BIG Mistake? Porsche Boxster S M96 Core Engine Teardown. What Happened Here?
444,609
Published 2023-09-02
I've been tearing down engines on camera for 2 and a half years! Search my channel to see what I've torn down. Here's a few recents:
Mini Cooper/PSA N14 • JUNK Mini Cooper S (BMW/Peugeot) N14 ...
Ford 1.0 Ecoboost 3cyl • JUNK Ford Ecosport 1.0L 3-Cylinder Ec...
Infiniti/Nissan VR30DDTT • 60K Miles on 1 Oil Change!?! Infiniti...
Dodge Ram 8.0 V10 • 8 LITERS OF DESTRUCTION! Dodge Ram V1...
Today I get the pleasure of tearing into a Porsche M96. This M96.24 is a 3.2L Flat 6 from a 2003-2004 Porsche Boxster S. 258HP, Variocam plus. This is a core return from a good engine we sold. On this particular engine, I required the core to be returned or I would not sell it. FINALLY, we sold the engine and got the core back in the last two weeks. Sadly, I don't have details like mileage or symptoms, but we do have an engine to teardown and try to figure out what happened.
On most of the cores I get, they're hurt pretty bad and there's not a lot to sell from them. On this one, I hoped for the least amount of damage as possible. These engines part out extremely well, so I was really hoping for the most minor of damage possible!
Why am I doing this? My name is Eric and I own and run a full service auto salvage business. Part of our model is parting out blown up and core engines to salvage the good parts. We do not rebuild engines, merely supply parts to those that do!
I really hope you enjoyed this teardown. As always, I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism. Catch you all on the next one!
-Eric
All Comments (21)
-
Porsche is not a 2 syllable word.
-
Feel free to throw the water pump as hard and far as possible. M96 water pumps are a known failure item; replacing them is "routine" maintenance (like every 50k miles IIRC). Nice to see the engine torn down as far as it was; I now appreciate my 996's motor that much more.
-
Yes, not tearing down the short block is the right decision. Besides, it's no fun if there's no carnage to revel in.
-
I had a 2004 986 S and tore my 3.2 out and did the IMS repair and sold the engine for a big chunk of money because it ran and was worth something. Bought a wrecked 2004 Carrera S 997 and pulled the 3.6 M96 and swapped it into my 986 S. With cams intake and exhaust it made 360whp. Thing was an absolute rocket. Sold it last year for $25k. It was bittersweet selling it.
-
cool video Eric, there were no indications of lubrication failure in the parts you removed and examined so I totally agree with your decision to not strip the motor any further 👍
-
Homie goes out and buys white gloves for a 5 second joke. Lol love it.
-
This is most friendly and gentle engine teardown in the channel history. 😅
-
Thanks for sharing. Love seeing Porsche, now Ferrari next…
-
An expensive core that you've been looking for? That's hardcore.
-
This one was interesting. I bought a Y2K Boxster S used for $25K and it was a great car. I was enjoying it for a few months until I heard about the IMS failure that could happen without warning, and Porsche wasn't backing it up with any kind of recall or warranty. I took the car to a Porsche car show hoping to sell it when I discovered a 28K mile black 930 turbo coupe for sale for only $31K (before the big price surge). So it all worked out peachy. That Boxster engine makes music and it did run great but I wasn't about to dump $15K into a new engine just in case it decided to explode backing out of the driveway.
-
That motor looks much bigger than I expected
-
Watching this video just shows how masterful you really are in your craft. I know there are countless hours of footage that are cut, and even more off camera time looking up manuals and procedures on any first-time teardown, but once put all together then edited into the final product… it’s an absolute thing of beauty. While I do enjoy watching you throw parts across your shop and tell jokes while beating on an old LS, I still want to say thank you for allowing us the privilege of watching you work for your business. Finally, this is another fine example of content that this channel provides, sometimes its complete carnage, sometimes it’s good old dad jokes and spicy tacos, but then these rare times it’s a more serious first-time tear down, but every time it’s always a great video. Thanks again.
-
Even though you had to stop short ( perfectly understandable ) it was interesting to see the engineering ethos of Porsche. I am always fascinated to see how each engine builder drives their camshafts and valvetrains which, I feel, is their engineering signature. In this engine, everything seemed to be built to have a solid purpose with as few frills as possible. As opposed to Audi which seems to think the more parts, the better. If you have the chance to take apart an Audi V8 you will see what I mean. Keep them coming!
-
I like the way you treated the parts to show how you take care of not losing anything if you need them again.
-
The "E" and "A" labels on the cam caps probalby refer to "Einlass" and "Auslass" - Intake and Exhaust in German. Likely checked and labeleyd before assembly.
-
This engine is actually HUGE! WOW! Takes up a lot of space on a mid or rear engine car.
-
I have never seen you be that careful taking things apart 🤣 I agree not tearing down the short block, I was thinking about this a few minutes before you mentioned it yourself 🙂
-
My guess is someone might have went to change the IMS cover seal or even IMS and didn’t have the camshafts locked. It jumped time and valves hit when started. The only annoying part rebuilding these engines is finding a place they can deal with cylinder liners. Those bores look excellent The real sad part is the valves are pretty cheap to replace.
-
You did the right thing Eric. Enjoyed seeing the innards of that engine as far as you went. Actually, nice to see something that deserves some TLC while coming apart.
-
Really hope to see a rotary engine teardown on this channel
