This scares the hell out of me. The worst part is that the 996's and 997 also have the dreaded IMS, and it is just as likely to fail on those cars as on the 986/987 line.

I seriously have this in the back of my mind everytime I pull the car out of the garage.

The only true cure, wait for the new IMS-free engine in the upcoming model. Then again, something may be failure prone in those too.....


Dennis, my heart goes out to you.

 

You can't help but wonder if one of the reasons for the new design is all the failures.

They should replace any failed engine with one of the newly designed ones.

 

nice idea, but Porsche hasnt yet introduced the 987 boxster with the new engine yet.

the new engine also is DFI and has a different electronics management system and components so i dont think you would ever get that to happen. I also think that an engine conversion to this new DFI engine would be impossible (not impossible, but financially unreasonable) due to the fact that the car has a whole host of changes. The new engine is REALLY NEW! AS IN LIKE A COMPLETELY CLEAN SHEET!

I would have to agree that this is almost an admission that the original was flawed.

 

...once again i will state that the car is 13,000 miles and 5mos. out of warranty.

PCNA said dealer is to tear down the motor and determine part required to repair, if aggregate of parts is more than new motorr would cost, i get new motor, if not I get a repaired motor.

IN ANY EVENT...I must pay for R&R plus teardown and repair or replace.

What that means id I will most likely be liable for $5,000 in labor costs.

...BUT all repairs/replacements will be warranted for 2 years unlimited miles.

Btter thana punch in yhr mouth, but it's the probability of a repaired motor VS a remanufactured motor that bothers me.....we'll see what I decide.

There are one or two other options which I have.

 

I am glad they gave you some sort of accomodation. Like you said, better than a punch in the mouth.

 

at some point a class action suit should come of this..it is a DESIGN FAILURE...i sold my car just out of fear of this and will not own another porsche with this engine design

 

Someone is in the process of a class action law suit against Porsche, it was posted on 986forum.com

 

So I'm getting a new motor. PCNA authorized that. It will end up costing me around 3500-4000 in labor for the R&R and paertial rebuild (must be rebuilt to ship back core).

There was metal in the pan, all valves were bent, 2 cylinders were scored all because an 8mm bolt snapped. the bolt is there to hold tension on the shaft.

I've been told this bolt has been upgraded to 10mm in newer motors and now in remanufactured motors. is 10mm enough?...have any 10s failed ?

These questions remain unanswered.

Being out of warranty, I am relatively pleased with outcome. I'm not sure I'm convinced of that 10mm is the answer....we'll see.

 

Well I'm glad you're at least getting a new motor. Will it be a 550 Anniv. spec engine? Too bad about the labor cost though. I assume that 8mm bolt is not easily upgraded without a tear down, right? Otherwise, it would/should be a recall issue or at least a preventative issue.

Hope you get your car back soon!

 

I saw a 03 S with 34K on it on the rack at my shop last week. It was there for a clutch but upon teardown had a leaky RMS as well.

I saw the bolt in question... dinky little thing. I was told by the factory trained tech that for a while the local dealer had 986 engines on the shelf as a 'stocked' part. And they had one tech whose sole job was swapping out 986/996 motors. That's all he did.

I have a little fear of it happening, but... I could also get in an accident on the way to work and die. So I keep on driving the Boxster. That's the least of my concerns!

 

can you extend insurance coverage for an event like this?

 

Thumbs up for Porsche. Although you have to wonder why these things happen in the first place if German engineering is so superior to Japanese. I never worried about catastrophic failure when I had a Japanese sports car.

You know Porsche have made a bucket load of profits with the 996 and 986.
Heck in 2006 I believe, Porsche made three times as much money managing their stock than they did actually selling cars! So that means not only are they the most profitable car company in the world for a make putting out this level of volume, but they also performed better than most hedge funds on Wall Street. Of course things have turned south in the last twelve months but Porsche is smart enough to have put all those tasty profits somewhere safe.

Letting enthusiasts get burned on account of poor design is bad for the brand and business. And in the this economy that's not smart.

 

Man even though it hasn't happened to me I really think that all you guys from 986forum,6-speed,rennlist,renntech and ppbb should get together and sue Porsche for all the cracked cyclinder wall and IMS failures.

 

Do the 993's and 996's suffer from this also? The basic engine design is the same isn't it ?

 

996s yes...993s no. Shaft is robust in the aircooleds.