arains44

Hey everyone, thanks for the continued support!

To recap, I have a 164,000 mile 88' Turbo S. I've done a lot of maintenance recently, but wanted to see which of the major items that I'm unsure about should be addressed.

• Bottom end bearings - not sure that they have been replaced, and I know that they can cause engine failure. Car was likely run with an Autothority chip for quite a while.
• Clutch service - clutch engages close to the end of its travel. Should I be concerned about needing to do a clutch job soon?
• Trans/diff. Is there anything to worry about here high mileage?
• Shocks: OE M030 shocks are definitely blown. Will it damage them to continue driving on them as is?

Thanks! Help with any of the above would be great.

Tedro951

If your oil pan gasket is leaking, you could kill 2 birds by doing rod bearings.

Adjust clutch pedal and wait for slippage to replace.

It sucks to drive on blown struts/shocks. Replace then to restore fun in driving.

If replacing them isn't in the budget, forget everything else on the list.

jmj951

My two cents:

Rod bearings: If you're going to track the car, or you're going to have the oil pan off for any other reason (baffle installation, etc.), then yes. Otherwise, I wouldn't mess with them.

Trans: If you don't know when the fluid was last changed, I'd recommend changing it. Not a hard job as long as you have a simple hand pump for the fluid (http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/trans-06.htm).

Diff: The LSD is most likely worn out by now, but no 'need' to have it rebuilt. You just won't have the benefit of the LSD.

Clutch: There is an inspection hole in the bellhousing. See http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/clutch-03.htm for instructions to inspect it. This is a big job (and can be very $$ depending on what you replace it with) - it's not in the category of pre-emptive maintenance.

Struts/shocks: Will it damage them? Impossible to say. If you're planning on having them rebuilt someday, contact the rebuilder now to explain the situation. I've driven on completely blown struts in a few different cars, including my 951 when I first got it. They were in really bad shape, the rods were even pivoting they were so bad, but I never would have known by the way it was driving. It was comfortable. If I were you, I would just drive on them until I had the money to buy the struts and shocks I really wanted. One exception would be if one of them was in good shape and the other was in bad shape. That would seriously effect the way the car acts under braking and over bumps on turns, and would be a real safety problem.

divil

If you're not going to change the rod bearings, I'd recommend at least start getting oil analysis done on every oil change. Blackstone Labs is the place that everyone uses.

Also I know you didn't ask, but I'd recommend replacing basically everything in the cooling system if you're daily driving it.

Dan Martinic

Nice! I daily drive my '88 951--have been for 10 years, except past few months when I changed the clutch (bad throw-out bearing), HG, & Oil Thermostat Housing seals. But I'm back now.

What do you mean by "bottom end bearings"?

For the clutch, as has already been suggested, you can check it pretty easy by getting under and peeking at the inspection hole to see how far the pivot arm travels. There ares new / worn out specs for travel (sorry have to look it up). A little tough to measure but this clip shows how it looks (start at 15:49)

arains44

- Oil analysis is a good idea, I'll do that on my next oil change!

- LSD is definitely worn, good to know it's not likely to hurt anything to drive on it. My concern was that something would come a part with excessive wear and damage the trans

- Great input on the clutch, I'll do that as well. Good info.

- The cooling system has been inspected and flushed recently. New coolant, replaced all worn hoses, inspected for leaks etc. I'm confident it can handle the rigors for now, is there anything else worth looking into? Radiator checks out visually.

- Good to know on the shocks. I wouldn't say they're dangerously shot, just lazy, but nice and comfy.

- My headlights recently stopped going down consistently, and are going up more slowly. Any ideas on that one? I've replaced the relay recently, and noticed the connector to the motor is a little worn. I'm assuming it's the motor itself though?

931guru

The M030 shocks are adjustable. The front shocks can be firmed up using the Koni **** (or a small pair of pliers) and the rears can be firmed up by removing the shocks, removing the foam bumper (inside the cover), collapsing the shock and rotating the upper and lower pieces relative to each other. (P.S. The shocks are probably still good, just a little worn.)

jmj951

Regarding your headlights, most likely the motor is worn. Before spending money on a replacement, I would just check the grounds in the area (since a weak ground could make it operate erratically) and also disconnect the motor and confirm that the physical motion of raising/lowering the headlights isn't difficult (or you could also just pull the fuse for the headlight motor and manually turn the **** on the motor to test how difficult it is to rotate the headlights up and down).

arains44

I tested the headlights manually, and it seems as though the actual mechanism is getting help up. Any suggestions on what to look at to fix that?

Humboldtgrin

arains44

Great advice, I will look into fuel lines. Any suggestions on where to buy the fuel lines and rail? I do sometimes smell fuel after shutting the car off...

HVAC system works great actually. I have noticed that the wiper fluid tank pushes the connector off of the headlight motor. But, even when it doesn't do that they still struggle to go down, but never have a hard time getting up (insert raunchy joke here...).