Calicar

Hello Forum! 1999 Boxster (130k miles) has much oil in Piston #4 (used camera). Making horrible, misfire sound. Mechanic saying car totaled (or $13k replace engine.) Saying it's not worth it to figure out problem. Could be Piston Ring or Cracked Cylinder or something else.

Question: Can the problem be determined for less than $5-6k just to remove engine and diagnose?

Car was running fine. Drove across town. Parked for groceries. Restarted car and suddenly this horrific, misfiring sound. Parked, needed 1/2 quart water to Fill, Towed to shop. Car is otherwise in great shape, well maintained. Worth about $11k in Los Angeles. Would like to fix it.
Only other factor is coolant level sensor had failed a month before, took to mechanic, advised sensor work, replaced, and thermostat while at it. Water had been disappearing (he couldn't figure out where, pressure tested fine, no leaks of significance). Car temperature never really overheated. Could mechanic have missed something? He has been a very good mechanic, good shop.

Any Southern California (Los Angeles) mechanics that would be able to diagnose / fix over time to avoid massive inspection / repair cost? Replace engine? Any suggestions appreciated. Thank you very much for any advice!

tcora

Not sure, but I assume when you say “oil in piston #4”, you mean “oil in cylinder #4”. Off the cuff, I’d say that your mechanic is right. It really doesn’t matter much why, but pretty clearly, the engine you have is a fatality.

elgy

It shouldn't cost $5000 to drain the oil and inspect it, then remove the oil pan to see what is lurking there. This would probably give an idea of what is going on. The mechanic that looked at my Boxster S when it blew up (before I bought it) did this and was able to establish that the engine was toast by the metal shavings in the sump... and by the fact that the engine wouldn't turn. Mind you he blamed the IMS bearing, which it wasn't.

Bush Pilot

Is the "$13k" to replace the engine for what? Used engine, rebuilt engine, rebuild your engine etc.? Keep in mind that yeah, the car is only worth so much but if you scrap this car you have to go out and buy another one and if it's used, you assume some risk there as well. That's called "replacement cost" which is most likely going to be a lot more than $13k. For $13k you get a known quantity most likely with a warranty. But then again a car with 130k mi. probably needs a lot more stuff too.

Calicar

Thank you Bush Pilot and all for replies. The $13k is quoted cost to R&R engine with $5,500 good used engine. Will inspect Oil. Much appreciated! Any further thoughts welcome!

Bush Pilot

I'd wonder what sort of warranty if any would be given with that $5500 used engine?

BFT3.2

You should easily be able to find a 2.5L used engine from a dismantler for under $4,000. My replacement two years ago came from an insurance "total out" that literally only had a little front end damage, car still ran and had 45K miles on it. Engine was $3,200 and about $2K to have my porsche race shop swap the motors. I electively replaced all of the coil packs, water pump, thermostat, IMS, RMS, AOS.

Calicar

Thank you! Very helpful.

CharlesLS

Oil in the cylinder can be caused by several things, not all of them "totaled engine" IMHO. (though that really depend on your definition of totaled engine) If the engine cranks with expected levels of resistance and noise then there is an 95% chance the problem is reasonable to repair. There are tons of easy ways to narrow in on the problem and it's implications.

First, yes, as @elgy said, check the oil and pan area for the usual bread crumbs of doom.

If you find nothing, I would pull ignition and fuel pump fuses, as well as spark plugs, then turn it over copious amounts to assess rotating assembly smoothness. Anything other than well oiled sewing machine sounds is a bad sign. Catastrophic engine damage really should be fairly obvious at this stage.

Lastly, I would test all cylinders with a compression tester to assess valve train and ring seal. if cyl #4 is totally flat-line, you may have hit that unlucky 5%.

...

My research says the M96.25 in the 1999 Boxster "should have" the dual row IMS bearing. I also believe the 2.5L is less likely to "D chunk" because of thick cylinder walls. All good incentive to try and save it. Only common issue after those two that I know of is cylinder scoring, which can be fixed.

Calicar

Thank you CharlesLS! Much appreciated!! Yes, cranks well, just horrific awful noise.

CharlesLS

Can you describe or record the noise? Is it chugging and backfiring and gurgley gross sounding? ... Or is it rock grinder, metal on metal, snapping, breaking, screeching, bending sounds?

Take the oil cap off... does it blow a lot of "wind" out of it?

Calicar

As I recall backfiring, misfiring, metal on metal, rock grinder. l will record in the morning and check oil cap. Thank you again!

CharlesLS

.... Not good sounds friend.

Nickshu

I got a low mileage used engine for $5000 a couple of years ago, but IMS/RMS had been done on it and it had a dyno before it was removed showing good performance.

I think the additional $7500 the OP was quoted to R&R the engine seems like an awful lot. Having done it myself, it's not a small job, but not really that difficult.
Perhaps this price includes all the "while you are in there" items....Clutch, IMS, RMS, AOS, any aged rubber parts, etc. Still it's pretty high even with all that.