Lost my engine- another one gone.

[Jake Raby]

I will post tear down pics of the engine tomorrow.
It's a complete loss.. To include the crankshaft and carrier... But the LN IMSR bearing looks perfect and has gone to the lab for analysis.

Looked like oil starvation...

[Perfectlap]

JHandy,
you upgraded the IMS? You didn't make mention of that in your initial post.


Anyone know the cost of swapping in a different engine like a Subaru?
I'd love to see someone send Porsche NA a picure of that finished product along with a note regarding the decision making rationale.
A proud group of engineers won't take that lightly.


By the way, if you think the there are too many IMS related threads on this forum you should see how sensitive the Carrera folks have become on other forums after umpteenth prospective buyers and current owners chime in to stress over possible engine issues. I think its starting to sink in that first time Porsche buyers are becoming very gun shy about the pitfalls of these engines. Which leads me to believe that you'll be able to pick up a modestly used 996 on the ultra cheap before long-- it's not just Boxsters. This market is too soft and this 996/986 market community is too small to have these sorts of stories flying around. Perception is trumping reality and there's nothing sellers can do about that.

[jhandy]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

I will post tear down pics of the engine tomorrow.
It's a complete loss.. To include the crankshaft and carrier... But the LN IMSR bearing looks perfect and has gone to the lab for analysis.

Looked like oil starvation...

Oil starvation sounds right. It died on a sharp turn. The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do.
It is hard to mistake the sound of rod knock. Before it stopped, the motor had super loss of power, oil light turned on and then stalled out. I was warned that putting wider tires, lowering with stiff springs, and driving hard could result in higher G-forces. It had been burning oil recently with the 0-40 so I went with the 10-40 and this slowed the loss.

[Jake Raby]

The IMSR bearing looks fine and feels fine.. It faired better than I would have ever imagined seeing how much foreign object debris was in the oil. The IMSR bearing has a very low tolerance for contaminated oil with ferrous material as it is an open bearing with close tolerances.

This IMS bearing will add to our data base due to the mileage and the severe shock that it experienced, endured and lived through. It can't get any worse.


Here are some pics of the teardown post-mortem.

From SH100

From SH100

Now here is what was lurking as a totally unrelated issue just waiting to fail... When we pulled the engine from the car it had some coolant in the oil and vice versa but it was yet to mix.. Upon teardown this is what a trained eye found.. A classic

From SH100

From SH100

This is a magnetic drain plug.. Whats attached to it is the rod and main bearings. The IMS Guardian would have saved the life of this engine undoubtedly.

From SH100

The entire engine is grenaded. The crank is trash, carrier is trash, all the rods, the oil pump, one cylinder head and the scavenge pumps. The IMS tube and IMS bearing are all thats really left, even the case was damaged.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by jhandy

About 86k miles- 2002 S
Let me say first that I was the poster child for preventative maintenance.

Originally Posted by jhandy

Oil starvation sounds right. It died on a sharp turn. The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do.
It is hard to mistake the sound of rod knock. Before it stopped, the motor had super loss of power, oil light turned on and then stalled out. I was warned that putting wider tires, lowering with stiff springs, and driving hard could result in higher G-forces. It had been burning oil recently with the 0-40 so I went with the 10-40 and this slowed the loss.

Sorry this happened to you, but you hardly sound like the "poster child for Porsche preventative maintenance". Good luck with your new BMW toy.

[DenverSteve]

[QUOTE=jhandy;263415]...The oil was about half full that morning and I should have filled it to the top like I usually do. It is a shame that Porsche can not understand that people are expecting much more from a car when the cost is over 50K. /QUOTE]

Sorry again for your loss but you seem to have had an oil problem for some time...and drove it "half-empty" (-/+ 5 quarts low?). You can't blame Porsche or the engine for that. Preventive maintenance would have been to have the seals or whatever repaired that was causing your oil consumption. It's all on you brother. Try to part it out and get what you can. That was totally preventable.

[ddb]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

and drove it half-empty -/+ 5 quarts low.

I'm thinking jhandy may be referring to the electronic oil level gauge indicating "half-empty" which would translate to the crankcase being a quart or less low.

If that isn't the case, jhandy, let us know.

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by ddb

I'm thinking jhandy may be referring to the electronic oil level gauge indicating "half-empty" which would translate to the crankcase being a quart or less low.

If that isn't the case, jhandy, let us know.

Oh. Possibly. He still indicates that he has to "usually" put oil in. Which he, this time, did not.

[jhandy]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

Oh. Possibly. He still indicates that he has to "usually" put oil in. Which he, this time, did not.

What I was refering to was the dashboard indicator. In the last 6 months, The oil level would drop every month and in between changes. The car never did that before. So I was trying to make it a habbit to check the oil before my hour long fun drive to work.

That morning the indicator was reading in the middle. I like to have it at the top of the electronic indicator. I did not have oil to put in to it so I was planning on getting a quart or two on the way home. Well on the way home is when the car died.

The loss of the car is on me. I should have kept it filled to the top. I really dont care that it is gone. Its just a car. Over the 9 years of ownership the box was expensive to keep happy. Small parts would break all the time. Maintance was getting more expensive and regular. I have replaced all sorts of small things from fan motors, control arms, plastic latches, sun visors, plastic windows, convertible top, bushings, bearings, window regulators, seats, buttons, switches, relays, AOS, radio, speakers (paper speakers? really on a porsche?) I just expected more than 85K from a car I spent 57,000$ for.
I would buy another one as soon as they increase the quality. Because at the end of the day, I was smiling when I got home after a drive.

[Ghostrider 310]

You're a big man for typing that, I commend you. Regardless of this situation, personally, I still believe these engines are breaking in a manner that almost suggests the company had about a five year running horizon in mind for the initial cost. I saw less Fiat motors blow over a 20 year span and that isn't a lie. If I'm wrong, I'll be like Jhandy and own it, however the very fact Porsche doesn't even return your inquiry is very disturbing. I'm confident my car is repairable, I only wish I had it in me to do it.