It's all in the timing as I understand it... codes can be cleared after the car CEL's, but they will only show "ready" after some number of miles driven after being cleared (you can't just clear the CEL and then run to the smog shop). I've heard of people clearing the CEL and then getting the car smogged after the readiness codes are set but before the CEL trips again but it's hit and miss... might be 80 miles, might be 400.

As David said, best to address the root cause and not the symptom.

 

Thanks David and Jeff,
I completely agree with repairing the car when necessary. However, if the car will pass the emissions test and runs strong then a premature engine rebuild seems a little over the top. I have a 97 with 38k on the clock no SAI issues. However, if I get the CEL for the SAI I have no plans on a rebuild until 100k or unless its necessary, i.e. compression, oil consumption etc. Just my opinion.

 

I didn't decide to do my top end until I realized based on oil consumption and an analysis by the shop of my guide condition that I would just be putting off the inevitable. I agree that if your guides are fine and oil consumption normal, addressing the SAI issue should be approached from a minimalist point of view.

 

By the way, mine had less than 40k miles and the exhaust guides were shot and the valves themselves were badly pitted.

 

Does the shop have an idea as to what can cause this condition at such low mileage or is this "normal" wear for our cars?

 

Hey Kelly...

I believe mine is an anomaly... although Steve Weiner has said he's seen badly worn guides on several pre-50k 993's. Undue oil consumption is the best indicator, I gather. I went through quart in my first 500 miles after purchase. Based on the history I've been able to dig up, my car appeared to begin to have problems with less than 30k on the clock... just a bad day at the factory, eh?

 

I guess I wanted to know if the PO was a speed demon who had made the car lead a tortured life?? Seems quite alarming if it's "just one of things".

Any speculations on what type of life the car led before you bought it?

 

Good question and I should've added that I spoke to the PO on the phone a few times (he lives in Chicago)... he was definitely a mellow "older" dude (sounded like he was in his late 50s). More telling though is that I fully expected to do a clutch while the engine was dropped... the shop told me that they'd be doing me a disservice to replace it. Apparently it had "a lot" of life left on it.

The data I've gathered, the aesthetic condition of the car (immaculate), and my instinct all tell me that the car was babied and not driven hard.

Maybe there is something to this theory of lower mileage, stop-and-go driven 993's having a greater propensity for guide wear problems? I dunno. I'm just glad mine's getting fixed!

 

David,

Please, do me a small favor.. Before you spend even $1000 to have your car pass smog, I want you to check something out.

- I could not get me car to pass smog in California. After being told by Porsche that they needed X amount of dollars to do this and X amount to do that, blah, blah, blah.. I brought it to an independent Pcar mechanic. He reset my codes (which were tripped when I changed my battery) and I took the car to a --

"REFEREE STATION"

Referee station's are designed for problems just like this. It is very possible that there is nothing wrong with your car but because of a present or prior battery change, etc. Your OBDII computer is having a problem.

When you bring your car in for a normal smog check, the cpu from the state will not pass it if it can not properly communicate with your OBDII. But if you bring it to a "REFEREE STATION" their pass/fail values are different than the regular smog places. They are not testing the ability of your OBDII to communicate with their computer, rather they are just checking your emissions output. My car passed with flying colors.

-Worse case scenario, you lose an hour or two going to a referee station.

Call your local DMV and ask for the number of the closest Referee Station..

Good luck and best,
B

 

When I got my first fault, that is exactly what I was told to do. Drive the car about 80 miles to re-set the flags. I drove it 200 just to be safe (that was a fun drive )
I went in for my second smog check, FAILED...
That is when I went to Porsche Beverly Hills, they told me they had to have a mechanic drive the car around with a cpu in the car re-setting all the flags by doing all this stupid stuff. And they wanted to charge me $100+ per hour to do it. And they needed three hours.
- so let me get this right, I am going to pay Porsche $300 to have some guy I don't know drive my car around - NO WAY !!!!!!!!
They also told me, often times it doesn't work and they have to repeat the process until they get lucky and it passes smog. Usually they get lucky on the third or fourth try. So now it might cost me $600??, $900??, $1200?? To pass smog????? NO thank you, I'd sell the car first out of state and buy something with a warranty if need be.

I do some more research and I talk to the guys at TRE Motorsports. They say to me, "How come you don't take it to a referee station?"
"what's a referee station?" I ask..

They tell me about these stations designed for cars that don't pass smog but are running correctly. They re-set my codes for me, took about 3 sec. and they did it for free. One week later (I had to make an appointment with the ref. station, ) I go in, have the car tested.... PASS..

I just want to note, THE GUYS AT BEVERLY HILLS PORSCHE NEVER MENTIONED ANY REFEREE STATION??? Is this why I was going to pay these "experts" to fix my car... These so called "experts" didn't even advise me to do the $30 referee station check before doing who knows what and who knows how much to my car.....

I hope texas has these stations and am quite certain they do. It is an escalation for bad smog on good cars...

Hate to repeat and repeat.. BUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... Check out this solution first..

 

Ohio just went to "CEL-fail" testing in the last year. I took mine in to my mech to "find out the worst", and lucked out. At 79K, it only need the corroded check valve replaced. The SAI checked out clean, and no apparent valve issues. They were kind enough to drive it to the e-check station (since my plates had expired over the winter) for me. Since the OBDII showed being recently cleared, they ran the "old" test, and the car passed fine.

Since each state is a little different, I guess YMMV.

 

B-line, I will call DMV and inquire about a referee station. I'm not familiar with it, but it is certainly worth a couple calls. Thanks for the tip. I will keep you posted.

 

B-Line,
Great advice for those in CA. I hadn't heard of a referee station before.

 

It was news to me as well. I really hope this information can help save some CA and other smog crazy state RENNLISTERS, some money...
I have posted this info a few times before in the past but will continue to scream about the REFEREE stations when someone has a OBDII problem.

Glad to hear it might help..

B

 

I'm knocking on wood and caressing my rabbit's foot as this is written, but it appears I've at least bought some time on a more extensive fix of the SAI clog.

For the first 1 1/2 years since my purchase, the CE would light with the SAI error codes about every month. This is a tiptronic equipped car, so I'd bet the PO drove in Drive most (all?) of the time, so the revs rarely exceeded 2500 and quickly clogged the ports.

At first I used the old "electrical tape over the light" approach until having time to hook up my laptop diagnostic to read/reset.

Then I bought a portable reader to carry in the glove box and reset the light right away each time (of course after confirming the error to be my old SAI friend).

But over this last Christmas holiday, I dropped the exhaust manifolds and reamed the ports with wire and shot Gumout up as far as I could get it.

Well, it's been six months (knock, knock, knock) and no light!

My punishment for verbalizing my good luck will likely be a CE this afternoon and a resumption of the old cycle - - I'll let you know.