Diagnosed dead at 76K miles

[Ronzi]

"I'm being told that engine should be replaced... can't this be rebuilt?
Anyone have/know of such a experience?"

Porsche does rebuild them. That's what you (probably) will get if you buy a replacement engine from a dealer.
What they don't do is sell engine rebuild parts to third party engine rebuilders, nor to car owners for that matter.

I have heard some discussion that this may be changing in the future, but for the moment at least, if you need a "new" engine, you gotta get it from Porsche.

[Brucelee]

Actually, Porsche does NOT rebuild engines. They ship new engines but they re-use a few external parts, such as shrouding etc.

Thus they cannot claim it is a NEW engine as they do have some reused parts on the externals.

The internals are all new.

At least according to both parts and service at my local dealer.

They warranty the "rebuilt engines" for 12/12 I believe.

[denverpete]

I particularly love the mechanic comment. I wish I had a dollar for every supposed known defect that causes the engine failure. It's the cam. No it's the intermediate shaft. No wait it's the cylinder sleeves. Oh, here's your problem - you're not supposed to drive over 40 miles at a time....

I wouldn't expect much from the "full diagnosis". To get that, you'd have to pay for them to dig into the engine and you probably don't want to add that expense to your potential engine replacement.

Out of curiosity, do you have an oil spot in your garage under where the Boxster sits? Please check and let us know. Might have been an RMS failure....

Please keep us posted on your tragedy....

[Ronzi]

Rich, so you're saying that all those bad engines that go back from the dealers are fed into the aluminum recycling furnace, regardless of what was wrong with them? I'm not sure I believe that.
It would make more sense that if the engine was rebuildable, they would rebuild it and sell it as a rebuilt unit. Maybe not Porsche themselves, but an authorized crew of Elves somewhere in the Black Forest.

[GhengisEEK]

Since the original posting the shop did a cooliant pressure check by letting the car sit overnight and check for cooliant leak in the exhaust. It was there the next morning. I've attached the writeup.

Inaddition, I've been in contact with several "porsche" mechanics... one stated that it is true about engine rebuilds being primarily a Porsche Only Job and that's the way Porsche likes it.

I have no signals of an oil leak in the garage or loss of oil history. I'm leaning towards a blown gasket or cracked heads. I'm not up on the compression tolerance, but there is a swing in #3 and #4... on diff heads.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by Ronzi

Rich, so you're saying that all those bad engines that go back from the dealers are fed into the aluminum recycling furnace, regardless of what was wrong with them? I'm not sure I believe that.
It would make more sense that if the engine was rebuildable, they would rebuild it and sell it as a rebuilt unit. Maybe not Porsche themselves, but an authorized crew of Elves somewhere in the Black Forest.

That is what I was told by the SM at the local dealer. They do not rebuild the engines.

Given the time it takes to tear down an engine and rebuild it, it may be close to break even on this vs. a new engine that comes off a line.

Maybe?

[denverpete]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

That is what I was told by the SM at the local dealer. They do not rebuild the engines.

Given the time it takes to tear down an engine and rebuild it, it may be close to break even on this vs. a new engine that comes off a line.

Maybe?

That's exactly what I was told when my engine went. Worse, it could cost even more than a new engine since they have to actually find the damn problem which costs money. So, you could save thousands getting the existing rebuilt, or it could cost you thousands more than a new engine. Hence, most just go with the new engine. Also hence (double hence?), so little real info on the true engine failure causes.

I met some Porsche Authorized Elves once, nice little fellas. All named Hans. Strange.

[GhengisEEK]

Given that I'll probably need a new/used motor and be spending $8-14K on that...

(1) That won't happen
(2) What is a 2000 Boxster worth with a bad motor?
(3) Is right to pawn it off on an un-suspecting car dealer?

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by denverpete

I particularly love the mechanic comment. I wish I had a dollar for every supposed known defect that causes the engine failure. It's the cam. No it's the intermediate shaft. No wait it's the cylinder sleeves. Oh, here's your problem - you're not supposed to drive over 40 miles at a time....

I wouldn't expect much from the "full diagnosis". To get that, you'd have to pay for them to dig into the engine and you probably don't want to add that expense to your potential engine replacement.

Out of curiosity, do you have an oil spot in your garage under where the Boxster sits? Please check and let us know. Might have been an RMS failure....

Please keep us posted on your tragedy....

Agreed. Unless there is something very obvious, like a piston out the block, mostly they are just guessing until it goes back and gets torn down!

If it does get torn down.