Engine Rebuild/Replacement
 

I have a 2004 Cayenne S, the dealer has just informed me the number 8 cylinder is scored (engine was knocking). They only propose a new engine.

Anyone have any experience with rebuilding Cayenne engine. Can anyone recommend a re-builder.

How far out of warranty are you? I highly recommend that you ask this to be goodwill. If they say no then contact porsche yourself. Make sure to be polite. Chances are they will pay parts if you pay labor.

Good point, it has been off warranty for about a year. Not sure dealer will assist but approaching porsche may be worthwhile.

Haw did that hapend? Low on oil?

Wow, sorry to hear this has happened to you. I don't know any rebuilders that specialize in the Cayenne engines. Like JHoffman, I think it is probably best to talk to Porsche first. If that doesn't work perhaps talking to one of the 911 engine rebuilders on Pelican might be worthwhile (Supertech, LN Engineering, etc)?

No engine always ran fine, dealer serviced.

Hi Hal, Bob from Calgary; wow that's a drag. Was it SS that said replace engine? How do they say it got scored? I can only image a failed ring, if so I would think this should be replaced by Porsche.

Please keep us posted as to what happens.

Thats sckery...

The new guy again. Sorry to here about your engine failure. What is the block material made of? The 928 block is Alusil. I had a 928 block bored out here locally and fitted over size pistons. Porsche could likely have a + size piston that is in the correct weight and tolerence group. Maybe you can just do one piston. That's what they did for the 928.

The Cayenne v8 block and heads are aluminum. I don't know if they coated the cylinders with Nikasil or one of those other materials the Germans seem to like to do.

As an option, Gemballa is offering a 5.0L kit for the Cayenne V8 engine... :)

Best of luck whichever route you go Hal.

Any update Hal?

Hal,

Are you getting this done at Alpine. I spoke to them yesterday about doing some work for me and they said they are replacing an 04S engine, all week.....

Engine Rebuild
 

I have an 04 Cayenne S- 69,000 miles and the engine is knocking due to a scored cylinder. Dealer says only fix is to replace engine. Any alternatives?

Here's a useful link. Rheinmetall AG - Cayenne engine block delivered "ready-for-engine-assembly": added value through ATAG project

The blocks are Alusil like the 928. In order to bore the block and use Forged pistons you would need to either find a 5.0 piston with the iron coating on the skirt or have the block bored and have the cylinders coated with nickasil. There may be after market pistons someplace that will run in the Alusil bores but so far the 928 guys are having their cylinders nickasil coated.

Thanks Rich.

Thanks for the information!

You should check with the Porsche parts dept. to see if there is an over size piston and ring set available to repair the errant cylinder. Back in the day it was possible to purchase 1 plus size piston/ring set for the 928. The pistons were made in tolerance groups and weight ranges so it was possible to get a slightly larger piston that would be within the correct weight to maintain balance. The engine would have to be stripped to the bare block, the errant cylinder could be bored out slightly to the correct size for the new piston and then reassembled.

The problem is the cost of dealership labor for a teardown and re-assembly may be why they are suggesting the replacement engine.

If you find a shop that is cheaper than the dealer then you also need to locate a machine shop that is either willing to try to bore and hone the alusil or a shop that has done it before.

I had a 928 4.7L block bored to 5.0L locally at the Chevy guys shop. These guys never even saw a 928 block before but I provided them with all the factory specs and boring instructions and honing procedures. They did a great job. I would not hessitate sending another block to them.

You may be able to have one cylinder resized to factory specs also. I think you can get an alusil sleeve. This involves over boring the block and pressing in the sleeve. Then the sleeve is bored and honed out to the factory specs.

Are you sure it's a piston problem? I would be skeptical of that diognosis without a tear down unless the mechanic looked into the cylinder with a camera. Lots of things could sound like a knocking piston. Like a connecting rod... valve seat, etc.

Rich-


Thanks for the post.

They did scope the engine and ran video to do the diagnosis. I am guessing they are right on the issue and tearing down the engine would involve the labor to do so with the same diagnosis. Plus my Service Manager told me this is a problem with the 04 Engines.

I will check on the oversized piston and ring set. I would send the block to MN to be rebuilt if the cost was less than the remanufactured engine. Problem I fear is if it happened to one cylinder it could happen to another so just boring out the faulty cylinder is a risk.

The quote for the engine is $7,800. The labor estimate brings the whole job to $12,700 assuming no other issues. At that price I have no choice than to sell it for parts and start over.

What is the shop rate? I'm guessing $100.00 hr? Is that a New Engine from Porsche?
I would look for a small shop on the outshirts of town with a shop rate around 60-70.00. Then shop for a used long block. You could install a 05 or newer if Porsche actually corrected the problem. Otherwise.. You may be able to get a used engine for less through a smaller shop.

In any event, it sux.

Dealer Rate is 110 and the other shop is 90. I think I have a line on a used engine through a friend of a friend who has a parts yard/ body shop/ repair shop. He could maybe do it for less but a used engine with 30,000 miles is $6000. I am working with Porsche USA and they are reviewing my request for some consideration on the engine. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Keep us posted.

subd.
Hal, what your mileage? i see merk is at 69k.

Engine Rebuild
 

Well to complete the saga- the post here saved my 2004 Cayenne S. Armed with the information that others had experiencd a similar fate of a scorred cylinder I pursued the issue with PorscheUSA. I expressed my disappointment in a failure of an engine at 69K on a $70k vehicle and noted that it appeared that as there were other such failures it sure seemed like a manufacturing or design defect. I suggested that if Porsche would provide a remanufactured engine I would pay for the labor. In response Porsche offered to provide a short block and all the parts for a rebuild which I jumped on. My service manager really went to bat for me providing Porsche with all service records even those before I owned it. The dealer had the vehicle for a little over two weeks- one week to remove and tear down the engine, the second to assemble the short block and reassemble the engine. As part of the bargain I got the cooling pipes replaced an a few other items that can only be done with the engine apart. It came back home this week and runs like brand new. Way to go Heather at Porsche USA and my service manager Jeremy at Tom Wood Porsche. You have a customer for life .

Thanks Rich for the link it was really useful

congrats. Glad it all worked out. Porsche is a great company.

OK, I'm not as hyptertechnical as the rest of you. I know how cars run but I don't understand all the technical terms you guys use, but in a nutshell I just got off the phone with my dealer; the engine was sputtering (my technical term) and it turns out I have the same problem with my 2004S engine that others on this thread appear to have had. The dealer is quoting me 16K for a new engine (including parts) which is ludicrous. I've never had this problem before but all of the sudden Porsche found metal shavings in my oil filter.

I recently did get the coils replaced in the engine (which is apparently a factory defect that Porsche is fixing for free on all 2004s), so question #1 is whether that work could have caused this problem. The technician told me that they go no where near the pistons when they change the coils but I have no idea.

Question #2 is whether anyone has any of your advice has changed over the last year since the last post was about 13 months ago.

Thanks for any input you can give me.

Well, I have a horrible update to my saga. Porsche NA appears to be not as great of a company as I had hoped since they outright rejected my request to provide me with any goodwill assistance on fixing my car. I have one more call into Atlanta to see if they can do anything and am waiting for a response.

I was equally disappointed with my dealer, as they were only willing to offer me a modest discount to the 16K pricetag to replace the engine. I even went so far as to ask what kind of deal they could give me if I traded this car in on a new Cayenne, and believe it or not they offered me a $500 trade-in value. I told them that it was a bit early for an April fools prank, but they were dead serious.

So here I am, stuck with a car with 66K miles that I can't drive and which is basically valueless according to my dealer. I feel like I'm getting royally screwed over.

Anyone have any advice as to what I should do next?

Thanks in advance!

If all else fails Here's what I suggest, Either find a small shop off the grid that would change the engine with a used one or repair the one you have.

I made a quick call to my local dealer parts counter to check on parts availability. Particularly main bearings as these are NA for the Audi V8. The short of it is parts are available although the way they list bearings was red, yellow and blue. What ever that means...

I think the cost to pull the engine, strip it to the block, have a sleeve installed in the damaged cylinder, New rings, bearings and gasket set, reassemble, and re-install could be an affordable solution.

No easy way to do it. Unfortunately I'm not sure you will get alot of money out of it if you sell it the way it is.

Ok, so Porsche is basically screwing me over. I've decided to start a grass roots effort to get Porsche to acknowledge the problem and do something about it. Please check the facebook page I created to read my story and, if you have the same experiences, please post there and send me an email. Thanks!

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If this doesn't work, just look up Engine Problems.

Ok, so my 2004 Cayenne S had a scored cylinder after only 66K miles, and Porsche is basically screwing me over. I've decided to start a grass roots effort to get Porsche to acknowledge the problem and do something about it. Please check the facebook page I created to read my story and, if you have the same experiences, please post there and send me an email. Thanks!

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If this doesn't work, just look up Engine Problems.