2.5L Boxster motor with slipped sleeve

[Justin@Athens]

Ok,

So i was one of the many unfortunate souls to own, and pour money into what was one of Porsche's most problem plagued motors--the M96.

After buying a '99MY boxster with 74k on the clock, I had the car about six months when I started getting giant plumes of white smoke from the tailpipe while going down the road. I of course could not drive it like this, it lacked power,and generally didn't want to go down the road. So I took it to my local indy and had the motor swapped out for a used one of the same size and approximate mileage.

He told me he believed the problem to be a slipped silicon carbide sleeve that lines the cylinder allowing coolant into the combustion chamber.* (Best non-technical explanation)

Here is a more thorough breakdown. "Nickies™" for the Porsche 986/996 models

The car ran fine for a short while until I traded it off for fear of another failed engine.

My questions to you fellow gentlemen are:

What should I do with the original 2.5L M96 motor with slipped sleeve?

It has been sitting over at the indy's shop for almost 8 months as I have no way of getting it to my house without paying someone to move it.

Suggestions, thoughts and ideas are very much appreciated.

Thanks,

[Zeke]

The symptoms you described are much like a failed air/oil separator. I doubt the sleeve slipped or the motor would no have run at all. Might be time to collect the motor and change mechanics.

In the meantime, you can sell the thing, but since it's out of the car and can't be started, all you'll get is core value. That's a shame, because if it will turn by hand, it might still be a good motor.

Right in your town is Jake Raby who builds these. Link:
Flat 6 Innovations
He may buy it.

[kaisen]

It would run Milt.

You only have two choices.

Take it apart and rebuild it (or have it rebuilt) then sell it

Or sell it to someone who will. Fitting a new liner (or liners) isn't rocket science.

[syncroid]

I totally agree with Milt that it is a bad air/oil separator. If that engine had a slipped sleeve as your indy suggested, you would not have driven it to the repair facility...you would have had it towed. Why? Because the motor would be locked up or only able to be rotated partially. What is the production date of your Boxster? Only the very late 1998 and very early 1999 models were affected by this.
I had a early 1999 Boxster with less then 38K miles that I bought from one of my customers that had a slipped sleeve. What a mess! The intake had handfulls of metal in it. I ordered a new crate motor from Porsche and called it done.

[kaisen]

I've seen dozens of motors with broken/cracked liners that still run, although most times noisily and poorly. If a Boxster gets a D-shaped crack in the liner at the top of the bore, it will run pretty well, but still allow pressurized coolant into the combustion chamber on the exhaust stroke, looking like steam. But you'd also know on the compression and power stroke as it would force air into the coolant system. But it would still run.

[herman maire]

Bad air/oil separator... I wish you the best but that is wishful thinking with the track record these engines have. Every other day I see a classifieds add for a boxster or 996 with a blown engine or some poor soul posting in the forums asking for advice.

just this week, theres a 996 over on rennlist ( I cant seem to post the link with that website ) and just discovered a cracked cylinder, its in the 996 forum if your interested. Engine ran but had large clouds of smoke also. Another mint 996 that at a dealer ship with a blown engine and a $15k+ bill.

These engines do not even have a forged crank, something called powder metal instead and there starting to crack . Doing some research on Jakes website, everything in these engine has potential to fail, cracked heads , cracked cylinders, cracked crankshafts, cam gear fail ect..ect.... porsche screwed up major on these engines.

a turbo or GT has better engines

I would get the motor home and have to fun stripping it down. Find what failed . Or send it to me

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by herman maire

Bad air/oil separator... I wish you the best but that is wishful thinking with the track record these engines have. Every other day I see a classifieds add for a boxster or 996 with a blown engine or some poor soul posting in the forums asking for advice.

just this week, theres a 996 over on rennlist ( I cant seem to post the link with that website ) and just discovered a cracked cylinder, its in the 996 forum if your interested. Engine ran but had large clouds of smoke also. Another mint 996 that at a dealer ship with a blown engine and a $15k+ bill.

These engines do not even have a forged crank, something called powder metal instead and there starting to crack . Doing some research on Jakes website, everything in these engine has potential to fail, cracked heads , cracked cylinders, cracked crankshafts, cam gear fail ect..ect.... porsche screwed up major on these engines.

a turbo or GT has better engines

I would get the motor home and have to fun stripping it down. Find what failed . Or send it to me

Every other day huh? Your entire post shows a total lack of education on the 986/996 and it's associated issues. Innuendo and ignorance are the biggest reason some believe that these cars are unreliable. My Boxster is a spectacular car, with none of the shortcomings that made living with older air-cooled Porsches a difficult proposition. I've also owned a 996, and wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I love the air-cooled cars as well, but they also have their fair share of issues.

[herman maire]

Matt,

Your entitled to your opinion.... " lack of education" ummm I dont think so, if you want to defend the engine in the boxster and standard 996 be my guest. I love the rest of the car and I know that there are many high miles examples running around but I come across to many owners in the house of pain with engine problems.

I guess 3 members over on Rennlist with engine failures in the past week and owners worrying about there IMS bearing failing is normal?

I am currently looking for a 996 turbo though and I hope you never have any problems with your boxster. This is not a aircooled VS watercooled war.

[RWebb]

you could also rent a trailer or pickup truck and move it that way

[chibone_914]

Get rid of it and get a ZO6 vette. No more issues.

[VincentVega]

Rent a truck, HD.... Get a pallet, pickup engine. Strap engine to pallet and post in the for sale section here. 2-3 guys can move it ok, just be careful.

[Justin@Athens]

OK, I went over to the shop today, he says the motor will still turn by hand, and he believes it "may just have been the rings." He is going to put new head gaskets on it and I am going to get a pickup truck to get it to my house next tues.

It is just a longblock with no ancillaries on it, anybody want to estimate a quick sale value?

[teenerted1]

Originally Posted by Justin@Athens

OK, I went over to the shop today, he says the motor will still turn by hand, and he believes it "may just have been the rings." He is going to put new head gaskets on it and I am going to get a pickup truck to get it to my house next tues.

It is just a longblock with no ancillaries on it, anybody want to estimate a quick sale value?

get that engine out of his shop and run away...8months and a engine swap over rings?

[RWebb]

yeh - tell him not to "fix it" go pick it up or have a company grab it - quick

[kaisen]

Don't have him put head gaskets on!! They just have to come off again!!

Plus, it will be a lot easier to transport in pieces

[bell]

first a couple of points.....the 2.5 engines used are going to run a few grand, and you'll still want to upgrade the ims bearing......we have seen numerous engines with them fail, and have done MANY upgraded bearing sets.....
a bad air/oil separator will do exactly what you described......easy way to have checked it is to try to remove the oil fill cap....when they fail they will either create a very heavy vacuum in the crankcase or no vacuum at all.....i have replaced many and they can cause all sorts of deceiving problems......including smoking....

get the engine back......even as a core it is worth a grand to a rebuilder.....
have someone (not the current tech) do a leakdown test on it, should be quick and painless if you can turn it over by hand.....then pop off the cam seals and check the cam timing, if it checks out it's probably a good long block......

if you were a little closer to us i'd say bring it by and i'd check it for you.......

[bell]

and short of being slightly slow, a well mantained 2.5 is still a porsche flat 6.......the unfortunate part is the cars are generally not worth the amount it costs to replace/rebuild one of the engines .....once broken.........it boils down to how much you like your boxster.......

[kaisen]

His Boxster is gone, already had a used motor installed before he traded it.

AND it sounds from his last post that the heads are OFF, as the tech was going to "put new head gaskets on it"...... pretty hard to do a compression test

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Justin@Athens

OK, I went over to the shop today, he says the motor will still turn by hand, and he believes it "may just have been the rings." He is going to put new head gaskets on it and I am going to get a pickup truck to get it to my house next tues.

It is just a longblock with no ancillaries on it, anybody want to estimate a quick sale value?

Your mechanic is a quack.

[RWebb]

real question is what to do with a spare 3.5L Boxster motor

now, how many of you have been reading the thread where a guy has lawnmower with a bad motor...