Quadcammer

before we start all taking errant guesses at what is necessary, lets see the list.

I'm pretty curious at this point.

I agree, if you DIY everything and use good sources for parts, its not hatefully expensive.

Rick Lee

$800 of it was labor, the rest went for synchros and a new diff, maybe some other small stuff. If Steve needed any new gears, he'd have voiced concern here over bad shifting long ago.

Steve 96C4S

Well, this is the latest update from my indie. The car finally didn't start when there last week. I was so happy that they tried to start it and it wouldn't start that I danced a jig. This is the only time in years that my 993 replicated the no-start problem while at a repair shop, thank god!

I still don't have the full list yet of what needs to be done yet and the associated pricing. Hopefully this was the reason it would intermittently and obnoxiously not start and leave me stranded the last few years on a regular basis.

"We replaced the starter interrupt relay...Some cars had them and
some did not..Yours does...we installed the relay and she started
immediately....Has been starting ever since..
Since the issue has been very intermittent,we will have to spend
some time and see what happens.."

Jeff96-993

Sure the first guy didn't say "four or five hundred" and not "forty five hundred"?

Steve 96C4S

Yes because when I asked him again a week later (after I got the $1400 quote from the dealer) he said $2500-$3K for the 90k service.

TRINITONY

btw, what's the date of the next fun run?

richardew

I just had my 9th 30k service. There is no 60k or 90k service listed in my maintainence book. It was $1200 for the 30k. They also changed all belts, new left side CV boots, alignment, flushed the brake fluid and a few other tidbits for another $1500. My next one will be @300K

dcdude

Boy, that initial $4,500 quote reminds me of why I don't miss Montgomery County at all.

Tire replacement should never be viewed as some horrible surprise. Compared to other stuff, that's a kiss. They're only good for 6 years anyway.

Have you considered Chapman Auto Works, i.e. Taylor Chapman? I thought he was the go-to for us in the greater D.C. area?

Steve 96C4S

That's where it is now.

Steve 96C4S

PS - These are pics of it in all it's loveliness right now...









Next are the notes from my mechanic...

"Here are some pics of your engine. This may help give you an idea of how bad the leaks are and the plug wires. The first pic is of bank one lower valve cover and plug wires. Pic two is bank two. Pic three and four are of the timing chain covers. Let is know if you have any questions."

Ughhhhh. I'm afraid to find out what the "fix" is and how much it will cost but I guess I must call them tomorrow and make some decisions. Thoughts, if any?

Thanks,
Steve

JM993

If you let them change those timing chain cover gaskets, they are gonna charge you a lot of $$$$$$$$$.

Steve 96C4S

How bad does it look, Doctor? Do I really need to get it operated on?

What are my options, if any?

JM993

Doctor?

There's a lot of labor involved in changing the timing chain cover gaskets. You can probably let them go for a while if the car isn't losing too much oil and if you don't mind the mess.

Do change the valve cover gaskets and plug wires for sure.

You may find that it will be cheaper in the long run just to have your mechanic pull your engine and do everything at once. If it were my car and it had 100K miles or more, that's what I would do......except I'd do it myself.

Cheers,
Joe

Rick Lee

That's not so bad. Plug wires will eat up a lot of labor. But you already have the mufflers off for that, so the lower valve cover gaskets are no problem then. I'd clean up the mess, snug those chain cover bolts again and see if that stops the leak. If you're gonna replace them, might as well pull the engine out and then all the other stuff is a cinch. Hell, you ought to have Taylor pull the engine for you, throw it in a truck, take it home and make it your winter project. It will be so easy peasy in your garage on a stand, you'll learn a lot, save a lot of $$ and then take it back to Taylor for reinstall.

Steve 96C4S

Thanks guys for the information. Since I don't know much about cars this is all fairly complicated to me. If anything ever gets done to my car other than cleaning it, it will have to be done by someone else (my mechanic) as I have absolutely no free time to work on a car nor would I be able to if I did have the time due to the inability to do anything mechanical. Trust me when I tell you I can barely hammer a nail in the wall to hang a picture.

Taking the engine back to my house is not even in the realm of possibilities for a guy like me. Plus, I haven't even driven it for over 3 months so not having it from now through the winter would be more than painful.