jfk308

Looking at an '05 Carrera that had an IMS failure and the engine was replaced under warranty in '09. It is unclear if it was replaced with a new engine, or if the engine was simply rebuilt. Is there a simple way to tell? I have only heard of engines being replaced due to IMS failure, not rebuilt. When the engine is replaced (or rebuilt) is there any improvement to the IMS to avoid the situation again?

What do you think of such a car? Does it give you more confidence that the engine is new, or would you avoid it?

xXxGhotimanxXx

If the price were the same, I'd pick the car with the newer engine. Same as I' pick the car with the newer breaks, or the new tires, or the newer whatever.

J

justin-in-athens

I'd say that was a new engine that went into the car '09. Porsche has a 4 year 50k mile warranty on the drive train. I do not know of an easy way to tell for sure, but being this was probably a "authorized dealer" repair--I'd be fairly certain its a factory remanufactured engine or new crate engine entirely.

Edgy01

Whenever Porsche has to replace an engine because of an IMS failure the engine is a "remanufactured engine" with the appropriate parts replaced with the latest version. The MY05 997 engines are quite similar to the 996 engines (essentially the same) and still subject to the IMS issues the 996 cars are famous for. The IMS and the installation method were revised into the MY06 cars and there appear to be substantially fewer cars after 05 with that problem. I would take that car in a minute over a regular MY05 car.

Macster

My info is if the engine new the engine serial number is pretty vanilla.

If the engine remanufactured (which can mean an engine that failed a QC check on the engine assembly line) the engine serial number will have an X at the end. Now I came across a 997 getting a new M97 engine the other day and checked the serial number and did not see an X anywhere. I was not allowed to photograph the engine's serial number nor the engine.

Anyhow, the newer the engine the better.

My only hesitation would how much longer is the replacement engine parts/labor warrantied for? My info is the engine if replaced by a dealer the parts/labor are covered by a 24 month 24K mile warranty (if the car is out of its factory warranty) though a service manager told me at least at his dealership the parts are warrantied for 2 years, the dealer's labor for just 1 year -- which means you need to see the all the engine replacement paperwork the invoice etc. or contact the dealer that did the work and have it fax you something that states what if any remaining warrnaty is left on the repair.

If the warranty is close to expiring or has expired then if the new engine wasn't used very much, if the car wasn't driven very much, there is a possibility the new engine wasn't given a chance to manifest any inherent problems.

But this risk is small.

Overall if the rest of the car was in good condition and the car like I liked I wouldn't avoid the car. I might argue with the seller that the fact car has had a replacement engine and perhaps doesn't have any warranty left on the replacement engine that this has to lower the car's value for reasons I mentioned above. There is some risk involved in buying/owning this car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

JM993

Me too.

It's my understanding that the MY 06-08 engines have improvements such as a bigger IMS bearing (among other things) and carry a M97 engine number. I wonder if these reman engines carry a M97 engine number too. As a future buyer, I know I'll only be shopping for a M97 car.

Cheers,
Joe

mschwa3439

porsche does not replace with new engines, but rebuilt guaranteed as new . That is a fact.

mschwa3439

would stay way clear of the car

cviles

The engine in my '05 987S (one of the Boxster S launch cars) suffered an IMS failure about 1 1/2 years ago; here's what I know from the experience:

1. Porsche has a policy on this kind of failure that changes from time to time. Back then, PCNA was pressuring the dealership to rebuild the engine, if possible. My dealer worked and argued for a new crate motor, and that's what I got.

2. The remanufactured motor came with all the latest design updates for that generation of motor. This meant updated bolt and crankshaft design to reduce the chance of experiencing this failure again. It also comes with all new accessories attached to the motor (water pump, power steering pump, A/O separator, etc.)

3. Since this was covered under warranty at no cost to me, replacing the motor was the same as replacing the radio as far as warranties go -- when the original vehicle warranty was up, that was it. However, I was assured if the new motor died an early death Porsche would provide some assistance.

4. I have no complaints about the new motor. It doesn't burn oil, stain my driveway, etc.

5. My car is out of warranty now, yet I still manage to get to sleep every night without thinking about it.

Alan Smithee

Strongly disagree. This is an ideal situation for the buyer of an '05.

gota911

I disagree.

If I had the choice of buying two identical cars with the same mileage for the same price, one with the original engine and the other with a re-manufactured engine, I would choose the car with the re-manufactured engine every time. But that's just me.

Palmbeacher

+1. Ordinarily I would indeed steer clear of a newish car with a remanufactured engine, figuring it might have been abused, and other components (trans, etc.) waiting to fail. In the case of a Porsche however, the IMS failure has a good likelihood to have happened without driver abuse. As the owner of an '05 with original motor, I'm not terribly worried about the potential cost of a failure, only the inconvenience. It's got CPO for another year, and I'll purchase a comprehensive extended warranty then. I'd almost welcome an IMS failure, because I'll get a remanufactured engine with not only an upgraded bearing, but upgraded shaft and other parts as well. Can't get that with a simple LN retrofit. And I would expect that having a reman engine would make the car an easier sell down the road, when it's too old for an extended warranty.

SARGEPUG

I would def go for it w/ the piece of mind that the engine will unlikely have an IMS failure again due to the rebuild w/ the upgrade. Here is a great site regarding the IMS issue for all to read.
http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html

Crazy Canuck

From what I heard late '05s had the updated engine internals like '06 and onward

MLindgren

This is absolutely true. People that think such a cost saving (warranty) improvement would be put on hold pending a MY changeover are out to lunch crazy. That being said I haven't found anybody that will give an engine number or date the change was implemented. It's kinda like the MP3 playing ability-it was a running change.

Regardless I will continue to drive the hell out of my car every day and should the motor fail I will replace it and drive the hell out of it some more.

I would buy the car with reman motor in a heartbeat if the price was comparable to similar cars and it had the color/options I wanted.