EspritS4s

I have a line on a single owner 87 5sp with about 100K miles. The car is in excellent cosmetic shape with some wear in the standard areas. The owner has full records on the car. The clutch was replaced in '99, and the car hasn't been driven much since then. The last timing belt/waterpump change was done in 97, so I know that this will need to be done immediately. My only concern with the car is that it has had two timing belt issues. The belt broke in '95 and resulted in valve damage. Then, in '97 the waterpump seized (after being replaced in '95). The car was fixed at Porsche's expense. Should I be concerned about this engine after two timing belt events? I can get the car for about $9000, and I'm prepared to spend a few thousand going over it.

Thanks,
Gary

MikeN

The best thing to do would be a compression and leakdown test to see if the engine is fully up to par. A seized water pump doesn't mean a total
disaster.......could just mean pump was replaced.......with no engine damage......lots of us have been there before. I would be interested to know if the first belt that broke was the original one from the factory. This would give me a clue as to how much the original owner was paying attention to the car........

EspritS4s

I believe that the seized waterpump only resulted in a new timing belt and waterpump. The owner didn't mention any other engine damage.

Jim bailey - 928 International

The car should be fine ....... have it checked out " prepurchase inspection " with compression check . The asking price is LOW for a 5 speed one owner assuming it checks out well . Plan on replacing just about all the rubber hoses in the cooling , breather , vacuum systems . Be sure the heating / A/C is working O K .

moon928

Nice Find and a good price.

I am in Boston as well and have been looking for an S4 for about 3 months myself. There are not too many good ones out there. The last one I found, and lost out on, was a five speed with 78K on it and the owner wanted way more than you are paying.

Was the car serviced by a local dealer?

EspritS4s

The car isn't in Boston, it's in Chicago. I'm probably going to buy, so we'll see how good of a deal it is. Do you have a mechanic in Boston that you use, or do you use the dealership?

moon928

Esprits4s,

Check out Kevin Saltzman. He worked at the dealership where I bought my 84 11 years ago and now he has his own shop. I was always pleased with his work.

I tracked him down in Stoughton and he was going to do the prepurchase inspection on the 87 I was looking at but, I was too slow and lost out on the car.

Here is his info.

Randolph Racing
Kevin Saltzman
68 Cushing Street, Stoughton, MA
781-344-1029
Kevin@RanRace.com