Changed the oil in my 2002 2.7 and found a few of these...

[jluetjen]

This is the first oil change since I bought the car in the fall. The oil looked and felt fine. There wasn't an appreciable burn rate on the oil over the course of the 6 months.

The car runs great, and already has an LN Engineering IMS bearing upgrade in it. When I pulled the filter, I found 3 or 4 of these -- this is one of the larger pieces and about 0.2 inches long on the longest dimension. The material is fairly bright on one side....


and dull and darker on the other side...


Also, it's not magnetic. There were also some smaller specs.

Judging from the concentric markings in the first picture, I'm guessing that it's coming from a thrust bearing. In the absence of any other symptoms I figure that I'll continue to drive and enjoy the car and monitor this on the next oil change in the fall.

Any thoughts?

[jluetjen]

Just to share what I learned after some further searching, a few non-magnetic flakes does not appear to be a problem. If they were magnetic on the other hand...

[tonythetarga]

Did you save any of the oil? You should have had it analyzed at Blackstone. Is that piece metal? Nothing to compare it to for size, how big is that? If it's metal, I'd be investigating more before driving it around. Don't want to destroy an engine if it's something you can fix now.

[JFP in PA]

Your photos look like the "ears" on the crank thrust bearing:



If that is correct, running this engine is courting disaster............

[jluetjen]

Originally Posted by tonythetarga

Is that piece metal? Nothing to compare it to for size, how big is that?

• It is metallic looking (grayish color, shiny on one side), but not magnetic.
• It is about 0.2 inches (4 mm) on the longest dimension

It is waaayy too small to be an ear off of a thrust bearing. You missed the size reference that I gave in my earlier post.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

• It is metallic looking (grayish color, shiny on one side), but not magnetic.
• It is about 0.2 inches (4 mm) on the longest dimension

It is waaayy too small to be an ear off of a thrust bearing. You missed the size reference that I gave in my earlier post.

Don't bet on it, yours is not the first one I've seen, and the thrust bearing is non ferrous, so a magnet will not pick it up..............

[jluetjen]

So I've ordered an oil test kit. Hypothetically speaking...

If it comes back as a serious problem...

Rebuilt engines are about $14,000 to $18,000 -- which is about 2x what I have in the car.
I could buy a used engine for $1100 to $2800, but what's to say that they won't have the same issue or more serious issue?

[Brian Minson]

I pulled the engine out of my 2001 Boxster S and popped in a used replacement unit. Did the AOS, RMS, IMS, spark plug tubes, spark plugs and popped it back in all for about $2800.00 Ill list a few of my videos I did on the engine pull.

https://youtu.be/A0cQvWOHGVA

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbBMHPz04qDW2lbqUZ4p2yWK9joftSOEO

Brian

[jluetjen]

Just to share with others what I learned...

Between the two extremes (A used engine and an RND rebuilt engine) are also a few 2nd tier engine rebuild business that fall into the "buyer beware" category. I don't mean this as a knock on them, but the buyer will be responsible for the increased risk -- so go in with eyes open. Their engines go for about $8000 to $9000. I've also seen at least one RND longblock at an established Porsche shop for about $12,000. The other two decision points are to just buy another 986 for $8000 (Fall) to $12,000 (Springtime), do nothing or walk away when it dies -- which winds up being worth the scrap value ($3,000) of the roller.

The un-risk adjusted values are about:

• RND Engine: - $19,000
• RND Longblock: - $12,000
• Buy another 986: -$10,000
• Other rebuilt longblock: -$8,000
• Used "Engine Drop": -$3,000
• Sell car as roller: +$3,000

Right now I'm leaning toward continuing to drive the car while lining up my options so that I have an engine ready to go into when other symptoms start to show up.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

Just to share with others what I learned...

Between the two extremes (A used engine and an RND rebuilt engine) are also a few 2nd tier engine rebuild business that fall into the "buyer beware" category. I don't mean this as a knock on them, but the buyer will be responsible for the increased risk -- so go in with eyes open. Their engines go for about $8000 to $9000. I've also seen at least one RND longblock at an established Porsche shop for about $12,000. The other two decision points are to just buy another 986 for $8000 (Fall) to $12,000 (Springtime), do nothing or walk away when it dies -- which winds up being worth the scrap value ($3,000) of the roller.

The un-risk adjusted values are about:

• RND Engine: - $19,000
• RND Longblock: - $12,000
• Buy another 986: -$10,000
• Other rebuilt longblock: -$8,000
• Used "Engine Drop": -$3,000
• Sell car as roller: +$3,000

Right now I'm leaning toward continuing to drive the car while lining up my options so that I have an engine ready to go into when other symptoms start to show up.

There's the Upgraded 2001 3.6 litre rebuilt engine by a Flat 6 Innovations trained mechanic option for $15,000 I have the complete Long block ready to ship

[jluetjen]

Thanks BYprodriver. While I've considered upgrading, I think that I'm going to ultimately stay with a 2.7. If I upgrade to a 3.2 or a 3.4, I'll need to upgrade the oil cooling system, front body work, DME and I'm sure a few other things in addition to all of the regular stuff like seals, clutch, IMS bearing, chain tensioners and guides, spark plugs and so on.

Maybe someone else reading this would be interested though. Thanks for the suggestion!

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by jluetjen

Thanks BYprodriver. While I've considered upgrading, I think that I'm going to ultimately stay with a 2.7. If I upgrade to a 3.2 or a 3.4, I'll need to upgrade the oil cooling system, front body work, DME and I'm sure a few other things in addition to all of the regular stuff like seals, clutch, IMS bearing, chain tensioners and guides, spark plugs and so on.

Maybe someone else reading this would be interested though. Thanks for the suggestion!

You don't need to upgrade anything my car runs 20 degrees cooler due to the Nikasil cylinder plating from LN Engineering & it has the best LN IMSB.

[jluetjen]

Interesting. Generally HP equals heat. More horsepower means more heat rejection through the cooling systems. Now maybe I mis-spoke being an old air-cooled guy, but if I go to a 3.2 I'll need to add the center cooler in the front. In the aircooled 911's this would be an oil-cooler. In a Boxster now that I think about it this would be a water radiator(?). My car doesn't have one of those, and so it would be an additional upgrade that's required. That's what I'm referring to.

It does sounds like you've got a really nice engine that I think someone is going to want.