Car wash, another reason not too...

[mrmickeymouse]

"Ouch! Took my '99 Boxster 2.5 (40k) through a touch-free car wash this morning. The car was running perfectly (and always has). This is the kind of wash that hoses your car down with high pressure soap and water. While in the wash I heard a horrible mechanical sound and my engine seized.:eek: I think the high pressure water got forced into the air intake and into the cylindars. The car wash is only a block from my house, so the car wasn't even up to operating temp yet.

I had the car towed to my mechanic. His preliminary diagnosis is water in the cylindars, but he won't know for sure until next week.

Has anyone heard of this happening before? I'm looking at needing a new motor. Obviously, I'd like to have the car wash pay.

As for new motors, can I replace with a more powerful one? What are my options?

Thanks."

:oops:

http://forums1.roadfly.org/porsche/forums/.../5684118-1.html

[Tool Pants]

If that owner got into the desnork fad then I would have very little sympathy. I warn people that will increase the chance of water being sucked up into the engine.

Porsche has changed the design of the air tube (the snork) twice in an effort to reduce the chance of water being sucked into the engine. Then Porsche raised the side intake vent housing in 2000 so that it would not be flush with the body to further reduce water from being injested. Then for 2003 Porsche blocked off the lower vents on the intake. And then what do people caught up in a fad do?

Chris was a mechanic at my local dealer. Several years ago he told me about a customer car that came in after going through a car wash. One of the water jets must have been spraying directly into the intake vent, which filled the air box with water. Car came out of the car wash and customer started the car and it ran bad and had a check engine light. The air box has a drain at the bottom but it is a very small drain and the air box can hold a lot of water. Water was sucked into the engine when started but not enough to hydro lock it and break the engine. This car still had the air tube.