Porsche
Cayman

TRAVELING IN A STRAIGHT LINE ON A DRY ROAD AT AROUND 65MPH, THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE EXPIRED IN A HUGE PLUME OF COOLANT/OIL. FLATBEDDED TO A PORSCHE DEALERSHIP, A TECHNICIAN USING A BOROSCOPE FOUND (ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP) "SCORING TO #5 CYLINDER AND EVIDENCE THAT A VALVE HAD HIT THE TOP OF THE PISTON. THERE WAS ALSO A HUGE AMOUNT OF METAL DEBRIS IN THE OIL FILTER." THIS WAS A RESULT OF SOMETHING FAILING IN THE ENGINE, RATHER THAN THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE PORSCHE DEALERSHIP DID NOT CARE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. I SUSPECT INTERMEDIATE MAIN SHAFT (IMS) FAILURE. ONE YEAR BEYOND CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED (CPO) WARRANTY AND $20K FOR A NEW ENGINE. *TR

CAR: 2006 CAYMAN S WITH 34,150 MILES ON IT. I DON'T RACE IT (ON OR OFF THE TRACK). 90% OF MY COMMUTE IS HIGHWAY DRIVING AT 70 MPH, WITH THE OCCASIONAL ACCELERATION (NO DOWNSHIFTING) TO 80-90 MPH. I BOUGHT THE CAR AS CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED WITH 5,000 MILES ON IT. I PUT ~29,000 MILES ON THE CAR OVER AN ~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

THE ENGINE FAILED WHILST TAKING PART IN A DRIVING EVENT AT WILLOW SPRINGS RACEWAY. OIL STARVATION CAUSED #6 CONROD BIG-END BEARING FAILURE AT APPROXIMATELY 4000RPM LEADING TO INTERNAL DESTRUCTION OF THE ENGINE AND AN ENORMOUS PLUME OF WHITE SMOKE OUT THROUGH THE EXHAUST. FORTUNATELY I WAS ON A STRAIGHT PART OF THE TRACK AT THE TIME AND WAS ABLE TO RETAIN CONTROL AND STOP THE CAR SAFELY. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALTHOUGH THIS FAILURE HAPPENED ON A RACE TRACK AND AT A SEEMINGLY HIGH SPEED, I AM AN EXPERIENCED RACING DRIVER AND THE CAR WAS NOT BEING UNDULY ABUSED. THIS VEHICLE IS SOLD IN GERMANY WHERE IT IS PERFECTLY LEGAL FOR IT TO ACHIEVE ITS 170MPH TOP SPEED WHEN DRIVING CONDITIONS ALLOW AND THE COMPANY'S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS FOCUS ON ITS SPORTING CAPABILITIES. CLEARLY, HOWEVER, THE CAR SHOULDN'T BE ADVERTISED AS A SPORTS MODEL IF IT CANNOT BE DRIVEN IN A SPORTING MANNER (IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT) WITHOUT CATASTROPHIC FAILURE.

AS I WAS ACCELERATING FOR A MERGE, THE CAR BUCKED AND HESITATED DESPITE HAVING MY FOOT ON THE GAS. I SHIFTED GEARS AND IT WAS THE SAME PROBLEM THEN THERE WAS AN ODD NOISE FROM THE ENGINE. I PULLED OFF AND THE OIL PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON JUST AS I STOPPED THE ENGINE. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE REPAIR SHOP.

WHEN I WAS DRIVING THE NORMALLY, THE ENGINE JUST BLEW. NO OVER REV OR SHIFT MISS. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO A DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT IT SEEMED ONE BEARING AT THE CRANKSHAFT FAILED. I'VE SEEN MANY SIMILAR ENGINE BLOWS FOR THE SAME TYPE OF VEHICLES ON THE NET SO I'M WONDERING IF THIS COULD BE A DESIGN FLAW. I EXPECT NHTSA'S INVESTIGATION.

MOTOR FAILED UNEXPECTEDLY WHILE ACCELERATING, CAUSING LOSS OF POWER AND LOSS OF CONTROL. MECHANIC INSPECTION SAYS THAT IT WAS NOT MY FAULT, AS THE FAILURE OCCURRED AT 3500 RPM AND THERE WAS NO STRESS THAT SHOULD CAUSE FAILURE. NO SLUDGE FOUND IN ENGINE, OIL CHANGES DONE ON TIME. FAILURE NECESSITATES A COMPLETELY NEW MOTOR AT A COST OF $16,000. AFTER INVESTIGATION, IT APPEARS THAT COMPLETE MOTOR FAILURE BETWEEN 40-50K MILES ON THE 2006 PORSCHE CAYMAN S IS FAIRLY COMMON.

THE ENGINE EXPERIENCED A CYLINDER FAILURE IN THE #5 CYLINDER. THE #5 PISTON 'CLIPPED' A VALVE, THE VALVE DROPPED INTO THE CYLINDER, THE PISTON IMPACTED THE VALVE AND CAUSED THE #5 PISTON ROD TO BREAK LOOSE COMPLETELY AND PUNCH A HOLE IN THE TOP OF THE ENGINE CORE. THERE WERE ALSO CRACKS IN THE #5 CYLINDER WALL. I HAD TO PURCHASE A COMPLETELY NEW ENGINE FROM THE MANUFACTURER AND HAVE MY LOCAL DEALER INSTALL IT. THE FINAL REPAIR BILL WAS $25,000.

THE PORSCHE ENGINE DID NOT HAVE PROPER OILING DUE TO A LACK OF PROPER OIL RETURN DESIGN WHICH CAUSES THE BEARINGS TO PREMATURELY WEAR AND THE ROD BOLTS TO FAIL IN THESE ENGINES. WE HAVE OVER 35 CASES OF THIS HAPPENING AT HTTP://WWW.PLANET-9.COM/CAYMAN-BOXSTER-PROBLEMS-COMPLAINTS/59790-OILING-PROBLEMS-BLOWN-MOTORS-NHTSA.HTML TO OWNERS OF PORSCHE BOXSTERS AND CAYMANS FROM PRIMARILY THE 2006 AND 2007 MODEL YEARS. SOME OF THESE FAILURES HAVE RESULTED IN CRASHES OR NEAR-CRASHES AS THE ENGINES FAIL THE DRIVER LOSES POWER STEERING AND CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. PORSCHE HAS REFUSED TO ADMIT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THESE ENGINES BUT HAS REDESIGNED THE ENGINES IN 2009 TO FIX THESE OILING PROBLEMS. PORSCHE HAS EVEN DENIED WARRANTY CLAIMS WHERE THE FAILURES OCCURRED ON A TRACK DURING A DRIVING SCHOOL, ALTHOUGH PORSCHE ADVERTISES THEIR CARS AS SPORTS CARS AND CONSISTENTLY SHOWS THEM ON THE TRACK IN ADVERTISING MATERIALS, TELEVISION, ETC. ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINES INCLUDE INCREASED OIL CONSUMPTION (1 QUART PER 250 MILES) AND CYLINDER SCORING FROM IMPROPER ASSEMBLY AND/OR DESIGN. MY ENGINE FIRST FAILED AT 18,000 MILES AND PORSCHE MADE ME PAY OVER $5000 TO GET IT FIXED, THE ENGINE THEN CONSUMED EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF OIL AND SUFFERED FROM CYLINDER SCORING AFTER THE PORSCHE DEALERSHIP REBUILT THE ENGINE IN 2008. THIS CAUSED THE ENGINE TO NEED TO BE REPLACED IN AUGUST 2011 FOR ANOTHER $10,000. STATISTICS AND OWNER ACCOUNTS ARE SHOWING A SERIOUS DESIGN FLAW IN THESE ENGINES THAT PORSCHE REFUSES TO ADMIT AND HAS NOT ADDRESSED WITH ANY SORT OF RETRO-FIT KIT, RECALL OR FIX. AFTERMARKET COMPANIES HAVE CREATED SOLUTIONS BUT PORSCHE WILL NOT UTILIZE THESE AS THEY ARE NOT "PORSCHE APPROVED".