driving makes me still pretty nauseous, I still enjoy idea of it starting up.

So long story short, a long time ago I noticed mud in my coolant resivour. Brought it to my mechanic and he took the motor out and apart. Cracked cylinder was the problem. Around that time I got my concussion and was in no shape to take on this problem. So towed it to my house and left it in the garage ever since.

Where do I start now? I want it running already. But I don’t want to put the same 3.2 engine back in. Since it’s out and apart. I want to put something special in. I’m sure this topic has been beaten to death. But I want the best bang for my buck when I’m looking for a “new” engine. I want to do it right. Not that money isn’t an issue, but I want to put the best engine I can in there.

What is the number one option here? Used 3.6 and beef it up with bolt on performance parts? I hope to have a set up that has minimum 400hp. I want to start shopping and getting an idea as to what needs to be done.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

My 2 cents - rebuild the engine that you have assuming everything else inside the motor is good/reusable . That way you know you have good parts vs. buying a used engine of unknown quality . Send the block to LN Engineering and have them add Nickie cylinders and punch it out to 3.6 litre . Go with their pistons also .

If there is such a thing , find a Canadian version of Jake Raby to do the engine disassembly and reassembly it will be money well spent . You can send the engine/car to Jake but his backlog generally is a year + out . A quality Porsche rebuilder that knows these engines will build you an engine that will live a long time and run like a raped ape . The cost will be in the 20 - 25K range .

Doing it this way you keep the matching engine number as it left the factory , I mention that only if that matters to you . You can see in my signature line I have a Raby engine so take that into account for my comments . Good luck with your health and whatever decision you make on the Porsche .

Check out Vertex while you're doing your shopping. They seem to address all the weak spots and aren't prohibitively expensive.

Good luck with your S and your health.

This is the way I would go. Good luck with the car but more importantly your health. I have a niece who has had several concussions now and suffers from them. Take care. :cheers:

A quick budget will simplify the choices. Just ask those who recommend a particular solution what it cost in total .
A good used engine is a gamble but usually the cheapest option. You can sell your old one ?
Doing a high quality rebuild cost me at least $15k in parts,special tools and machine work. Before you do a diy rebuild. add the cost of a Raby M96 rebuilding class.
The M96 is not an easy,cheap,simple rebuild. Experience with a SBC is inadequate qualification !

400bhp will be expensive and likely require a lot of ancillary upgrades. A bolt on 3.2 could make close to, if not, 300bhp and be much cheaper.

Putting a $25k engine into a $10k car is a tough pill to swallow.

So the car has been sitting for 4 years and you're finally getting your mojo back enough to consider having it fixed. You waited this long, why not take your time, find either a proper used engine or a decent enough orphan that you could mine for parts. Your car had a used engine in it when you got it, a used engine will get it back on the road with less stress on your budget. As needed, upgrade the IMS, rms, water pump, AOS, etc.

It's easy spending other people's money, suggesting a new engine or a Raby 3.6, but with a new house and other of life's stuff, a budget solution is probably wise.

How did you manage to mess up the trans and crack a head? Perhaps you need to reflect on how you drive the poor thing. Sorry about your own cracked head, too. Hope CTE doesn't raise it's ugly head.

I faced the same dilemma. My '02 Boxster S had intermix, it turned out to be a bad cylinder crack. My plan was to look on CoPart.com to find a wrecked/burned etc compatible car, pick it up and swap the engine in. The cars on there go VERY cheaply sometimes. The problem with these cars is that although they're wonderful cars, they just aren't worth much. I know everyone has their own opinion, but to me personally, it's financial lunacy to put a $15K+ engine into a $8K car.

You can buy a wrecked or otherwise damaged 986 on Copart.com for less than $4K all day long, I have seen them go for less than $2K on occasion. Pull out the engine, swap it into your car, and then sell the remainder of the car you bought to recover some of what you paid. Of course you can ping Woody on here to see what engines he might have laying around too. There are others on here who sell engines also.

To me, given the very limited value of these cars, a used engine is the only logical way to go. Obviously check the used engine out very carefully before you go through the bother of installation, and it's a no-brainer to do the IMS, RMS, clutch and AOS while it's out. Others obviously have a different opinion. Your mileage may vary. God luck, been there, done that. It sucks.

https://www.copart.com/lotSearchResults/?free=true&query=boxster%20s

I have a rebuilt 2001 engine with LN billet 3.6 sleeves that will replace your original engine without any modifications. It's a duplicate of what I have had in my Box S since 2010. I will sell it for $15,000.

I hope you continue to improve re the concussion and its aftermath. I just went through a 3.2 rebuild on my 2003 S and had the displacement increased to 3.6 liters with LN Nickies and JE pistons. It was a six month turnaround at LN - they need to do their machining and installation of the new cylinders, then the real wait starts as the block goes to their plater for plating of the cylinders. My local independent Porsche specialist who have rebuilt several M96/97 engines. I've just finished putting 1,500 break-in miles on the rebuilt engine and I'm very happy with it. It probably cost me 2x what the car is worth for the rebuild. If I had chosen not to go with the Nickies I could have also avoided the custom Softronic tune and Fabspeed sport headers with catalysts. Eliminating those three items would have saved a big chunk of money.