What is your diagnosis? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

silverboxter · 02-11-2011, 06:04 PM

Driving home on the I-10 my 01 base Box lost power. I pushed the accelerator and it responded just not the way that it should...sluggish. I started to pull over and the CEL came on. I made it to the shoulder and the engine stopped. I called AAA. My Box was leaking oil...a lot. There was no warning. The engine just lost power...no noise, no rattle, no nothing. The odometer showed an onimous 129,666 miles.

Would a sudden RMS cause the engine to lose power? Or does this sound like an IMS?

JAAY · 02-11-2011, 06:13 PM

Ims maybe. Sounds like you now have a hole in a piston or lost a valve or something like that. Was the oil coming out of your air filter or air filter box?

Topless · 02-11-2011, 07:02 PM

Need more info. What error codes, where is the oil coming from, what does your oil/coolant look like, what do your spark plugs look like?

silverboxter · 02-11-2011, 07:11 PM

Didn't have a chance to look at the plugs or or the air box or anything else. Simply had the Box towed to the shop. I'm sure that they'll take a look at it early next week. They did notice that the oil seemed to be leaking from the RMS...right between the engine and the transmission (5-speed).

Just wanted to see if this had happened to anybody else and what were the results.

Topless · 02-11-2011, 07:21 PM

Maybe time for a shiny new Raby 3.6L.

silverboxter · 02-11-2011, 07:59 PM

Well, the economy the way it is and the furloughs cutting into my pay substantially, I'm hoping that it's just an RMS. I think I needed a new clutch anyway. That being said, I'm preparing myself for the worst....parking my box and finding a new form of transportation.

Still, has anyone had an RMS fail that would cause an engine to lose power?

J Tinsby · 02-11-2011, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverboxter

Still, has anyone had an RMS fail that would cause an engine to lose power?

The only way a RMS leak or failure can cause an engine to 'lose power' is if the seal allowed all the oil to leak out and the motor seizes.

Time to grab your money gun and prepare to shoot some big bills.

I doubt you get off anywhere near cheap this time.

Good luck!

husker boxster · 02-12-2011, 04:52 AM

Isn't it possible the AOS crapped out? If there's oil on top of the engine, chances are good it's the AOS.

Dale_K · 02-12-2011, 05:53 AM

The fact that the failure was silent is a clue but it might not be a good sign. If the motor won't crank it might have seized due to a major oil leak that led to lubrication failure (just a guess).

If it cranks and sounds normal (normal cranking speed indicating good compression) then maybe AOS which led to MAF contamination and RMS failure (another guess, but less likely than the first one).

I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt.

silverboxter · 02-12-2011, 06:33 AM

The AOS was replaced 10,000 miles ago at 120,000. It allowed oil into the crankcase and seized the engine. Oil was dripping out of the exhaust. O2 sensors were replaced. Guessing that rules out the AOS.

Had a restless night preparing myself for the worst.

clickman · 02-12-2011, 08:45 AM

If a previous AOS incident hydrolocked the engine, you may have had some internal damage that took this long to finally come home to roost.

Jaxonalden · 02-12-2011, 09:03 AM

Good luck on the diagnosis, an engine that looses power is by no way a good thing..unless the intake air was completely choked off.