Cactus

Same here but I'm a lot lower on miles. I try to not just idle around at low rpm on every drive. I guess that comes from my sport bike riding years of revving the **** out of it on every ride

gandalfthegray.

Hey guys, when I first bought the car I had a PPI done including a leak down test. The leak down numbers failed and the shop that had done the PPI told me that the car was due for a top end. They told me it was quite common in the 993's. Being they were in the D.C. metro area and I was in Minnesota I renegotiated a deal with the seller and shipped the car home. I did like the car and I felt that the new price was OK even though I knew that somewhere down the line I would have to put the money into the car.

To be honest, the car seems to run great. There isn't any smoke with the exception of a puff at start up if the car has been sitting a while. (more than a week) It does however leak oil which seems to have gotten worse in the nearly 2 years I've owned the car now.

Auto Edge will be doing their own diagnoses on the car before just tearing into it. Maybe I was given bogus leak down numbers by a shop looking to generate business, who knows. They did push pretty hard to perform the service prior to my shipping the car home to Minnesota. I will have leak down numbers and their opinion on which direction I should go in the next week I would think. Car arrives at the shop tomorrow.

Here's a quick pic. My nephew used it for his wedding 'get-a-way' car last fall. I'll have to get some new pics this spring. After my phone went missing this winter I lost all my pics.

Cactus

Will be interesting to compare notes with a second opinion. Keep us updated.

Quadcammer

I might have missed it but what is your oil consumption like?

nine9six

Ed,
I respectfully disagree on the check valve portion of your statement.

Could you please explain how bad oil check valve, could be fatal?

As an ex-valve mechanic/machinist; if a check valve fails, it fails allowing flow, or backflow in this case; not restricting it...So if it fails, its like not having the valve in the line.

With this understood, could you please elaborate on possibility/potential of your statement?

Thanks,
Paul

Ed Hughes

Um, if the valve stuck shut, hindering flow. Seems pretty obvious.

Paul, why not give it a rest? If someone wants to sell valves for $300 and people want to buy-let them.

gandalfthegray.

I don't think it's too bad. I've added a quart in roughly 1800 miles. I may be able add some more at this point but I intended for an oil change at the very least while the car is at the shop. I'd guess a quart to 1200 - 1500 miles.

Ed Hughes

Your oil usage certainly doesn't point to the need for a top end rebuild. Why not simply address the leaks?

NYC993

So what were the exact leak down numbers. I don't understand that it "failed" leakdown test.
Did they tell you what the numbers are and which cylinder has excessive leak down?
The oil consumption is certainly normal.
As Ed said, why not start with couple of new gaskets and stop leaking oil, first.

PRSWILL

Do the lifters make a lot of noise? If you're not blowing smoke, i'd question a top end. Leak downs are funny- and I don't think you can "Fail" a leak down- it's just a number. Granted, there's probably a minimum acceptable percentage that you're aiming for and if a cylinder is under it ,it could mean rings, valves, gaskets- hard to say without visually inspecting. That level of oil consumption isn't too bad- how much is from leakage? may need a rear main seal and new valve cover gaskets and the oil consumption/leakage drops. Will be interesting to hear the outcome. It's a great time of year to do thee things in Minnesota though- get the car ready to run in only 2-4 more months!LOL

PRSWILL

I don't think i'd write Courtney off for that. First of all, have MIKE do the test drive- They have a very good reputation and the shop is always filled with air-coolers.

gandalfthegray.

We are pretty much handling it as a new start. They are taking into account the info from a prior shop but they want to do there own analysis. First line of business is to find where the oil leaks are and if the base gaskets are leaking. If base gaskets are good, they want to do a new leak down test. If base gaskets are leaking then heads are coming off either way.

I'll probably no more next week, but we definitely won't just throw money at it. Hopefully the story ends with no top end rebuild.

earossi

You will read about guys that get over 100K miles out of a clutch. I suspect that these guys do not "lean on their cars" when they drive them. I've always maintained my cars well, but when it comes to driving them.....I drive them hard. I've always felt that driving one hard was the way it was meant to be driven.

Having said that, I usually get about 70K miles out of a clutch. If you do a top end on your car, you should expect to drive it for at least another 70k miles without needing to tear apart the engine. BUT, I doubt that any clutch will last that long. Replacing a clutch requiring R&R of the power train from the car will set you back about $5000. Doing it while the engine is out for the top end will cost you about an hour's worth of labor and the parts. So, say about $2100 for the total job. So, it comes down to paying $2100 now or $5000 later. I guess it depends on how long you intend to own the car......and, the results of inspecting the clutch disk when the engine comes out for the top end.

Quadcammer

Disagree.

Clutch life depends on driver skill, suitability for power levels, and type of driving (stop and go vs. highway).

Once the clutch disk is locked onto the flywheel, driving it hard isn't going to wear the clutch so long as it can hold the power without slipping.

Sloppy driving and lots of stop and go will wear out a clutch way faster than a skilled driver being the snot out of a car properly.

pp000830

So why are you considering having your top end rebuilt? What symptoms are driving this decision?
Also how do you use your car that has resulted in the need for this? I see lots of discussions about top end rebuilds but little on why.