996 intermediate shaft problem

[objetty]

3 weeks ago I took my 2004 996 C4S cab into a local dealership and had an inspection and 15K oil change/service performed. They found a rear main seal leak (very slow, no pools in the garage) and performed warranty repair.

Yesterday, while driving on the freeway at about 75 suddenly a noise started coming from the engine compartment. After stopping the car, within 45 minutes the entire engine oil contents were on the ground.

I got a call from the dealership today and they said that the intermediate shaft was broken and that the engine would have to be replaced. They couldn't tell me why it broke. They said it wasn't related to the RMS repair or oil change. They said that the replacement engine would be an "exchange engine" that had "all new internal parts" but that some parts (ie. the manifold) could be salvaged parts from some other poor engine but that they wouldn't know if everything was new or not.

Fortunately, this is all under warranty so my wallet is safe. I'm concerned about this "exchange engine" and whether or not the story they are giving me is legitimate. Kinda odd to have an oil change and oil leak repair followed within 3 weeks by all that oil on the parking lot instead of in my engine.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Barry

[ttweed]

Like your user name! I spent a lot of time at OB jetty in my illspent youth, and still walk my dog there frequently.

I am no expert on this, but I think that is standard procedure for the newer models. When they break, the dealer doesn't try to rebuild them, or even diagnose the root cause, they just install a "remanufactured" engine and send the failed one back to the factory, where they determine what the fault was and salvage the usable pieces to go into another replacement motor. I don't know if they are giving you the whole story, they may know more than they are telling you, but you don't really have much leverage to find out, or many options to pursue in this situation, do you? You're lucky that the warranty will take care of the costly repair. In a few more years, you would be looking at a $10K bill for the engine plus the labor to swap it out.

[objetty]

Thanks Tom, that's good info and backs up what I've been able to figure out by calling several dealerships, visiting Rennlist, etc. At first I was pretty nervous about it all, but have settled in with the obvious/only solution. Fortunately I'll only be without the car for about a week and a half - or so they say...

I gotta say, I was a little nervous that I might have done something to the car. I ran it at the Performance Driving School a couple weeks ago. Only the first day though. Unfortunately, I got a bad chest cold, lost my voice and felt crummy and had to skip the AX day. Maybe you inspected my car, I can't remember the name of the gentleman who looked it over...

Yeah, OB is a pretty fun place. I rented a house on the beach there the first couple of years I lived in SD (97-99). I really enjoyed being able to walk out on my deck and check the jetty - I was part of the dawn patrol regulars until about 2000 when I started having kids. I/we miss being able to open the back gate and let our dogs just run out to dog beach... Those were the days. The dogs still can't be walked on a leash - the grew up as puppies there.

Thanks again,
Barry