Finally pulled the engine out and its a goner
 

So ive been procrastinating for a while with my car and I finally took it to the shop to confirm the problem I had with the coolant and oil mixing. And yes its a cracked head. "V shape crack in one of the cylinders" Mechanic was surprised it never made any noises.

Nevertheless car needs a new engine. Worst timing too, just bought a house last week. So it will be sitting in my new garage for a while until i figure out a solution...

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tough luck! 996 3.4 or ln/raby fix and bump to 3.6. both good options. both spendy. say $5k for your roller, $10k to $20k for engine fix. for that you can get a newer boxster, a 996, an appreciating 911, a chunk off the mortgage ... decisions!

Yeah, that is the classic question that us 986 owners face. Reality is that a new engine cost is 2x what the car is worth. And considering you can probably drop a 500+ HP LS7 in for the same money, that REALLY adds to the difficulty of the decision.

Best bet might be finding one that has been whacked and put the used engine in if you can find one...

This is not a characteristic failure for a 3.2 as they have the tickets of all cylinders. The failure is also at a strange position of the cylinder thats not typical. Had you recently had the cooling system opened up for any reason?

This failure also generally occurs with cylinders 2 or 5..

But, the only thing that stays the same with our research and these engines is that everything continually changes.

Such a shame. You clearly love your car based on your mod list. And then there's the colour! If it were me ( and yes I've contemplated this often) I'd commit to never selling it as- is and wait until a solution is clear. I think I saw crate engines from EPS or Vertex for $10 000 in a recent Excellence mag.

I have a 2000 boxster S with an running engine, but not perfectly running I'm selling for 7000$ canadian. I could be a good start for a engine plus spare part or sold part for cash to pay for any repair.

Later
Chris

I have not had anything done to the cooling system. Why do you ask?

Not sure if this piece of info is helpful but I drove like this for two seasons no noise ever and never overheated even driving for hours straight

Love that car and color - tough break. Look forward to hearing about the full recovery. Too nice of a color to sell as a roller.

Hope this isnt off track, but why are the cylinder walls a white color? Is that like a moly coating, or are they not made of iron?

Because they are made of an aluminum alloy, as is the rest of the engine cases.

Tough break. This is my biggest fear. But some back of the envelope math says I've got a lot more money sunk into the car than the cost a replacement engine...by a WIDE margin.

BTW, can an aftermarket flywheel play a role in cracking a cylinder?

[QUOTE=violametallic-S-;402895]

Nevertheless car needs a new engine. So it will be sitting in my new garage for a while until i figure out a solution...

I am in the same sad situation as you.I drove the car for a week before it died and became an instant $4k roller.I paid somewhat more than that for it!
It would be helpful to have a consolidated "so what did you do when you needed a rebuilt engine" thread. There are lots of similar threads with similar sympathy & advice which is nice -but what did people actually do ?Perhaps there would be some wisdom to be gleaned in what they eventually did?
In my case I am reluctantly and hesitantly plodding through a diy rebuild. I am gathering as much published knowledge as I can so I make intelligent choices about what I do(R&R ,striping & cleaning) and what I pay experts to do. And which experts to do the work.
The only thing worse than having all this to do and the expense will be if the rebuild is a failure ! Can you imagine?
Some people on other Forums describe similar situations and basically told -"you took a risk" -not helpful.Whcih is why I am here!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/boxster-cayman-forum/812902-metal-shavings-oil-filter.html

Talk to Martin at Porsche Land;

WELCOME TO PORSCHE-LAND! - Porsche engine repair and maintenance service

He rebuilt my 996 engine.

Yeah that would be great! Fortunately I can't contribute to the subject yet.

Thank you for the suggestion of Porsche Land.A rather forbidding name that suggests momentary exhilaration but endless expense.I should have rented?
I am embarrassed to add ,I also need to have the gearbox rebuilt! Yup the usual bearings and 2nd gear.
All after one fleeting week of enjoyment -sounds like my first wife:ah:

Given my income at the time, just maintaining my car has cost more than my first wife...and at almost 2 years, I've had it longer!

Tough break Viola! Love that color, and keep it forever. A clear solution will come when the timing is a little better (after you have settled into your new house and financially also0.

$5k for the roller would be an insult, considering what you have into the car already.

I will for sure keep it. One day it will become a classic and its value will go up like the 993s :P

It’s been 5 years since my motor failed on my 2001 Boxster S and it’s been 4 years since I got a serious concussion which made me just leave the Porsche in my garage untouched. It was a bad concussion which I’m still dealing with many of the symptoms every day. So I haven’t had the motivation to engine shop, let alone even think about my car.

But recently I have been thinking how much joy driving it used to give me. Even though I can’t drive it like it should, because driving makes me still pretty nauseous, I still enjoy idea of it starting up.

So long story short, a long time ago I noticed mud in my coolant resivour. Brought it to my mechanic and he took the motor out and apart. Cracked cylinder was the problem. Around that time I got my concussion and was in no shape to take on this problem. So towed it to my house and left it in the garage ever since.

Where do I start now? I want it running already. But I don’t want to put the same 3.2 engine back in. Since it’s out and apart. I want to put something special in. I’m sure this topic has been beaten to death. But I want the best bang for my buck when I’m looking for a “new” engine. I want to do it right. Not that money isn’t an issue, but I want to put the best engine I can in there.

What is the number one option here? Used 3.6 and beef it up with bolt on performance parts? I hope to have a set up that has minimum 400hp. I want to start shopping and getting an idea as to what needs to be done.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

My 2 cents - rebuild the engine that you have assuming everything else inside the motor is good/reusable . That way you know you have good parts vs. buying a used engine of unknown quality . Send the block to LN Engineering and have them add Nickie cylinders and punch it out to 3.6 litre . Go with their pistons also .

If there is such a thing , find a Canadian version of Jake Raby to do the engine disassembly and reassembly it will be money well spent . You can send the engine/car to Jake but his backlog generally is a year + out . A quality Porsche rebuilder that knows these engines will build you an engine that will live a long time and run like a raped ape . The cost will be in the 20 - 25K range .

Doing it this way you keep the matching engine number as it left the factory , I mention that only if that matters to you . You can see in my signature line I have a Raby engine so take that into account for my comments . Good luck with your health and whatever decision you make on the Porsche .