Rear main seal - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

dklumb · 11-28-2005, 08:08 PM

Need advice on RMS leak 2000 Boxster S. It was replaced under warranty at 21,000 miles two years ago. It is blown again now at 42,000 miles. Dealer is unable to get Porsche to warranty the repair. Does it pay to whine to Porsche?
Cost of maintaining this car is high - wife calls it the "money pit". Love to drive it when it works!

Portuguese986S · 11-28-2005, 10:18 PM

Im looking at buying a 2000 BS soon. Just curious, what else have you had to replace/fix on your S? I know about the RMS, top cables, airflow sensor and oxygen sensors going bad. Anything else worth noting?
Thanks in advance !

Vic

Brucelee · 11-29-2005, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dklumb

Need advice on RMS leak 2000 Boxster S. It was replaced under warranty at 21,000 miles two years ago. It is blown again now at 42,000 miles. Dealer is unable to get Porsche to warranty the repair. Does it pay to whine to Porsche?
Cost of maintaining this car is high - wife calls it the "money pit". Love to drive it when it works!

It does not hurt to pursue this issue. If you can get the dealer on your side, you may get at least a partial comp on this issue.

Be nice, be fact-based, be persistent.

And good luck.

markk · 11-29-2005, 10:11 AM

Give them hell.

I did when I got RMS on a my newly purchased 3 year old BoxsterS at 30kkm and they sent me a bill.

A few days later I got a phone call that it would all be taken care off...

Mark.

dklumb · 11-29-2005, 05:26 PM

Other problems I have experienced with this car. Failed ignition switch, right headlight adjuster broke ( had to replace assembly), two CV joint boots torn on seperate shafts.

Ronzi · 11-30-2005, 12:01 PM

High maintenance costs and ********************ing about it from the wife are both prices you have to pay to drive a Porsche.
Smile sweetly and tell her it's cheaper than having a girlfriend on the side.

dklumb · 12-02-2005, 06:43 PM

My dealership was unable to offer any help in repairing the RMS leak. Talking to Porsche Customer Care was to no avail also. My next decision is to do it myself
(after installing a Modine in the garage), 14 degrees here tonight, or pay $600.00 - $800.00 to have it done.

MLegere · 12-02-2005, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dklumb

Need advice on RMS leak 2000 Boxster S. It was replaced under warranty at 21,000 miles two years ago. It is blown again now at 42,000 miles. Dealer is unable to get Porsche to warranty the repair. Does it pay to whine to Porsche?
Cost of maintaining this car is high - wife calls it the "money pit". Love to drive it when it works!

I bought a 01 Box-car, soon after the RMS started to go bad. I did some rec and discovered it had been replaced less then 12k miles ago. I pitched a good ******************** I ended up paying about 385.00 for the whole job plus I got a Two year warranty on top of that. Scream loud, screem long.

Mike

markk · 12-03-2005, 12:16 AM

> Smile sweetly and tell her it's cheaper than having a girlfriend on the side.

Woehahahaha, I'll have to remember that one :-)))))))))

Mark.

ohioboxster · 12-09-2005, 12:53 PM

RMS is 600.00 to 800.00 to repair? That doesnt seem too awful considering I was quoted $150.00 for an oil change.I will be changing my own oil by the way. I would even consider doing the RMS myself but Im a do it yourself kinda guy.

wild1poet2 · 12-14-2005, 07:29 AM

Its amazing to me that there is no fix for the problem and RMS replacement is considered "maintenance". Perhaps its an engineering design to improve dealership service ops profitability.

I read on another site that replacing the Boxster RMS with the Cayenne RMS may be a good fix but I got the sense that this was still not clear. Does anyone know of this?

MNBoxster · 12-14-2005, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wild1poet2

Its amazing to me that there is no fix for the problem and RMS replacement is considered "maintenance". Perhaps its an engineering design to improve dealership service ops profitability.

I read on another site that replacing the Boxster RMS with the Cayenne RMS may be a good fix but I got the sense that this was still not clear. Does anyone know of this?

Hi,

The Jury is still out on the Cayenne RMS. This is because the issue is not the seal itself, but rather that the Blocks are cast without a subsequent machining to Center-Bore the Crank Opening. This results in somewhat varying tolerances, the extreme of which cause the crank to rub disproportionately on one side of the seal leading to it's premature failure.

To me, it's unconscionable that a company with the reputation Porsche has gained would go nearly a decade without fixing the issue. Instead they have chosen to take the Risk Management approach and apply Band-Aids on a Case-by-Case basis. Words cannot describe my disappointment with this situation.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Boxster. But this single perrenial flaw would prevent me from Wholeheartedly recommending it to anyone, especially if buying a previously owned Boxster. There are just too many other Great Cars out there to risk buying into these kinds of troubles. I'm not even certain I would do it again... and I have a good RMS (Knock on Wood)...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99