RonBrooks

I owned a 944 for many years and being without my or about 5 years now, it's time to be a Porsche owner again. My 944 was the best car I have ever owned hands down. Due to knee surgery, my manual days are over. I have about 30k as my budget. I've looked at the Boxster, and while I like the car, the fact that it only seats 2 is an issue. I have 3 children (12, 8 & 4)and while the Boxster wouldn't be used as a minivan, the fact that I could only take 1 person with me poses a problem because I couldn't do something as easy as just take one of the others with me to the store, baseball game, etc.

So, a 911 would at least offer part-time seating for another child. I don't want to spend the entire budget on the car and leave nothing left, so I'm looking at 90-94 C2 models with tiptronic. I really love the 993 versions, but they're too much $.

I know the 90-91 models had issues with the engine's assembly resulting in the need to do re-seals at rebuild time. The thought of buying a Porsche to fix or to try to verify that someone else fixed correctly when the factory didn't do it right the first time seems like an unwise move. I've been searching the web for information on just what C2 models were affected with this problem but I can't find any answers.

Does anyone have information on what years or engine numbers had this problem? I don't seem to recall anyone saying the 93-94 model years having this problem, but I can't find anything ruling them out either.

We recently moved to Georgia and there are several tracks around which is something I didn't have in NY, so the thought of getting on the track occasionally is something I can't stop thinking about.

Thanks for any answers or pointing me in the right direction.

Ron Brooks

JCP911S

These were early engines and the general feeling is that for those that had the problem, it would have shown itself my now and been fixed. I suspect more than ten years later, age, wear and tear is a much bigger problem.... if you find a car that looks to be in good shape, was well maintained and passes a PPI, then I wouldn't worry about it.

greenjt

Ron - You should post this in the 964 forum instead since that is what you are looking for. Also, the gasketless design you referred to was changed DURING the 1991 model year production not after. So there are 91's with the updated engine (like mine). Good luck.

jg

Bill Gregory

There's an in-process FAQ that may offer some additional information, which can be seen here.

At the time the cylinder gasket issue was identified, Porsche fixed those that were wet to the touch. The issue affected a small number of engines, and generally, even if there is some leakage today, it doesn't affect running, and generally you can leave it alone, unless it bothers you. Of course, you can just look for a 964 with factory updated gaskets, which would be tiptronic engine 62 M 52757, in 1991 and later 964's.