Cayman Bore Scoring

[clint1093]

I have purchased a 2008 Cayman 2.7 with 22K miles at the time of purchase I took out a warranty with warranty wise for peace of mind. After reading about the scoring in the bores I'm glad I did!
Can anybody tell me if the 2.7 is just as prone to this problem as the 3.4? Has anybody had major problems with their generation 1 2.7 Cayman?

Thanks

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

The 2.7 seems less effected in general, the 3.4S seems to be the most effected followed by the 3.8S

Still as long as you let the engine warm up before driving hard or high rpms. Use good fuel, change oil more regular than the recommended 20k and give the car a good spanking from time to time should all help to decrease any chances of a failure.

[mollytherocker]

You need the 3 point plan!

1 - Get the Hartech low temp thermostat fitted;
2 - Follow Barry Harts advice on not doing fast starts when the engine is hot;
3 - Enjoy!

MTR

[Bill Stein]

clint1093 said:

I have purchased a 2008 Cayman 2.7 with 22K miles at the time of purchase I took out a warranty with warranty wise for peace of mind. After reading about the scoring in the bores I'm glad I did!
Can anybody tell me if the 2.7 is just as prone to this problem as the 3.4? Has anybody had major problems with their generation 1 2.7 Cayman?

Thanks

I dont know the answer but If It were me I would go to a good Indy and ask them to look at your cylinders with a borescope to see if they are scored. Do It before your warranty period ends.

[Richard Hamilton]

Anyone ever heard of a Cayman 2.7 with scored bores?

[clint1093]

Thanks for the infomation so far any more info would be good to hear. I'm thinking of using Braunton Engineering who seem to have a good following from Porsche owners perhaps I'll get them to give my car the once over.

[cooldude00]

anyone know of estimated cost for a borescope check then? have a 2006 cayman s but still on OPC extended warranty for another yr

[thegoose]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if you do have bore scoring I'd be amazed if Warranty Wise cover it - fair enough really as in that case they'd probably be right that it was a pre-existing condition.

Boroscope takes a couple of minutes per cylinder if the plugs are being changed, otherwise depends if you check all or just the most likely to fail (5 & 6 I think). A couple of hours should be plenty - depending when the plugs were last done might be worth putting a new set in early for the 10 or 20 quid they cost.

[clint1093]

My Cayman is not showing any signs of bore scoring at the moment, reading warranty wise info I hope they will cover the problem if it causes a break down, reading their info pack it covers all mechanical problems including if something breaks or stops working earlier then it should. The info i read on the net about them they seem to be one of the best out there, lets hope I never have to use them!!!

[mollytherocker]

clint1093 said:

My Cayman is not showing any signs of bore scoring at the moment, reading warranty wise info I hope they will cover the problem if it causes a break down, reading their info pack it covers all mechanical problems including if something breaks or stops working earlier then it should. The info i read on the net about them they seem to be one of the best out there, lets hope I never have to use them!!!

Sorry fella but they wont pay out. It wont stop working or break down, just use an increasing amount of oil.

MTR

[clint1093]

So it looks like a warranty is not worth the paper its written on!!!
It will be interesting if anybody knows of this problem on a 2.7 as it does seem to point towards the 3.4S?

mollytherocker said:

Sorry fella but they wont pay out. It wont stop working or break down, just use an increasing amount of oil.

MTR

[FisiP1]

From what Hartech posts here it seems its the 3.4 that is by far the most affected by this, everything I have read in the past also points to this.

Unless a 2.7 owner can come on here and let you know their car has been affected by it, then its probably only Hartech that are going to be able to settle the question for you.

I definitely wouldn't pay for a boroscope until you have confirmed that it is a possibility on the 2.7.

My own 2.7 is fine, oil consumption is very low and no other problems in a year of ownership.

[rog007]

To help benchmark; OPC charge £550 including new plugs on a 996 turbo.

[khushy]

mollytherocker said:

You need the 3 point PLUS plan!

1 - Get the Hartech low temp thermostat fitted;
2 - Follow Barry Harts advice on not doing fast starts when the engine is hot;
3 - Enjoy!
4 - dont use low revs and torque
5 - dont use high revs and power
6 - dont live in London
7 - do track days
8 - thrash the bks off of it at every opportunity
9 - dont do short journeys
10 - on longer journeys, make sure your phone is charged and that you have the number of the breakdown guys
11 - dont agree up-front investigative payments with your OPC payments
12 - get a solicitor
13 - dont take your car our in the seething heat
14 - dont take your car out in the winter
15 - rain is a no no
16 - dont believe anything you read on the internet

MTR

[doneitnow]

mollytherocker said:

You need the 3 point plan!

1 - Get the Hartech low temp thermostat fitted;
2 - Follow Barry Harts advice on not doing fast starts when the engine is hot;
3 - Enjoy!

MTR

Just out of interest, can you define fast starts and hot? As if you are supposed to let the car warm up firt (which I agree) and then not do them when hot it seems a bit like you are not supposed to be driving them!

[mollytherocker]

doneitnow said:

mollytherocker said:

You need the 3 point plan!

1 - Get the Hartech low temp thermostat fitted;
2 - Follow Barry Harts advice on not doing fast starts when the engine is hot;
3 - Enjoy!

MTR

Just out of interest, can you define fast starts and hot? As if you are supposed to let the car warm up firt (which I agree) and then not do them when hot it seems a bit like you are not supposed to be driving them!

You need to refer to Barrys comments on here somewhere but I will summarise my understanding.

Bore scoring is caused by excessive heat build up in an area of the block due to inadequate water cooling. When you have been on a good blast and stop at say some lights and the already hot engine is idling, the at risk area gets into the danger zone due to the suddnely reduced water flow.

If you now to a full bore start, this is when you are at risk of scoring the bores.

MTR

[doneitnow]

mollytherocker said:

You need to refer to Barrys comments on here somewhere but I will summarise my understanding.

Bore scoring is caused by excessive heat build up in an area of the block due to inadequate water cooling. When you have been on a good blast and stop at say some lights and the already hot engine is idling, the at risk area gets into the danger zone due to the suddnely reduced water flow.

If you now to a full bore start, this is when you are at risk of scoring the bores.

MTR

Thanks for the explanation, much appreciated

[V8KSN]

Interesting thread this..

Following on from the posts above, Is there a specific 'cool down' process one must adhere to?

I am asking because I am about to embark on a trip in europe and the people I am travelling with will want to do regular stops for breaks and/or scenery pictures.

So, say you are on a quick run using high revs and power and then park up and stop, should you let the engine tick over before switching it off or should you just turn it off even if the oil temp is over 100?

[hartech]

Stop worrying the 2.7 is unlikely to score bores.

The bore diameter is smaller than a 3.2, 3.4, 3.6 or 3.8 and the cylinder casting is different so the amount of coolant surounding the cylinder is greater while the loads on the smaller piston are much less - so overall (as it produces less torque).

It is difficult to know exactly under what conditions a score starts (as it happens in a few seconds) - except that it is a known phenomenon at low revs and high torque.

We get slightly more tiptronics though for repair than manuals - so if more manuals were sold (don't know the figures) that would support this opinion because the tiptronic starts off from standstill in second of 5 gears and the 3.6 and particularly the 3.8 produce massive torque at very low revs (which starting off in second occurs at very low revs compared to someone driving a manual from 1st).

So I think you are safe to ignore any worries and be glad you chose a more reliable version.

Baz

[cay]

I'm curious about a couple of things, I wonder if any one can clarify?

What are the symptoms of bore-scoring? How do people get to the point where the car has 'broken' down and needs taking to a garage? Is it just high oil usage and a 'ticking' noise or does the engine actually stop working?

Is there something about the age of an engine which makes scoring more likely? If it is caused by high-torque and bad lubrication / cooling how come it doesn't happen to new engines which are subject to the same conditions?

I've had my car for a year and it has used practically now oil in 12k miles ( maybe 0.5 litres ) but it does tick a bit at idle. Is that normal? Don't all engines tick a bit?

These threads are making me totally paranoid!