Major breakdown

[RGB8888]

Well Boxster ownership was all going sweetly until about 2 hours ago.

Had just washed her and decided to go for a run to a local garden centre. Roof down enjoying the sun .......

Under acceleration in 3rd just approaching garden centre I suddenly noticed a cloud of white/greyish smoke from the back which eased off and then continued. Pulled into the garden centre car park and into a space, oil pressure light came on and switched off immediately. Smoke then started coming out of the air intakes and I got out - worried it might catch fire ……. It didn’t

Now standing outside the car I then noticed a trail of oil following me into the car park space, and oil covering the freshly washed rear bumper. Looked down the drive and it had gone right from the entrance too. (When I got a lift back with my parents later you can see the trail of oil for about 1/4 mile prior to the garden centre). The engine oil was spot on when I set off and now it is empty on the electronic dipstick – so it has dropped a lot very quickly - and looking underneath its covered

Its typically Sunday so have left the car in secure garden centre car park and will have it recovered to my independent Porsche specialist tomorrow. I am half way through my 3 month warranty as only purchased car in March. It has now done 60,000 miles and I have put 2,500 mile on it since I picked it up.

I am guessing this is pretty dam serious - any ideas as to what this might be?

Could this be the classic water cooled engine-going-pop problem? – this happened to my cousin’s 996 C4 requiring a new engine.

Would appreciate some advice - thanks

RGB

[Rodger]

No noise? If it didn't make a bad noise and stop running altogether, it sounds more like an oil seal somewhere failed. Did your car get a PPI before you bought it?

[FrayAdjacent986]

Definitely could be a seal. At first I'd think the Air Oil Separator might be gone, but you likely wouldn't have a trail of oil...

Get it to a wrench and see what they say. If you have a warranty on it, it should come in handy!

Oh yeah, and it always helps if you tell us what year and model your car is. I.e. '2001 base Boxster' or '2003 Boxster S'.... since there are some minor difference from year to year that we might need to take into account when diagnosing problems.

Edited May 20, 2007 by FrayAdjacent986

[Richard Hamilton]

I think there have been cases of oil gallery plugs popping out, and it sounds like that has happened to you. I'm sure Tool Pants will be along with the answer soon.

[Tool Pants]

When I hear that the oil has dumped on the ground I think an intermediate shaft failure. The shaft has a threaded end with a bolt on it. When this shaft shears then you are left with a round hole for the oil to pour out. But that does not sound like what happened to your car.

Richard may be right about the plug. There are reports of this on the UK message boards. For some reason I do not see these reports on the US boards and I have never seen this plug being replaced at the Porsche dealer.

If you are lucky it might just be the plug.

[RGB8888]

When I hear that the oil has dumped on the ground I think an intermediate shaft failure. The shaft has a threaded end with a bolt on it. When this shaft shears then you are left with a round hole for the oil to pour out. But that does not sound like what happened to your car.

Richard may be right about the plug. There are reports of this on the UK message boards. For some reason I do not see these reports on the US boards and I have never seen this plug being replaced at the Porsche dealer.

If you are lucky it might just be the plug.

Thanks guys - will keep my fingers crossed till I get the diagnosis from my local Porsche specialist. Mine is a year 2000 Boxster 3.2 S with 60,000 miles

Interesting exactly the same thing happened to a guy who has posted on boxa.net and his is also awaiting diagnosis. His was is also a 2000 3.2 S with 63K miles

[por986]

Not a porsche, but for what it is worth, I had a friend that had a Ford that did something similar. His was an Oil Pump that went crazy and increased pressure causing the oil filter seal to rupture!!

[RGB8888]

Okay update for you.

My Porsche specialist has inspected the car and said that one of the core plugs had popped out. He has replaced it and used a special lock tight compound to hold it in place. He topped up the oil and it needed 3 litres to reach the full level. Considering the quantity of oil left on the recovery truck and on the workshop floor it suggests that it probably only dropped 1.5 litres when it popped and the smoke was a result of the oil hitting the hot exhaust.

He has run the engine and said it was running sweetly, he has dropped the oil and replaced the lot with fresh Mobil 1 together with a new oil filter. He is going to keep the car, to let the lock tight cure and then use a compound on top to ensure it stays in place and give it a full road test.

Hopefully ready for Monday

[Tool Pants]

Richard was correct and you are lucky. Next time I am at the local dealer I'll try to take a picture of this plug. Strange that this seems to be a UK thing.