Over the weekend, I was driving hard and then noticed steam and smoke coming out of my engine. Then, my temp light went off and I figured I blew a coolant hose. I take it to the dealer, and they said that I have blown out some coolant "plugs" in the engine. These "plugs" are supposed to divert the coolant within the engine. So, they said they have pull out the engine, open it to replace these "plugs" and it will cost me $5000!!!
Now, I'm wondering if any of you have heard about such a thing happening before or can explain to me if this is a legit problem. They said it is only about $500 in parts, but over $4500 in labor....also, are there any upgrades or replacements you recommend since the motor is coming out?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

I don't get it. It's just not that hard to drop this engine / trans assembly. Going slow it couldn't be more than a day. Even if it was 2 solid days, say double what it is, that would be 20 hours being super generous. Is the labor rate 250/hour?

 

Yeah, I dont' get it either...the car is at Pacific Porsche in Torrance. They are pretty reputable, but that sure seems like a lot of labor time. The extended warranty company said they won't cover this repair either because coolant "plugs" are not covered even though they are in the engine. Who ever heard of coolant "plugs"?

 

Never heard of this. I have heard of coolant lines breaking or coming undone and the engine had to be dropped but not coolant "plugs".This does not mean dealer is lying but I would try to confirm before authorizing repair.

 

Do you mean freeze plugs. I have only heard of super early Boxster motors doing this. Its not a hard job but you will have to strip the block down to nothing to fix it correctly as you need to have room to swing a mallet pretty hard to get them in. plus press them out if required.

Its normally done when you tank the block.

 

Never heard something like that. What is the role of the expansion tank???? To absorb excess of pressure..... There is something else wrong and replacing those plugs(???) is not going to fix your problem. Why did you get this excess of pressure is the question you should ask....

 

After consulting with the lead mechanic, he said that this is a flange on the top of the engine that distributes the coolant through out the car. The problem is that to reach this flange and reconnect the hoses, the engine needs to be dropped. Removing the engine is a 15 hour minimum job at a dealership...the whole job is supposedly 25 hours of labor and the parts are only $500. Has anyone had this kind of work done before? If so, what was your experience and cost?