shortslr

I am feeling a little guilty and I am wondering if it's justified. I crashed my old Jeep I use for winters so I have been driving my 993 here in CT for the last month or so. It pains me to see salt on it especially since it has never seen snow before. I washed it today since it was a balmy 40 degrees out. I am paranoid that it's going to rust. I was spraying the underside of car w/the hose to try and get salt off. Am I justified in this worry? I am told it has a good undercoating. So far so good, but rust is like termites once you see one . . .it's all over. Also, I've had the strange experience of getting a smell of oil from the heater inside the car. It doesn't happen often, but it's a strong smell. Any guesses?

STLPCA

My daily driver 993 does regular winter duty & I've seen neither rust nor termites. However, I once did have a spider. The last car I had that showed any rust was a Datsun 240Z which rotted through its fenders. Materials & prep are much improved. I wouldn't (& don't) lose any sleep worrying about urban winter use.

The burnt oil smell may be a slight valve cover leak onto the exhaust. Do a search - it's a common problem w/a number of past threads.

nile13

It probably is the lower valve cover gasket leak, just like Dan said.
My car has it pretty bad right now, to be addressed in the next couple of weeks.

Speedraser

It can probably handle the salt as well or better than anything else, but salt is so EVIL that I just cannot do it. Various things, like fasteners, will corrode, though it would be many years before the body/chassis does. Also, there is so much sand with the salt that you will be literally sandblasting the paint off the nose of the car. My 911s stay in the garage when the salt is on the road -- salt is EVIL.

Rezal

Hmmm, wonder what would happen if the Morgan came even within 50 yards of any salt? Would you be left with an ash frame, or would the termites see to that as well?

Speedraser

Since the Morgan still exists, it obviously has never come within 50 yards of salt ...

Termites, however, are not a problem -- turns out they don't eat White Ash.

shortslr

Thanks I feel better w/a some confirmation. BTW, while talking about winter, I thought I'd mention tires. I put Bridgestone S02's on awhile back and was told depending on how hard I drove the car they'll last anywhere from 5k to 10k miles. I like to drive it hard through the windy roads of rural CT, hence my appointment to attend driving school in a couple weeks. I went into the winter w/about 7k miles on it thinking I would replace them in the spring. After 6k they went down hill fast, by seven 7k going right at a stop light could invite an unwanted fishtail. Knowing this, and being prepared, I beat on the tires even more up to 8k miles on the tires. Then this nonsense of having to drive in winter happened. Mistake. I got caught driving a few times when I shouldn't have, once because the driveway was so dangerous. Eventually, I put new top of the line Michilin all weather tires on. They are much better in snow and rain, but boy do I missed the feeling of having crazy glue on the tires that the S02's gave me.

shortslr

Thanks I feel better w/ some confirmation. BTW, while talking about winter, I thought I'd mention tires. I put Bridgestone S02's on awhile back and was told depending on how hard I drove the car they'll last anywhere from 5k to 10k miles. I like to drive it hard through the windy roads of rural CT, hence my appointment to attend driving school in a couple weeks. I went into the winter w/about 7k miles on it thinking I would replace them in the spring. After 7k they went down hill fast, going right at a stop light at 40 could invite an unwanted fishtail. Knowing this, and being prepared, I beat on the tires even more up to 8k miles on the tires just for fun. Then this nonsense of having to drive in winter happened. Mistake. I got caught driving a few times when I shouldn't have, once because the driveway was so dangerously full of snow. Eventually, I put new top of the line Michilin all weather tires on. They are much better in snow and rain, but boy do I missed the feeling of having crazy glue on the tires that the S02's gave me.

Anir

Like our esteemed colleague Dan esq., I have used the 993 as a winter daily driver. It's now seen 3 years of salt and snow without adverse effects. However, I have noticed a few small white, flaky spots on various aluminum suspension pieces such as control arms. I've been told that this is a form of corrosion. Therefore, I hope to eventually get some sort of dedicated AWD sedan or SUV for winter use, since I want the 993 to last long enough to pass it on to my children.

BTW, I switched to Pirelli Wintersport 240's after suffering an interesting 360 pirouette through an intersection on S-02's. The Wintersport is an awesome compromise tire if you need something for snow / ice and high-speed dry winter driving.