I think my engine just took a #$%!! - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Adam · 09-24-2007, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Could it be the dreaded intermediate shaft?

If you have to do an engine replacement, might be a good time to get the 3.6L Carrera motor!

Did you send the car to Indy?

Yeah, the car is in Indy right now. I am thinking IMS failure myself, but I should know for sure in the next day or two. The engine isn't locked up, but it sure sounds like s**t!

JCL12 · 09-24-2007, 05:12 PM

This post certainly seems eeriely similar to "my IMS crapped out on me" posts. How did you get your 7yr warrant and do you think this will be covered?

To me, IMS failure is the only realy scary part of boxster ownership. I really wish our community could mobilize and get some policy in place because this is clearly a major design flaw inherent to the engineering of the M96 motor.

Couldn't this fall under the realm of the implied warranty of merchantability and fitness?

RandallNeighbour · 09-24-2007, 06:09 PM

Geez, you guys jump to the worst conclusions first!

I hope it's not IMS failure.

Adam · 09-24-2007, 07:27 PM

Thanks for your support guys! Ok, Bubba (yes that was the name on the flatbed driver's shirt believe it or not) rolled into Indy right before 6 pm and the tech there briefly checked it out. I didn't talk to him directly, but word is the tech feels it's a collapsed lifter or some sort of lifter issue, not IMS. This makes sense I guess as an IMS failure would probably lock up the engine or just not run at all. This will still necessitate engine removal and lots of labor. As far as the 7 yr warranty is concerned, I got that through the dealership. It covers the expensive stuff ie: powertrain so either way I should be ok. I'm glad I got it because the car was bought 4 yrs 3 weeks ago....right outside the standard warranty!!

Well, I wasn't hoping for a catastrophic failure, but the silver lining in the back of my head was a 3.6L engine transplant....that may not be neccesary yet

I'll keep you guys posted as I get more info.

JCL12 · 09-25-2007, 04:56 AM

Adam,

Screw it. Just get a 3.4 or a 3.6 anyway. There is no better time than now!

Perfectlap · 09-25-2007, 07:38 AM

bad lifter eh?

were you hearing a tap at all in the weeks before this occured?

p.s.
incidentally, how often have you changed the oil and filter
and do you watch your temps before raise the RPMs?
how long does it take your car to get up to temp?

blinkwatt · 09-25-2007, 07:59 AM

Hey Adam,how many miles are on the engine?

Adam · 09-25-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

bad lifter eh?

were you hearing a tap at all in the weeks before this occured?

p.s.
incidentally, how often have you changed the oil and filter
and do you watch your temps before raise the RPMs?
how long does it take your car to get up to temp?

I change the oil and filter yearly. I have almost 23k on engine so I have put roughly 5-6 annually on the engine. I'm also careful to keep the revs low for the first 10 min or so until the engine is up to temp. The tapping never occured until yesturday.

CJ_Boxster · 09-25-2007, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

but the silver lining in the back of my head was a 3.6L engine transplant....that may not be neccesary yet

I'll keep you guys posted as I get more info.

You might be jumping the gun there with the 3.6 idea, i know of only 1 person who has done that on the 986 and hes still working out the kinks, the 3.4 however is doable but the engine costs more and there still is some mickey mouse work involved that the indy-mech will have to dive into. I'd consult with the mechanic even before you purchase the engine.

Adam · 09-25-2007, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ_Boxster

You might be jumping the gun there with the 3.6 idea, i know of only 1 person who has done that on the 986 and hes still working out the kinks, the 3.4 however is doable but the engine costs more and there still is some mickey mouse work involved that the indy-mech will have to dive into. I'd consult with the mechanic even before you purchase the engine.

Actually, I think the 3.6L swap would be the easiest and best swap for my car. The 3.4L from the 996 is designed to work with the Bosh motronic 7.2 ECM that was on pre-03 boxsters and pre-02 996's. The 3.6L in the 02-04 996's are designed to work with Bosh motronic 7.8 which is what my car has. I believe I can reuse my current ECM and the swap should be fairly clean as far as swaps go. Of course everything is dependent on what the dealership says so yeah, it's a nice idea, but I don't know if it's in the cards yet or not. If the engine does need to be replaced they might say they will only replace it with another 3.2L even if I offer to kick in some more money.

wild1poet2 · 09-25-2007, 11:29 AM

Sorry to hear about the problems Adam. Good luck with that.

There's a local shop here who advertises 3.6 engine "conversions" including swapping out the crank, new conrods & pistons, etc. Power output is bumped to a purpoted 360bhp.

I wonder if that saves all that much versus swapping in a 3.6 complete engine?

Although, I've read the newer crankcases have an additional crankshaft bearing to help deal with IMS and RMS issues(reducing crankshaft pertubations). So if true, I'd want to go with that.