Think I might just cry!!!
 

Major disaster... I left work today and noticed there was a rattle in the engine of my 2001 boxster triptronic. Stopped down the road and had a very quick look. Couldnt see anything or pinpoint where it was coming from. Has no other option but to continue. After about five miles the rattle stopped and a whine started, like a fan belt type whine. This stopped after about 10 miles and I 'thought' whatever had happened had sorted itself out.... Until I got home that is. I got out of the car and the oil was POURING out from underneath... Smoke was also coming from the vents. After a quick bit of research it looks like it could be the AOS but I'm no mechanic by a long shot. My usual mechanic is off for the weekend so to save me lots of worry can someone give me a few ideas of what it might be and how much it might cost. Is it also possible to drive the car to the mechanic? The oil indicator is about an inch below the lowest level but I could top it right up before I go unless it could do even more damage.... All help and suggestions much appreciated. Unfortunately I just put it up for sale last week so this is the last thing I need when trying to sell it :(

did you get any indications that the car was overheating - high temps on the gauge, perhaps a flashing temperature light?

Do Not start the engine again until the problem is fixed! Find out where the oil is leaking from. If it is coming from between the engine & transmission at the bottom your IMS bearing is coming apart! :eek:

Stop driving the car or even running it at once. Flat bed it to a good Porsche mechanic. It could be a couple of things, but until you know for sure, do not risk doing more damage..............

Thanks guys... You're not filling me with much confidence :(
I didn't see any lights on at all. I didn't notice the temperature gauge but then I wasn't really looking at it. As soon as I got out of the car though I heard the fan going which I don't normally get, then the running liquid (oil) noise and quite a bit of white smoke which lasted about 5 mins from the vents. I guess the preferred option then is do NOT drive it to my mechanic!!!

"I guess the preferred option then is do NOT drive it to my mechanic!!! "

Definitely! Have a flat bed come get it and don't even think about starting the engine!

Best of luck with it Peter. Please let us know when you find out what's wrong with it.

Don't let the tow driver try to talk you into starting the car to get it onto/off of the bed. Don't start the car again. Get under there if you can and see if you can find the source of what leaked. Are you sure it was oil? Are you sure it was just oil? Any coolant or transmission fluid? Be sure to really look in case multiple fluids mixed together.

Also, please don't read this with harshness in the tone, but all you asked was for us to tell you what might be wrong and what it might cost, not tell you what you wanted to hear or what will make you feel better. The simple truth is that fluids leaking profusely and smoke coming out of the car is usually not a good sign of anything, nor is it ever usually a sign of something small, so nothing we could say is going to make you feel better, really, but it will be our best guesses/knowledge to try and help you find out what is or may be wrong before people start poking and prodding the car to find out. The more information you can give us (take pictures too if you can), the more we can try to help.

I do hope you're able to get this sorted out. If there's a Porsche specialist in your area I'd highly recommend bringing it there unless your mechanic knows Porsches well. It's worthwhile to have someone with specific knowledge of these cars and their engines take a look.

In the future, when in doubt, stop and have it towed when you feel like something's up. Better to "waste" the time and resources to have it towed (Triple A Gold is worth every penny) and find out it was nothing than to end up stranded on the side of the highway waiting for that same tow and having a much bigger expense on the way.

Believe me, I know how you feel because I had the same thing happen to me on my bike with the electrical system completely failing while I was going 70 on the highway with a Mercedes right behind me ready to swallow me whole...only I got left waiting on the side of the highway as the sun was going down for a tow with a black vehicle that had no working lights, and that bike is not nearly as expensive to fix. At least you made it home. I'm hoping right along with you that the damage isn't extensive and that you'll be back on the road after some parts and a good cleanup.

Ummn, these symptoms sound like what I hear about 5 times per week.. It also doesn't sound like an AOS to me, and considering the year of the car thats further substantiated in my mind.

Why do people have to drive these cars to death when they cart hearing noises? I've worked on engines all my life and i have NEVER heard a good mechanical noise emitted from an engine. So often the "worst case scenarios" that we see are because someone refused to call a tow truck. A tow bill can be several hundred percent cheaper than what happens from driving the car to death while it is going through the self consumption stages.

Hopefully I am wrong, but this sounds like a classic example.

Yep, sounds like the IMS death rattle. If it were my car I would lock the motor at TDC, lock the cams, and pull the pan to see how bad the grenade fragments are. It might be salvageable yet. Best of luck to you.

peter..

don't want to soft soap you, you but it doesnt sound good, it's the rattle you mention that has put th s**ts up me for sure.

let me know what the result your mechanic finds, i might be interested in the car (i'm in surrey) but for sure, dont even think about starting it up. flat bedding and road side recovery is expensive, but if you know someone with a car with a tow bar you can rent a car transporting trailer for about £30 for the day.

Considering I have a 2001 S tip why is it further substantiated? Just curious.

Sorry for the bad news Peter, hope it's not as bad.

Nothing but good advice here without the powder coating. Don't drive it or start it. Take it in.

oops, the other option would have been to not continue.

I've seen Jake state previously that the first single row bearing in the 01-04 cars is particularly prone to failure.

monday am qb
 

Amazing how clear everyone's vision is through the retrospectoscope. I could do this: late to work or an appt, raining like h, wife in car already ********************in about 110 heat while inside the car, hearing a noise that comes and goes changing over time that may or may not be your car, potentially losing half a day or more to a problem that at onset is uncertain to even exist. In fact, twice I have driven through questionable problems that turned out to be nothing in my so far very reliable 2001s (replced MAF when I bought it, coolant tank 7 mos later). Ok I too might cry when my car dies, but I refuse to live in fear of this every time I turn the key.
Meanwhile, I agree- you and your car are safely home, you have had a chance to sus it out and it don't look good, flatbed it to a qualified mechanic before cranking it again. Good luck!

After this (slight) verbal barrage - which he deserves - I wonder if we will hear from Mr Petermark again ??

Thanks everyone for all the thoughts, advice and condolences... As someone has already said hindsight is a wonderful thing. Nobody thinks it's going to happen to them. I debated when I got the car about doing the IMS fix but took a gamble which didn't pay off. If I had to do it all over again I would probably do the same thing. Nobody has been able to tell me why it happens, when it happens, how many miles it happens at or even if it's going to happen... I thought after 77,000 miles that I would be safe enough because I had read that it normally happens before then (if it's going to happen at all).
I spoke to my mechanic this morning and in his experience he believes it is the IMS but won't be able to tell how much damage until he sees it. He suggests it's probably an engine replacement and has quoted me around £600 for the labour. I've been able to source a second hand engine for £2,400 (2.7, 61,000 miles) from my local scrap yard which seems to be pretty good value compared to what I can find online (£3,500 from my first online quote).
For those of you with helpful advice thank you very much for your input... :cheers:

With an older engine as a replacement there is the same risks as before. If the engine is sound otherwise, you might want to consider IMS and RMS replacement. You might want to have an understanding that the engine would have to pass your mechanics evaluation. You just never know what you get with a salvaged engine. If the clutch is worn now would be a good time to do that also.

Thanks for the suggestions Opus but to be honest I'm the process of selling and I just want to get the car roadworthy and through the MOT...