Eddy

Any recommendations? Owner sugested anyone of the following:
TRE Automotive
11046 Chandler Blvd.
N. Hollywood, CA 91601

Petesautotech
121 West Linden Street
Burbank, CA

Eurosport
412 S. Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA

Rusnak Porsche

Edward

TRE is Excellent! Dave is an avid PCA/POC supporter and is a great guy to work with! (BTW, he's in North Hllywood)

Galen at Werks II in Burbank is also excellent, but kinda hard to get a hold of. If he's got an opening, he's good too! Good luck!

Edward

fbfisher

Only one that I have used of those you listed is TRE. I echo Edwards take.
David was very, very thorough on the PPI's that I had him do. He also answered my questions over the phone while I was test driving a car.

Owners and dealers beware, David pulls no punches - a buyers hero!

Good Luck.

Agro1

I'm having a PPI done this Wed at Rusnak Porsche in Thousand Oaks. I know, I know - I would rather take it to an indep. shop, but I was told (by Viken) that Mike Shatz (Porsche Tech and owner Shatz Motorsports) does good work and he came highly reccommended. The way I see it, if the Porsche dealer knows your buying, they're more likely to tell you every single thing that is wrong with the car with the hope of getting you into a new car purchase. Just my .02

Martin S.

Mike Schatz is a legend in his own time...if he does the PPI you'll be 8 ft tall and bullerproof. He also carries an incredible line of Porsche parts at Schatz Motorsports...he is a FVD dealer too, after hours of course.

Alan Smithee

While on the subject, what are peoples' opinions (good or bad) of these Los Angeles area independent Porsche mechanics?

NARW

Aurel & Don's

Red Line

Agro1

I've heard nothing but good things about RedLine.

Craig MX7

Redline used to have a good reputation when Pete Zimmerman ran things. It is however under different and in my opinion much less capable management these days.

911

I've had both of my 911s worked on by Aurel & Don's & NARW. They are two excellent shops, IMHO, and you can't go wrong with either of them.

Eddy

Thanks to all, the owner agreed to take to Andial in Santa Ana for the PPI, since they will be doing the service going forward I thought it best. qoute for PPI with compression test $ 415.00, if needed new LWF clutch 3,000.00, fair deal? Also their leak down tester is broken, compression test ok, they also said leak down may not be necessary, any opinions? 55K on the car, 95 coupe.

Edward

I've spoken to a few who have had excellent dealings with A&D's, though I have never been there.

I did NOT like the experience I had with NARW.

No experience with RedLine.

...all, FWIW

Edward

Agro1

$415 for a PPI including a compression test ??? Seems a bit much. The dealer I'm having mine done at said not more then $150...Now that does not include a compression test or leak down; but those 2 things do not cost $265....What gives ?

Eddy

$ 175.00 for the PPI, and $ 240.00 for the compression test. Are the leak down and compression test the same test?

Edward

Eddy,

Leakdown and compression are two different tests. Compression is checked with a gauge in place of a sparkplug, then engine is cranked without starting the car, and the gauge registers the pressure in the combustion chamber in psi. This is a good test of whether rings (and to some extent valves) are sealing well. Equally important, though, is that the readings should not vary much from cylinder to cylinder (the specific tolerance escapes me, but it's on the order of a few percent).

Leakdown is performed by pressurizing a cylinder then reading the "leakdown" of the combustion chamber pressure at TDC (piston at TopDeadCenter with intake/exhaust valves closed). This gives you an idea of whether the valves are sealing properly, and if not, one can determine which valves are leaking by noting where the leak is occuring (hissing in intake tract or exhaust pipe).

Both tests are useful in determining "general" condition of the engine, but you should ALWAYS consider the general condition of the engine as a whole (e.g. smooth running, records, pulls well, and the like). It is here where the experience of the operator is paramount. As you have noted, these tests are not cheap, but are easily "fudged" (with malicious intent), done incorrectly with faulty results (not malicious, just inept), or not done at all but billed for with you none the wiser (no proof they didn't do the tests). Thus, be certain to go to a shop with good a good reputation and pay whatever they want; really! If it's a good shop, that price will be fair relative to the high level of workmanship they have built their reputation on. Good luck!

Edward

Eddy

Thanks for the explanation, the car is going to Andial in Santa Ana, CA, went to a PCA meet there for a tech session, they come highly recommened. They said that the will first drive the car and see if it needs the test, but I thought it was cheap insurance, however not perfect.
thanks!