Eplebnista

I have been contacted by the owner of a low mileage 86.5 who heard I am looking. Car has approximately 48 k - checks out as such through Carfax - and has had recent TB/WP and AC service done. Car appears to have spent most of its life in the last 10-15 years in storage without much driving or maintenance.

Any 928 may need TB/WP, fuel lines, motor mounts, new pod, new dash.

I also understand that a car like this may have engine/cooling system rot from the last coolant change occurring during the first Bush administration. Additionally, seals may be dried out, the brake master is likely to fail and the "normal" 928 electrical and electronic enigmas will be raised to a new level. All fluids will need to be changed and the brake fluid may have had increasing amounts of water in it over the years.

My questions to the community are:

1. What have I missed in my list of potential "storage" queen issues?

2. What "storage" queen issues are detectable by a good PPI? In particular, are there ways to detect if the block and heads are solid or more like swiss cheese?

I appreciate any help you have to offer.

Thanks

Lizard928

All rubber parts likely needing replacement (timing belt, hoses etc),
the grease in sealed bearings may have hardened (read TT),
brake seals will need to be redone due to corrosion,
head gaskets may have rotted out.

rgs944

For what's its worth I let my 83 944 sit for 12 years. One start up in that entire time. The car has about 75K on it. The only thing I did is change the speed sensors which always go out on a 944. Flushed fluids and the car started and ran like new. Eventually updated to a later cpu which smoothed the idle. Long story short, I would not be scared of a low mileage car that has been sitting. You will need to do all the same maintance anyway even if the car had 200K.

mickster

My car leaks everywhere-sat 30 months. Nature of the beast. These cars hate sitting.

Tom in Austin

Tires are probably flat-spotted and/or far past their expiration date ...

Dean_Fuller

Coolant had to have been changed when the timing belt / water pump was done. ( how long ago was that?) If the deal is good I would not be too afraid with the info you have supplied.

danglerb

Its a roll of the dice, and with a recent change of fluids nothing easy to test for prior damage. I don't get much of a "peace of mind" feeling from a prior owner having TB done to sell it. Did he use a new current Laso WP, were all the parts replaced, who did the work? Why wasn't it driven? Why is it being sold?

Beyond all that, is it the 928 you want?

Is it such a good deal that you would be happy even if it had substantial problems?

NoVector

That dude from OKC this past winter had a horrible gummy tar in his fuel tank…

davek9

Where was it stored, was it damp? Dampness has a way of creeping up the wires, running the engine till hot keeps this a minimum under the hood at least.

GregBBRD

Acidic coolant is the worst possible problem, as far as I'm concerned. Eats at the heads, the block, and the head gaskets. At 928 International, they have been removing engines and sticking them on shelves, without draining the coolant, for years. The last time I needed an "early" engine I had to take 5 apart to get one that wasn't junk from the coolant "eating" at the block and heads.

Really sad, but who knew?

Everything else can be repaired.

Red Flash

Yes, Greg!

My feelings exactly. This is why I was so relieved when I started doing the topend refresh on my new GT and found the cooling system looked like the fluids had been changed regularly!!

Everything else can be fixed...