Blown engine. This sucks!

[Giller]

Originally Posted by daveccpa

Man that sucks. I also just purchased a 2000 Type S with only 55,000 miles on it and really hope I don't have those kind of issues with it.

Remember - these forums are here for people to help people, so most of the posts you read are asking for help fixing something. With tens of thousands of these cars still rolling happy and healthy - it's still a small percentage that suffer any kind of catastrophic damage such as this. And there are things you can do to help manage the catastrophic damage. Regular maintenance is key.

If you search through the forums - you will find a nice thread about the 100k club - lots of those cars have had zero issues other than routine maintenance.

[jb92563]

Theres a lot better ways to spend 14.5k.

If it was me I'd call Jake Raby and for the same money end up with a much more bullet proof upgraded HP engine than just going with the same thing you had fail on you already.

Just saying that if you want a better outcome you have to change the path, not repeat it by going down that same path again with a reman standard Porsche Engine.

Or

Sell your car as a roller for 5K and buy another 9.5K Boxster and roll the dice again.

or

Buy a 5K engine with ~50k miles on it and cut your losses.
(14.5K will get you 3 rolls of the dice with this option so your odds are better)

No cheap options some are clearly better than the others in my opinion.

[peterbrown77]

This just highlights the truism: You can buy a 9-year old $70,000 car for the price of a new Kia - but the day it needs to go in the shop it's still a $70,000 car.

[seningen]

Originally Posted by peterbrown77

This just highlights the truism: You can buy a 9-year old $70,000 car for the price of a new Kia - but the day it needs to go in the shop it's still a $70,000 car.

And in three years that KIA is still crap -- maybe crappier and about worthless
the Boxster is still giving you PermaGrin.

Treat it like a $70k car with the PM to match -- but find a reasonable Indy to maintain it for you -- or educate yourself.

In 10 years -- you could still be enjoying the
Boxster -- while others are on their 3rd KIA :-)

Mike

[peterbrown77]

Originally Posted by seningen

And in three years that KIA is still crap -- maybe crappier and about worthless
the Boxster is still giving you PermaGrin.

Treat it like a $70k car with the PM to match -- but find a reasonable Indy to maintain it for you -- or educate yourself.

In 10 years -- you could still be enjoying the
Boxster -- while others are on their 3rd KIA :-)

Mike

And if the engine in the Kia blows in 3 years....they'll fix it free with their 10 yr / 100,000 mile warranty, but that's not my point.

It's not about the Kia, it's about the fact that expensive cars are ALWAYS expensive to fix, no matter their age. You can't go into it thinking that because you paid Kia prices you're going to have Kia repair bills.

[Crono0001]

Why do you owe 15k on a base 02 Boxster?

You realize that someone earlier this year was selling a 3.6 swapped Boxster S for that much. This forum has Boxster S's going for 12k for an ad price without any bargaining.

That's a really bad situation that you're in. If you have a car to drive around, I would either sell it as a rolling shell and work to pay off debt, or save up and DIY. 14.5k is ridiculous for OEM. To put it in perspective, my 3.8 swap costs about that much, and I'm getting 350whp.

[epapp]

You can...if you know how to troubleshoot and have time to fix it yourself...the price of parts is (mostly) a negligible difference

[Swhitcomb]

You are 100% correct Jake. That's where my frustration comes from. No one is willing to take the thing apart and repair it. It's been to two shops now.

I honestly thought of having you build an engine but I don't have that kind of money. To be clear, the engine is going to be about 10k, 1500 for a clutch and flywheel, and $2500 in labor.

[seningen]

Originally Posted by Swhitcomb

You are 100% correct Jake. That's where my frustration comes from. No one is willing to take the thing apart and repair it. It's been to two shops now.

I honestly thought of having you build an engine but I don't have that kind of money. To be clear, the engine is going to be about 10k, 1500 for a clutch and flywheel, and $2500 in labor.

The real problem is not many shops are willing to dive into an M96 engine.

You need the right tools, you need the know how, and because of the cost of parts and the unknowns of what you find with the original engine -- it isn't always a cheaper (short term) option.

Jakes the pinnacle, there are others out there, but very few folks have the luxury
of not having the additional expense of shipping the vehicle as well.

Mike

[crod]

Originally Posted by seningen

The real problem is not many shops are willing to dive into an M96 engine.

You need the right tools, you need the know how, and because of the cost of parts and the unknowns of what you find with the original engine -- it isn't always a cheaper (short term) option.

Jakes the pinnacle, there are others out there, but very few folks have the luxury
of not having the additional expense of shipping the vehicle as well.

Mike

Well that is not completely accurate IMHO. We had no compression on Cylinder 5 and as I had many other cars to drive we decided to tear it down at home. Without having EVER rebuilt an engine. Not even a lawn mower engine.

Car was back on the road six months later, running like a champ. Never ran that good. New IMS, new clutch, new water pump, rings, etc as we were already there.

The only tool I really had to buy was the kit for the timing. Everything else I had at home.

So yes, it is an engine. It may sound complex. But at the end of the day it IS an ENGINE. Built by Germans and NOT Aliens.

And with some GREAT guides out there like 986fix, most people can do it if they have the time and patience.

CR

[Swhitcomb]

Ok, so I've had the car back for a couple months now, and finally got word on what killed the engine. It jumped timing. Killed a rod bearing and bent some valves. What are the likely causes of such a failure?

[Porsche9]

Stretched timing chain is my guess.

So what are you going to do? Replace the motor? Get an different car?

[Swhitcomb]

U



A rebuilt engine was installed. Had it back a few months. Had the front windshield replaced, replaced both front speakers, replaced the subs, added rear speakers, and polished the yellow out of the headlights.

[woodsman]

nice to hear you're back on the road. Your car looks perfect-- the paint and roof are mint and the engine is too! Now you' know what you've got'. Are you hooked now that you've driven it for a few more months? What was the final cost?
As to what caused the timing jump I would suggest a broken or severely worn chain tensioner. There is 1 of the 4(?) that is known for this. I guess this is why experts including Porsche always encourage a cam deviation check when looking a car over. There is a Porsche generated spec for this.
Nice seeing your neighbour has a 'Thing'. Happy motoring- you deserve it!

[Swhitcomb]

Total cost was about 15k. A lot more then I wanted to spend but what's done is done. The paint photographs well. The top is damn near perfect. Need to polish the swirl marks out of the paint.

Funny you mention the Thing. It's actually my wife's. Doesn't fit in our driveway so the neighbor lets me park it there.

[2013grandsport]

I am about to buy a boxster S engine for my 2.7.

I would be willing to sell you my good engine ready to bolt in for a decent 2500.00
It has 69K miles on it.

No need to spend 14,500 bucks.

[2013grandsport]

nevermind, I see that I am super late LOL! For some reason I had only seen the first page of this thread.

[Swhitcomb]

A few months ago I'd have jumped at it.

[986Porsche986]

Sorry to hear that it happened, but I am glad your back on the road. After I discovered the IMS bearing issue, it made my experience when driving the car stressful, I always had that little thought in the back of my mind, "is it gonna go now... is it gonna go now?" Then I thought about it and decided that any vehicle that I was driving could have an issue that would leave me on the side of the road in need of a tow. So now I don't even think about and I just drive the car and enjoy it. HOWEVER, if I do lose the engine due to an exploded IMS bearing, I am 100% sure that I am going to do this conversion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P67OSN2DqAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vkENe0nejo

[porsche-land]

Just a piece of advise for everyone here: please do some research before you decide on such an expensive repair. There are lots of good reputable places where you can get your engine fixed, you do not have to spend a ton of money on it. The internet is a wonderful thing, embrace it!