Bad News, Good News

[paulstevens]

During my weekly engine check (part of the weekly clean) I noticed the coolant had dropped below minimum on my 06 C2 52k Miles. I had not been experiencing any performance issues, nor was the oil emulsified, so I decided that a visit to my local OPC in Bournemouth was needed. Dropped it off on the Friday morning, took the offered Cayman S home. Thought I'd check last weeks lottery numbers, got my first ever winner since it all began, a whole £88! but better than nothing. 2hrs later OPC phoned to say that my drivers side bank of cylinders had a head gasket leak, but only to the outside, so the engine should be OK. How much? I enquired, a mere £2460, no worries I said, it's covered under warranty, "no sir, your warranty ran out 2 weeks ago" []. Why didn't you remind me? I enquired. At this point the conversation deterioted a tad. In the end I agreed that the OPC should do the work as they said they would do what they could for me. On the following Tuesday, I received a phone call, "we have good news & bad news for you sir", oh dear I thought, "the good news is there was no damage to you cylinder head or block faces and the leak did not leak inwards" oh good thought I, "the bad news is that all three cylinder bore liners are cracked," oh dash it thought I, what does this mean to me? "A new engine sir" was the calm reply. Once I picked myself up, realising I had no warranty, and nor did I have a spare £20k ish for a new engine, I just said bolt it together and I'll push it home! My man at the OPC (John Piper) said "there is some more good news dear customer", oh yea, said I, what could that be? "Porsche have agreed as a goodwill gesture to supply & install a complete new engine FOC". Once I stopped cheering and screaming I thanked John very much for his pressure onto Porsche.
I picked up the my car last Saturday and all is brilliant, except that I think my oil temp is running too high (110 - 115 deg C normal driving & upto 120 deg C when sustaining 4000rpm for a while (closed roads of course []).

So for once, a little praise for the actions or Porsche and Bournemouth OPC. Thanks to John as well.

I did some google work and found hints towards some kind of bad batch of liners around the time my original engine was built, and that Porsche would do a goodwill engine swap if the liners were the issue, but this seems to apply to the enlarged Boxster engine. Thoughts?

Sorry for the long post. Paul []

 

[Andrew M Bonner]

"Porsche have agreed as a goodwill gesture to supply & install a complete new engine FOC".

There is a God! well done Paul, wishing you years of trouble free motoring with the new one.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Blimey, that must have been one heart attack inducing phone call, but with a happy ending![]
Great news, and happy motoring!
When will they finally get these engines to not blow up?[]

 

[paulstevens]

Thanks Andy, Rod, hopefully it will be, it was a bit of a roller coaster 4 or 5 days, but the final result was brilliant. Porsche have also given a full 2yr warranty. It just goes to show that sometimes they do care.
Cheers. Paul [][][]

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Good news - That's a brilliant result, very encouraging.
Bad news - Why arn't all customers treated the same?

 

[paulstevens]

Maybe I was a saint in a previous life? [] Maybe there's something in this rumour that I can't get a real handle on; that there was a batch of lokasil liners that were faulty back when my old engine was built,........but I prefer to think it's because I'm a wonderful warm hearted desrving soul who was a saint in a previous life!!![]
Paul

 

[snarf]

ORIGINAL: paulstevens

Maybe I was a saint in a previous life? [] Maybe there's something in this rumour that I can't get a real handle on; that there was a batch of lokasil liners that were faulty back when my old engine was built,........but I prefer to think it's because I'm a wonderful warm hearted desrving soul who was a saint in a previous life!!![]
Paul

Or maybe you may have connections with the dark side? I still remember how the fire alarm went off in that restaurant just before it was time to pay [].

 

[paulstevens]

That was purely so that I could go around other tables to steal their tips, after all it was a quaint French resturant with a traditional French name "The Horn of Plenty" with prices to match. I have no affiliation to the dark side (not openly except on a full moon with an oak tree and a women of little virtue [])

We had forgottent about that meal, Sue & I took ages to remember the name of the resturant. Good weekend.

Cheers. Paul

 

[garyw]

paul, glad it was a good result all round.
I've updated the survey info

garyw

 

[paulw67]

Interesting that. My previous 996 had an engine failure at about 50k and just over 3 years old - out of warranty - and in that case Porsche also replaced the engine FOC after the OPC did some digging about. I didn't manage to find out the reason for the failure, although anecdotally the chap at the OPC said it was a crankshaft failure of some sort that destroyed the bottom end. It seems Porsche are willing to make these offers if there is something potentially serious going on - I was told they wanted the engine in Germany to undertake some "tests".

 

[paulstevens]

Paul, good news for you as well, but my problem did not destroy or even show itself in performance, oil temp, oil pressure, emulsified oil or performance. If it wasn't for the small leak in the head gasket I would still be driving the car with the original engine, that's how bizarre this is. I've seen the photo's and the cracks are very obvious.
I have been chasing a rumour that there was a bunch of lokasil liners that were possibly faulty that were installed in engines built for 06 cars, but it seems these were put in engines that were destined for the Boxster with the enlarged engine, and possibly not for 997's. I cannot pin down any more info, but it seems strange (and wonderful!) that Porsche rolled over without me even appealing. I understand that my old engine was sent back to Porsche AG

Mmmmmm, just need to keep searching for info.

Cheers. Paul

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: paulstevens


I have been chasing a rumour that there was a bunch of lokasil liners that were possibly faulty that were installed in engines built for 06 cars, but it seems these were put in engines that were destined for the Boxster with the enlarged engine,

Have you a source for that? It's the first time I've heard of it.

 

[paulstevens]

Mark, I have been Googling things like 997 faulty liners, or lokasil liners etc and basically followed threads. I can't find the one that I originally saw re the enlarged Boxster engine as yet, but have a look at this thread http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=43542&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=110&sid=bc803d12b430247e23586e5d16abf5fe or http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/911PW_Apr06.pdf or http://www.autofarm.co.uk/engines/water_cooled There, that should keep you busy (and probably sleepless) []
Cheers
Paul

 

[snarf]

ORIGINAL: paulstevens

Mark, I have been Googling things like 997 faulty liners, or lokasil liners etc and basically followed threads. I can't find the one that I originally saw re the enlarged Boxster engine as yet, but have a look at this thread http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=43542&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=110&sid=bc803d12b430247e23586e5d16abf5fe or http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/911PW_Apr06.pdf or http://www.autofarm.co.uk/engines/water_cooled There, that should keep you busy (and probably sleepless) []
Cheers
Paul

Coincidentally I was talking to my local Indy yesterday, he lent me a copy of the December 2008 edition of Excellence, this contains a very interesting article on the M96 engine by Jim Pasha. Amongst other things Jim describes Lokasil (short for localised silicon) as being more of a manufacturing process than a material. He goes on to say:

"During the casting process silicon crystals are embedded in the cylinder bores for additional durability. For the 986 based Boxster, the engine case was cast in two halves, with a mixture of 25 percent silicon and 75 percent air integrated during the casting process. As the part is cast, molten aluminium alloy displaces air to leave the silicon exposed in the bore, ready for finishing."

Although not related to Lokasil you might also want to scare yourself with this: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wild-ass-rumor-of-the-day-porsche-boxster-engine-failures/

 

[Mark_Bennett]

That Excellence article is extremely well written isn't it?

I knew about the early issues with liners on Boxster Engines, and the issues with 3.4 996 engines (D-chunk failure of the cylinder bore on 1 cylinder), but I have not heard of any 3.4 Boxster issues (before!)

That "Truth about cars" article is however, full of inaccuracies and BS. The comments are just as bad.
Lots of half-understood rumour in there [:'(]

 

[snarf]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

That "Truth about cars" article is however, full of inaccuracies and BS. The comments are just as bad.
Lots of half-understood rumour in there [:'(]

Yes I'm sure you are right, it was the picture of the failed IMS and consequetial devastation that caught my eye.

 

[DSM]

ORIGINAL: paulstevens

During my weekly engine check (part of the weekly clean) I noticed the coolant had dropped below minimum on my 06 C2 52k Miles. I had not been experiencing any performance issues, nor was the oil emulsified, so I decided that a visit to my local OPC in Bournemouth was needed. Dropped it off on the Friday morning, took the offered Cayman S home. Thought I'd check last weeks lottery numbers, got my first ever winner since it all began, a whole £88! but better than nothing. 2hrs later OPC phoned to say that my drivers side bank of cylinders had a head gasket leak, but only to the outside, so the engine should be OK. How much? I enquired, a mere £2460, no worries I said, it's covered under warranty, "no sir, your warranty ran out 2 weeks ago" []. Why didn't you remind me? I enquired. At this point the conversation deterioted a tad. In the end I agreed that the OPC should do the work as they said they would do what they could for me. On the following Tuesday, I received a phone call, "we have good news & bad news for you sir", oh dear I thought, "the good news is there was no damage to you cylinder head or block faces and the leak did not leak inwards" oh good thought I, "the bad news is that all three cylinder bore liners are cracked," oh dash it thought I, what does this mean to me? "A new engine sir" was the calm reply. Once I picked myself up, realising I had no warranty, and nor did I have a spare £20k ish for a new engine, I just said bolt it together and I'll push it home! My man at the OPC (John Piper) said "there is some more good news dear customer", oh yea, said I, what could that be? "Porsche have agreed as a goodwill gesture to supply & install a complete new engine FOC". Once I stopped cheering and screaming I thanked John very much for his pressure onto Porsche.
I picked up the my car last Saturday and all is brilliant, except that I think my oil temp is running too high (110 - 115 deg C normal driving & upto 120 deg C when sustaining 4000rpm for a while (closed roads of course []).

So for once, a little praise for the actions or Porsche and Bournemouth OPC. Thanks to John as well.

I did some google work and found hints towards some kind of bad batch of liners around the time my original engine was built, and that Porsche would do a goodwill engine swap if the liners were the issue, but this seems to apply to the enlarged Boxster engine. Thoughts?

Sorry for the long post. Paul []

A similar thread on pistonheads. 06 C2S, 26K, metal in oil, piston /liner issue suspected, new engine likely.