JDurett

Hello,
My name is Jerry and i am new to Porsche. I live in Pflugerville Texas and I bought a 1999 Boxster. The car had 93,000 miles on it. Is is a base model and
a manual transmission. Black with tan interior.

I bought last December and spent about 2 months fixing many things. I put about 1,000 miles on it then on day after stopping at the store on the way home
from work - it wouldn't start. No warning, noise, or any indication of a problem the engine will not turn. It has sat for some time and i am back to looking at it.
Got the engine/transmission out last weekend.

I joined the forum to learn what others did who were in the same situation and become part of the community. For this engine to not rotate in either direction
(with a wrench on the crank it does rotate but just maybe and inch or less in either direction) i figure the engine will need to be replaced. I have removed the
starter, drive belt, and had battery checked no help.

Just thinking about all the engine replacement options.

Thanks in advance, Jerry.

PelicanParts.com

Hello and welcome to the forum Jerry! Take a look at the link below to our site's DIY tech articles on the 986 platform - there are some articles on engine rebuild if you want to go that route. Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist with any part needs in the future. Hope this helps you a bit and best of luck!

https://www.pelicanparts.com/boxster/boxster_tech.htm

Byprodriver

The engine must be rotated Clockwise only! Rotating the opposite way will definetly dislodge some timing chains. Remove all the spark plugs then it should rotate easily Clockwise. If not then a chain may have jumped out of place

JDurett

Thank you for your advice and i will look at the diys. I'm actually really curious about what actually did happen to the engine. It was running very well. I bought one of those Durametric
cables and downloaded the software and all indications were good. A special thanks too to Woody in Bastrop Tx. and Pedro in Florida for their thoughts as well. I didn't mention this but
i did remove all the spark plugs too - and the crank still only turns literally only half an inch in either direction. Thanks for tip on not turning it counter clockwise. I tried to look into the
cylinders with my bore scope but mine is too large to get in.

If i may ask, in the effort to discover what has happened in the most efficient manner, would i be well served to start the discovery process by removing the valve covers one at a time and
trying to see the condition of the chains? If that yields nothing then proceed to removing the heads and so on until the culprit is found?

Again, thank you for your thoughts on this.

Brian in Tucson

If you remove the valve covers. be sure to make and use a cam locking tool, you can find a design by googling for it.

I guess I'd put it on an engine stand or up on a work bench and start taking it apart. On an engine stand, you can also pull the oil pan off and have a look down there. Could be, I guess, a broken rod. engine stand from Harbor freight would do. If you were here, I'd loan you mine (and my cherry picker, too.)

Woody might be able to set you up with a replacement engine. I haven't looked in a while, but I got my replacement 2.7 from a parts guy in LA. Woody's a good source, 20th street Automotive in Phoenix is, too. And there's an Ebay merchant in Albuquerque that is very good. They're QualityPorscheParts.

Byprodriver

Drain the oil & then remove the oil sump plate, that's the only other easy peek into the engine internal parts. You can see more with the borescope too.

JDurett

Hello again and thanks for the replies. Circumstances changed and i bought a motor with 118k on it. Expect it to be delivered here very shortly. I have been researching what items to consider changing while the engine is out. On that list are items like ims, rms, water pump, aos, clutch asm, flywheel and so on. I already have a cherry picker, engine stand, ims removal tool set and timing tool set. One thing that i am not sure of is the timing chain rails. Is it the two small rails on the variable timing mechanisms (and chain) that should also be considered or are there other rails as well? Not completely disassembling the engine though. As much as possible i would like to give myself the best chance at this engine lasting a bit longer than the last one. On the engine that came out, i would like to get into it to find out what happened but i really need to get this car on the road asap. Car in driveway and housing association is pretty diligent. Other engine will be a longer term project. Jerry

Byprodriver

Definetly need to replace the variable timing chain rails with the far superior new design. Replace anything in the engine with excessive wear, you don't want to do this twice. I have a extra set of main bearings if you get down that far.

JDurett

Thank you Byprodriver, looks like i have some ordering to do.
Jerry

Brian in Tucson

buy the boots and rebuild (clean and grease) the cv joints. It's cheap and so satisfying to do. You can do all 4 for about $40. Plugs and coils. Maybe an under drive engine pulley. Even an Amazon or Ebay dual exhaust is better than the stock one, which is a blob.

JDurett

Thank you Brian! This is good to know and will do. I was just looking at that monster exhaust today.

JDurett

Hello again, was off for a bit. I bought a replacement engine from a 1997 car and just got it installed about two days ago. I followed all the instructions and tips on the web and it went well. I would like to ask if anyone has seen this issue. The engine starts just fine and the car shifts into gear just fine but when is start to drive the car down the street i hear noises like something is very wrong in the drive chain. It is like a rhythmic clunking noise. I immediately returned to the driveway as to not cause any damage. I did not go much further than a few houses. There were no issues like this when i last drove the car. I just can't imagine what this could be. Maybe tomorrow i can get it up on jack stands and take a look.

joseph mitro

does it idle without noise?
does the noise occur with clutch engaged or only while in motion? what is the frequency of the clunk and does it get faster with acceleration?

if only in motion, it sounds like something in the driveline.

JDurett

Hi Joseph,
The car starts and when in neutral idles perfectly with normal sounds. I put clutch in and engage first gear ... release the clutch slowly and the car moves.
My best description is that above a few mph the clunking starts and my first thought was that the 6 bolts on each axle that i reinstalled and tightened had come loose. The noise only happens when the car is moving and seemingly after a few mph.

After i put the motor, manual transmission, and associated hardware back on car, i drove it down the street and everything was fine. I then changed the softtop drive transmissions and did the wiring change that was mentioned in article that Maurice P. Fedida had put together for installing the glass rear window softtop. I when to drive the car and this is when the noise started. I can't image that the softtop is causing this. If you every had the antilock brake system engage it is kind of like that sound.

JDurett

Joseph,
Good question on the the sound frequency change with speed. The noise was so awful that as soon as i heard it i headed for home and didn't even notice anything more till i was parked. I got out and looked under car and nothing seemed out of ordinary.