GTS 4.0 Engine Failure

[FrancisA]

Jazzer said:

Evening!

The car was presented like a new car this afternoon, the OPC exceeded my expectations and made my day.

The work done was listed in the documentation - the bill without warranty would have been eye-watering.

Porsche GB gave me decent financial compensation, in addition of course to a completely new engine.

It really felt like getting a new car, made even better by the (very) sedate drive home in lovely sunshine.

I will run-in the engine carefully, gradually stretching it over a couple of thousand miles.

Any suggestions about run-in procedures?

Congratulations on the replacement engine. However reading this thread I am getting a sense of deja vu. The 3.8 GT3 engine in notorious for it’s issues. This is another 4.0 engine failure I am reading about. Is it a case that Porsche are having issues with their highly strung NA engines?

[ChrisW.]

Fast and Spurious said:

Drive it normally, mixture of revs and loads, you don't want the piston rings glazing the bores!

Agreed ... it's just the range and intensity that varies towards the engine being fully run-in. I completed my GT4 running in after a first 1500 mile oil change with an easy track day at Oulton Park.

That engine had 230psi compression + or - 2psi max across all six cylinders and used less than 100 Ccm of oil per 1000 miles at 34000 miles ...

[Jazzer]

Just when I thought the nightmare was over……

The car, having done only 100 miles since I got it back (to and fro to OPC), developed a ‘refill coolant’ warning light as I went to get it out the garage earlier.

It has no sign of a leak, all confirmed by Porsche Assist - they tried topping up with a fair amount of water and letting the engine warm up, but only cold air came out the vents.

So it will be recovered to the OPC on Tuesday, for the second bank holiday in a row.

I wonder what my fourth courtesy car will be?

Shoot me now!!

[ChocolateFrog]

So this engine is toast too then? If its not leaking to atmosphere then the engine is drinking it.

[Olivera]

Usually coolant disappearing and no hot air from vents = blown head gasket. :O

[981Boxess]

ChocolateFrog said:

So this engine is toast too then? If its not leaking to atmosphere then the engine is drinking it.

Could just be an air lock that didn’t clear properly when the job was done, with driving it has moved and created a void at the highest place the filler.

Could be nothing more than that (hopefully), it may just need topping up.

[scrounger73]

^^^^^ This

[TDT]

scrounger73 said:

981Boxess said:

Could just be an air lock that didn’t clear properly when the job was done, with driving it has moved and created a void at the highest place the filler.
Could be nothing more than that (hopefully), it may just need topping up.

^^^^^ This

Would have been my first guess also.

[SkinnyPete]

TDT said:

scrounger73 said:

981Boxess said:

Could just be an air lock that didn’t clear properly when the job was done, with driving it has moved and created a void at the highest place the filler.
Could be nothing more than that (hopefully), it may just need topping up.

^^^^^ This

Would have been my first guess also.

This is what happened to me after some work at OPC.

I knew that would be the fault, but Porsche assist still flat bedded the car and had a courtesy car delivered.

Better safe than sorry.

[GTRene]

TDT said:

scrounger73 said:

981Boxess said:

Could just be an air lock that didn’t clear properly when the job was done, with driving it has moved and created a void at the highest place the filler.
Could be nothing more than that (hopefully), it may just need topping up.

^^^^^ This

Would have been my first guess also.

yep, mine as well, not good if they delivered it as that, but hey, also 'new' to some of them with the computers in their hands... and not following the book.

[Youforreal.]

Notoriously hard to bleed, that’s more than likely what it is.

[Petrus1983]

Seems like Porsche did a really quick replacement - hopefully this second engine is sorted out quickly.

[Megaflow]

Almost certainly an airlock. Cayman’s & Boxster’s are notorious for being a complete slag to refill with coolant. Even with the correct vacuum fillers.

[Jazzer]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

Topping up had no effect today - we could not get even mildly warm air out the vents.

I’m just fed up now!

[981Boxess]

Jazzer said:

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

Topping up had no effect today - we could not get even mildly warm air out the vents.

I’m just fed up now!

If there is an air lock in the heater matrix topping it up would not fix it - it needs to be bled.

I would not panic just yet, this will almost certainly be a quick and final fix.

[Jazzer]

I’m beyond panic, just utterly fed up with it all.

This should not be happening, plain and simple.

Courtesy car 4 will arrive tomorrow- even that was a battle - they apparently need to see my V5C, but that was sent back to DVLA informing them of the new engine number, with a covering letter from Porsche.

[DMZ]

Definitely shouldn’t be happening. Such a pain.

[sdh2903]

Definitely sounds like a simple airlock. Although shouldn't have happened as they are vacuum filled. As above will hopefully be a simple fix.

[Boleros]

Trouble is that it takes ages to rebuild trust in a car after repeated faults. I had an RRS that kept going wrong and it genuinely took me around 12 months to completely trust the car again. Not great really. Hopefully the OP can get his sorted quickly and without fuss.

[DMZ]

Definitely shouldn’t be happening. Such a pain.