markweintraub

howdy,
I just bought a 1987 911 with 47,000 miles. Venetian Blue, totally stock. I'm the second owner. I've had it for less than a thousand miles -- and now I'm having a problem...

Drove the car without incident three days ago. Started up the car Saturday -- (10 degrees in NJ). It didn't smoke (that's good), but it idled so roughly that the car was literally rocking back and forth -- like something was way out of balance. I pressed the throttle gently to see if I could make things normal again. No dice. I let the car idle and the engine gradually slowed to about 250-500 rpm. I could keep it going if I hit the throttle -- but the engine wanted to stop. If I floored the throttle briefly, the engine would only go to 2000 rpm -- no higher.

Eventually, after a few mins of this, it settled down to a normal idle. I left my driveway slowly and the car felt underpowered -- like all the cylinders weren't firing or they weren't all getting gas or something like that. Things cleared in a minute -- and I had full power. It cleared abruptly -- like a turbo kicking in. A quick few uneventful miles on a highway and then I slowed for an offramp. By the time I got to the light at the end of the ramp, the car had stalled. It started right up -- I went a few hundred feet --and it stalled again.

I let it sit for a few minutes -- tried again. And had full power. I went to a gas station and filled up with super as I have been (i was on 1/4 tank) and had full power for the next ten miles until I put the car away. Idle was fine when I shut it down. Oil level and pressure is also fine.

Same thing happened this morning when I started it up. Very rough idle for five minutes and it eventually settled -- then, it was OK.

Car has 47k miles -- but hasn't yet had the 45k service. 30k service was performed at 38k miles -- eight years ago. The oil was changed at 45k -- which was six years ago. The car hasn't seen much action, obviously, since then.

Any ideas? In any case, i'm going to do the 45k service asap.

Thanks,
Mark

Mark Hald

The problem could, of course, be a number of things. I'd try the simple stuff, first. Given your symptoms, I'd start with a can of dry-gas in the tank.
I'd also look for vacuum leaks. Age and the cold could cause rubber parts to crack. While you're at it, check for tightness of the intake manifold bolts. If they're loose, you can try tightening them, but you may have to replace the (12) intake gaskets.

markweintraub

yup -- the dry gas is the first thing I'm going to do. I'm thinking it might be the fuel filter, which is probably 8 years old.

it also might be the fuel pressure regulator.

anyway, the 45k service and a full once-over will hopefully hit the 'reset' button on the car for me.

thanks.
mw

ibico

Please excuse my ignarance 'can of dry-gas' please explain

Thanks

markweintraub

dry gas somehow removes water from gasoline -- which, especially when it freezes -- is bad for engines - and might be the cause of my problems...

Mark Hald

The stuff can be magic . My wife's Honda started cutting out, losing power, surging ... I dumped a can of dry-gas in the tank and within minutes it was purring like the proverbial kitten.

pjc

Mark,

Also appears that your car is desperate for that service - 8 years is a long time even if the car has not been used much. My old girl only truddles around for about 1500 miles a year but I still do an oil and filter change (including fuel filter) every year with a major every 4 years.

Sounds like you have a great car that just needs a bit of TLC.

PJC

tyler

take the car straight to your local repair shop and have them do a complete tune up..or do the tune up yourself is so inclined....why risk a bigger repair bill by driving it....get the gas tank drained and new put in

8 year old dirty oil needs to be changed as well, if nothing more than to remove the corrosive ingredients..like boats being put up for the winter

i would be afraid to drive it and find out a mouse or bird made a nice nest in the intake and then suck it in, rats can cut right through airfilters

good luck with the car, but it deserves a good checking over after 8 years of sitting....a can of mystery fluid doesn't do the car justice

markweintraub

I've actually driven the car for 500 miles or so -- before this incident popped up. I'm not sure it's bad gas, now that I think of it. It started when the tank was 1/4 full. The first 3/4 of that tank was just fine.

I'm bringing it in for the 45k service -- plus a new gas filter -- and anything else the car needs.

thanks,

Mark

993chaz

Nice looking car Mark,
I was also looking at this one!!

If I remember correctly it was somewhere on the East Coast.

KM

Mark,

While you have the car in for service, you might want to have your mechanic check the head temp sensor. These are known to fail over time and cause cold start issues.

Kevin

markweintraub

Got the car in Virginia -- from Dave Olimpi. He's a dealer I'd recommend to anyone. Mostly deals in Porsche, Ferrari and Mercedes. He had listed it in the Classifieds here, which pointed to his site.

http://www.daveolimpiautomobiles.com/

markweintraub

for those of you playing along at home -- the car started up, idled and ran great today -- 25 degrees in NJ. Still going to get the 45k service done.

Mark Hald

did you do anything to it, or is it "divine intervention"?

markweintraub

the hand of god was in my garage yesterday when i started the car. Let's just hope it's not a fluke. I'm going to explain the whole thing to the mechanic doing the 45k service -- and see what he finds.