1999 C2 Cabrio with blown motor

So, ah, what do I need to do? Researching what best to do for: performance, longevity, worry free driving, reasonable cost, drivability. 1. happy to get the 296 hp 258 ft-lb at the crank... prefer 300 300 at the wheels ) 2. long life - at least 5 year, 50,000 miles 3. worry free - fix all the stuff that breaks: cooling, air/oil separator, vacuum lines, fuel lines, brake lines, IMS, RMS - feel free to advise me here.. 4. reasonable... $5-10K USD 5. drivability - don't want to have a weird driving car.. ie: my wife can daily it... well more or less... oh, the reason why the motor blown? Florida car brought up to Toronto area with water, no coolant in the car... blew up after a couple of freeze thaw cycles... ( water squirting out the spark plug holes..

The best option that fulfills your budget requirement is to swap a Boxster S 3.2L engine in. It�ll have roughly 20 less horsepower than the 3.4 when completed, though. All other engine options, that I know of, will exceed your budget. I guess there is one additional option. Buy a wrecked 996 from auction and swap its engine into yours. Part-out the remaining pieces to earn some money back. There�s no guarantee that this �new� engine will be endure the next 5 years, but if you address the problem areas while it�s out, then you give yourself the best chance of success.

Realistic cost to fix "all the stuff that breaks" starts at about $20,000. At this point, cylinder wall issues (scoring, taper, ovality) are the biggest gotcha with this engine, all the rest like AOS, IMS are relatively simple to fix. If your budget is 5-10k your ONLY option is to swap in a used engine, which means there is absolutely no guarantee whatsoever you won't run into whatever issue caused your original engine to fail.

good advice. I was told the 3.2 boxster motor (986S only?) is a direct swap... I have one... 2000 with 60,000 miles on it. I speculate the accessories would not fit the same. plus I need complete long block as the block and head may have froze and cracked. I have a line on a 3.6 that 's complete and smokes. (figure full rebuild but check for bore score first). Concern is the 1999 is cable operated throttle and all (?) 2000+ 996 are drive by wire correct? Second I have a line on a 2004 2.7 liter boxster motor. sounds like i'd be giving up more than 20 hps

Okay, found a donor motor and will either start a new thread or stick with this one... the fun starts. Go to buyer's house, check out the car, motor, story etc. Return the next week with tools and scope to check for bore scoring etc. Looks good. Messy engine oil pan removal, very clean oil, no sparkly bits, has about 10,000 miles on recent rebuild. Seller keeping the trans to put into his project 997 v8 swap. Return a week later still to remove and takes about 5 hours to get the bits off following Pelican forum step by step which was very helpful. Load into the back of my bmw wagon half sticking out... but not to worry a good ratcheting tie down, short drive and easy on the gas and brakes... make it home in one piece. Now my cabrio that's been sitting on my buddy's driveway for last 2 months get's a tow to my house. We push the cab in and start to strip the rear deck lid, rear bumper, wheels. And that's a pretty full of work.

old engine out ims bearing done [img alt="freshly cleaned injectors "]https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/1200x1600/injectors_cleanedc_ef5c96422c2f62a60edf8d247eecedfdc201fd44.jpg[/img] freshly cleaned injectors

donor waiting

did leak down on blown motor - 3,5,6 leaks pretty bad... super low compression... this motor froze and seized, then melted and can spin... under starter power and by hand... water was squirting out the spark plug holes when it was brought in for diagnostics

Whoa, which donor motor did you get? I hope it�s not a 3.6, because there�s a lot of differences between that and the 3.4. It�s a doable swap, but it�s not straightforward.

Came out of a 2000 cab.

[img alt="Installed new spark plugs. Tested coils. In spec. Replaced rear main seal. Checked front main seal. Install fly wheel. Clutch and pressure plate. New throw out bearing. Found my clutch alignment tool. "]https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/timephoto_20250611_063652_ee843fe9680eef061a091b1c36ea2ec981897710.jpg[/img] Installed new spark plugs. Tested coils. In spec. Replaced rear main seal. Checked front main seal. Install fly wheel. Clutch and pressure plate. New throw out bearing. Found my clutch alignment tool.

Replaced cam sensor o rings. And o rings on the crankcase vent. Wanted to loosen the o2 sensors. They are stuck pretty good. Vacuum lines done.

Replaced cam sensor o rings. And o rings on the crankcase vent. Wanted to loosen the o2 sensors. They are stuck pretty good. Vacuum lines done.

Nice progress. Just keep this thread going.

Made a sst to hold the flywheel to crack the main pulley bolt. And same to torque the flywheel bolts and pressure plate bolts.

got the motor off the professional motor holder... aka used tire. realized the pilot bearing was not pressed into the flywheel from the original car... ? how would that run without? lots of vibration. feels like my 964? hehe. pressed in the bearing on Sunday. reconnected the flywheel, clutch and PP. connected the trans to the motor. lifted the motor off the old tire and onto the ATV jack. slid under car with 36" clearance from floor to bumper. I built four boxes each 12" x 12" approx 10" off the ground and used two jacks to lift the car onto a pair of 6 ton jacks which are pretty much fully extended. Just to clear the motor. Then lowered the jack stands from approx 12 clicks to 2 clicks. Otherwise the ATV jack not high enough, plus much more stable. lifted engine into place... transmission kinda stuck on the wrong side so need to adjust... plan is to lower the motor down and raise the transmission into place, lift the motor onto the engine mounts. connect the clutch slave, then lift the motor the rest of the way. meantime i reseal the oil pan (removed for the inspection of the bores) and drilled a larger hole for the crank position sensor... anyone have this issue come up b4?? a few more steps: fuel, power steering, o2 sensors, throttle cable, SAI, intake, grounds, reverse switch, and whatever is in the first 10 steps on the Pelican engine drop. add engine oil, coolant, power steering fluid... crank the engine to build oil pressure (with spark and fuel disconnected - is there a relay like on the 964, location please?)

last night discovered the transmission holder is actually 6 nuts (bolts are captive in the car frame - not 2) with a horizontal bracket with 4 nuts holding and a vertical one with 2 nuts holding it in place. in retrospect, I should have backed off all six when lowering the engine. connect fuel and some lines on top. i noticed the throttle will not fully close with the cable connected.. thinking it's because the engine has not been fully raised next: power steering lines vacuum lines coolant lines sai cross bracing underneath drive shafts / CV oil power steering fluid - bought the liqui moly instead of the pentosin chs11 coolant charge up battery ready to start up

If you still find the throttle not fully closing when the engine is fully raised, then you�ll want to take a look at this thread. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...too-short.html You�re making great progress, keep it up!

Cool to watch this coming along. Keep at it. Speed yellow is worth saving. 👍

last couple nights, buddy and I chipping away at the list... next: power steering lines - connected, tho difficult to torque to spec 22 lbs vacuum lines - found em all, connected all coolant lines - struggled with the spring clamps and replaced most with gear clamps sai - installed cross bracing underneath drive shafts / CV - installed and not torqued .. yet, ran out of time oil - replaced crush washer, filter, ready to fill once motor lifted, still dangling coolant - flush then vacuum fill, have the cheapie tool from amazon charge up battery - full ready to start up - Saturday Jun 21... first day of summer!!

Quotes source post: 20101935

Love all the 200 to 500 $ sensors... Speaking of I bought the 2003 crank sensor but kept the 1999. Different part numbers and prices. But look identical.

Fyi, u can try to get some oil into the motor by cranking the starter (pull fuel pump fuse) but that doesnt work well on these motors. So just be prepared for the engine to be loud for the first 30 sec and then it will calm down to a nice quiet idle.

last couple nights, buddy and I chipping away at the list... next: power steering lines - connected, tho difficult to torque to spec 22 lbs vacuum lines - found em all, connected all coolant lines - struggled with the spring clamps and replaced most with gear clamps sai - installed cross bracing underneath - in drive shafts / CV - installed and not torqued .. installed and torqued oil - replaced crush washer, filter - filled 5w40 coolant - vacuum filled and only got 11 liters into the system charge up battery - full ready to start up - no starter, installed ground strap, crank but no start (fuel relay was pulled - located under driver's side wheel well (left hand drive), installed fuel relay, cranked and started almost right away. idled for 30 mins. running well except... throttle cable a bit short and holding the throttle open next: plastic bits underneath, rear bumper, rear deck lid, wheels, ready to go for ride Sunday morning

You Tube After some digging around to sort the throttle we got it running. High fives all around. Then buttoned up and took for a drive. Very satisfying! Thank you all for your comments and help!

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Starting the autopsy. I don't expect anything but a cracked blocked and\ or heads. just don't any other possible result. 3 of 6 cyl did not do well on compression test. My opinion only.

finally split the block last week, found a crack in cylinder 3 and 4.. what can be done with this block? I think that is going to be the title of my next post. quick update. 5 months of mostly trouble free motoring. Driven about 3 or 4,000 kms. Engine works well, pulls hard, throttle cable was tight and just barely fully closing the butterfly. Good now. Had some coolant issues. Found a broken clamp. Tightened a couple others. Good to go. Engine oil on the ground under the block. didn't seal up the oil pan well enough. that will be next spring project when oil gets changed. for now parked and having a long snooze for the winter.