txhokie4life

I hear that to reset the windows, you have to press and hold the window button down for 10 seconds while the window is in

the down AND up position.

My best guess on this is that the windows need to "know where they are"

because when the top is up, when you open the door the window drops a little

to clear the top frame, and when it closes it reseats is self against the top frame.

Nice feature actually -- my Z has the same thing.

M

yup that would be the seal plug,,,

cause is another defective internal part, old steel plug keeps failing,,,

But Porsche changed it in 98.

The plug must be replaced with a new plug made of aluminum !

not sure of our eventual fix -- may seal it shut or place a threaded brass plug --

Freezng the block in Texas is unlikely :-)

m

wvicary said:

I don't recall any problems with freeze plugs but have read a few cases where a oil plug in the cylinder head I believe came loose and caused a massive leak.

This I believe is one and the same -- the plug I am referring to is in the cylinder head.

It caused coolant and oil mixture and **** the engine down.

It got mis-diagnossed as a cylinder liner crack --

I bought it site unseen planning on rebuilding via relining from LNEngineering -- but it looks like

although we ripped all apart -- we don't have to do that.

What I want to make sure is that if someone else had this problem -- what was the believed cause -- want to make

sure I am fixing the problem -- and not just addressing a symptom of something else.

cheers,

M

I had a freeze plug issue on a 2000 S at 32k miles.

Ed.

Wow -- what was your resolution? How did you fix it?

How was it determined? -- Did it just fail -- or was there a cause?

thanks,

Mike

Do you know what the failure is exactly?

Are you sure your engine is not rebuildable?

Just had an '00 Boxster S torn apart -- with a coolant/oil geyser failure mode.

Dealership claimed a cracked liner, but after we tore it apart -- all we found so far is a freeze plug missing

from one of the cylinder heads, and found in the oil pan.

Hoping that is the cause and not just a symptom.... but if so,

a lot cheaper than other alternatives.

m

With the recent demise of my 3.4 engine (2000 C4 cab with 50,000 miles) due to the oil/coolant intermix I have done alot of research on options and pricing. Thought I would share the information I have gathered.

Pricing on Remanufactured engines from both Sunset and Suncoast

3.4 E-gas $11,010.06/$2,229.63 core charge

3.6 $8,543.78/$2,336.81 core charge

3.6 X51 $9,600.73/$2,566.24 core charge

Shipping seems to be $300-$400 each way to Chicago area. Remember that the core charge is refunded only after the core is returned to the dealer, then returned to Porsche and torn down to see if it is "rebuildable." I am not sure what impact a cracked cylinder head or cracked liner has on this refund, although Porsche does not seem to want to tell anyone what the problem with the engines are. Does anyone have any knowledge of how Porsche handles this.

Also, Suncoast says you can use a 3.4 core on a 3.6 engine, but you get the lower credit for the core return, so this could be a couple of hundred dollars.

R&R of the same engine (i.e. 3.4 for 3.4 or 3.6 for 3.6) seems to run from $1,500 to $2,500 depending on dealer or independant. Upgrading from a 3.4 to a 3.6 cost more. Roock quotes $4,000 to $5,000+ for a turnkey. They also said the price togo to a 3.8 (997) would be about the same. There was a 3.8S engine listed here in the classified for only $9,010 with a core charge of $2,376, but I have not checked this out with a dealer.

Other options, flat6 innovations is offering a rebuild, including new sleeves, and a proprietary IMS upgrade (they say better than Autofarm) for about $14,000. There is a shop in the Los Angeles area (not Motormeister) that has 3.4's foir $6,500, with a $2,500 core deposit, refunded if rebuildable, some reductions if a head is cracked, or a liner. 6 months 6,000 mile warranty. They say they check all heads and blocks for cracks, and have a proprietary upgrade to the IMS. Don't know too much about this one.

Of course there is always LA dismantlers, but there are alot of question and comments about these guys, and their pricing is almost what a remanufactured engine goes for.

I ahve been keeping an eye on the used market, and there seem to be engines (some new) that come on the market on a regular basis, but they also go real fast. There was a party on the classifieds here that had 3 3.6 engines, supposed to be new or almost, $11,000 for all three, or $3,500, $4,000 and $4,500 seperate, but he sold them in 2 days to a party that bought all three, I got there a few days later and they were gone. I would have gone for the $4,500 3.6 still in the crate, but too late.

By the way, I went to the dealer where I bought the car in 2000, and they said there was not way Porsche would help if the car was 8 years old.

Hope this helps others with engine failures. There seem to be alot of posts in the last few weeks.

Has anyone had a freeze plug failure in a Boxster (or Boxster S) happen in the cylinder heads?

Our tear down of the failure of my newly acquired Boxster S is missing a plug.

Original Porsche diagnosis was way off --

just doing some home work before we declare victory.....

thanks,

M

Can anyone tell me whether these headers will fit a 986 '00 Boxster S 3.2L?

997 X51 Headers

997-111-105-00 Left Header List $401.74 Now $286.44

997-111-106-00 Right Header List $401.74 Now $286.44

thanks,

m

Wow that looks great ---- will be on my todo list.

my salmon carpet has to go..........

m

Will 997 X51 headers fit a 00 3.2L S?

thanks,

M

I think it depends on what you are going to service.

Mechanical, fluids, etc -- I think you should service it in the spring.

Optionally if you are going to do the coolant -- you can think about it now if there is any

possibility that the coolant has become more corrosive (probably unlikely) and you don't want the old stuff in the system.

Otherwise I would do a normal winterization -- but since I live in Texas -- we don't bother with that here -- some would

argue this is nw "our season" - :-)

However I certainly would clean the car, and "renew" or otherwise treat exposed rubber and weather stripping to prevent

drying out and cracking.

Search on winterizing -- those that do it probably have other suggestions.

M

We are a small shop and looking at the Durametric tool.

We have a x431 but it is no help with Porsche.

Really interested in anyone opinion.

Thanks Daryl

+1 on Durametric's usefulness and the support you get from the owner, Duram.

Regards, Maurice.

Is there any software packages to program/control the ECU?

thanks,

M

We can change the profiles of the cams that you currently have, no problem. The upgrade to 3.6 is also something that we can assist with.. What are the current plans for the engine??

I'd be happy to assist you in any way possible.

Jake Raby

I have foiund locally a mechanic that is reasonable and good to work with. I do the investigative work, he does the skilled labor.

I am finding out what is possible and we are working together to make it happen Some things we plan to oursource,

such as relining by LNEngineering, if it is determined that that is necessary -- the rest of the work will be done

by us (well mostly him :-)

So that is why I am doing the leg work and "engineering" the solutions and checking out the what-if possibilities.

The engine surrouds were pulled last night, the engine should come out today.

Here's a pick of the draining of the oil -- not pretty!

Mike

I'll be pulling out the engine and most likely boring it out to 3.6L?

Is it conceivable to replace the current camshafts from those of the newer models

that have the VarioCamPlus?

Would I need to change the engine control or just have it reprogrammed?

thanks,

m

Her comments, based on my memory of the discussion (caveat - I don't know much about engines or engine technologies, and they are magical contraptions as far as I'm concerned):

There are a lot of plastic parts inside the M96 engines, much more than anyone would expect, and many are potential failure points

It doesn't seem to matter if the cars are driven hard or babied. There's a high correlation between not driving the cars and engine failures. If the cars sit, the engines are much more likely to fail

There are lots of plastic parts internally and they are breaking. We are eliminating as many of these as possible. Some of them aren't easy to replace with a higher grade component, especially those in the oiling system.

Still waiting to have my mechanic pull the engine out of my 3.2 S and confirm the need for re-lining -- but the POR is to use LNEngineering.

While I have the engine out I plan to attack all the known issues with the engine. Liners, IMS, Timing Chains.

Do you replacements identified for the plastic pieces? Or suggest alternatives?

I kind of fell like while the engine is out -- fix everything you can.

If I am having the Liners, Pistons, and IMS taking care of by LNEngineering, what else would you recommend

that my mechanic and I attack/replace.

thanks,

M