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I got a 987 cayman s with like 160k miles on it a few years ago, It always had a pretty pronounced tick on cold start and maybe sometimes on warm start only on idle, rev and it instantly goes away. it progressively made that tick more often, and sometimes threw codes for the post cat o2 sensor. And gradually it started smoking on cold start and maybe even spitting a lil oil sometimes too on cold start, otherwise it drives great and makes power good and makes no noises on throttle or on warm idle and the oil smoke goes away after a few seconds of running. Here is the thing, there is all of 20 ways I can go about this issue, There are companies that affordably offer iron sleeves like LA sleeve that I have read about, this is a really cost effective way of dealing with the issue and If I attempt to rebuild the motor myself it would not be too expensive, there is also the LN engineering option which is pretty well documented with the nickies and how we can even increase the engines displacement to 3.8L which would be a nice little power upgrade to help justify tearing apart the engine. But Jake Raby wrote somewhere about how you really cant just increase the displacement of the motor and you need to port the heads and change cam timing along with some other wizardry. Here is the thing, I like the car, I like the car alot. It handles like a dream, has upgraded gt4 bumpers and brakes and the cool gt3 steering wheel and I really don't plan on ever selling the thing. But I do not have the time and or the space at this moment to just be ripping apart engines, I need to obviously put together the money to do this job and I am capable of doing the rebuild myself so I am not looking to spend more then 10,000$ on the complete engine build at the absolute most and It would be ideal to go the 3.8 route here to give the car some more pep for the money, my question is this, if I go the 3.8 route will I have issues smogging the car here in orange county California, what are my options for repairing the car and the most cost effective and logical strategy to go forward with here weather it is the Nickies or the metal sleeves, which I've heard pros and cons about both. and lastly and most importantly, can I still drive this car? obviously the motor is going to be rebuilt and given it is just chewing through some oil on cold start can I continue to drive the car normally with some thicker nice oil changes while I put together the space and money for this engine rebuild?
Ive done head gaskets and plenty of dirt bike engines and even a complete timing chain job on a boxster so these cars aren't too far fetched but this is still pretty new and some advice would really be appreciated.
thank you all,
Bummer but that engine has done pretty well to get to 160K.
You can read my article linked below. Probably not what you want to hear.
I would go ahead and invest in your first of several mandatory rebuild tools, i.e. an endoscope. Do your bore inspections, through the spark plug hole. Maybe you'll get lucky and find that is not the cause.
Is there really a compelling event? What if you just drive the car?/
Yea, the compelling event is it has cylinder bore scoring! He's already identified piston slap noise associated with the problem. If he continues to drive with an injured engine, the advanced stages of cylinder bore scoring will exhibit more symptoms like excessive oil consumption and misfires. The engine will begin shedding metal that could take out other key components (e.g. crankshaft) that would have been saved otherwise. Below is my piston #6. This problem doesn't cure itself.
One thing I’ve never seen mentioned is over-boring the cylinders. Is there a reason that’s not done?
The cylinders already suffer cracking as-is, so over-boring them is a bad idea, even if you Nikasil plate them. That's why we don't recommend even direct plating the bores to keep them at the stock bore size. Seen too many crack afterwards. When sleeving, going larger than stock is a no brainer. There is no added cost.
Anything can be fixed... these engines have been around for a while, so most issues have been identified... but, face it, these engines were engineered to be used and thrown away... not rebuilt.
If you can so alot of the work yourself, that's fine, but parts and specialized machine work can add up... my guess is doing it under $10K is optimistic, but....possible, depending on your skill...
IMHO, one can spend $20K or more rebuilding an engine in a $25K car.... it's not an engineering decision... it is a financial decision... if you make a hobby project out of it. and have fun..... LN of course is a go-to... plenty of resources available, but alot of work, and very little upside.
So you want to rebuild the engine on a car that makes good power and drives great...?
Because it makes a ticking noise and smokes sometimes at start up (like all flat 6 engines do)?
Is there really a compelling event? What if you just drive the car?
/
Agree. I have seen waaaaay to many 'my engine is crap in my 987.1 now what do i do' threads here to ever consider buying a 987.1. That said they are comparably cheap cars. If, as you indicate, the car drives great, just keep driving it until she pops then part it out. Take the $10k to $15k you're gonna get after parting it and put it toward another $25k 987.1. I always shake my head when i read in the PCA Mart ads the owner that spent $20k to $25k to repair their 987.1 (and have receipts for all the recent work!) trying to sell the car for $25k. Don't be that guy.
If I didn’t own a 987.1S with an “over investment”* in the engine, (IMS “solution”/Nikasil barrels) I’m not sure what I’d own instead. Maybe a 981.2, but they are rare, especially with lower mileage, and not without issues of their own.
For me personally, a low mileage (after rebuild) engine, with the known weaknesses engineered out makes a Cayman 987S one of the most desirable sports cars at any price.
If I didn’t own a 987.1S with an “over investment”* in the engine, (IMS “solution”/Nikasil barrels) I’m not sure what I’d own instead. Maybe a 981.2, but they are rare, especially with lower mileage, and not without issues of their own.
For me personally, a low mileage (after rebuild) engine, with the known weaknesses engineered out makes a Cayman 987S one of the most desirable sports cars at any price.
I plan to keep mine forever.
*expense by previous owner
Really? You don't know what you'd own? How about a 987.2 with extra oil scavenge pumps, no IMS etc....... the price point of a 987.1 and 981.2...not even close there is like a $25k-$30k difference there. You could almost have 2 987.1s for the cost of a 981.2.
Really? You don't know what you'd own? How about a 987.2 with extra oil scavenge pumps, no IMS etc....... the price point of a 987.1 and 981.2...not even close there is like a $25k-$30k difference there. You could almost have 2 987.1s for the cost of a 981.2.
I think that’s what I said.
Either a 987.1 with a re-engineered engine ($25-$30 k)
or a 987.2, similar price difference, but the superior designed engine is likely higher miles.
I think that’s what I said.
Either a 987.1 with a re-engineered engine ($25-$30 k)
or a 987.2, similar price difference, but the superior designed engine is likely higher miles.
Oh well you had said 981.2.....which was weird. I don't know you well, but I know that you have better taste than a 981.
If my 987.1 was bore-scored I'd just cut my losses and buy a new flat 6 powered Cayman... oh wait... Sounds like the last flat 6 Caymans, the GTS 4.0, are going out of production soon and even if you are on the list they are wildly more expensive than what a flat 6 Cayman cost before they first went flat 4 turbo and now (gag) electric.
My point being that while 20K for a rebuilt engine in a car worth 25K if it was in good running shape doesn't make sense NOW, my suspicion is that 987 and 981 prices will start rising and suddenly big dollar repairs will start to make sense. Unless I'm just plain wrong and sports car owners are actually lusting after future electric 4000lb cars I think investing in keeping Caymans on the road is a good bet.
I wonder what the cost would be of using Hartech in the UK? My suspicion is that for owners in the UK rebuilds are significantly cheaper than for owners in North America.
...I wonder what the cost would be of using Hartech in the UK? My suspicion is that for owners in the UK rebuilds are significantly cheaper than for owners in North America.
Over the years I've noticed that quite a bit of Porsche related items, repairs, parts, etc. are cheaper in the UK.
Personally, if my L&N Track performer engine ever goes, I'll just get another one from them. This car is so flipping amazing on so many levels!
03-23-2024, 06:35 PM
My cayman is definitely bore scored, now what?
