My 718 Cayman Blew Its Engine and I Still Don t Know Why
Discussion
This has taken me six months to write, not just because life has been busy but because I’m genuinely gutted. I’m also still a bit lost on what to do next.
Over Christmas, my beloved 2017 Cayman 718 suffered what Porsche called a “catastrophic engine failure.” No warning signs, no aggressive driving, no track time. Just gone. And to this day, we still don’t know why.
I bought it in March 2024, my first Porsche, from REDSPEED, a private reseller. 34k miles, fully serviced each year at Porsche. It was in beautiful condition and drove like an absolute dream. I live in Reading and used it semi regularly for trips to family in the southeast or up to Manchester for work. I work remote so it wasn’t heavily used. It lived in private parking and was treated with genuine love and care.
Then one evening in December I took it a couple of miles to a friend’s birthday. On the way back I got a warning: “Oil pressure issue.” In hindsight, yes, I made a bad call. I figured I’d limp the mile or two home and look at it there. But the car didn’t make it. It cut out and refused to restart. It was towed the remaining stretch.
A Mobile Porsche Specialist came out when they had availability and fitted a brand new battery. Still no luck. So I had it taken to Porsche Reading. They spent a short while on it and told me what no owner wants to hear. The engine’s done for. Complete failure. They didn’t strip it, just said it was beyond saving and quoted a frankly absurd amount to replace the engine. And they still couldn’t say why it happened.
And I’ll be honest, I made one other grave error. I hadn’t realised the MOT had expired in the short time I’d had the car. First time in 15 years of driving I’ve slipped up on something like that, and of course it had to be with this car. As a result, the warranty refused to pay out. REDSPEED, to their credit, think that’s ridiculous and have been supportive throughout, but it’s a dead end.
So I searched around and found a well reviewed Porsche specialist in Hitchin who offered to source and fit a new engine for about half what Porsche quoted. I agreed and had the car towed there. Then, heartbreakingly, the owner of the garage passed away unexpectedly. Work hadn’t yet started and understandably the business came to a halt. Eventually they decided to close and sell the garage. I had the car brought back to me.
It’s now been sitting untouched for the last month.
In the meantime, life’s moved on. I proposed to my girlfriend and we’re now planning a wedding and thinking about moving. In my head, the Porsche was going to be part of the wedding. Realistically, I’m not sure it will be. And that’s tough to admit. I love that car. Everyone who’s seen it says the same thing. It’s stunning. Still is. But the engine’s gone and no one can explain why.
So PistonHeads, what would you do?
• Pay someone to strip the engine and find out what actually happened
• Go straight to replacing the engine with a specialist
• Sell it as is to someone who wants to take on the project themselves
Any advice, especially from those who’ve been through similar, would mean a lot. I just want to do right by the car. It deserves more than being left to gather dust.
Over Christmas, my beloved 2017 Cayman 718 suffered what Porsche called a “catastrophic engine failure.” No warning signs, no aggressive driving, no track time. Just gone. And to this day, we still don’t know why.
I bought it in March 2024, my first Porsche, from REDSPEED, a private reseller. 34k miles, fully serviced each year at Porsche. It was in beautiful condition and drove like an absolute dream. I live in Reading and used it semi regularly for trips to family in the southeast or up to Manchester for work. I work remote so it wasn’t heavily used. It lived in private parking and was treated with genuine love and care.
Then one evening in December I took it a couple of miles to a friend’s birthday. On the way back I got a warning: “Oil pressure issue.” In hindsight, yes, I made a bad call. I figured I’d limp the mile or two home and look at it there. But the car didn’t make it. It cut out and refused to restart. It was towed the remaining stretch.
A Mobile Porsche Specialist came out when they had availability and fitted a brand new battery. Still no luck. So I had it taken to Porsche Reading. They spent a short while on it and told me what no owner wants to hear. The engine’s done for. Complete failure. They didn’t strip it, just said it was beyond saving and quoted a frankly absurd amount to replace the engine. And they still couldn’t say why it happened.
And I’ll be honest, I made one other grave error. I hadn’t realised the MOT had expired in the short time I’d had the car. First time in 15 years of driving I’ve slipped up on something like that, and of course it had to be with this car. As a result, the warranty refused to pay out. REDSPEED, to their credit, think that’s ridiculous and have been supportive throughout, but it’s a dead end.
So I searched around and found a well reviewed Porsche specialist in Hitchin who offered to source and fit a new engine for about half what Porsche quoted. I agreed and had the car towed there. Then, heartbreakingly, the owner of the garage passed away unexpectedly. Work hadn’t yet started and understandably the business came to a halt. Eventually they decided to close and sell the garage. I had the car brought back to me.
It’s now been sitting untouched for the last month.
In the meantime, life’s moved on. I proposed to my girlfriend and we’re now planning a wedding and thinking about moving. In my head, the Porsche was going to be part of the wedding. Realistically, I’m not sure it will be. And that’s tough to admit. I love that car. Everyone who’s seen it says the same thing. It’s stunning. Still is. But the engine’s gone and no one can explain why.
So PistonHeads, what would you do?
• Pay someone to strip the engine and find out what actually happened
• Go straight to replacing the engine with a specialist
• Sell it as is to someone who wants to take on the project themselves
Any advice, especially from those who’ve been through similar, would mean a lot. I just want to do right by the car. It deserves more than being left to gather dust.
I d be after a definitive diagnosis, or as near as possible without going all in, before making a decision. As we all know, dealers can be real idiots sometimes and if they re not interested they can be really difficult.
Sorry to hear your woes though, sounds like you cherish your car.
Sorry to hear your woes though, sounds like you cherish your car.
I rang Hartech when it was returned to me to see what they can do and they implied they can only strip not replace. Have you any experience with them?
I have a house and a wedding to organise so looking for somebody who I can trust as I think you are both right; I should have somebody take a look before committing to anything.
There’s also Northway Porsche in Reading. I don’t mind having it towed far, the garage quality, trust and price is most important.
Thanks to you both
I have a house and a wedding to organise so looking for somebody who I can trust as I think you are both right; I should have somebody take a look before committing to anything.
There’s also Northway Porsche in Reading. I don’t mind having it towed far, the garage quality, trust and price is most important.
Thanks to you both
It probably makes sense to investigate as best you can the likely value of the car sold as is along with cost of replacing the engine with a used unit.
Then you can compare the cost of repairing the car to the net cost of selling as is and buying another 718 (if you want to stay with a 718). If the repair option isn't very clearly and fairly dramatically cheaper, I'd go with selling and replacing.
There's substantial hassle factor of getting it repaired if you're not in the trade and don't already have a good relationship with a service provider who is keen to do the work, some risk (repair could go wrong to a greater or lesser degree) and even if no hitches at all then you're left with a fairly modern Porsche with a replacement engine, which the market doesn't tend to love in terms of resale value.
Exceptions to that might be extraordinary emotional attachment to that particular car, or if it's a hugely exceptional example spec wise. The latter seems unlikely and the former is obvs all about emotions, not practical advice!
Then you can compare the cost of repairing the car to the net cost of selling as is and buying another 718 (if you want to stay with a 718). If the repair option isn't very clearly and fairly dramatically cheaper, I'd go with selling and replacing.
There's substantial hassle factor of getting it repaired if you're not in the trade and don't already have a good relationship with a service provider who is keen to do the work, some risk (repair could go wrong to a greater or lesser degree) and even if no hitches at all then you're left with a fairly modern Porsche with a replacement engine, which the market doesn't tend to love in terms of resale value.
Exceptions to that might be extraordinary emotional attachment to that particular car, or if it's a hugely exceptional example spec wise. The latter seems unlikely and the former is obvs all about emotions, not practical advice!
I’d be comfortable taking it to any of Northway, Paragon, Hartech, RPM or 9e (Nine Excellence). The decision between them I think you have to make based on speaking to each of them and getting a feel for who you prefer, because it’s not realistic to hawk it round for provisional views and estimates.
I’d want someone to look at the engine properly and assess whether it is really dead or can be fixed and if so at what cost compared to a new engine.
Convenience says Northway.
I’d want someone to look at the engine properly and assess whether it is really dead or can be fixed and if so at what cost compared to a new engine.
Convenience says Northway.
Some good advice given so far. Low oil pressure warning is never good, possibly related to crank bearings failure.
I had an issue with my 718S regarding a serious oil leak which turned out to be the two blanking plugs on the back of the engine working loose. They can come out completely which would result in a catastrophic loss of oil and potentially causing engine damage. Luckily I caught mine early.
I m wondering if this has happened at some point with a previous owner and the car has been run too long before diagnosis ( it can lose most of the oil very quickly ). The blanking plugs problem is a known issue.
I had an issue with my 718S regarding a serious oil leak which turned out to be the two blanking plugs on the back of the engine working loose. They can come out completely which would result in a catastrophic loss of oil and potentially causing engine damage. Luckily I caught mine early.
I m wondering if this has happened at some point with a previous owner and the car has been run too long before diagnosis ( it can lose most of the oil very quickly ). The blanking plugs problem is a known issue.
Edited by hooch500 on Sunday 15th June 14:18
Anything oil pressure related is a stop now on any vehicle. Unfortunately if it was down / out of oil pressure at that point from a blocked pickup, failed oil pump, collapsed oil filter or any of the other reasons it could lose oil pressure then every crank revolution from that point was sealing its fate. Trying to drive it will mean most bearings in the bottom end are done. The bit about a new battery rather implies it was making low battery starter motor clunk types noises but in reality this is because it was seized.
The motor could be rebuilt but realistically it's a series production motor and not worth the hassle as the labour to do it properly (flush every orifice etc.) and parts required (oil lines, oil cooler etc. etc. as none of this can be risked going again) means swapping it out for another is the best course of action.
The engine is super easy to drop in a 718 so the best bet is to source a decent one from a crashed car. There are plenty that have gone in the hedge by this point that are perfectly good and can likely be heard running.
Chances are if you stick your seized one on e-bay with an honest description you'll likely see a few grand back too as the heads are probably still good amongst some other bits or if it's a 4 cyl turbo one someone will want to build a 500beans one.
Fix it and enjoy it and if you ever see an oil pressure warning again (in anything!) clutch in, neutral and key off.... or if it's PDK neutral and key off.
The motor could be rebuilt but realistically it's a series production motor and not worth the hassle as the labour to do it properly (flush every orifice etc.) and parts required (oil lines, oil cooler etc. etc. as none of this can be risked going again) means swapping it out for another is the best course of action.
The engine is super easy to drop in a 718 so the best bet is to source a decent one from a crashed car. There are plenty that have gone in the hedge by this point that are perfectly good and can likely be heard running.
Chances are if you stick your seized one on e-bay with an honest description you'll likely see a few grand back too as the heads are probably still good amongst some other bits or if it's a 4 cyl turbo one someone will want to build a 500beans one.
Fix it and enjoy it and if you ever see an oil pressure warning again (in anything!) clutch in, neutral and key off.... or if it's PDK neutral and key off.
If it’s true that the engine wouldn’t crank it’s highly likely the mains are done which would also mean swarf circulating in the rest of the motor. As someone has pointed out there will be plenty of engines out there and more as time goes on which will mean they should get cheaper. No doubt there will be a lot to be salvaged on yours which will help paying for the swap. Or just sell it as a unit with honest description.
At this point you are just going to incur more costs if you have it stripped..
At this point you are just going to incur more costs if you have it stripped..
PorscheBC said:
I rang Hartech when it was returned to me to see what they can do and they implied they can only strip not replace. Have you any experience with them?
I have a house and a wedding to organise so looking for somebody who I can trust as I think you are both right; I should have somebody take a look before committing to anything.
There s also Northway Porsche in Reading. I don t mind having it towed far, the garage quality, trust and price is most important.
Thanks to you both
Hartech are very well known for rebuilding Porsche engines and have a very good reputation. Some people send their perfectly good Porsche engines to them for rebuilding as they offer power upgrades via enlarged capacity pistons and cylinders among other things. Sending the car to them would be as good as sending it to Porsche in my opinion, with the benefit that it will be much cheaper than a replacement engine. That's assuming that the major components are salvageable. There will be a supply of crash-damaged cars with a perfectly usable engine, so you might be able to find a replacement engine cheaper.I have a house and a wedding to organise so looking for somebody who I can trust as I think you are both right; I should have somebody take a look before committing to anything.
There s also Northway Porsche in Reading. I don t mind having it towed far, the garage quality, trust and price is most important.
Thanks to you both
Which engine was it by the way? the 2.0, the 2.5 or the 4.0?
LunarOne said:
Hartech are very well known for rebuilding Porsche engines and have a very good reputation. Some people send their perfectly good Porsche engines to them for rebuilding as they offer power upgrades via enlarged capacity pistons and cylinders among other things. Sending the car to them would be as good as sending it to Porsche in my opinion, with the benefit that it will be much cheaper than a replacement engine. That's assuming that the major components are salvageable. There will be a supply of crash-damaged cars with a perfectly usable engine, so you might be able to find a replacement engine cheaper.
Which engine was it by the way? the 2.0, the 2.5 or the 4.0?
Except, Hartech probably don't rebuild the F4T, currently. They don't rebuild literally every Porsche engine ever. They specialise in M96/7 and latterly 9A1/MA1. Which engine was it by the way? the 2.0, the 2.5 or the 4.0?
Rebuild is probably off the table. There will be plenty of good used engines available.
If you have proper OPC service history surely with only 34k on the clock it must be worth having a word with an OPC to see if there is any “goodwill” that can be negotiated?
It would have to be spot on, no gaps etc - just because you have not been offered it doesn’t mean it could not be negotiated.
If you don’t ask you don’t get etc
It would have to be spot on, no gaps etc - just because you have not been offered it doesn’t mean it could not be negotiated.
If you don’t ask you don’t get etc
981Boxess said:
It would have to be spot on, no gaps etc - just because you have not been offered it doesn t mean it could not be negotiated. If you don t ask you don t get etc
Definitely worth a try, although at that age and not Approved Used it might be tricky. I'm aware that, for instance, OPCs look at cars to see if they've have any over-revs and if there are too many they won't go near. (I'm not suggesting this is an over-rev issue, but it shows how they approach things.)Panamax said:
981Boxess said:
It would have to be spot on, no gaps etc - just because you have not been offered it doesn t mean it could not be negotiated. If you don t ask you don t get etc
Definitely worth a try, although at that age and not Approved Used it might be tricky. I'm aware that, for instance, OPCs look at cars to see if they've have any over-revs and if there are too many they won't go near. (I'm not suggesting this is an over-rev issue, but it shows how they approach things.)The other side of that coin is with a faultless service history and well driven it should not have imploded at 34k so I would say the OP has nothing to lose by trying, hence the suggestion.
981Boxess said:
Panamax said:
981Boxess said:
It would have to be spot on, no gaps etc - just because you have not been offered it doesn t mean it could not be negotiated. If you don t ask you don t get etc
Definitely worth a try, although at that age and not Approved Used it might be tricky. I'm aware that, for instance, OPCs look at cars to see if they've have any over-revs and if there are too many they won't go near. (I'm not suggesting this is an over-rev issue, but it shows how they approach things.)The other side of that coin is with a faultless service history and well driven it should not have imploded at 34k so I would say the OP has nothing to lose by trying, hence the suggestion.
AND they might insist on a strip down of the engine first, at the O/Ps expense.
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