Questionsecond owner of a 2000 boxter. trusted mechanic tells me anti freeze going into combution chamber. said recommended repair is factory exchange engine.
car has only 58k miles. should this not be a warranty issue? any insight on this would be very helpful.
Thank you for your time and advise.
AnswerMike,
Just to remind you, my expertise lies in the older 356 models. Luckily, many early designs/concepts have lasted since the early 50's and appear in revised forms on 911's, 914's 944's, Boxsters, etc. Where this happens I'll promise to try to give you the best answer I can.
Luckily for me, I am not a lawyer or a warranty expert. I've not had to deal with warranty issues for many years...none of my cars is that new! My guess is the cause of this problem will be attributed to the driver and not the car design.
The number one reason this happens is that a cylinder head warps from EXtremely high heat...when it warps the torqued head gasket becomes less torqued in small, now weaker areas...and the normal combustion explosion in the cylinder blows a hole in the gasket...which allows hot water/antifreeze that's also circulating through this area to seep or gush into the cylinder and eventually co-exist (quite unhappily) with your oil.
The high heat that started the problem no doubt came from high water temperatures,so high that the warning bells should have been ringing for the driver to stop the car or at least 'check engine'. If the driver wasn't alerted, I don't know how these issues are resolved warranty-wise. I'd imagine a faulty warning light warranty has nowhere near the life expectancy as the drivetrain warranty. If the driver was alerted but ignored the warning, there's no way the dealer will touch this for you, unless you're married to his third daughter, the ugly one.
I suppose you could argue it's not a warped cylinder head, it's just that the crummy Porsche gasket must have failed early, therefore warrranty should apply. Then they'll invoke the you'll-have-to-pay-us-to-take-this-thing-apart-rule to prove you're wrong.
As for throwing away an engine with 58,000 miles, if your mechanic brings it to my house, I'd happily take that piece of junk. In fact, tell me where it is, I'll come pick it up. I suppose from a labor plus parts standpoint the mechanic knows it costs as much to swap engines as it does to replace heads. I never would have guessed that. About the only imaginable way this is realistic is to have an aluminum head and an aluminum block, which you very well may have...and then I can see why he's on track. Aluminum doesn't like to be treated this way.
That's about all I can think of at the moment. If I can be of further help, please let me know.
Dave
