I "pulled the trigger" this week end and traded in my quickly depreciating Boxster for a proper porsche ;-) Kidding, I love the boxster and I think it handles better than a 911, but I came from an 83 911SC and have missed that air cooled flat six noise for too long now. The car is mine assuming a positive (well, not too scary) PPI outcome on monday. After lurking here for a while I insisted on a PPI and special attention to the steering rack ;-) Can't tell about the wiring because the Vin on the Harness recall page indicates this car is a cab, even though it's a coupe, so somebody's got a wrong number....

A few questions anyway: The car has 42K miles, it's a 96 - the clutch pedal seems to only grab on the last inch of travel. I might be exagerating because it's been 3 years since I drove a 911 with those funny floor mounter pedals, but the grab point seems very high to me, making me less than smooth. Are they all like that, is this adjustable ? I'll have the clutch checked anyway but I'd like to know... My memories of my old 911 are fading..

The front end vibrated a little at 60 and the wheels is cocked to the side a little bit when going straight. I assume a well done alignment should fix this, I know about 911 front end touchiness when it comes to vibrations, having had my SC balanced on a machine that simulates load to finally get it vibe free, so I assume it's the same deal here. Unless you know something I don't about suspensions issues? I'm goign to be on site during PPI and would love to come armed with stuff to look at just in case...

I'll tell you, test driving this car was a shock to me. It was JUST LIKE being back in my 83. As good as the 993 looks from the outside, from the driver seat it's 100% like a 1980s 911 (Ok, better gearbox, but that's IT)! It is very dissapointing coming from a boxster with spiffy interior - my wife thought I was nuts - but I don't care, I'm a 911 kinda guy and like the feel and sound of the car, I'll just freshen up the interior as I go (Rs door panels, aluminum shifter **** anyone? ;-)

Anything you can think of for the PPI, please let me know...

GReg.

PS: the spoiler light stays on until you drive over a certain speed right ?

 

You are right, a good PPI is a must.
when you press the clutch do you hear any clicking?
A good alignement will fix the steering being off and as for the front end vibrating, I have 2 993's and both do not vibrate at any speed. It could be a wheel balance problem which is easy to fix.
If its a dealer purchase I would insist on having the dealer align the car and balance the wheels. Then i would drive it again before making my final decision.

Good luck!

 

Don't forget the power difference between an 80's 911 and a 993 with Varioram, it is substantial.

I have also found the engagement point of the 993 to be very high which was much different from my 964.

I also had a vibration which a wheel balance took care of right away.

Good luck and hope the PPI checks out.

 

Make sure you get a leak down as part of the PPI, you have good repair records available to track how the PO took care of the car and make sure the 30K mile maintenance was handled.

 

The clutch sounds like it's nearing the end of its life -- hydraulic clutches don't have "adjustment" but your Porsche expert will be quick to focus in on this during the PPI.

Vibration is an odd description. Wobble=wheel balance. Shudder could be suspension problems. Vibration, well that could be hard, old tyres with flat spots from sitting around. It could be out of balance. If the tyres look new-ish, it could be a badly mounted tyre to cause something with a high enough frequency to call it a vibration. If it were a C4 (AWD) that would definitely be a drive shaft
Any PPI should be more than thorough enough to discover real problems:
clutch
power steering
air conditioning
leaks
compression
leak-down
all electrics
suspension
brakes
chassis alignment
paint and panel repair

As mentioned -- get every scrap of documentation and look for any missing time and read the dealer service notes.

Cheers,

(congrats)

 

Consider also that with 42,000 miles on that 1996 993, if it still has the original shocks they are in all likelihood toast - that might skew your handling comparison with a Boxster.

If your PPI mechanic doesn't think a leakdown is warranted, don't be surprised. Current thinking seems to be that it should be used to try and isolate problems found with a bad compression test, and that a leakdown is not a good screening test in the absence of other indicators.

Best of luck!

Chip

 

Right. The dampers are cactus no matter what -- they just don't have that many years between rebuilds.

As for leak-down vs compression, I had no opinion until I dyno'd a 993 Turbo with GT2 turbos, hi-flo cats, ported heads and ECU mods -- it was meant to turn over 500hp, but it had "bad" (not recorded) leak-down percentages on "first two" (?) cylinders (although other cylinders were already tested to be well within limits (less than 5%) must less failing to any point of concern. So the engine had already shown it was strong -- NOBODY could drive this car and say "hey, why's the engine a bit soft?" -- it was a bullet with neck-snapping throttle response and no hint of trouble from cold start to warm, from a hot start to idle, from wide open throttle to lugging in top gear, it was a strong motor.

The compression test results looked unremarkable, but the leak-down does not lie.

With compression tests, "even and balanced" is the phrase to keep in mind. The compression test was apparently "even" (although it must have been uneven and it must have been low) and with modified engines, who knows what's the right compression number? Should it have squeezed 150psi? 180psi? A turbo engine should be running lower compression, right? But these are not "low compression" or "low pressure" engines, they're very fine tolerance machines with exacting specifications.

So I did a "catch and release" on this thing and kept fishing.

In my humble experience, a leak-down will reveal a problem and can even "explain" it (by tracing the air flow through the rings, valves or gaskets) while a compression test will reveal only a sick motor and might not flag other problems.

The moral of the story: Braces and belt -- take both precautions and do both tests.

What extra will it cost -- another hour at $85/hr? What will it save -- well, in my case, it saved me from buying a US$75K car that required a US$10K rebuild that could easily have run to $15K if the mechanic got in there and found trouble.

Plus, who the hell wants to buy a time-bomb? Who wants to drive to the track nervous that the grenade in the engine compartment is about to make a hold in your checking account that could have paid for a month long holiday in Europe racing cars and motorcycles on GP circuits in four countries?

By the way, I suggest you choose a mechanic to maintain the car for the long term and let that person do the PPI. There are numerous benefits to this approach in terms of keeping everyone interested in you buying the right car, plus you establish a rapport with the mechanic. You bring each prospective car to the same shop, it saves the "preamble" time to explain what you expect from the car and how you'll like to drive it and the standard of service and mechanical condition you expect. Plus, if you get a bad PPI experience, you can repeat the PPI t another mechanic until you find someone that suits you.

 

993s are very sensitive to properly balanced wheels and tires. (They need to be high speed balanced on the car). It's that awesome steering feel--picks up even the smallest vibrations.

Bought my 98 with 38K on it only to find out at the track that the shocks were gone.

 

Ok, Thanks to you all ! I am going to the PPI right now... Actually I am booked at Sebring this saturday, so I hope the shocks can last another track event ! I won;t have time to replace anything before then - assuming I get the car of course. Dave White in Tampa is doing the PPI, I heard good things about him before..

Thanks again! Wish me luck - nah, wish me a good car !

Greg.

 

Hi Greg,

Good luck with the car and I can't add much to what has already been said. One reason for the vibration may be if the car has been standing for a longish time (doesn't take too many weeks when it's hot) and the tyres flat off. Sometimes, they can reshape, sometimes not. 90% sure it's wheel balance though.

Good luck!

Cheers,

David
<img border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" title="" src="graemlins/drink.gif" />