dr bob

Get the car over to Dan Warner at Exotic Motorworks in Phoenix. He's 'the man' for 928 work in the Phoenix area, and one of the very few folks I'd just hand the keys and the credit card to for work like this.

The ugly reality on dealer services on the 928 is that they are so used to getting stuck with huge lists of other things that they either missed going in or broke coming out, that they just set the costs high enough to be sure that those 'aw $hit' things will be covered up front. Plus, they make their braed and butter dollars doing service and warranty work on relatively new cars. Dealers today just don't have 928-trained techs any more either.


Meanwhile, the WYAIT list includes new spark plugs, vent fittings, the cover gaskets, plug hole o-rings, the cam chain tensioner pads, the cam end plugs and the retrofit pins for the unused oil galleys, maybe new chains and the cam end seals. And if you need those seals camshaft drive-end seals, you are in for a TB replacement at minimum, since the front of the heads will be exposed and the gears will be off. If the covers have never been refinished, now's the time while they are off. The oil in the plug wells may have done a number on the plug ends/boots/wires. There's a LOT more to fixing a leaking cover than stuffing in a new gasket. Sean, are we anywhere near the $1k mark yet?

Again, get the car to Dan and get a real expert assessment. He may tell you it's OK to drive to Texas, so that SeanMeister can give it the full treatment.


Good luck with your new toy!

hacker-pschorr

$100 - $120 per hour is more realistic of an hourly wage in some areas.
As for parts, there will probably be some inessentials that could easily push parts cost to $100+ for the bill (retail).
As you pointed out, one broken bolt all bets are off (and those bolts are not cheap). The shop could easily be figuring in worst case scenario.

I'm not saying $1,000 for the job is a good deal. But before we start bashing a shop for something, need to take into account how much would you have to charge for a job while paying employees, making money on the parts, paying the light bill, insurance, property taxes etc...

It's easy for all of us to brag about how cheap these jobs are while doing it at a friends garage and drinking a beer. Most of us are not trying to put food on the table with this work.

Not picking on or directing this at you Adrian. Your post was just the easiest to spring-board off of

Nicole

Bingo!

worf928

A FULL set of rubber for both cam covers on an '87+ runs about $150-200 bucks IIRC. You've got 2 cam cover gaskets at $xx each, 26 pressure gaskets at $y each, 8 spark plug gaskets at $z each, four elbow/plug o-rings at $0.zz each. If I was doing the job I'd also put in a new Hall Sensor at $xxx. (Sorry, I don't have current pricing handy.)

It takes me about 8 hours from car in to car out to do a cam cover R&R and to do it thoroughly. About a hour less if I'm not doing prep or clean-up from powder coating (and I never not done powder coating). I could shave a couple of hours off of the job by not doing any cleaning, not checking the oil drain backs, bending some things and "forgetting" to re-install the lift loops and leaving a couple of other items loose. But, that ain't happening.


I wouldn't touch an S3 cam cover with the motor in the car.

blown 87

I can see that job going for a grand, or more, it all depends on how much a non mechanic owner has worked on it.

docmirror

Plug well oil is common. Just flush it out of there, and bring it back to Sean. There's a bunch of WYAIT things that need to be done at the same time. If you just get gaskets, you're wasting both time and money.

Clean out the plug wells and drive.

blandis

AKA,

Have it shipped, which I assume your going to any way, once its here get it to Denton to Sean.

Im guessing money you would save having Sean do it, would offset most of shipping cost!

I live in Coppell also. Just sold my 84 last night, but am currently looking for an S4. Only one other 928 in Coppell that I know of.

Mako 928

Since you stated that the dealer is paying for it they may not want to take it any where other than their mechanic.
However if you can talk them into taking to Dan Warner at Exoctic Motorworks that would be ideal.
Not only would the work get done right but he could also look it over and prep it for the drive home.

ROG100

Alex just drive it home and stop being a whimp.
Best way to bond with the car.
Last one I brought home drank 5 gallons of oil in 1000miles.
Fuel was also spraying onto the exhaust manifold - it would have if the PO had not put a sheet of metal between the hose and the manifold.
I guess if they are paying thats fine but you will probably have to get Sean to do it all over again.
I envy your road trip.
Roger

jmrjames

This link is good except that it only starts at 1990 and is not for every repair

http://repairpal.com/estimator?checking_cookies=true

Just a guide the others have given better advice.

danglerb

I wouldn't trust the dealer service at all, but no doubt if its been through a dealer its been "messed" with.

Gretch

dealers seem to know NOTHING about these cars........... absolutely NOTHING.

mj1pate

The 26 pressure gaskets are rubber coated washers. When I removed the originals in my 86.5, they were in a state virtually devoid of rubber and I replaced them all. The OEM cost for the lot of them was no small change, and I found them at Home Depot for $.05 apiece. At the very least, it would be nice to have the opportunity to sandblast and paint the valve covers, since if fortune smiles, you won't have them off again for quiet a while. This should all be possible for < $100.

And my gosh.....if I had a thousand to spend, I would get the car home, humbly beg the help of any rennlisters within mass transit distance to come over and help pull the intake tubes, breather hoses, injectors, spark plugs. Send the injectors out for refurb to WitchHunter, replace all the rubber components and apply new gaskets. Change the spark plug wires and check the distributor caps. If your thousand has change left over, then Criminy......send the MAF to Kevin at Injectionlabs for calibration. You should be ready to rock for under a thousand bucks.

Dan87951

Not surprising the dealer charges that! . I have done this job many times. Very easy to do. Thankfully I have never had a broken bolt yet. Rennlist is about helping others out, im sure theres someone close enough to give you a hand if need be otherwise I would take it to a local specialist. The Porsche dealer probably hasn't seen a 928 in years.. what do they know?

blown 87

And with out them, many of our cars would not be on the road today.