Hey everyone, if this post is in the incorrect forum, I apologize. I will repost if necessary.

I know this is a lengthy post so I'll give an early bulleted summary:
-2001 Boxster leaking oil
-Paid over $1,000 to have cam covers repaired at dealership (didn't fix it)
-Now dealership claims it's the RMS (another $1,000)
-Questions at end of post

Here is my situation:
About a month ago, my 986 boxster began a slow drip of oil onto the exhaust and I was signaled by a distinct burning smell after I parked her. After she'd sit overnight there would be a tiny puddle (maybe 1/8 cup) of oil on the floor. I immediately began checking around for someone who could diagnose the problem but within a short few days the leak drastically increased. In fact, the last night I drove it was when I pulled into my garage and it leaked about 4 or 5 cups of oil. You could even see a visible trail of oil behind the vehicle. I checked the oil again and it still wasn't low, but I dared not drive it anymore.

I had it flatbedded to a local shop to diagnose and they had no idea what they were talking about... they said it was transaxle fluid and they couldn't work on it. I then had it flatbedded to another local shop and they said they didn't even have the tools to diagnose it.

Well, to make a long story short, I broke down and had it bedded to the dealership over an hour away (Bert Wolfe in Charleston, WV.) After taking about a week, they finally called me and told me the leak was due to the Cam Covers. I didn't even know what these were until I researched it and found out they are Valve Covers. They quoted me $1,068 for the repair ($368 in repairs and the rest in labor at $100/hour). I asked if this would fix the problem and the guy said, "I'm sure this will."

Well, after a few more weeks over Christmas and New Year's, they call me and tell it is ready for pickup. So, I have someone drive me all the way up there and I lay down my credit card for the repairs. I drive her about 2/3rds of the way home and decide to pull over just to check everything out. Well, it was leaking like crazy-just as bad as before, if not worse! I shut off the engine and immediately check the oil level. To my surprise, it was fine! I knew these held a lot of oil, but I didn't expect it to hold up this well with such a nasty leak.

So, the next day I call the dealership and they tell me to send it back. If it was something they did wrong then they would absorb the repair costs. Well, the next day I have it flatbedded all the way back to Charleston (the dealership doesn't have towing service and I have now paid almost $400 to have it towed everywhere). This morning they call me and say the problem is at the back of the crankshaft or something. I asked them if it was another name for the Rear Main Seal and they said yes.

They are quoting me about another $1,000 for parts and labor. I guess I have no choice so I told them to do it. I am not a rich guy by any means... I work full time and go to school full time and I'm going to have to sell the car after it is fixed.

So here are my questions:

1) Is the dealership taking advantage of me? Should they not be at least partially liable for the second phase of repairs?

2) Since they are going to have to drop the engine out to fix this, should I have them replace anything else or check anything else while they are up in there? (IMS, etc.?)

3) Does anyone want to buy a 2001 dark red Boxster with 66,000 miles on it after it is properly repaired? haha

I sincerely appreciate any advice or guidance on this... I know you guys are a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Thank you,
Aaron

 

The problem is proving that there weren't two issues, one being the cam covers and the others being the RMS. What I don't understand is how they could mistake one for the other, they really don't spew oil anywhere near each other. Typically if it drips on the exhaust though, it is either the spark plug seals in the cam cover, or the cam cover seal itself. An RMS will not leak oil on the exhaust, as there is no exhaust near it, unless it was blowing back all the way to the rear muffler. The other issue, is that the IMS can mimick an RMS leak. They may put in a new rms, and it will still leak if the IMS is the issue. IMHO, with that few of miles on the car, I would have the IMS (intermediate shaft) bearing replaced with the LN engineering updated kit. I don't know if a dealer will install that or not. If it is a manual transmission, then the engine does not need to come out of the car, they just need to drop the transaxle. Book time is about 11 hours for the RMS. If it is a tiptronic, then it very well may need to all come out, I am not sure, I have never pulled a tip on a boxster before.

 

I really appreciate the information. I am going to call the dealership tomorrow and ask them to check the IMS, if possible. I should also mention that it is a tiptronic transmission.Thanks again... I'll keep this thread updated.

 

I am sorry, that I interfere, but you could not paint little bit more in detail.

 

liability is a tricky situation. get it fixed, go to arbitration over the bill.

 

Hello,
I have a 2001 Boxster with about 50K kms (30K miles) and am very, very happy with the car. I bought it in early 2006 with 10K miles. My BMW is 5 years newer, and has about the same mileage now.

The two cars really are like comparing apples and oranges.

There is no comparison when it comes to handling, the Boxster is in a completely different league. The amazing thing is with the 17" wheels, the ride is no harsher than the 330. It is an extremely comfortable car to do long highway trips, and the dual trunks makes it surprisingly practical.

My Boxster has been dead reliable. In four years of ownership, I have done
(1) annual fall oil changes
(2) bi-annual air filter, cabin filters, and brake fluid changes and
(3) tire changes.
So far for me, the tire changes are the most expensive item - they were replaced (with OE at the Porsche dealer) at 10K miles when I bought the car, and needed replacement again at around 25K miles. The Bridgestone RE050A PP that I installed seem to be wearing better than the original Contis. The only non-maintenance item that has needed attention is a burned out seat heater element, likely because of a water spill on the seat.

Thanks
______________________
Happy shopping

 

Devastating update time:

Last week I got a call from Bert Wolfe telling me there was a leak on the transmission and the seal had to be replaced (RMS). I tell them to go for it... Well, today they call me back and tell me that there were metal shavings in the transmission fluid and they recommend to have the tranny replaced. I cringed as he proceeded to tell me that a new replacement transmission was going to be $8000 and a used transmission is going to cost $3000.

(I am wondering if the leak was the transmission all along and they misdiagnosed it.) I wouldn't know how to prove it anyway.

I am checking around locally to see if any shops are able to install a tiptronic transmission in this Boxster, but I highly doubt anyone where I live can do this type of surgery.

The dealership said they would work with me on the labor, but at this point I'm not sure what my options are. Does anyone know of a place that I could find a 2001 Boxster tiptronic transmission?

Thanks for the help,

Aaron

 

I would just make sure that you find a good Porsche specialist who knows his stuff... Joe blow mechanic could end up costing you a ton.

 

Hey everyone, just wanted to bring an update to everything so far.

Good news: Basically, they admitted that the transmission was their fault and they replaced it with a used unit with about 20k on it. I am happy about this because the old one had 66k on it. I paid them $2,300 for a list of other repairs such as O2 sensor, RMS, installation of the tranny, liquids, seals, etc. I was still OK with this because the car needed this stuff anyway and it was much cheaper than the originally quoted $6,000!

Bad news: I bring the vehicle home and drive about 200 miles on it on the same tank of fuel just to have it die on me and not start back up. I was pulling it into a parking spot and the engine shuts off and all the lights come on the dashboard. I try to restart to no avail. It cranks light it is trying to start but the engine doens't turn over. I let it sit for a while and tried it again, nothing. I try it again the next day and nothing. Then today, I go try it one last time and it fires up! I leave it running for 5 minutes, rev it a little and it does just fine so without shutting it off I put it into drive and go about 15 feet then it dies on me again. I check the fuses for the fuel pump and fuel injectors: both are good. I pull the fuel pump relay out and put it back in (this is above the fuse box) and no difference.

Any ideas? I sincerely appreciate any help...

Thanks,
Aaron

 

I took it to a local shop because I didn't want to have to pay another $200 to tow it an hour away to the dealership. The shop called me today and said that after much testing they have determined that it is going to be one of two things. 1) Crank sensor - $276.29 or 2) the PCM. They are confident that the crank sensor should fix the problem but I wanted to seek advice from you all. They tested the fuel pump and it is good.
Is this a daunting task to install a crank sensor? They quoted labor at $357.50. Thanks for any information.