bought a 1990 C2 Targa,70kmiles, silver with white interioir. Sweet to look at. Paid 19k. Of course I am aware of the evil three problems; Oil leaK, distributer vent and the flywheel. After having my local porshe dealer look over the car his reccomendations were to replace the gasket(there is a small continuous leak) and since they would be in there, replace the fly wheel at the same time $5500.Of course this is optional. He said that he did not check to see if the vent had been added to the distributer (of course that costs extra) and that I should just wait until it fails to do that job. Also the airbag light is on. Said it was the ecu $2000.

My questions are 1. should I wait until the distributer belt fails to do the vent? What damage could be caused? 2. will the airbag not work if I dont replace the ecu? I see a lot of folks on this board with that problem but not too many people have commented about that. Most just want the light off. 3. is it woth it to put that sort of $ into a car at this level to fix the gasket/ Flywheel? would have over 25k into it at that time. Appreciate any comments as I am very new to the porshe world.

 

Answers:
Question 1: No do it now and change the belt whilst you are at it.
Question 2: I bet it is not the airbag ecu. They rarely fail. You need to have a Bosch hammer hooked up and the fault reset. Then when the light comes back on have the fault codes read out. Do no tunder any circumstances allow or pay for a new control unit until it has been "proven" failed.
Question 3: What gasket?
Summary: If it ain't broke don't fix it. I would be checking to see which flywheel is fitted. Check your service records and receipts to see if the flywheel has already been replaced.
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

PS: From your report I would find another mechanic. One that knows about 964s. Please never allow control units to be replaced on mechanics recommendations. Make them prove it has failed. Often it can be just dirty pin contacts.

 

I completely agree with Adrian.
You say you went to the Porsche dealer..was this the official dealer or an independant shop?
The official dealer, and all the independant ones I know, would provide a written inspection report with estimates and recommendations. If the clutch not heavy, chattering or noisy then it's probably ok. We have seen these clutches,
and the older flywheel, go to 115,000 miles with proper driving.
You need to be more precise on the location of the oil leak.
The airbag light may be only because the battery had been disconnected.

You should have received a list of the fault codes when the car was inspected.
During the inspection the technician should have erased all the fault codes and checked all the system functions as well as checking for any recall/service campaigns relative to the VIN.

Replacing the distributor belt and installing the vent kit is a must.

Also check the fuel pump relay and replace if original. Inspect the rubber boot on the rear spoiler motor cable; it can (will) split and allow water to enter the spoiler gearbox.

 

Go find another mechanic or dealer who knows 964's. On the distributor vent, you open up the rear lid, and look to see if there is a, typically, white hose going into the base of the distributor. And he wants to charge for that? Also, you don't want to wait for the distributor belt to break, as other problems can be created. If your service records don't show the distributor belt renewed around 50K miles, either by a rebuilt distributor from Porsche, or someone changing the belt out manually, I'd recommend you do that soon, especially if the vent kit isn't installed. The vent kit, btw, costs around $15 from Porsche. Below is the installation diagram, which may help in identifying the parts

 

GMS - by "Fuel pump relay" do you mean the main DME relay in the front box or is there another relay that should also be chainged as preventative maintenance?

Thanks...Marc

p.s. s.g.erikson - do the dual dist. belt yourself! I'm no mechanic but did the vent kit myself in about 1/2 your and only cost $10.40 from Pelican Parts. BUT -- do it BEFORE the belt breaks!

 

Distributer vent kit is around 10 bucks and takes 10 minutes to put in, just do it yourself. I ordered mine from Pelican Parts.

 

I would not put $6 K into a car that runs fine. Better to drive for a year or so and then decide what really needs attention. The only exception is the distributor belt and the vent kit. Do that ASAP. Shops around Atlanta charge $200 for replacing the belt. Getting the vent at the same time will cost ~$20.

My car had a chronic airbag warning light. There were numerous trips to the dealer to have it reset. The PO had a fancy extended warrenty, so evidently there was no motivation to replace any expensive component. The error code on the Hammer was "Left Crash Sensor Open or Missing". I cleaned the connectors on the left crash sensor, and the lamp has been off for over a year now.

Good luck getting sorted out, but hold onto your wallet.

 

Great to hear from you Adrian!

You are one of the main reasons I surf this site!

Agree with your views entirely!

Cheers!

Eddie
91 C-2

 

Welcome, hope you are enjoying your new ride. Glad to have you on board.
Like everyone else suggested, replace the disributer belt, add the vent kit, and get another technician.

I replaced my distributer belt myself about a month ago and have the pics. If you would like I could attach them to the thread so you and everyone else can see that its not so bad of a job. My biggest problem was getting the distributer out of the engine; it was stuck pretty good.

Duncan

 

This thread is originally from 2003, it seems, or there's some glitch in the dating system. If it is 18 months old, I hope his distributor vent kit is already installed!

 

I think it is a glitch because that's Adrians latest Avatar.

Duncan

 

I thought that when you updated your Avatar, it changed on all your posts.

 

Dave's right, it auto-updates. Now I'm really confused.
Brian

 

Ummm..Dunnaso - I did my vent kit and left the distributor where it was - no need to remove it to install. I'd be curious as to why you had to remove it?

Marc

 

As a new owner to a 90' C2 also, I am curious why this vent needs to be installed. I'm going to have to go take a look and see if mine has one installed.