Crazy eh?

[crod]

Gents,

First of all yes I know I haven't been around the forums for quite some time. Not because I got rid of my beloved Boxster S; just because after almost 17 years without kids wife got pregnant and we had a third one that keeps me busy to this day (now turning 2 in August). Add to that a couple other cars acquired that demanded my time and you have the reason for my absence.

So back to the title of this post, I got my "S" three years ago with 30,000 miles and up to today has been a pleasure to drive and extremely reliable. Not even a single problem. Just your typical maintenance, oil changes, breaks etc.

Last week when I was away my son, the older one, now 18, tells me he got an engine light when starting the car at home. As he is mechanically savvy he turned it off, got the ODB scanner and saw there was a misfire on Cylinder 5.

He proceeded to change spark plug, coil and still misfiring.

Today we were able to do a compression test and put a camera inside the cylinder and guess what? Cylinder wall is cracked.

After some debating on what to do next we looked at our options:
- Buy used engine that of course we will know nothing about how it was used/abused and will carry at the most 3 month warranty.
- Buy new engine from Porsche. Yeah, right. I appreciate the fact I have two kidneys and have no plans of selling one to get the new engine.
- Bring to my loyal mechanic that has been super all these years for a rebuild.

Guess what? We decided to rebuild the DAMN THING AT HOME.

I know as much about Porsche Engines as I know about Lawn Mowers what means nothing. HA!

Thing is I do have an engineering degree and that comes with a tinkering mindset and as I told my wife this is a car at the end of the day and not the Space Shuttle. It is made of parts built by humans and not using Alien technology so no matter what, it can be rebuilt with patience and time.

As I have five other vehicles (and a scooter! YAY!) the fact the Boxster is not running does not affect me at all and I have all the time and patience in the world and more than that, I am in no hurry whatsoever. Plan is to start next week and hopefully have it all done before end of fall.

I will certainly need your AWESOME help and input along the way. I decided to take pictures for every single step and potentially record on video everything and later post all this as a nice PDF guide and as a website (for the videos) so the whole community learns along the way.

And before you ask, yes, this will be the first thing ever that runs on gas that I tear apart and rebuild. If Germans can do it, so can I. LOL

Wish me luck and keep an eye on a thread I will probably create just for this. And if anyone decides to visit Ottawa, Canada and give a hand/some advice, feel free to let me know and stop by. Beer is on me.

Cheers.

CR

PS: Sorry for the loooong post.

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by crod

Thing is I do have an engineering degree and that comes with a tinkering mindset and as I told my wife this is a car at the end of the day and not the Space Shuttle. It is made of parts built by humans and not using Alien technology so no matter what, it can be rebuilt with patience and time.

I think this is where you are going astray, right there. It is worse than Aliens, it is built by Germans. Germans are just like Aliens, only more precise and with less humor*. Plus, they have crammed everything in there, in the smallest possible space, so it is a lot like fixing the plumbing under the sink. But with the added interest of possibly being electrocuted.

And all these guys here on the forum? The ones doing all the fixing and upgrades? They're just NUTS!

(*BTW, I can say this, because I am German. )

[Heiko]

Originally Posted by Porsche Chick

Plus, they have crammed everything in there, in the smallest possible space, so it is a lot like fixing the plumbing under the sink. They're just NUTS!
(*BTW, I can say this, because I am German. )

Hey we're not nuts... maybe a little crazy at times you'd be amazed the crap you can fit into that engine bay... its like diggin your way through from the bottom up... LMAO

[thstone]

Yes, yes, YES! That's the attitude! We're all right here with you. Post up pic's and keep us up to date on your progress.

[Jager]

Originally Posted by thstone

But if it was, I am here to help.

[Bryan topping]

Crod,
I admire your attitude. "What the heck, it's broken & what is the worst I can do?"
Keep us all posted on your progress, I'm interested in seeing how you do.

[crod]

Originally Posted by Bryan topping

Crod,
I admire your attitude. "What the heck, it's broken & what is the worst I can do?"
Keep us all posted on your progress, I'm interested in seeing how you do.

Exactly. Cannot get worse than this. Even if I royally screw up there is always the used motor route. Sure I will save money if I do it myself and do it right but money is not the main driver here. I want in a way to demystify he whole thing about Porsche engines being out of reach to the lay men out there and show that someone with no knowledge whatsoever can fix something this complex.
So my goal is to learn about the car now that I have some time to do it.

Could it be worse than this? Yes, if my Lambo had such type of failure. Money wise I guess that would be in a whole new level to fix it.

CR

[johnsimion]

Originally Posted by crod

Exactly. Cannot get worse than this. Even if I royally screw up there is always the used motor route. Sure I will save money if I do it myself and do it right but money is not the main driver here. I want in a way to demystify he whole thing about Porsche engines being out of reach to the lay men out there and show that someone with no knowledge whatsoever can fix something this complex.
So my goal is to learn about the car now that I have some time to do it.

Could it be worse than this? Yes, if my Lambo had such type of failure. Money wise I guess that would be in a whole new level to fix it.

CR

How do you rebuild an engine with a cracked cylinder wall? It's not like an old VW where you just bolt on a new cylinder. Seems to me that you MUST get another engine because if your cylinder wall is cracked on this one, you are screwed. Unless some of you know how to repair a cracked cylinder wall!

[crod]

Originally Posted by Jager

But if it was, I am here to help.

Awesome, appreciated.
I am sure I will need help along the way and if anyone is indeed willing to help, remotely or in person, that will be great.
Even a Skype call can get many things sorted out.

Thanks for the offer Jager. I will definitely take it.

CR

[kk2002s]

Doing this is the true essence of pride in ownership. If you successfully do this you get the pride factor. In my eyes when someone compliments my car, If all I'm doing is making the payments and paying a mechanic to fix it well my pride factor is low.
But with each job, repair, service and cosmetic refresh I do, the pride factor increases

Go for it

[clickman]

What's the plan? Are going to sleeve the cracked cylinder? Is that even possible depending on crack size?

[Hayden]

I've never liked an inspirational photo before now. Thanks for that. Moving forward confidently with my new S, with great expectations, or a great attitude; whichever is needed.

Best of luck OP. I bet you can figure it out, and have a rewarding time in the process. Plus, you'll know the car so well, you might as well get a p-car tattoo, cause you'll be IN for life. lol

[Topless]

While you are in there... 3.6, 3.6, 3.6, 3.6!!!
The cost is reasonably close to a thorough rebuild of your 3.2. Adding 100hp seems like a slam dunk to me.

I have rebuilt a bunch of motors over the years but never an m96. It looks a bit finicky and time consuming compared with the Chev, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Lycoming motors I have been through. The bottom line... they are all lawn mower motors of some sort. As always, take your time and pay attention to details for a good result.

Have fun exploring it with your son!

[seventythree]

I'm confused. Which part is crazy, cracked cyliner wall, trying to rebuild an M96 engine with no prior engine building experience, or having another kid after a 17 year break?

[Spinnaker]

You may find this guy's site to be of some use. He rebuilt his engine too.
986fix.com - home

[fatmike]

I've got nothing to offer -- but I am rooting for you. Please update us with progress.


For what it's worth, your not exactly the first person to put a replacement engine into a 986...it's a feature of these cars.




/

[crod]

Originally Posted by Spinnaker

You may find this guy's site to be of some use. He rebuilt his engine too.
986fix.com - home

That is great! Will certainly help. Thanks for the link.

CR

[crod]

Originally Posted by seventythree

I'm confused. Which part is crazy, cracked cyliner wall, trying to rebuild an M96 engine with no prior engine building experience, or having another kid after a 17 year break?

In order of craziness:
#1 by far: having another kid after 17 years.
#2 Cracked Cylinder Wall. How often this happens? HAD to happen with my car.
#3 Rebuild an M96 engine with no prior engine building experience. Not the case. I have NO MECHANICAL experience. Way different things. LOL

But again if Germans can do, I can do. According to the wife I am way crazier than Germans so...

Pray for me people.

CR

[Camibox]

Video and picture document as much as you can. Will you have access to a lift or going the jackstand route?

[crod]

Originally Posted by Camibox

Video and picture document as much as you can. Will you have access to a lift or going the jackstand route?

No lift.
Jackstand it is. LOL
And plan is to produce a PDF and DVD on how to rebuild the damn thing from scratch like I am doing.
At the end of the day if I can pull this off, anyone can really.

CR