read this and be warned about your motor

[Steve Tinker]

Jake, is there preventative maintenance for the problematic lifters?
A pre oil change addative perhaps.....

[jhandy]

"I have 2 yrs. 10 month's and about 34,000 miles left on my extended warranty. Fidelis Plantinum. If the engine explodes into a cloud of dust tommorow. I pay $0 labor and $0 for parts while the engine is replaced. "

If you think that they will replace your motor if it goes, I have a bridge to sell you. They will get out of it somehow.
I am courious, has anyone had a porsche motor replaced by a warrenty company?
US fidelis does not have a good reputation to begin with, look them up on BBB or just google it.
The easiest way to get out of it is to have you produce oil chages reports, or when they download the DME and see that you may have redlined your motor once or twice. That would constitute abuse and that makes everything not covered.

[2K3_Boxster_S]

Originally Posted by jhandy

If you think that they will replace your motor if it goes, I have a bridge to sell you. They will get out of it somehow.
I am courious, has anyone had a porsche motor replaced by a warrenty company?
US fidelis does not have a good reputation to begin with, look them up on BBB or just google it.
The easiest way to get out of it is to have you produce oil chages reports, or when they download the DME and see that you may have redlined your motor once or twice. That would constitute abuse and that makes everything not covered.

Sorry it's not fidelis. It's Fidelity Warranty Services. The extended warranty service that Porsche dealership sells. It's been used already no questions asked. AC blower motor and re-charge, they had the car for a week. I was given a rental car and I paid $0. Yes they will pay for the engine and any power train, transmission, suspension, etc. or a lawyer will be involved. the only thing they will not cover is normal wear items brake pads and no Clutch parts. It's not a $5,000 warranty for no reason.
http://www.jacksonville.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=4781
yes, you are right about US fidelis. they are a scam.

[blinkwatt]

Don't scare people. The IMS issue is mainly with 3.2L(and non-gt3 or Turbo'd 996) engines,not the base models...

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Don't scare people. The IMS issue is mainly with 3.2L(and non-gt3 or Turbo'd 996) engines,not the base models...

Sadly, my neighbor would disagree. Her 04 base car imploded at 12K miles on the clock. IMS and the engine never stood a chance.

[944boy]

I've got 75K on my 987. I'll take up you on that offer at some point! Maybe next summer :-) By then is would have 85-90 on it. That is unless it blows up catastrophically before then. I'll just try not to rev it to 9K any more

But seriously, my 944 had 200K when I tore the motor down for the first time in its life and the bearings were worn a little, rings were still sealing well, and the lifters were fine. Compression was actually higher than stock from all the carbon build up.

60K seems low for these motors to be blowing up, and I would be very interested in seeing how much wear is present in my motor.

And if lifters are bad, then I would feel better knowing that things have been repaired.

[mts]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

Drive your car to my shop.. Stand over my shoulder while I pull the lifters from one bank of your engine...

If you don't have at least 4 bad units on that bank I'll pull all the lifters, replace them and replace the vario cam chain tensioner pads for free, parts and labor included...

The only hitch is we document the entire process here, no matter what we find... If the units are bad you only have to buy the upgraded replacement parts.

This is not a joke... I am more than confident that you'll have at least 4 bad units, else I wouldn't risk a preventative measure of this magnitude for free..

Sticky or stuck lifters won't create a failure, but they do effect drive ability, MPG, efficiency, throttle response and the smile on the driver's face.....

I'll use the opportunity to gather footage for another DVD.... What do you say?

That is a really great offer!!! I wish I could take you up on it in 2K3_Boxster_S's place, but my car only has 19k miles on it with a good service history so I'm probably not the best candidate.

I am saving up for the 3.2 -->3.6 upgrade you do though. We might have to discuss doing a full before->during->after DVD for it if you are willing even if I have to pay a little extra for it for my own personal collection.

[Jake Raby]

Originally Posted by mts

That is a really great offer!!! I wish I could take you up on it in 2K3_Boxster_S's place, but my car only has 19k miles on it with a good service history so I'm probably not the best candidate.

I am saving up for the 3.2 -->3.6 upgrade you do though. We might have to discuss doing a full before->during->after DVD for it if you are willing even if I have to pay a little extra for it for my own personal collection.

Even at 19K I'd bet you have at least a few lifters that have the same condition.. There is NOTHING worse than these engines sitting idle for the lifters and this condition.

The engine thats in my personal test car had 28,000 when it was installed.. I put 2K more on it then used it to test my MKII camshafts, at which time I pulled the lifters to install my new springs that were designed with the camshafts... I had 11 bad lifters in that engine at 30K.

[jmatta]

I have 2 yrs. 10 month's and about 34,000 miles left on my extended warranty. Fidelis Plantinum. If the engine explodes into a cloud of dust tommorow. I pay $0 labor and $0 for parts while the engine is replaced. So that would be less than what you are offering. Plus I believe that would probably void the warranty. no thanks.

Living in a dream world with rose colored glasses...

My '02 has 15k miles and so far I have installed the billet filter adapter/filter, drain plug and low temp t-stat. If I had the extra cash (too many college bills) I'd have the IMS bearing updated, just to be certain. I don't use Mobil1 0W40 and change my oil once a year or every 2500 to 3000 miles. When I drive the car, it is always for extended periods, making sure to get everything good and hot.

I, too, would be interested to hear of preventitive measures to ensure lifters do not stick. Wouldn't this be a result of extended oil change intervals?

[Jake Raby]

As far as the IMS bearing goes:
Well Porsche will not sell you an IMS bearing, it is not in the parts system.. Thgere is no Porsche part to use as a replacement.

An engine can go 225,000 miles with all 24 lifters bad... You'll have loud valve train, but it'll go that far without catastrophe.. BUT you'll be losing .040" valve lift, which is about 10% of the net valve lift of the engine.. That makes for low power, etc, etc...

Its your choice- deny the issues exist and refuse to do a few preventives or listen to what experience has taught us and solve simple issues while they are simple..

BTW- this is a a lot like Breast Cancer or Prostate Cancer... You can feel fine and be dead in a matter of months... If caught early it can be treated..

James was wise... His engine had a terminal illness and was cured with intervention that Porsche didn't develop and said could not be done!

[spine911]

[QUOTE=Jake Raby]

BTW- this is a a lot like Breast Cancer or Prostate Cancer... You can feel fine and be dead in a matter of months... [QUOTE]

Sounds familiar.....
This statement reminds me of Insurance agents selling catastrophic life insurance to some of my patients.

[funkdefino]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

As far as the IMS bearing goes:
An engine can go 225,000 miles with all 24 lifters bad... You'll have loud valve train, but it'll go that far without catastrophe.. BUT you'll be losing .040" valve lift, which is about 10% of the net valve lift of the engine.. That makes for low power, etc, etc...

What test can be done or what do I tell my mechanic to find out if I have bad lifters?

[gregdacat]

Maybe I am ignorant or a bit touched, but I knew what I was buying when I bought my 986. I paid significantly less for my car than my wife paid for her Jeep Liberty. I have had it a tad over a year and put about 9,000 miles on it (74,000 on the clock). The honeymoon is not over. The only repairs I have put into it other than routine Maintenance is to replace the A/C display and a brake light switch.

If it implodes tomorrow or 4 years from now I would probably buy another. What is it they say about insanity, "It's doing the same thing and expecting different results."

If that is the case, I am crazy about my 986. :dance:

[Jake Raby]

Originally Posted by funkdefino

What test can be done or what do I tell my mechanic to find out if I have bad lifters?

Your mechanic should have a trained ear to recognize the tappet noises... A dyno run will show if the engine is low power, but you'll need other graphs from similar cars to know what is actually low power..

The only way to know is to pull the lifters and inspect them...

I know the main contributor to this issue, but will not post it, because it would start WWIII...

2002 Boxster S - 3rd engine at 80k. Not bad advice, jhandy

Originally Posted by jhandy

My car is a 2002 S and I have never tracked it, I drive it hard but not more than anyone else.
I have had 3 RMS repairs.
Nothing else has ever been wrong with the motor. I change the oil with 0W40 mobil1 every 5000 miles like clock work. I currently have 65000 miles on the car.

My extended warrenty will expire at 70K so I loaded my car on a transport and sent it to Jake Raby to have the IMS taken care of before I had problems. Aside from a little power loss the car ran good.

Jake opened the motor and found ALL but two of the lifters stuck and locked in place. The chain tentioners have already broken and ready to grenade the motor. Best of all the IMS bering was almost fully broken.

Everything was fixed and I should have the car back soon after a few more minor repairs are done. So to all of those guys who say that IMS and Tentioners dont really go out that often, I say get an extended warrenty and send your car to Raby before it dies.
James

[Steve Tinker]

I think he said 3 x RMS repaired - which does not correlate to an engine replacement!

[chitowndad]

James,
What was your total costs to do the repairs? Is this under $1K or $3K?

Thanks,
-Steve

[Jake Raby]

Here is James' IMS bearing.. It was a single row bearing.

I'll post more later.. I need to go finish the engine work on his car and get it dynoed today.