Poll: RMS and Engine problem questionaire

[Cloudsurfer]

02 S with 70k here, no RMS issues to date.

With regard to the last post, I dont see how PCNA would allow a car to be certified with a known RMS issue.

Patrick

[RandallNeighbour]

My sentiments exactly! However, if they put the kibash on certifying any boxster with a RMS problem, they'd have precious few cars to certify!

[porsche986spyder]

Okay, this may sound like a stupid question, but what does RMS stand for? Rear Main Seal???

[just_me]

Please answer yes or no to the following questions related to RMS and engine failure. Please include particular information in your response regarding the year, mileage, model, whether the car was purchased new or used, transmission type, driving style and adherence to scheduled maintenance and break-in recommendations. Thanks for participating. (hope this appears as intended)


Have you experienced a RMS leak? (/no)
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks (/no)
Have you experienced an engine failure (/no)

2004
5-sp
33800 mi
bought new
driven with spirit on roads, but try to be smooth
tracked ~6 days/yr. Auto-X ~ 8 days/yr.
anal about break-in, maint (2 x factory schedule on oil)
alwasy drive easy until warm
use thicker oil that >> ACEA A3 HTHS
perform 90% of my own service

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by just_me

Please answer yes or no to the following questions related to RMS and engine failure. Please include particular information in your response regarding the year, mileage, model, whether the car was purchased new or used, transmission type, driving style and adherence to scheduled maintenance and break-in recommendations. Thanks for participating. (hope this appears as intended)

Have you experienced a RMS leak? (yes)
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks (no)
Have you experienced an engine failure (no)

2001 S
6-sp
40,000 mi
1st owner replaced RMS

No problem since then, now at 55,000 mi

[doragman]

Have you experienced a RMS leak? (no)
Have you experienced multiple RMS leaks (no)
Have you experienced an engine failure (no)

1999
5 speed
58,600 mi

Not a daily driver, but warm up engine good before I let the rpm's run

[Blueboxster22]

Hi,
Just resgistered today on 986 forum. You hit on a very serious issue. I have researched the RMS failure thing for the past few weeks since my 2001 Boxster just experienced this failure along with the IMS and valve gaskets. This is an epidemic which Porsche has turned their heads on. The bottom line is you own a Boxster, you probably will experience this issue some time before 60,000 miles. All the Porshe related web sites I have been on state the same. If oyu want to talk about a class action suit, this would be a good one. I spoke to both Porsche and my local dealer and they both said no to a good will offering to help defray the cost. I ended up finding an excellent local German car mechanic who will be doing it for almost half the cost of the rip off dealer price. Here are some specs on my Boxster:
2001 Boxster
53,000 miles
oil changes every 5,000 miles usually once a year with mobil 1 (0-40)
all maintainence done as directed by manual

Rick

Originally Posted by MikenOH

Please answer yes or no to the following questions related to RMS and engine failure. Please include particular information in your response regarding the year, mileage, model, whether the car was purchased new or used, transmission type, driving style and adherence to scheduled maintenance and break-in recommendations. Thanks for participating. (hope this appears as intended)


Have you experienced a RMS leak? (yes/no)
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks (yes/no)
Have you experienced an engine failure (yes/no)

[Ed Hess]

Here is my RMS saga:

I bought a 2003 Porsche Boxster in a private sale on 4/10/2006 with 44, 050 miles on it and the warranty was in effect until 12/12/2006 or 50K miles.

I had the car inspected on 4/14/2006 and was told the rear main seal (rms) was starting to leak. I took it to Brandywine Porsche (SE PA) on 4/28/2006 at 44,568 miles and had the RMS replaced under warranty. It started leaking again a few months later so I took it to a different Porsche dealer (Don Rosen - largest Porsche dealer in PA) thinking they might be able to do a better job. This was on 11/9/2006 at 47,500 miles and it was replaced under warranty again.

I took it to be inspected again this April and was told the rms was starting to seep again. I took it into to Don Rosen Porsche on 4/17/2007 and they agreed in writing that there was "very slight oil seepage" but told me unless it is dripping on the ground and there is noticeable oil on the bottom of the car Porsche will not fix it. They did offer to look at it again in another 1K miles but told me "warranty work is only guaranteed during the warranty period."

I found this unacceptable and contacted Porsche Cars North America on 4/23/2007 and opened case #5123516. The regional rep left me a message on 4/24/2007 and said "to contact Don Rosen with the understanding that the car is out of warranty and any further repairs would be your responsibility."

There have been a large number of cases where Porsche has replaced the engine after multiple rms fixes according to a number of on-line message boards (www.ppbb.com etc.). I think if a seal is seeping it has failed and will only get worse so that is why I need to move on this. Obviously, they have not been able to fix it while it was under warranty. I think their policy would not hold up in court and I have a good case which I am currently getting counsel from an attorney on.

I don't think I'm covered under the PA Lemon law because it is just for the first 12 months and 3 repair attempts. The Federal Lemon Law (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) looks more promising:

§ 2304. Federal minimum standards for warranties

(a) Remedies under written warranty; duration of implied warranty; exclusion or limitation on consequential damages for breach of written or implied warranty; election of refund or replacement
In order for a warrantor warranting a consumer product by means of a written warranty to meet the Federal minimum standards for warranty—
(1) such warrantor must as a minimum remedy such consumer product within a reasonable time and without charge, in the case of a defect, malfunction, or failure to conform with such written warranty;
(2) notwithstanding section 2308 (b) of this title, such warrantor may not impose any limitation on the duration of any implied warranty on the product;
(3) such warrantor may not exclude or limit consequential damages for breach of any written or implied warranty on such product, unless such exclusion or limitation conspicuously appears on the face of the warranty; and
(4) if the product (or a component part thereof) contains a defect or malfunction after a reasonable number of attempts by the warrantor to remedy defects or malfunctions in such product, such warrantor must permit the consumer to elect either a refund for, or replacement without charge of, such product or part (as the case may be). The Commission may by rule specify for purposes of this paragraph, what constitutes a reasonable number of attempts to remedy particular kinds of defects or malfunctions under different circumstances. If the warrantor replaces a component part of a consumer product, such replacement shall include installing the part in the product without charge.

[Brucelee]

Go get them.

Can you hear all of us cheering?

[AUDIOGUY]

I am afraid to pick one of the catagories. If I select "No" my luck is that I will wake up tomorrow with a spot in my garage!

[MikenOH]

( the original and 2 replacements) it would seem that the seal failure is the symptom of having a crank that isn't concentric--or at least within Porsche specs.

The proper fix would be an engine replacement which will probably be difficault to get out of Porsche. My guess is if you where the original owner, it might be easier sledding on this, but..

Given the history of leakage before the warranty expired--indicating this wasn't just a bad seal--you would think Porsche would do the right thing.

Anyway, best of luck with it.

[Lucky]

I'm the 2nd owner of my 2000 S. Current mileage is 95K.

In May of '05 and after 69K trouble-free miles, the PO noticed a few drops of oil on his garage floor. He took it to the dealer that services the car and on inspection they concluded it was a RMS leak and arranged to repair. After dropping the tranny, they found the RMS was fine, but a leak at the IMS bearing cover. Dealer told him the bearing was failing and that there was no way to repair. Despite being well out of warranty, Porsche paid 75% of the engine replacement.

New engine has 25K miles on it and has no leaks.

So my car has had no RMS issue across two engines and 95K total miles. But the first engine did suffer the dreaded IMS problem, it just happened to be caught before the engine went boom.

[Gary in BR]

My car went 120k miles on the original RMS and no oil leaks at all. The only reason the RMS was changed was that I changed the clutch and assumed that I was better off changing it since we where in the area.

[kbrandsma]

Have you experienced a RMS leak? yes
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks no
Have you experienced an engine failure no

[turbo23dog]

We are at 49 respondents and 30% report RMS leaks.

Not sure we can interpret much from this. Does the poll limit people to vote only once?

[Piperdriver]

My 2003 Boxster experienced an RMS leak at 39000 miles. No further leaks or engine problems in the last 10000 miles. My previous 1997 Boxster experienced no leaks in over 120,000 miles

[THTABE]

2001 Boxster 2.7L

Have you experienced a RMS leak? YES, 28,000 replaced by dealer.
Have you experienced multiple RMS leaks? NO.
Have you experienced an engine failure? YES! 74,000 mile OIL and Water mixed.

Dealer says these things happen. In this day and age engine failure at anything under 100K or even 150K is really unacceptable. This engine bathed in Mobil 1 and was never tracked.

TB

[Timbo2]

[QUOTE=MikenOH]Please answer yes or no to the following questions related to RMS and engine failure. Please include particular information in your response regarding the year, mileage, model, whether the car was purchased new or used, transmission type, driving style and adherence to scheduled maintenance and break-in recommendations. Thanks for participating. (hope this appears as intended)


Have you experienced a RMS leak? Yes
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks No
Have you experienced an engine failure No

2001 3.2S Manual 43K miles Manufacturers service intervals adhered to. Bought used 4 months ago. RMS was weeping slightly when I bought the car (4K miles ago) and has not become any worse. Oil consumption = 0. Very varied driving style from gentle to flat out.

[ProjectM96]

Have you experienced a RMS leak? No
Have you experienced mutiple RMS leaks No
Have you experienced an engine failure No

2000 Boxster 2.7L 5 Speed Manual.
82,000 miles.
Regularly serviced at Porsche dealer for most of its life according to Carfax report.

It went through 1 water pump, 4 light bulbs, and two O2 sensors in its life.
The only problem I have now is a small vacuum leak somewhere.

[Vista glass]

1998 base model , manual trans, 78,000, 2nd owner, no records, regular maitenance since I have had it. NO RMS leaks. Mobile 1 @ 5000 mile intervals. Spirited driving after warmup. Just renewed the clutch. Replaced the IMSB while in there with an LNE kit. The original IMS bearing appeared to be in perfect shape so maybe there was maitenance by the previous owner