Oshin11

Hey guys I posted a little bit ago about choosing Porsche or keep going to school for my PhD. So I have decided to take the chance at getting the job so now I have to drive from the midwest to california. Its about a 2000 mile drive. When I came out here a few weeks ago I paid about 1000 dollars to ship that sucker out here and it had scratches and dents because of it which sucked and the shipping company isnt responsible for it (such bull**** in my opinion). So I am thinking of just driving back to California on October 5th. What do you think? Bad idea? I just had an oil change and full 120K mile service with valve adjust and everything. She is running pretty strong but you never know what could break. I just cant bare to pay another 1000 dollars to move back and ship her to California. Any advice? I would consider breaking up the drive in 4 days 500 miles a day.

ked

cross-continent, in a 911, in the Fall - drive it.

Oshin11

Its an 87 911 Carrera convertible with 118K miles with 120K service already just done

theiceman

You even have to ask ? better not let your future employer see this thread :-)

ron mcatee

Oshin11, if you are a member of the Porsche Club of America (PCA) you are in luck. There are 139 regions in PCA and folks in those regions are always willing to help a fellow PCA member if they are in trouble or advise on local shops if you need repairs, etc. Every year in March, PCA publishes the Porsche Panorama with current contact points for each region . These contact points, i.e., Pres, V. Pres, Secy, treasurer, etc., are who to call if you have trouble. If not in PCA think about joining. I have been a member for 39 years and know folks all over the country. If not a PCA member, you can go to www.pca.org which is the PCA website. On that website, click on regional directories in the top right hand corner. A color map will come up and then you click on the Zone # to bring up regional data. There is an underlined region (example: Zone 10, then the first region is Central Iowa) , click on it and a region menu comes up. On the menu, there are several listings one of which is Officers for the club. They are the contact points should you need help or advice. I usually call the President since he should know all that goes on in the region. If you know the roads you are going to take, then go to the Zones and pick possible regions you will be going through. Write down the contact points for use should you need them. I hope this helps and urge you to join PCA if not already a member. If I can be of further assistance, let me know.

Oshin11

Ok so it seems like everyone is saying drive it, but how many miles should I limit myself to in one day? 500? 300? 1000?

jimq

as many as you can. Why would it make any difference. It wont heal its self over night. I drove my old 77 911S to Va from Fl 3 different times non stop for 800 miles in one day with no problems or any special preparations other then carrying a quart of oil and a spare fan belt/tools.

ked

I've done 1300 in a day in both my 356 & 911. These cars LIKE endurance events.

ron mcatee

Where is your start and end point? Do you know what route you want to take and approximate miles for the route. If you have a departure address and a destination address, Yahoo may provide you a route with directions.

Oshin11

Oh boy so I made the drive from Chicago to LA in 2 days about 1000 miles each day. Now my car is completely screwed. In Nebraska I noticed a rotten egg smell coming from my car and my mechanic said that it was probably just because I pumped some nasty fuel. Well around Colorado my cruise control stopped working but my car was driving fine. The lights would get a little bright and then would go back to normal in a flickering fashion but the car was fine, I even took her to 140 and steady as a rock. When I got home and turned off the engine and tried to turn it back on the car was dead, battery dead. Turns out the battery had been juiced and the car was running on the alternator. After days at my mechanics shop he informed me that the battery water level was empty and the battery was fried along with the grounding cable. Now the engines main computer is fried (costs 2020 dollars for a new computer) and I want to kill myself for buying this car. This is why.....when the mechanic opened up the computer he noticed that someone had already opened it and inserted a performance enhancing chip. Obviously the jackass who sold it to me, a dealer in Orange County California (he's respected in the PCA apparently), never told me the car was modified. The mechanic said that the strange part was that the two failsafes, one of which is a smaller computer, were NOT fried. He said possibly the alternator pumped too much juice and fried the engine from the rear. I dunno I am so pissed off now, I wish I could take action against the dealer who did this but I am pretty sure I am screwed with 3500 dollars in bills

ked

damn - this IS a bad turn of events. well, you can't go back in time, but you can take a cold, calculated overview of the situation...
- are you sure of the examination made by your mech - do you feel you need a 2nd opinion?
- outline in writing everything that has been explained to you by your mech related to the batt / elect sys / main comp failure, clearly & completely. contact the seller & review the events.it seems that the dealer should have checked the batt prior to delivery (how long / how many miles from your purchase to the failure?). maybe include your mech on the call. negotiate compensation or consider seeking help from his local BBB, DA or CA State Consumer Protection Off.
- you (or better yet, the dealer) may be able to source a usable used comp for 50% of new cost.
- if all goes ok, you might get your out-of-pocket loss close to the $1K you would've paid for shipping.
- the cruise & lights problems may be related to the batt, or other causes, but these usually aren't excessively costly to fix (does it have a cat conv? if so, the smell might have been the cat).

focus on minimizing the financial damage, get the car going right, it's understandable to be pissed, but don't let justified emotions get in the way of your judgement & planning the next steps.

bpoteat

I'd like to say congrats on accepting the job. Only time will tell for sure, but I'm confident you made the right decision.

ron mcatee

I think your biggest problem is that the alternator went out and that fried the battery. All the things you talked about, lights, etc are syptoms of a failed alternator and voltage regulator. If you look on Pelican and Rennlist, there may be someone with a DME brain box that will let you have it for far less than $2,020. I am confused with your statement "fried the engine from the rear". What fried? The performance chip may/may not have contributed to the problem. Many of us have them in our vehicles and haven't had a problem. The DME brain box is under the driver's seat and the DME relay is right nezt to it. As stated before, I would get a second opinion. I think you at least need a new battery so you can check out the charging system. I would bet that your alternator and voltage regulator are toast and need replacement. Also look into a replacement DME (computer). As your mechanic said and I think you meant , the DME relay is OK. I wouldn't do a "gloom and doom" until someone else has a look and provides that second opinion. I had similar problem with my 88 Carrera except I didn't have the DME brain box (computer) go bad. Once the alternator was replaced mine runs as it should. Good luck.

Edgy01

All this advice is right on! I have crossed this country many times in a 911, with no problems. It is the only 'exotic' sports car that you can say that about. Having lived in various areas of the country I can also name for you a number of shops in the event you need assistance. This is something that any PCA region member would do for you, as well.

Start packing the trunk!

911 Rod

Yes, your situation sucks, but.
If the PO didn't take it on long trips they would not have been aware of the problem.
You can't really blame them.
My car had flickering headlights and seat belt warning light for 2 years before a spirited 4 hr drive revealed a faulty voltage regulator which in turn fried my battery.
You should have sourced the smell to the battery and stopped driving.
Some times it needs to get better worse it can get better.
My 2 cents worth.