Engine failure question

[tmc]

Sigh....

My beloved 2002 Targa had a catastrophic engine failure two nights ago. I was driving along and it sounded like someone had put a bowling ball in a clothes dryer.

Porsche service at my local joint confirmed my worst fears: my engine is gone.

They say that even though it is out of warranty, PCNA may cover half (the car has all of 18,500 miles on it). Half is still a lot of green.

So I plunged through the past service history from the prior owner and found that in 2004, with about 12,500 on the clock, the car had its RMS and intermediate shaft seals replaced due to an oil leak. (The service was done, luckily, not at the same dealership where she sits today, lonely and powerless.)

Do you think that a botched job on that could have lead to engine failure 6,000 miles later? If so, I will use it to argue they should give me a whole new engine.

tmc

[Loren]

You may want to ask to have a PCNA rep be present during tear down. Certainly a bad seal install could cause the seal to blow out and lose all of the oil. But just like an autopsy these things need to be investigated by an unbiased professional (IMHO of course).

[Johnnyceesred]

Sigh....

My beloved 2002 Targa had a catastrophic engine failure two nights ago. I was driving along and it sounded like someone had put a bowling ball in a clothes dryer.

Porsche service at my local joint confirmed my worst fears: my engine is gone.

They say that even though it is out of warranty, PCNA may cover half (the car has all of 18,500 miles on it). Half is still a lot of green.

So I plunged through the past service history from the prior owner and found that in 2004, with about 12,500 on the clock, the car had its RMS and intermediate shaft seals replaced due to an oil leak. (The service was done, luckily, not at the same dealership where she sits today, lonely and powerless.)

Do you think that a botched job on that could have lead to engine failure 6,000 miles later? If so, I will use it to argue they should give me a whole new engine.

tmc

Sorry to hear about your bad news. I hope you get a fair reaction and solution from PCNA. I'd also be interested to see if the inspection after the engine's been dismantled, reveals any similar faults as shown in my thread on my misfire problem.

My fingers are crossed for you.

Best regards

John

[tmc]

I fear they've already taken it apart, so the chance is passed now. I trust (yeah, I know) this service advisor. I'll let you know what he says.

He is fighting for me to try to get PCNA to cover the whole deal. They're the largest Porsche dealership in the Carolinas.

tmc

[Johnnyceesred]

Good luck, I hope all goes well from here.

Rgds

John

[bhussung]

Hang in there man, and keep pushing the issue with PCNA. It is entirely possible for them to cover the entire parts and labor bill. Depending on the findings of the postmortem, they very well may decide to cover the entire replacement (refurbished engine) cost.

A similar scenario happened to me about a year and a half ago. I returned my pcar to the originating dealership, and seeing the potential lifetime customer, PCNA covered the parts and the dealership covered the entire labor bill.

Hope it works out for you...

Good Luck...

[tmc]

Thanks. I got the sales manager in the loop (I have a fully optioned 07 987S on order...)

Here's hoping they do the right thing.

I still can't get over the fact that an engine with less than 19k on the clock failed!

[tmc]

The word from PCNA is they will pay for a new engine (~$9k) and I need to pay for the labor (~$2k).

So I guess that's better than it could have been...

Tom

[demosan]

The word from PCNA is they will pay for a new engine (~$9k) and I need to pay for the labor (~$2k).

So I guess that's better than it could have been...

Tom

TMC,

Ope the new motor gets installed quickly and without incident!!

demosan

[demosan]

The word from PCNA is they will pay for a new engine (~$9k) and I need to pay for the labor (~$2k).

So I guess that's better than it could have been...

Tom

TMC,

Part of my reply to you got omitted from my reply to your note. I was curious as to what the failure mechanism was as a result of the engine tear-down?? Did you lose all the oil ( almost all) through a catastrophic RMS failure??

Good luck with the new motor and it sounds like PCNA treated you "fairly" in the process!!

Demosan

[tmc]

Part of my reply to you got omitted from my reply to your note. I was curious as to what the failure mechanism was as a result of the engine tear-down?? Did you lose all the oil ( almost all) through a catastrophic RMS failure??

No oil appears to have been lost, so I think we can rule out RMS failure.

From all symptoms (e.g., the "bowling ball in the clothes dryer" sounds when it was dying), I surmise that it was intermediate shaft failure. They are not confirming that -- in part, because I suspect PCNA would not like to confirm the specific cause of engine failure. Since I work sometimes as an expert witness in lawsuits, this makes sense to me!

tmc

[dporsche74]

so why do you think they gave a new engine because of the low 18K milage or the newer 2002 model yr or you buying a new 07 987S

[tmc]

so why do you think they gave a new engine because of the low 18K milage or the newer 2002 model yr or you buying a new 07 987S

No idea. The low mileage didn't hurt. Having a new 07 987S on order meant the sales manager encouraged the service manager to go to bat for me. But I think he would have anyway.