I have a 2000 Boxster with 89000 miles on it. I am the only owner, only driver, and have been very good about keeping up with it. I do some DIY here and there, but nothing major. I probably would have done the belt work I mention below but I thought it was going to be quick and easy so decided to let a shopt take care of it. Here's the story:
Sunday 8/30 I drove with my wife to run a couple of errands, probably about 5 miles. On the way back home I hear a whining/grinding right behind me so I figure it is the serpentine belt. I'm within a couple of minutes of home so I complete the trip back. Temperature was slightly above normal, but it was also about 100F outside. Next morning, 8/31, I take it to my shop which is also only a few miles away. I don't hear the noise, but I leave it with them and explain what I heard. Later in the day they called to confirm that it was indeed the serp belt (cracked) and that the belt tensioner was bad. So they recommend replacing both. They finish the work and call me on 9/2 explaining that there is also a crack in the vacuum line and they replace that as well. I was getting CEL on for a week or so, then off for a few weeks at a time over the past few months so I figure the vacuum leak made sense. Otherwise, the car had been performing and running perfectly until the belt sound.
I picked up the car on 9/3 after all work was complete. I start a drive from Orange County to LA. Immediately into the drive I hear the whining noise behind me again, consistent pitch with the engine rpm's, and notice the car is "jumping" a lot when shifting. I call my shop and determine to keep driving because there was no bad smell, smoke, or rise in temperature. About 15 minutes later I pull off to fill up on gas. As I'm filling up the car vents fluid everywhere on the ground. It smelled like coolant but was coffee-like in color and kind of foamy too. I call the shop back and the recommend to bring it back immediately or have it towed. I drove it back most of the way but it got up to about 225F so I pull over and shut it down. I call the shop and they call a tow for me. As I'm waiting the car again vents the same substance. When the car is delivered to the shop the guy there sees the fluid on the tow truck and says "that's really bad." Indicating that the coolant and oil have apparently mixed somewhere in-line. From my limited knowledge I suggest that isn't this typically do to a cracked cylinder or engine block, and the guy at the shop agrees that it likely is and that my engine is most likely "done." He immediately begins to cover his tracks saying that this problem had nothing to do with what they were working on with the belt/tensioner, although he mentions that when the re-tensioned the belt that it may have been tighter than before causing the water pump to fail...again suggesting that this would have nothing to do with the work that they did. Now, I am not certain what is typical for a belt and tensioner repair, but they removed the alternator, power steering pump, a/c compressor, throttle body assy, intake tube, and power steering bracket. I suggest to the guy at the shop that it is much too ironic that I drive no more than 30 minutes after their work and my car basically shuts down and is "done" according to him.
I finally receive a call from the shop this afternoon, their message saying "good news" your car is fixed and ready to go. The apparent problem being a failed heater valve which caused the venting of the fluid. They, of course, want me to pay for it saying it had nothing to do with the work they did. I show up at the shop to pick up the car and get into a big argument with them about what happened. They agreed (sort of) to not force me to pay for the new work but blame me for the problem...car isn't properly maintained, they say the "log" indicated several recent overheats which I did not address. BS, I have never overheated in my car until yesterday after the work they did on it. I ask them about the oil in the coolant and say it was like that when I brought it in. Again, BS, there is no way...I know what coolant looks like and this is not what was in my tank...I see it often because I am in my trunk all the time. They say that they don't know why the coolant is contaminated with oil and that I didn't pay them to figure it out so they don't know. They also tell me, "we don't know what you put in your coolant system." Please, coolant you piece of sh....... So now they say that the car is "driveable" and make me leave the shop. They also refuse to give me the log readout saying that I didn't pay for it...even though I paid them $1100 yesterday for the work on the belt/tensioner. I drive home, again no more than a few miles, and there is obvious smoke coming from the engine area. The car is shifting really hard, but no noise anymore from the belt area. It appears they finally fixed the belt problem, but caused a myriad of other problems by not fixing it correctly the first time.
As of now I am really angry and suspsect that my car is likely going to really be done within the next few minutes or miles of driving. Do you have any suggestions as to what could have happened with all of this and what the relationship is between the work they did and the overheating? They insist it is completely unrelated, but I just can't believe that. I have driven this car for over 9 years with no major problems, and within minutes of leaving their shop I am stranded with an overheated engine and coolant contaminated with oil. I feel I will need to take my car somewhere else for evaluation but the thousands of dollars that it is going to cost for someone else to fix the problem seems and feels like it should be the responsibility of the shop that messed it up. Considering they had to escort me out of the building, I am sure they are not going to be willing to pick up the cost for another shop to repair, and I sure as hell am not taking it back to them to mess it up even further.
My speculation is that they did not reassemble the many parts they removed correctly. The belt was still making a sound on pick-up which makes me think that it was not running properly and that they obviously did not put something back together the right way. Is it possible that this led to the water pump not functioning which led to the overheating, which led to the heater valve rupture, and amongst all of this caused a crack in the cylinder/head? I am not familiar with what causes a cracked cylinder so please let me know if any of this could be related/relevant.
Another interesting note is that my service record yesterday included only the CEL codes they found (P1128, P1130) and the belt/tensioner problem...no mention of anything else. Don't you think they would have / should have noticed the coolant being contaminated with oil while doing all of this work, removal, replacement of parts? I know I sure would have if it was there.
Today's service record explains in great detail how the 90k mile service is due, the car is poorly maintained, engine oil is dirty, front motor mount clunks, coolant has contaminant, and oil seperator is incorrect for the car (996 instead of 986). In other words, they are obviously trying to cover their tracks. They were extremely defensive about the work they did, insisting that they could not have possibly done anything wrong...which again to me implies that they know they did something and don't want to fess up. BTW, this is a Porsche-only shop. Something else to consider is that they told me the initial belt/tensioner work would take ~6hrs to complete and I'd have the car back in a day. I got a subsequent call from them saying that the work was going to take more like 9-12 hrs of work and that it was much more complicated than they had anticipated, and two days were added to completion. This makes me think that they screwed some stuff up along the way and had to do some repair that they caused and didn't mention...probably leading to or contributing to the cyclinder/head crack, assuming that's what it is.
I am thinking to flush the coolant today and replace it just to see what happens, and how long it takes for the contamination to occur, and to what extent. Right now the coolant looks like coffee, so I assume it is highly contaminated.
I am really hoping someone can help me with this, at least to understand what has possibly happened to my baby and how I should proceed with this mess. Thank you so much for any help and insight you can give me.
Again, many thanks,
crwarren11
Orange County, CA