2003 s engine failure? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

okay, so my neighbor comes home and tells me his boxter has just experienced his second engine failure with a porsche dealer rebuilt engine. 50k miles on the second one. So he asks me if I want it. so, I buy it from him for 3500.00. I figure I can look into a replacement or if things dont work out I can always sell it for parts on ebay. My question is The dealer says IMS failure but I dont see any oil drainage and the dip stick reads full. I thought it would at least drain out. How do I know if it truely is an IMS failure or something else? The car clicks but does not turn over. It seems the battery is low so I am charging it now. Let me know your thoughts and thanks

How was the dealer so sure the problem was IMS? Can't tell externally...gotta get into the engine. How did the car get from your friends to the dealer's and to your place? If it should be IMS or anything seriously wrong internally, you'll do more damage if you try and start it. You'll just be spreading more broken pieces around making any repair more difficult because all those pieces have to be cleaned out or you are wasting any rebuild $. And a pro rebuild almost a necessity with the corresponding expense. Even if it is IMS pre-failure (meaning noise and its almost failing but hasn't disintegrated yet) there is a possible comparatively low cost cure. I'd go to www.flat6innovetions.com (see the ad at the top of the page here) and talk to Jake. A write up on the options available if your engine is blown is here .

The car was towed to the dealer and then i towed to my house. I was undernieth the car today and no signs of oil leakage or loss. Full oil. I guess I will have to drop the engine and take it apart.

$3500 is a deal with no engine in it, if the rest of the car is in good condition. Where in S.J. are you located? Steve

....You could "change" the oil......that would tell you something....

Here's what I would do... 1) drain oil into clean container, 2) visually inspect the oil for coolant (also check the coolant tank for any signs of oil), 3) take a powerful magnet and move it around in the oil (especially around the bottom of the drain pan) and see if it pics up any particles, and 4) cut open the filter element and inspect it for any debris. If you find nothing at all, put in fresh oil and try to fire it up. If you hear bad sounds... shut it off proceed to a tear down. Odds are it will be cheaper to source a new engine off ebay than it would be to rebuild the current lump, but you never know. The tear down may reveal minimal damage. I recently saw a low mileage S engine on Ebay for $4500. I was tempted to buy it as insurance...

I am in swedesboro,nj thanks for your replies. I will drain the oil and see what we have.

No S*@*, I'm in Pedricktown, less than 10 miles away. I just bought an '06, we'll have to get together some time. Steve

sounds good. Let me know if you know of any good porsche mechanics in our area?

Yeah, I'll have to find a local Porsche mechanic at some point. Hopefully not too soon! I'll do my own minor maintenance & non-warranty work. What year Boxster do you have?

2003 s black on black 6 speed. you?

Oh yeah, the title says '03S. Mine is an '06 base, triple Black 5 spd.

Cool. I hail from Woodstown, where I still have family. (I know a good dentist in the area---my brother!---if you happen to be looking.) I try to have dinner at the Swedes Inn as often as possible when visiting, though it's been awhile since the last time we went there. It is still in business, I trust? I gather from your current thread that the drained oil didn't look so good?

Don't trust the Dealer diagnosis at all.. These days every failure they see is written off as an IMS failure, because thats easy. How did they diagnose the failure? By pulling the cam covers you can tell a lot about how the crank responds to camshaft drive and then verify cam timing. If the IMS bearing has seen any sort of primary failure the cam timing will be off enough to note or the cams will not move when the crank is rotated. It could be an IMS chain tensioner paddle failure, which appears like an IMS bearing failure when it really isn't.. Good score on that car!