Kerblammo! The motor is rubble. (Raby! Read this)

[insite]

Originally Posted by Bladecutter

If you have her home, pull the spark plugs, and see what they tell you.

probably won't get a chance to do that until i pull the motor. considering the most common failure modes for this motor, i found it strange that it was so anti-climatic. at least i probably have a rebuildable core instead of a worthless heap of metal.

[Boxtaboy]

Sorry to hear. I'm no mechanic, so excuse me if I'm way off base here, but if you didn't hear any bad mechanical noises and no oil leaked out/no smoke, then could it be as simple as a failed fuel pump or other more minor issue?

[insite]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Sorry to hear. I'm no mechanic, so excuse me if I'm way off base here, but if you didn't hear any bad mechanical noises and no oil leaked out/no smoke, then could it be as simple as a failed fuel pump or other more minor issue?

i'd love that! actually, in those cases, the motor would be able to rotate. we put the car in gear, pushed it up to speed, and dumped the clutch. if the motor could rotate, the rear wheels would spin. they did not; they simply skidded to a halt. this indicates seizure.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by insite

i'd love that! actually, in those cases, the motor would be able to rotate. we put the car in gear, pushed it up to speed, and dumped the clutch. if the motor could rotate, the rear wheels would spin. they did not; they simply skidded to a halt. this indicates seizure.

Oh man, sorry to hear. Well, like you said, at least it died on the track, and you got over 100K miles out of it. Not bad actually. You can now throw in a used 3.4L, and have even more fun!

[insite]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

You can now throw in a used 3.4L, and have even more fun!

that's the plan! either a used 3.4L, a rebuilt 3.4L or a Raby rebuild. have to weigh the $$$ since i'm paying for a wedding & honeymoon in may. not to mention buying a daily driver to replace the box for awhile.....

[rick3000]

I hope your motor hasn't died and it is something simple, but I could be a slipped sleeve issue. That affected some early '99 Boxsters.

[edevlin]

Sorry to hear about the passing of the engine, do you have any stratigies for finding a replacement: new, used, Raby?

Ed

[Lil bastard]

OUCH! Sorry to hear that! Face it, dead is dead, but it's in the dying that tells... asleep in traffic or Rock n Rollin' out of some chicane... well done! How many guys can brag they blew up a Porsche?... On the Track??

Not likely a slipped sleeve, haven't heard of one of those reported for years (probably all washed out of the fleet by now) and NEVER beyond 25k mi.

That's become sort of an urban myth, one that's likely hurting sales of early cars. Relatively few of these cars were produced and fewer still made it into the US market. Unlike the revised IMS which is ticking away in every later model Boxster. Personally I like my chances of a sleeve issue waaay more than if I had one of those self-destructing intermediate shafts.

Keep us posted on the transplant patient!

[Jake Raby]

First off: What we are offering isn't a "rebuilt engine". Its a fully updated engine with race quality parts in it's composition that far exceed those of the factory... Some of the parts are actually Aerospace quality!

What has gotten Porsche into this whole mess with engine failures is being way too concerned with price.. There is a cost thats required when taking the engine to the level that we are and there is no way to avoid it.

Most every engine I have built over the last decade has cost more to create than the car that it is installed into and on top of that, you must remember that this is a Porsche, a name synonomous with reliability, longevity, performance and cost, historically.

I'd love to be able to offer these engines for a better price, but there is only one way this will occur and thats through the education of the Owners and empowering them, as well as their local technicians with the ability to assemble the engines themselves using our components, tools and processes. This is the main objective with stage II of our program. We are in process with this now, but its proving difficult as we have to create all directives from scratch including illustrations, DVDs and etc, all of this is in addition to designing the engine components, testing them and applying them.

The labor associated with assembling an M96 is extensive. I am in the middle of assembling a 2.9 now and have a solid week of 10 hour days in it's assembly and thats not cheap(thats a 7 day week, not a 5 day week)! Hell, just washing the components and inspecting them takes two solid days!

There are already some outfits with lesser reputations that are "rebuilding" the engines using no updates or updates without any development behind them. These places have done similar things to the 911 engine, and other engines in the past and they will fill a certain void that our program will not. Due to their inadequacies these companies already have reputations that precede them and their images are so tarnished that the only thing that will sell their engines is a cheap price...

The only way the M96 engine can be updated to a level that supersedes that of the factory is to empower the Owners of the cars with the ability to assemble what we have created themselves. In my aircooled world I have been providing well engineered and proven combinations that have been assembled successfully by people that didn't even own a tool box previously for almost a decade, some of these engines produce 125+% more power than the stock base engine that originated as... We can do the same with the M96, its just a long and very painful process to do correctly.

[95_dually]

I personally would be interested in your upgraded and updated motor for my 98 2.5. I recently had an intake valve get sucked into the #2 cylinder and had the dealer install a used 40,000 mile stock (boring) motor in my car. I would have fully enjoyed being a test mule for dependability of your technology as I drive 30-40 thousand miles per year in my boxster. I would like some information if possible and perhaps a telephone conversation to see what is available. Sorry for the hijack.

[grantsfo]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

First off: What we are offering isn't a "rebuilt engine". Its a fully updated engine with race quality parts in it's composition that far exceed those of the factory... Some of the parts are actually Aerospace quality!

What has gotten Porsche into this whole mess with engine failures is being way too concerned with price.. There is a cost thats required when taking the engine to the level that we are and there is no way to avoid it.

I agree Jake. These motors are far more than a rebuild. And for us 986 drivers if we dont upgrade to this type of solution its like having a ticking time bomb behind us. Stock replacements or used M96's may work for years and it may just blow up any time. Especailly for us track drivers. I'd rather invest in top notch Raby powerplant that I can depend on than be worrying if my motor will blow during a hard track session because of poor factory standards due to cost cutting at Porsche.

Plenty of people in 914's buy Jakes motors where cost of motor far exceeds the value of the car. If you are an enthusiast you will appreciate what Jake offers. There are lots of cars out there with his motors who are very happy with the investment.

If Jake were to offer a 2.5 to 2.9 rebuild kit and a do it yourself video that a monkey could learn like he did with T4 I might be tempted to go that route.

[Jake Raby]

Originally Posted by grantsfo

I agree Jake. These motors are far more than a rebuild. And for us 986 drivers if we dont upgrade to this type of solution its like having a ticking time bomb behind us. Stock replacements or used M96's may work for years and it may just blow up any time. Especailly for us track drivers. I'd rather invest in top notch Raby powerplant that I can depend on than be worrying if my motor will blow during a hard track session because of poor factory standards due to cost cutting at Porsche.

Plenty of people in 914's buy Jakes motors where cost of motor far exceeds the value of the car. If you are an enthusiast you will appreciate what Jake offers. There are lots of cars out there with his motors who are very happy with the investment.

If Jake were to offer a 2.5 to 2.9 rebuild kit and a do it yourself video that a monkey could learn like he did with T4 I might be tempted to go that route.

Thanks Grant... I appreciate that..
For those of you that don't know it, Grant and I were always at odds until he bought a Boxster and I started developing these engines.. Now we are as happy as two peas in a pod and on the same page:-)

Picking up the ball where Porsche left it is the key and thats not been easy.. We just found another weak link yesterday that damaged one of our engines so now its time to make more new parts with overkill engineering. This is the first issue we have had and it was on the track and luckily all it ended up being was a broken valve spring... a brand new valve spring from Porsche..

Grant,
The engine kit program is coming... So are the DVDs.

[spine911]

Originally Posted by insite

i'd love that! actually, in those cases, the motor would be able to rotate. we put the car in gear, pushed it up to speed, and dumped the clutch. if the motor could rotate, the rear wheels would spin. they did not; they simply skidded to a halt. this indicates seizure.

UNFORTUNATELY, VERY TRUE- this is one absolute/final test...I had to learn this (also) the hard way a couple years ago when my VW decided to call it quits.

Goodluck....it's just a car (and money).

[Jake Raby]

Considering that we only started the program 5 years ago and didn't sell the first engine until 16 months ago we don't have data thats as old as the M96 it's self... But guess what, neither does anyone else!

It's simple... We are applying as much "Overkill Engineering" as possible by applying proven technology along with classic hotrodding and hand assembly to create an engine that just plain works.

The Nikisil technology used for the cylinders is exactly what was used by Porsche for 3 decades in the 911 engine, the same technology that was not used by Porsche in the M96 due to extreme expense.. Its overkill, but it just plain works, has little friction and hardly any wear... The IMS is the same way, so are all the other parts we have developed and tested.. When we do cylinder head preparation we don't use OE valves, we use a valve thats way more extreme duty and has been in service under my roof for over a decade without a single failure, they don't even fail when they should.... Why??? Because as a custom unit they only cost 3 bucks a piece more than a Porsche valve and I have the ability to have them made exactly as I want them...

Yes, we have data... Do some research on my background and you'll see that data and product development is my specialty and that I won't allow my name to be associated with anything that isn't proven.... Thats why I spent over 4 years researching and designing components before I sold the first engine.

The only way the skeptics will be satisfied that our product is superior is the application of the engines on the street and on the track along with the positive testimonials that we gain from each build.. I'll be the first to tell anyone that our program is not "one size fits all" and isn't for everyone, in fact if a potential client has a single doubt that we can't exceed the factory, I will not work with them... Luckily we have enough people who appreciate what we have created and want to share it with us bad enough to keep the program growing at a VERY fast pace... If nothing else we offer more performance than the factory can offer and for that one reason we move over half of our engines, despite the added reliability and longevity- people that want unlimited power potential don't care about that generally..

All that said, we expect some skepticism and doubt and you can bet your last dollar that we are putting every bit of enthusiasm and intensity possible into developing a program to make the M96 what it should have been from the factory. This is being done through old fashioned hard work, application and just plain expenditure.

In a decade we'll see how the cards are stacked.. We are in this for the long haul and already Porsche Dealerships are having US consult their technicians that are doing internal M96 engine work for the first time... Today doesn't matter, tomorrow does... I have a very strong aircooled business that has footed the bill for all the M96 endeavors and that side of the house is also growing, even with an economy in such disrepair... You won't find other companies adding to their work force and 4,000 square foot additions to their facility right now... I did.

To say the least I don't mind working toward a goal and proving myself and what I design and create over a decade or more... I have done it before and the second time is a hell of a lot more fun.

In closing I"ll say that gathering data concerning reliability is near impossible to do accurately... Thats because its hard to control all the variables that play into a longevity equation. I gather data all day everyday and under this roof are two engine dynos, a chassis dyno and over 100 channels of combined data acquisition capability.. And most importantly an insane maniac behind it all that doesn't mind an 18 hour work day, broken parts and failure on more occasions than success- thats reality in my world.

[Lil bastard]

@ Jake:

Here's hoping that all that genius, experience, facility and dedication can be directed at Price Point.

It's difficult (for me anyway) to consider your rebuild (especially pro-actively) when it's cost exceeds the current market value of the car.

[spine911]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

@ Jake:

Here's hoping that all that genius, experience, facility and dedication can be directed at Price Point.

It's difficult (for me anyway) to consider your rebuild (especially pro-actively) when it's cost exceeds the current market value of the car.

Very well stated, I completely agree with you on this.