Hello everyone,

I'm in the market for a first generation Cayman S (manual only, no pdk) as my daily car. I've done a lot of searching and reading, but am curious to hear some first-hand accounts from people who can attest to the true reliability and maintenance costs of owning this car as a daily vehicle. I assume most of the maintenance I will perform myself.

Thanks in advance,
Andy

 

The larger IMSB is good for over 140,000 miles in my trained experience. Unless you engage a service like mine to modify the block, it does require a total tear down to replace. Keep the oil full with proper recommended viscosity regardless of your personal preferences. There are several different systems n these engines that the oil has to protect. Too thick oil n the cylinder jets won't shoot the oil to the pistons. Cylinders scored failure. The #2 rod is another failure that might be related to proper observation. Check oil level regularly. As regularly as you check your credit card for unauthorized charges.

 

Thanks for the remarks. Checking the oil weekly or more won't be a problem. I assume there is a standard dip stick unlike modern BMW's?

 

The key initiates oil check. If hot it might take 5 minutes or less, if cold 30 minutes.

 

Interesting. Is the on-board oil check sensor known to be reliable/accurate?

 

2006 Cayman S is my wife's daily driver.
88000km . Aside from normal oil filters etc, in the 2 years I have owned it, the following items have been replaced/repaired (lets call them unscheduled maintenance):
Air Oil separator , Transmission shift cable (end connector broke near gearbox) and clutch kit (failed pressure plate) also replaced rear crankshaft seal while replacing clutch as it was also leaking slightly.
All work maintenance and repair done by me! (clutch took me 2 weeks !!)

 

Honestly wouldn't expect to have to do a clutch that early, but who knows. Did the clutch job require engine removal?

 

The clutch is changed with engine in car. You can use large tyraps to help support the shift cables and possibly prevent cable breakage. It's commonly stated a clutch or some other work had been done, the factory plastic cable locks are diminished in latching ability, work loose, then the extra flop causes stress and breakage of the ends.

 

Very useful info. Thank you. I am ignorant to mid engine cars, so excuse my questions if they seem foolish. How much more difficult is a clutch job compared to a front engine RWD car?

 

The pressure plate failed, there was still lots of life left in the clutch plate. Didn't require engine removal. It's not a difficult job, just a BIG job, in other words lots of stuff to remove and put back , I took my time and made sure I did everything right which is why it took 2 weeks. I worked an hour or two each day,breaking the job into little steps. Check this thread for some pics of the failed pressure plate https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...e-failure.html
With regards to the transmission shifter cable, that broke long before the clutch was done, but that being said, I have no idea if work was done on it before I owned the vehicle.

 

Been using the one in my 2002 Boxster now since well, 2002. The one my 2003 Turbo has been fine since 2003.

It is important to know that an oil/filter service is the time the correctness of the digital oil level system is working properly.

Briefly, the engine is brought up to temperature, the oil drained a specific amount of time, and then the correct amount of oil is added to the engine. The engine is run to bring the engine/oil up to temperature then a reading is taken to confirm the level is where it should be.

As an example, for my 996 Turbo the factory manual says warm the engine up to at least 70C -- warm enough to check the oil level which requires the engine be up to some minimum temperature -- and then to drain the oil 20 minutes. Afterwards add 7.8l of oil -- the dealer service bay oil dispensing guns display the amount of oil dispensed -- and the level should read at the max line, not below or above.

 

Interesting. Sounds just like an other decently sized job. Love that you were able to print a tool to install the RMS. Nice!

 

Thanks for the info. I find it odd that you are required to drain for a specific amount of time. Opposed to any other car I've owned, which you do the logical thing of draining until it's completely empty. Unless I'm reading that wrong.

 

The amount of oil the 20 minute drain interval allows to drain from the engine is a substantial amount of oil. The oil is hot and as one who has drained his Boxster's oil a number of times - and his Turbo's oil (and two times his Cayman S and uncounted number of times with his other cars) -- the hot oil really flows out of the engine. In hardly any time the oil flow has fallen to a trickle then a small thin thread of oil then nearly nothing. 20 minutes is fine.

There is an overnight drain interval which the techs tell me has a slightly larger refill amount of oil required.

At any rate my Boxster's oil has been changed a bazilion times and most of the time with the standard drain interval and has not suffered one iota from tiny amount of residual oil in the engine.

Even a longer drain time will not have all the oil out of the engine. I'm not sure you want "all" the oil out as at some point this can have the oil passages too empty of oil and can affect the engine's oiling upon restart after a drain/oil change.

IOWs, any concern for the small amount of oil left in the engine after just a 20 minute drain interval is unwarranted. Worry about whirled peas or something important.

Be sure you select a reasonable and appropriate oil change interval. What that should be is open for discussion but I settled on 5K miles which has contributed to my Boxster engine's longevity.

 

My Cayman experience (06) over the past 18 monhts has been very good. I track and auto-X my car, changing oil every 5k miles (about 1x/year) due to the higher loads from tracking (5-6 days/year). I only use Mobil 1 0W-40 oil ($23.88/5qt bottle at Walmart). I check my oil weekly and before/after every track day.

The only unexpected maintanence to date was a window control module.

You did got the message from the other posts.......there is no dip stick.