Bought a 2000 Boxster S project. - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Yesterday a 2000 S arrived in my driveway... on a flatbed. The car was at a local Porsche indie, the story being that the engine started to make a noise or vibration or both, was shut off immediately and towed to the shop. The oil filter was removed and there was metal in it so it was deemed an IMS bearing failure. I have not talked to the mechanic and the seller is not very savvy about things mechanical. Other than the engine the car is in good shape with 169,259 KM (105,472 miles), Arctic Silver Metallic with a black interior. There is a small dent on the rear trunk lid but for the rest the body and paint are very good. It has leather seats, good worn condition. The tool kit is there and I was very happy to find the leather pouch with all the original documentation (I spent the evening looking through the various brochures and manuals... almost like buying a new car!). The tires are new and supposedly the suspension has been renewed. The option list has some interesting stuff, although I don't know what exactly the options mean. 012 - SportDesign package 222 - Traction control ASR AntriebsSchlupfRegelung 224 - Traction control ABD Automatic Braking Differential (Automatic limited slip) 375 - 376 - electrical sports seats 413 - 18" 993 Turbo-look wheels, front 7.5" ET50 with 225/40 tyres, rear 9" ET52 with 265/35 tyres 680 - DSP Digital Sound Processing The 18" wheels are gone, but the 17"s are in great condition. Are 222-224 an LSD? The DSP doesn't look like anything I would use. As mentioned in another thread, I have a spare 2.7 engine, also from a 2000, that I plan on installing, the 2.7 engine would be a temporary solution. Once the 3.2 is out I can have a look at it to see if it can be repaired. If that is possible it will go back into the car. If not I will sell off any useful parts and put the money towards buying a used 3.2... or... I may have a line on a 3.4. I need this project like a hole in the head, but I couldn't pass on it.

Here is the photo from the ad on Facebook.

I pulled the oil pan today and it doesn't look like this will be an easy fix. I don't think it was the IMSB, what I found was copper shavings, ground up main or rod bearings it would seem. The reason could well be a partially blocked oil pickup, looks like an excess of sealant from somewhere.

Looks like it will keep you busy for awhile, good luck

That`s a great project, the engine may be repairable if it`s just a rod bearing. Did you look at the codes? I also bought an engine that may be useful to rebuild mine, I haven`t had a chance to tear it down yet.

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I just went through your wonderful rebuild thread (which is hidden in the Show and tell section) http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/73917-blue-boxster-resurrection-project.html I am not in a position to do that. Don't have the tools or experience... especially the tools and experience for going further than removing the heads. So I will probably part it out. I do look forward to finding what it looks like inside...

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If you weren`t so far from me i`d be interested to buy that engine from you

I found an engine at a local recycler. a 2001 S with 130,931 miles (210,839 km). They are asking $3261.05 US ($4399.00 CDN). Thats a lot of miles (and it looks worse in kilometers) but the price is reasonable and it would drop right in. If I were to buy it I would do some maintenance before installation, IMSB, cam chain pads etc. I am planning to have a look at it.

I checked the engine codes with my Durametric yesterday... there weren't any. I presume that the shop that looked at the engine before I bought it cleared the codes while testing the engine. I poked around and checked a few components, the low speed fans don't work so I will have to change a couple of resistors.

I have started to remove the engine, I hope to have it out and the 2.7 installed before the end of the month... I mean next month. A couple of small projects to temporarily take my mind off the main one... a non folding outside mirror. http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/82576-outside-mirror-will-not-fold-my-solution.html#post648936 and the broken hinge on the console glove box, see post #7 of this thread. http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/78184-986-center-glove-box-hinge-repair.html

When the seller of a used car tells you that there is "nothing to do"... don't believe them! Actually it's not that bad (other than the dead engine) but a fair amount of maintenance is not up to date including the broken console box hinges, the stuck mirror, low speed fans not working, front and rear lid struts that are weak, broken plastic shields underneath... most of the normal stuff when you buy a 22 year old used car. The engine has been out at some point, there is a mixture of metric and SAE nuts and bolts holding the exhaust on. I assume they did some work that included putting too much sealant on some mating surfaces... and that is what ended up in the oil pickup screen. There are some oil leaks, the engine is encrusted in oil soaked grunge. The biggest problem at the moment is that the car has been driven in the winter and there is significant corrosion on most of the fittings. Nothing on the body but bolts are rusty, but not eaten away by the rust... it is the hose clamps and smaller fittings that are doubling the time spent in disassembly. Of the 12 bolts on the headers I think 4 came out, 4 broke and 4 will have to be ground or drilled. The engine that is going in has nice stainless studs installed with brass nuts. On the positive side, the muffler is an aftermarket NHP (looking forward to hearing that) and many of the suspension parts are new.

Not sure if I mentioned that the engine that came out was seized, I hope to do more investigating when I have finished installing the 2.7l engine. I ended up buying the Boxster S 3.2l engine mentioned earlier in this thread… it arrived today. I had a quick look at it, after removing the clutch and flywheel. First surprise was that when I tried to turn the crankshaft it wouldn’t. After a moment or two of confusion I thought perhaps it was hydro-locked for some reason. I removed the spark plugs and it then turned… and cylinder 1 dumped a lot of oil on the ground. I hope that this is because the engine was turned on its side while there was still oil in it and the oil leaked past the rings. Seems to turn over normally now. Where is my borescope when I need it? (answer… somewhere in the garage… or the house). First good news, the clutch disk is good so I don’t need to buy one. First bad news… it is a single row IMS bearing. Second good news… there is an LN IMSB installed! Second bad news… I’m really not impressed by the engine removal skills of the recycler. Almost all the fluid lines are just cut, rather than disconnected, some wires were not disconnected so the connectors were ripped out. I will have to solder in some new connectors. Also the part of the oil filler tube that attaches to the engine under the intake manifold was broken off. So the engine isn’t going to drop right in. Lots of work to prepare it, and do some maintenance. UPDATE: Using the VIN of the donor car and the engine serial number I found a couple of things. The donor car was a 2001, but the engine serial number indicates that it is a 2000... with a single row IMSB. The LN site reports that the bearing was changed less than a year ago in Phœnix AZ. The car then had 123,000 miles (the recycler says it has 133,000 now). The Single Row Pro IMS Retrofit was installed, good for 6 years or 75K miles.

More good news on the new 3.2 engine. The oil filter has no metal in it. There are many little pieces of brown plastic indicating that the timing chain pads need to be changed, but I was planning on doing that anyway. Next the oil pan came off and I found sealant in the oil pickup screen (like the original engine pictured above, but less of it) ... and many plastic bits that I am assuming at this point are from the chain tensioner pads. That is the sealant that was in the oil pickup. The piece of plastic at the top looks like the head of a plastic rivet?! The amount of sealant used on the oil pan is a lesson on how not to do it, way too much. The excess comes off and ends up in the oil pickup screen. What I don't understand is that the sealant around the pan is black and in the pickup it is beige???

The truck that delivered the engine didn't have a crane, so the delivery man dragged the engine across the tailgate lift, despite my warnings that the oil pan is somewhat fragile. This is the result... or maybe it was cracked before. I intend to ask for a replacement.

Aluminum castings sometimes have what appear to be cracks but I wouldn’t take a chance on that oil pan I’d you don’t have to. There has got to be tons of them out there cheap if they don’t come through for you

Update time... the 2.7l engine is installed and it started right up (I knew it would... I can say that now). I am putting the rest of the car together, got the exhaust and the diagonal bars etc. on today. Tomorrow the bumper cover will go on and then I am ready for a road test... except that the alternator is making a terrible noise. I broke a flange on the alternator that came with the car because the mounting bolt was totally corroded in place. I used another alternator that came off my ebay engine. I think I will have to pull it and replace the bearings, it really is loud and I'm afraid it will seize and cause mayhem with the accessory belt. Also a couple of pesky oil leaks, one from my aftermarket oil pressure sensor (the oil drips down on to the exhaust so I have to fix that one) and the other is the left side oil scavenge pump flange. I will live with that for awhile, but I should be able to change the o-ring with the engine in the car. Despite the oil leak the oil pressure gauge works fine, I'm glad I added that, makes starting an engine that I have worked on less stressful.

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Congrats on the start up! That's always a good sound after spending so many hours in preparation.

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Hello elgyqc yes, congratulations indeed!

I didn't get the bumper cover on but I did take the two alternators apart and combined the pieces to get one that is quiet and works. I didn't replace the bearings, that would have added a couple of days and I am in a hurry to road test the car. Next time I'm in there.

The car is now on the road and I am working out the final bugs. When I bought the car I started a separate thread to get help on installing the 2.7l engine in the S, there is some information in that is relevant to this thread. http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/82551-installing-2-7l-engine-boxster-s-same-year.html