kxb5

Hello to everyone,

I bought my first and probably only Porsche 911 964. It is a 1993 model with only
52K miles on it, body has no rust and the engine fires up and runs and sounds as it should.
Now to the issue with the engine. It leaks quite a bit of oil after the engine warms up and it definitely has to be addressed. I got a quote for $ 15,000.00 to have it resealed and replace everything else that may needs to be replaced.
Or I had in mind to build a 3.8L engine which was quoted around 20K.
My question is, why not just reseal the engine and use the old parts? After all it only has 52K miles? Or why not just do that?
What can I expect as far as a fair and average pricing for the individual scenario?
And one last question: It is a regular 964, the VIN# comes up as a "RS Trim" and it does not have the typical rear Window wiper arm. Does anyone have any input on that?
Thanks.

hockenheimr

If it has such low mileage, why would the re-seal be so expensive? I'd try to figure out where it is leaking? it might just be the valve covers and in that case you can probably fix that for less than $1,000.

Vandit

A 964 that leaks quite a bit of oil... sounds like a total loss. Potential money pit, cut your losses. I'll give you $17k for it.

ffc

Don't do a reseal until you have read this http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...es-thread.html multiple times and broken out your spanners. You could save a fortune.

Rocket Rob

Before you send big money on resealing, do you know what's leaking and how much? Back in 1995, my local dealership recommended a "total engine reseal" to fix some drips. The quote was for $11,000 plus parts. I laughed and said, do you know how many quarts of Mobil 1 I can buy with that? I'm glad I declined. A year or so later, I had a new mechanic and he found the source of the leak was the oil pressure sender. He replaced it and my drips were gone. Total cost was a few hundred dollars. The moral of my story, is that many of the drips/leaks can be fixed without big money.

If it were me, I would clean the engine thoroughly, take the car for a spirited drive and then return home, jack up the car and look for leaks, drips and shiny (wet) spots. Then try to isolate the source of the leak.

Good luck with the repair.

kxb5

@Hockenheimr: I do not know where the car is leaking at the moment. But it is probably the gasket in the middle of the engine block. The car was in a barn for about 7+ years. But I will ask and look about those Valve Covers. Thank you.

kxb5

@Vandit: I don't really want to resell it again. I like that I will have a hobby to redo the rest of the car in time. If the engine is a total loss, I just put it in my living room as a piece of furniture. Thank you.

kxb5

At Rocket Rob: Thanks to you all I have at least a few things now I can check into. I cannot really drive the car because once the engine is warmed up it leaks so much that it smokes a lot and may catch fire. So unfortunately this is not an option for the moment.

Rocket Rob

If its leaking a lot, I would check the oil lines between the engine, oil filter and oil tank/thermostat. Once, I had one of those start to leak. It made a mess very quickly. Fortunately, it was straight forward to repair by installing a new hose.

kxb5

@ Rocket Rob: Ok, I will look into that as well. Thank you very much. Btw, do you or anyone know anything about the "RS Trim"?


Thank you.

Rocket Rob

I am familiar with the 964RS but not certain about the "RS Trim". Do you have this book? It is a good reference of the 964 features and options.

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/por...companion.html

kxb5

It is certainly not an RS model, it just states RS Trim. It may not mean anything other than that the VIN number indicates that. Thank you for the link, I will check into that.

dlpalumbo

I had a reseal done this year. This involved splitting the cases and replacing crank bearings. Tech found the cylinder/case gaskets had hardened and were likely source of leak. The case through bolt seals were also suspect. These are reasons for a reseal/rebuild.

But, i've also had oil lines and the oil pressure/temperature seals and sensors leak. Its hard to tell where oil is coming from from the bottom as fan blows it everywhere if its leaking topside. I stuck a usb camera probe under intake and saw the oil there. I thought my rear main was leaking as well as maybe a timing chain cover. Fixing those leaks dried up the problems.

Most will recommend living with it if the leakage is not too bad. In my case, oil was leaking onto headers making smoke and stink I couldn't stand.

kxb5

@dlpalumbo: May I ask how much you have paid for your reseal and what shop it was?

crg53

Can you give us an indication as to where it leaks onto the floor after a drive, i.e. under left side or right side, middle, or just everywhere.
If you are getting a lot of smoke when hot, it is leaking somewhere that allows the oil to drip onto the heat exchangers. One culprit could be the power steering pump drive, it's on the right front of the engine, directly above the right side heat exchanger, that will create a lot of smoke for sure.
Check it out and let us know.