A poorly 986....
 

Hi all, first post here so go easy on me.

Yesterday i bought my first boxster as something different to fix up. The car was very cheap which of course means i has problems. I am mechanically minded and work on my own cars, tune etc. This is my first porsche though, although not my first boxer motor.

So, what i am after is a little advice from yourselves as to the potential issues that may be causing the issues i am having with the car.

Essentially i dont believe the car has been driven since 2012, so there will be a lot of crap that will be in the exhaust. The car when running was plooming smoke, which initially i suspected as headgasket failure, the car was also misfiring badly, certainly not running on all 6.

When i removed the exhaust headers (snapping off all but 4 of the exhaust bolts...doh!) there was plenty of oil in the exhaust ports. Now i know on a flat engine there is normally a little in the ports but when i tipped up the a small trickle of oil actually ran out of the pipe.....that cant be right...

Has anyone else experienced this before?

I am planning on removing and stripping the engine down, so i will know more then, however if anyone can suggest why there might be so much oil in the ports/exhaust it may speed up the diagnosis when it is on the floor.

I also have an issue in that the rear bootlid will not shut and lock. Any ideas how to sort that? or would a replacement lock mechanism be the way forward? it all looks in tact, so could be a cable issue?

Thirdly....i cannot select reverse gear other than via using the cables by the gearbox? is it just a case of adjusting the cables? or may it suggest something else? All other gears are selectable easily...

Thanks in advance for any help!! would be great to get this back on the road :) :cheers:

does anyone have any suggestions on my issues?

Time to use Search. There are some good vids on Youtube.
Look for Project Nutrod.
Not an engine for the inexperienced or financially constrained!
Usually worth more parted out than to repair.Careful you don't get in a money pit!

"Plume of smoke" ...
My guess is your AOS failed -- nothing too serious.

No need for rebuild -- just replace the AOS and clean the intake and probably your MAF too.

If it has been sitting for a couple years -- oil could have easily run around the rings,
could be ovality issue, but not the end of the world. Could also be AOS related.

Do a compression and leak down test after fixing AOS and running for a bit.

Can't speak to other issues.

Mike

Thanks for the replies.

Gelbster, thanks for the headsup, ive build a good few engines so with any luck will be able to spot on inspection if there is serious damage worth scrapping. Fingers crossed there isnt.

Seningen, thanks i will look up how to swap that out. Hopefully the bottom (middle) end will look ok, will try and get a compression tester in there before i remove the motor as that may save a lot of time if it is sound.

Any ideas on the other issues welcome :)

These engines pretty much don't blow headgaskets. If it's not the oil that fowled the plugs to make it misfire then you might start to want to keep an eye for a used engine. I would take a inspection camera and look into the cylinders for D chunking or cracks.
As mentioned a bad AOS will cause oil to seep into the I/M. Other things that cause misfires are bad o2 sensors, maf and timing adjuster in the heads. There's two at 900 a piece from Porsche. Like others said the engine is worth more parted than the repair bill is going to be. Even doing the work yourself. If you think you can get away with using ebay cheap parts or used parts good luck hahaha

Okay. The engine runs, albeit badly. Start with the obvious: big vacuum leaks from dried out or loose fittings? Bad gas? CEL? What codes is it throwing? Don't start throwing parts at it until you get a grasp on the general situation.

a good point, at this stage i have only taken the exhaust off. everything else is intact.

There were no engine codes being thrown, no CEL light. However reading up on the AOS a little more, some of the pictures i have seen do look reminicent of what i experienced when it was running, so it seems like a good starting point.

If its a case of a new AOS, fresh coils/plugs, fresh fuel and a bit of a cleanup that will be great, so lets see.....

all of your symptoms sound potentially minor to me. I agree, it is most likely the AOS, Air Oil Separator that needs to be replaced first. Then you should consider replacing your spark plugs and then draining your fuel and replacing with 91 Octane or better and adding some fuel injector cleaner and then run it for a while. I think your shifting issue is just sloppy cables, I don't know if the cables are adjustable or just have to be replaced. I haven't had to do that yet on mine. A lot of the parts on these cars are not cheap so you don't replace stuff for the fun of it unless you have a lot of disposable income. :)

Do the compression test first before replacing anything. I bet you'll find the results interesting...

(lots of smoke + missing/rough running + oil in the exhaust ports = usually not good things)

Absolutely spot on, there is zero compression im cylinder 1, 12.5-13bar in all other 5. In other cars that would normally suggest a hole in a piston....damn....

Sorry for the misfortune mate, but its best to know now before you start replacing parts.

You might want to find a cheap salvage engine and swap them. Let us know what you decide to do.

Or a burnt valve or a broken valve spring... Any way you look at it, the head is likely coming off that bank at the very least. Next step boroscope.

thstone is right about a used engine. Far more cost effective than breaking yours down.