Engine Failure Facebook Group
 

20% failure rate? Where did that number come from? Overzealous estimate? Internet sensationalism? Blind enthusiasm?

09,s and up are okay

it needs a far more confrontational title...

"THE ENGINE IN MY $70K PORSCHE BLEW UP!!"

"DANGER: PORSCHE ENGINES MAY EXPLODE!"

"MY DREAM PORSCHE SELF-DETONATED"

"FLAWED PORSCHE ENGINE DESIGN COST ME A FORTUNE!!"

"BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? OR A NEW PORSCHE ENGINE?"

"MY HONDA NEVER BLEW UP LIKE MY DREAM PORSCHE DID!"

And don't forget it affects 911s too. It's not just Boxsters.

More internet trash...I'd like to see the statistics that back up the 20% failure rate.

I have been a PCA instructor for close to fifteen years, have driven more track events than I will ever remember and can recall only one IMS failure throughout that period (he was running Mobil 1 0W40 which was a major mistake for a track vehicle). One other gent in my region had his '99 fail due to D-chunk...non-IMS related.

This garbage does more harm than good to potential buyers and lessens the collective value of the model.

...and from someone with 1 post.

The best way to deal with this bull**************** is to ignore it.

Dooooooom!

Porsche has sold well over 200,000 Boxsters. I have yet to see 40,000 engine failure posts to support the supposed 20% failure rate. I might believe 2%

Well at least it's true they no longer have the IMS in the engines, whether the new design is bulletproof remains to be seen. My engine runs fantastic and it's the scary low mileage 2.5 or so they say...

Boxsters have no more engine problems than any other car on the market. I will give my 99' Nissan Altima a thumbs up. Just under 100,000 miles with no engine work. 3 batteries, 3 sets of brake pads and 3 sets of tires. Regular oil changes every 5K miles just might be the key. One thing that drove to the Altima was they used a timing chain that is bathed in oil. Not those crazy belts that break. :cheers:

no dude, it's Boooooooom!

I do not buy that at all. I don't believe the 20% failure rate, but I wouldn't be surprised at all at 2-5%. And by failure rate I don't mean $2k repair and you are out the door, we are talking $10k and up complete rebuilds/replacements. By any statistical measure 2-5% for complete failures is horrific compared to other top cars on the market.

Yes, I am one of the one that has experienced an IMS failure and am dealing with aftermath of that now on a 2004 car with 20k miles. However, Excellence Magazine has devoted 2 full articles (with a 3rd one due later this year) to the IMS issue and the lead guy dealing with the repairs/upgrades (Flat 6) is working on a 2 month to almost 1 year back-log depending on what is needed. Those facts alone tell me the issue is not insignificant.

I wonder if the 04 SE in particular, was a problem edition. I've seen at least 04 Special Edition Boxsters with IMS failures on various Pcar forums over the years. Was yours an SE?

Yes, mine is an SE, but based on what my research has turned up its not an SE problem, it's any M96 motor installed in the Boxster and Carrera models.

Yep, I realize it affects all M96 based engines. Just that I've seen a lot of 04 SEs pop up as being hit with it. Thought maybe a bad batch of bolts/bearings that production run.

This is my first Porsche so bear with me here, but until I was researching this car I had never even heard of an Intermediate Shaft before. I've never had a car or motorcycle with a boxer type engine before, so I assume it's something unique to that design.
From what I've learned on this forum, I was surprised to see the bearing that fails is such a small unit. What function does the IMS perform in the engine?

Dave S - There is a great article on the IMS, what it does, symptoms of failure and ramifications in the June 2010 edition of Excellence Magazine. It has diagrams and pictures. Subscribers got the edition earlier in the week, not sure when it will hit the news stands, but its worth picking up for that article alone.

I've never seen an intermediate shaft used on anything but a Porsche. Someone else will know, but I suspect it may be a remnant of the old VW boxer 4 that started it all.

It's a shaft that spins below the crankshaft and is driven off the crankshaft. It drives a few accessories, and through a set of chains, also drives the camshafts. On the water cooled engines, the intermediate shaft is driven off the crankshaft by a chain as well.

In the most recent engines, Porsche has eliminated the intermediate shaft and drives the camshafts from the crankshaft, as other OHC engines do.

The Group won't let me post to the Wall...
 

... where I wanted to post the following:

A few of comments:

• The failure rate on the M96 engines is nowhere near 20% as you state. Where are you getting your data from? Porsche has never given any numbers but by my estimate it may be around 2%.

• M96 engines can be rebuilt, just like any other internal combustion engine. Some failures may be catastrophic, but some are preventable by changing your engine oil on an accelerated basis and "reading" your filter.

• My recommendation for anyone having to replace their clutch is to also replace the Intermediate Shaft Bearing which is one of the components most prone top failure, especially in the '03 and '04 model years.

• A used Boxster is way less than $19,000. It's closer to $10K. A Boxster S $15,000. If you have to replace the engine, you can purchase a used one for about $3,000.

• Many Porsches live a long and healthy life. My '98, which I've had since new and is my daily driver, weekly autocrosser, and monthly track car just turned 195,000 miles.

It's not all gloom and doom.

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro