I'll conduct the experiment and see...

 

I've had mine on for 6 years...no problems. It's only $200 to replace the electric motor (and can be done in 1hr) so why not keep it on all the time?

sean

 

Read here for more info:

www.systemsc.com/pictures.htm

 

55,700 miles and never a mechanical issue. Car uses about 2-2.5 qts. of oil between my 5k mile oil changes. Never had a CEL come on. When she starts drinking oil, I'll DIY the top end and mail my heads to Steve Weiner. I think I can get it all done for $2k'ish max.

 

My car uses about the same amount of oil as Rick's, but I've got almost 119k miles on mine. Never done a valve job or had the engine open, and no SAI CEL.. Still sounds and drives the way it did when it had a third of those miles.

So while I've heard anecdotally about some 993s requiring expensive engine work prematurely, that has not been my experience.

 

I think a lot of folks who've had top ends done did them prematurely.

 

Mine was done at 40k, although records indicate SAI problems all the way back in the 25k range. I was burning a quart every 500 miles at the time of rebuild and guides were way out of spec.

Why so early? I have no idea.

 

97K miles with perfect compression & leakdown numbers and oil consumption at about 1800-2000 miles per quart. Car was originally in TX and seems to have been a mix of street and hwy driving. Tray still on.

Somewhere someone posted data on the top-end rebuilds by year that was collected by technicians. This data is hardly complete but nevertheless it showed '96 models to have a significantly higher occurrence of top end issues.

I agree with most that you have to accept the possibility of the issue affecting you, however I think it is highly exaggerated like most things on the internet.

Maybe a poll is in order to see how many Rennlisters have been affected by this???

 

From what I understand, these issues were limited to 993's of colors other than Silver. I believe this never happens on the Cabs & Targas either, just the coups.

 

64K on the clock and it's a 96'. I knock on wood everyday.

mike

 

that data makes sense (though not because there is some defect with MY96s). SAI is based largely on usage (a car with 0 miles couldn't have SAI problems). 96s are 1 year older than 97s and two years older than 98s. i think 97s and 98s will, in time, catch up to the 96s' SAI woes...in fact, based on what i have been reading here in RL, they are already starting to catch up. the two threads i've read recently about SAI were both MY97 (if memory serves correctly).

 

I would like to hear what symptoms were observed by those guys that had early top end work done. My 95 has 96,000 miles, doesn't smoke, and uses a quart every 1500 miles. I do have oil leaks at the chain covers and RMS, but no drips on the garage floor. Am wondering what I should do about the reseal. Should I get a compression test done first?

 

VERY similar to mine, including the chain cover leaks. At 92K my compression was 200 on all cylinders and leak down was 1-2% IIRC. Just drive it and don't even worry about it until the consumption gets down around 1000 miles. Then you may want to consider your options, but even then you probably have many miles of life left.

I will likely correct my chain cover leaks once my other auto related projects are done. Until then it's only a minor niusance. I mainly want to fix it so I can remove the undertray without ending up with oil spots on the floor.

 

It is not usually the chain covers that leak, but rather the o-ring in the cam box itself and the cam box to case gasket.

My advise is drive it as long as you can stand it and as long as it is not pooling on the floor. When it comes out to be resealed, do everything it requires in one shot.

 

What is the ideal compression because I have nothing to compare your numbers to. I thought the compression was 11.3 to 1, not 200. Sorry I guess I don't understand. Please translate 1-2% IIRC.