engine died while driving, won't turn over.
 

Been a while since I've been on here since this boxster was being good. But all of a sudden while driving and coming to a stop my engine just dies and won't even make a sound to turn over. Start makes A Tick sound and that's it. So while being honked at saw a puddle under my car, couldn't tell if it was oil or not. But tried to start her several times and all I got was a tick like my engine seized.... any ideas? Car hot pushed to a taco bell til I can get to it.

I assume the cars battery is in good condition and simply not dead? Does the starter try to engage? Try and identify what the puddle is before trying to start it, if it is oil then could be IMS bearing cap backed out? Make any funny noises when it died?

That's an expensive description. Doesn't sound good.

Sounds like a dead engine

No funny noises just dead. When I did get to taco bell I did get under and found oil on what I think is the bell housing or back of the engine. Oh before it died while I was spirited driving I start to notice it would take a second our two to make some torque. Like turbo laggish.

Was it smoking?

I would have said a bad CPS sensor, but a puddle of oil indicates RMS or IMS failure to me. What year is your 986? How many miles on it? Did you notice any oil drip beforehand?

If it wasn't oil, it is probably something less serious. Honestly, it is impossible to diagnosis something like this online, have the car towed by flatbed to a good mechanic. Good luck! :cheers:

2002 2.7l base. Never burnt oil and just turned 178,000. Going to tow it home so I can look at it better. If not flatbed it to an indie

Was the puddle from your car? What fluid was it?

Couldn't tell exactly. It was in the middle of a turning and so I couldn't go back to see.

I'm no expert, and really hope that I'm wrong, but I've read a lot about this issue over the years, and it sounds like a textbook description of an IMS failure. :(
They can go without warning, without noise, and over half the people I've heard about that had the failure had it when they were stopped or coming to a stop.
178,000 is pretty mature for any car, but especially one of these.

Best of luck on this. I hope it turns out to be something trivial.

• All three of my engine failures happened without any strange noises
• Two of the three failures the engine would not turn over after they stopped running
• Two of the three failures had a reduction in power for about 10-20 seconds before the engine stopped running
• Two of the three failures had a puddle of oil under the car
• None of the failures were due to IMS bearing failure (two failures caused by lifters and one by crank bearing)
• There are ~30 ways that a Boxster engine can fail
• 178,000 miles is a lot of miles

Like Retroman, I hope that I'm completely wrong, but you can see where I'm going with this....

Sounds about right. Either way I regret buying this car since I bought it. Do Imma Part With It
And buy another S like I intended. But it was nice knowing how a base felt to drive. Sigh. Anyone know a good price to sell for?

If the motor is bricked, expect 2500-3000

you regret buying the car, or was that a typo?

Yeah this particular boxster. Had it for 9 months and regret it. Mostly because it was a base, five speed, and not as nice as my former 01 S. I "settled" because I wanted a boxster and in the meantime save for a 911 or 981. But I'll part with this one a buy another, but a boxster S Instead.

Edit. This was my third boxster and the first that had engine failure.

Be sure to confirm that the engine is toast. Symptoms can be deceiving.

Update. With luck the engine started when I went to go get it. And while I drove it back it sounded like a f ' ed up washing machine with the engine cover off.. so... time to sell.

Edit: I'm checking to see exactly where the sound coming from and it seems that there's two sounds. One sounds like something is grinding on the passanger side near where the engine meets the transmission. Then the ticking/knocking sound is also coming from the same area but in the cylinder head. I think cylinder 3 I'm guessing.

yeah sounds like the bolts backed out on the IMS cover and/or the bearing failed jumped time etc... either way it sounds like you know what to do...

For what it's worth if you are a handy person a motor swap is not that hard in these cars so you may be able to get a cheap motor and throw it in to make it a running car again, but with 178K on the clock may not be worth it...

Best way to get the most out of it is to part it, like someone mentioned otherwise it is worth about $2k.

As much as I would love to motor swap. This isn't the car to do so. I would be better off selling and getting another S. Like I had prior.