porsche 987 to 986 engine swap

[paulleezx12]

hi my names paul looking some advise on a engine swap on my porsche 997 3.2s
blew engine up melted both heads and warped them beyond repair
eg valve seals fell out of both heads with over heating
997 engine costs were too high at £4000 plus for a engine
desided to buy a 996 3.2s engine complete with gearbox linkages and clutch plus exhaust £1500
engine fitted in no problems all wireing looks the same
has anyone done this conversion befor ?
do i need a 996 ecu keys and imobiler off a 996
to get it to start any points would be welcome thanks

Edited by paulleezx12 on Tuesday 21st April 18:46

[DRH986]

Not done it but I know someone with a race Boxster 986 who had a nightmare trying to get a pre-facelift 986S engine working properly in a post-facelift 986 car.

So getting a 986 motor working properly in a 987 might be a serious challenge.

[gtsralph]

The general rule is don’t cross generations with engine swap so 986.2 to 987.1 possible but to 987.2 extremely difficult.

[paulleezx12]

thanks for getting back to me on this
guy i bought the engine off said that only ecu and imobilizer had to be changed
and keys of course
few other things exhausts which i got from him
includeing o2 sensos in boxs
dipstick as none in a 987
and a oil feed pipe which is different
so any help would be appeciated if you could give me the race car drivers details to shine abit of light on it thanks

[paulleezx12]

is there noboby out there that can help me ?????? car electrian of any sort

[Wonderman]

paulleezx12 said:

is there noboby out there that can help me ?????? car electrian of any sort

Might be worth dropping the Jaz Porsche team a line as they're on lockdown but seem to know their stuff...
https://jazweb.co.uk/

[TurnedEmo]

DRH986 said:

Not done it but I know someone with a race Boxster 986 who had a nightmare trying to get a pre-facelift 986S engine working properly in a post-facelift 986 car.

So getting a 986 motor working properly in a 987 might be a serious challenge.

Not surprised - the facelift cars are DBW, whilst pre-facelift are cable throttle, so I'm going to guess the electrics and ECU are very different.

OP - is it an early or late 986 engine? If an early cable throttle engine, it's going to be seriously painful to do. If a later engine, more likely to be do-able, but still not worth the hassle.

Sell the engine and buy the correct one for your car.

[paulleezx12]

thank you so much for your reply

[edc]

TurnedEmo said:

Not surprised - the facelift cars are DBW, whilst pre-facelift are cable throttle, so I'm going to guess the electrics and ECU are very different.

OP - is it an early or late 986 engine? If an early cable throttle engine, it's going to be seriously painful to do. If a later engine, more likely to be do-able, but still not worth the hassle.

Sell the engine and buy the correct one for your car.

I had an early pre facelift 2000 S and now a 2004 S. Both are egas throttle.

[paulleezx12]

not paying £4000 plus for a engine that theres no warranty thanks both engines are fly by wire thanks

[TurnedEmo]

edc said:

I had an early pre facelift 2000 S and now a 2004 S. Both are egas throttle.

Hmmm, seems you're right, it was introduced in 2000. I always thought it was with the 2002 facelift.

[paulleezx12]

like i say it shouldnt be that hard to do im a mechanic ecu has been changes for a 986 plus wireing to
the ecu all the same except in rear passenger panel two plugs are different
which im getting off the 986 too and keys and key coder off same car

[edc]

I am no electronics expert but the different cars have different variocam for example. I think they are also codes to the clockset.
Have you thought of a standalone ECU?

[paulleezx12]

yes i have looked into stand alone ecus but again its the wireing is the problem
i no its only a few wires to sort out and im confident she will run but its getting someone who knows wireing of these cars
and i no il sort it iv put the feeders out to pelican and emailed a few people just waiting on feed back
throught everyone would be jumping at the chance to chat with this lockdown

[edc]

Have you read this as a starter
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_...

[2Btoo]

My knowledge of the differences between the models (are we talking about 986's and 987's or 996's and 997's?) is scanty but having played with car electrics a little then I'd guess that stand alone will be by far the easiest way to go. You are buying a product that is designed to do what you are trying to make it do, there will be some support and you can probably squeeze some more ponies out of it. That's got to be easier than trying to cobble something together with what you've got (although I can understand why you might want to try).

[paulleezx12]

thanks again for the replys guys its a project car after heads going and counting the costs of
repairing the old engine or buying a second hand one that you no nothing about and it ether doing the ims bearing
while your in there and the clutch never mind all the other problems you will find after you start it
least i no this engine is good i drove it so theres no hassle of getting riped off with a faul engine
just working out that the loom coming from the ecu has two different plugs
which has put a snag in the project
if i get a wireing diagram off a 987 and one from a 986
iv got the plugs coming from the 986 and the rear fuse box
i would of thought going up the generations would of been a much harder problem
but im determined to get this done one way or the other with help from yous guys and others thanks

[s3 akr]

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_...

As has been mentioned earlier, this is an essential read. OK, it's more about chucking 911 engines into Boxsters but it shows what engines are easily transferred between the cars and the reason's why. You could learn a lot from this link and perhaps build either a plan with a shopping list, or potentially come to the conclusion that it's a non-starter with the engine you bought.

To me (and only after a brief read), it looks do-able but not the easiest route. Anyhow, the link also contains wiring diagrams for Motronic 7.2 to 7.8 and a discussion forum on various Porker engine swap projects.

[captainblakk]

Could you not use the intake, exhaust manifolds, ancillaries, and engine harness from your 987?
Might at least run,
Trying to get a 986 engine & immobiliser ECU to interface with a 987 seems like a thankless task

[ooid]

What you are trying to do is somehow not cost effective (considering labour, and research time you need for wiring and ECU...). Perhaps you can just re-sell this re-conditioned 986 engine on ebay and get a new 987.1 engine for yourself? that would be the easiest route, imho.