Need help with service manual on rebuilding my engine

[Mihai Popa]

Hello Gents, 

I recently purchased a Porsche Boxster S 2004 special edition ( gorgeous car with only 24k miles). Purchased it as a fixer upper, initial the owner said it needs a rear main seal, leaked oil and stopped then they took it to the dealership but eventually the owner decided to sell it. Long story short the IMS bearing was destroyed  and now i am looking to rebuild the engine. Mainly just to replace the IMS, ( no other damage to the engine as far i can tell)  but i have a hard time finding any documentation or steps on disassemble/assembling the engine.The Porsche service manual by Bentley does not include this info, i did found some info but this is for a 2001 Porsche S and my understand is that they might are slightly different. 

Thank you in advanced for your time and consideration.  

[JFP in PA]

9 hours ago, Mihai Popa said:

Hello Gents, 

I recently purchased a Porsche Boxster S 2004 special edition ( gorgeous car with only 24k miles). Purchased it as a fixer upper, initial the owner said it needs a rear main seal, leaked oil and stopped then they took it to the dealership but eventually the owner decided to sell it. Long story short the IMS bearing was destroyed  and now i am looking to rebuild the engine. Mainly just to replace the IMS, ( no other damage to the engine as far i can tell)  but i have a hard time finding any documentation or steps on disassemble/assembling the engine.The Porsche service manual by Bentley does not include this info, i did found some info but this is for a 2001 Porsche S and my understand is that they might are slightly different. 

Thank you in advanced for your time and consideration.  

 

Welcome to RennTech

As Porsche never expected, or wanted, field techs to rebuild these engines, they have never published anything on the process, such as proper bearing clearances or even torque specs.  There are sources such as Flat Six (Jake Raby) that run classes on proper engine rebuilding techniques, and have published some information on the topic.

 

If you have suffered an IMS failure, one rebuild item that is critical is to get the engine cases and heads ultra sonically cleaned, as IMS failures result in vast amounts of very small metal particles being all through the engine passages, and proper cleaning and removal is critical as just one particle can trash a fresh rebuild.

 

Good luck...…..

 

[Mihai Popa]

Thank you very much JFP, and yea i will need as much luck as possible ?, never really worked on a Porsche before. I found these videos and i see he is using a book for torque specs and other details but i couldn't get a hold of him, the videos are pretty old. Good stuff but not a whole lot of details.

 

[JFP in PA]

4 minutes ago, Mihai Popa said:

Thank you very much JFP, and yea i will need as much luck as possible ?, never really worked on a Porsche before. I found these videos and i see he is using a book for torque specs and other details but i couldn't get a hold of him, the videos are pretty old. Good stuff but not a whole lot of details.

 

 

Jake's books are available from LN Engineering: Flat Six Tech books

[Mihai Popa]

No seeing the one for a 986. 

Thanks for sharing the link.

[JFP in PA]

8 minutes ago, Mihai Popa said:

No seeing the one for a 986. 

Thanks for sharing the link.

 

The engines in the 996 is exactly the same as those in the 986...…………...

[Mihai Popa]

Notes, Cheers. 

any knowledge of ppl from this community swapping the 3.2 engines with 3.4 from the 996?

[JFP in PA]

6 minutes ago, Mihai Popa said:

Notes, Cheers. 

any knowledge of ppl from this community swapping the 3.2 engines with 3.4 from the 996?

 

It can be done, but you need to proceed with caution as to which years. Reason is that each subsequent year the technology in the cars (DME version, fuel system, use of CAN Bus technology, etc.) changed, and updating an older car to use the newer tech can be both a bear to accomplish, and result in a "Frankenstein" car with limited resale or trade value.

[Mihai Popa]

Got it, i think i will stick with the rebuild since this is a limited edition and i want to keep it as close to factory as possible. do you recommend any shops that do engine rebuilds  at a resolvable price/time ( i called LN and they want 16k for the rebuild and the lead time is 3-4 months) ?

Cheers 

[JFP in PA]

4 minutes ago, Mihai Popa said:

Got it, i think i will stick with the rebuild since this is a limited edition and i want to keep it as close to factory as possible. do you recommend any shops that do engine rebuilds  at a resolvable price/time ( i called LN and they want 16k for the rebuild and the lead time is 3-4 months) ?

Cheers 

 

Hate to tell you, but LN and Jake Raby are the only shops to consider, they simply are the best, and $16K is not that bad a price for one of theirs, particularly as factory remans which are no longer available were going nearly $20K for a short block.

[Mihai Popa]

yes, i agree, i have heard only great things about them and the price would be okish but the 3-4 months wait i think its way too much. I have rebuild couple wrx sti engines and they didn't seemed that complicated( but there was a whole lot more information on them than this porsche)this is why i'm thinking at a diy. 

Anyways thank you for the info, very much appreciated!

[JFP in PA]

39 minutes ago, Mihai Popa said:

yes, i agree, i have heard only great things about them and the price would be okish but the 3-4 months wait i think its way too much. I have rebuild couple wrx sti engines and they didn't seemed that complicated( but there was a whole lot more information on them than this porsche)this is why i'm thinking at a diy. 

Anyways thank you for the info, very much appreciated!

 

There is absolutely no comparison between the WRX engines and one of these, have you ever investigated the specialized tooling required (all must haves), and little wonders like installing the piston wrist pin snap rings in one of these engines?  Building a ship in a bottle is child's play by comparison.  A lot of people have started one of these rebuilds, only to never finish them or farm the process out to a shop that has done them.  Be sure you really know what you are getting into before even thinking about tearing one of these engines apart.

 

[Mihai Popa]

that was actually the first thing i researched, specials tools, and i think i pinned most of them( they are not cheap that is for sure). So i can get the tools, i have some basic knowledge but i'm really missing  the confidence and that mainly because i don't have very good documentations and instructions.