Engine Serial Numbers

[ghiaguy0]

I just bought a 2005 987 non S. I took it to the dealer that I have some of my service done and one of the master tech's said he thought the engine I had was not the original. He said he has been doing this for 30 years and the engine serial number does not match the age of my car and he also said that it was way to clean. I tried to call Porsche North America but the could not release the information? I want to know if it is a new engine. I just started to develop a crank case seal leak and hope that it may be covered. The car has 45k miles.

[Richard Hamilton]

Engine serial numbers have 8 digits.

1st digit - No of Cylinders

2nd digit - Engine Version

3rd digit - Model Year

4th-8th digit - Serial Number

On a MY2005 Boxster the original engine would have the number 615*****.  On a 986 the engine number stamped on the crankcase at the bottom, and I assume the 987 is the same.  If you can get under the car to check the 3rd digit, it would show the year of the engine.

[ghiaguy0]

Here is what the dealer supplied me as the serial#. The mechanic said that the numbers do not match the timing of the car. The car was put in service 01/05. I checked the sticker on the drivers door and it has 11/04 as the build date.

So with your your formula here is what I think it means.

Engine 25At 61665055

1st digit - No of Cylinders 6

2nd digit - Engine Version 1

3rd digit - Model Year 6

4th-8th digit - Serial Number 65055

Edited April 17, 2010 by ghiaguy0

[1schoir]

Engine serial numbers have 8 digits.

1st digit - No of Cylinders

2nd digit - Engine Version

3rd digit - Model Year

4th-8th digit - Serial Number

On a MY2005 Boxster the original engine would have the number 615*****.  On a 986 the engine number stamped on the crankcase at the bottom, and I assume the 987 is the same.  If you can get under the car to check the 3rd digit, it would show the year of the engine.

Here is a photo of a Boxster engine serial number. It does not appear to match the above scheme for numbering, unless I am reading it wrong:

Regards, Maurice.

[ghiaguy0]

Were is the Stamp? I had it as #96/25AT61665055 Totally differant than what your's looks like. I will double check. Thanks

[catmanluge]

My engine has M96 0166W050SU

I guess we will need Lorens clarification!

Edited April 17, 2010 by catmanluge

[Richard Hamilton]

Engine 25At 61665055

I think you will find that AT means that it is an exchange engine, and the serial number of 61665055 means that it is a 2006 engine.

Maybe Loren can clarify.

Maurice - the W in your photo is Model Year W - 1998. The engine type is a M96/20.

Edited April 17, 2010 by Richard Hamilton

[1schoir]

Engine 25At  61665055

I think you will find that AT means that it is an exchange engine, and the serial number of 61665055 means that it is a 2006 engine.

Maybe Loren can clarify.

Maurice - the W in your photo is Model Year W - 1998.  The engine type is a M96/20.

Richard:

Thanks for the clarification. The engine in the photo is indeed from a 1998 Boxster.

Does the "5" after the "6" mean it is the "fifth" version of the M96/20 engine?

Regards, Maurice.

[1schoir]

Were is the Stamp? I had it as #96/25AT61665055 Totally differant than what your's looks like. I will double check. Thanks

ghiaguy0:

The engine number is stamped onto a flat protrusion located just above where the oil pan meets the bottom of the block, all the way at the rear corner of the oil pan, on the passenger side (on a Boxster). Keep in mind that on a 911, the engine is oriented 180 degrees around.

Here are two photos which should help to orient you. (Note that the thermostat has been removed in this photo and that if you don't have headers, the exhaust manifold will look different, and a lot "flatter").

In this photo, the opening onto which the thermostat is normally mounted is at the bottom right, and the engine number is all the way at the bottom of the photo, near the left edge of the photo:

Here is a closer view of the raised boss onto which the engine number is stamped:

Regards, Maurice.

Edited April 17, 2010 by 1schoir

[Loren]

As Richard said - 616 in the serial number would signify a 2006 engine (which is likely a good thing).

M96/25 is a a 2.7 liter motor

AT means exchange - but could be factory new built (for the exchange program). Engines that are rebuilt from old engines (with new parts) are usually AX, BX, CX, DX, etc.

[ghiaguy0]

Thanks for all your help. So it looks like a newer engine. I would guess then that any warrenty for the exhange would be gone since they only warrenty for 2 years after replacement. So with the newer engine would it have the new RMS update then? I was planning on having the crank case seal replaced and since they would have the engine out I was going to have the RMS seal replaced at the same time. But if it has the newer RMS then maybe not until the leak gets worse. It only dropps a bit of oil after it sits for a few days. Any thoughts on the crank case leak?

[Loren]

The new engine would have whatever updates were available when it was built in 2006. It could (and likely does) have the IMS update.

It should have a two year warranty from install date and the Porsche service database should be able to tell you exactly when it was installed.

[ghiaguy0]

I called Porsche North America and they would not release that info to me. Said I had to be the owner that did it. The Vin is WP0CA298X5U710506

[Loren]

I called Porsche North America and they would not release that info to me. Said I had to be the owner that did it. The Vin is WP0CA298X5U710506

Talk to your local dealer (always go this route first) and ask them to look it up and tell you the info. Most will.

They will not (in most cases) tell you anything else - like previous owners private info.

[ghiaguy0]

I went to my local dealer MAG and they said they could not locate any info on it. I wonder if it is becasue they are in Ohio and the Car came from Arizona?

[PTEC]

The AT in the serial number means its a reman engine from Porsche. The engine was probably installed under warranty so there would be no coverage past the original warranty period, especially not for someone who isn't the original owner. The tech probably said it was too clean because the reman engines do not come with the cosmoline coating which is applied to the original engines.

Edited April 17, 2010 by PTEC

[SRVwannab]

I have an '05 Boxster S that received a new engine from Porsche in '09 when the car had 13k miles on it.

I bought the car in October when the car had 26k miles on it.

The paperwork on the replacement says that the new engine # is M968266250307. Is there any way of knowing if the new engine would be of the latest design relative to IMS issues?

Thanks!

[JFP in PA]

I have an '05 Boxster S that received a new engine from Porsche in '09 when the car had 13k miles on it.

I bought the car in October when the car had 26k miles on it.

The paperwork on the replacement says that the new engine # is M968266250307. Is there any way of knowing if the new engine would be of the latest design relative to IMS issues?

Thanks!

If it was installed by a dealer in 2009, it has the last design IMS bearing.

[SRVwannab]

I have an '05 Boxster S that received a new engine from Porsche in '09 when the car had 13k miles on it.

I bought the car in October when the car had 26k miles on it.

The paperwork on the replacement says that the new engine # is M968266250307. Is there any way of knowing if the new engine would be of the latest design relative to IMS issues?

Thanks!

If it was installed by a dealer in 2009, it has the last design IMS bearing.

Thanks for your quick response- donation on the way for a great forum!