Top-Gun

Hello,

First post here on Rennlist, looking to purchase my first Porsche, a 1995 C2. I looked at a car today and had a PPI done at a Porsche dealer.

During the PPI they noticed a squeaking sound coming from the rear suspension. Turns out the right rear suspension side section mount bolt was loose.

The tech attempted to tighten the bolt but apparently the welded nut it threads into is spinning freely. They state the motor/trans needs to come out and the nut needs to be rewelded to repair it, a largely expensive job.

My question is has anyone heard of this happening and can this nut be accessed any other way? I can't seem to find a picture of this area on the net to see what I'm dealing with.

Normally I'd walk away but its a low mileage car and the mechanicals appear to be sound. I can't see evidence of accident damage and the suspension is orginal so my only theory on how this happend is a bad weld during production or a cross threaded fastener? The owner is willing to significantly discount the selling price based on the PPI.

Any help is appreciated.

bobt993

You need more information and a picture of the problem. There are several possible areas this could happen. Engine and trans out? Maybe maybe not.

Top-Gun

This may help, its the mount visible in this photo;



I'm told theres a welded/captured nut inside the body here that has come loose. I couldn't see in there enough to see what it looks like from the back side (airbox and whatnot in the way).

Thanks.

IXLR8

Check if there is a rubber grommet in the side of the frame member enabling access to the weld nut (if that is what it is).

Garth S

All purists .... please move on

I've seen repairs made on cars where a internal nut has failed .... the quick & dirty is to cut a port in the sheet metal with a zip wheel, and replace the nut. The bolt is generally twisted out - or ground/burned off.

Crude - yes, but effective & generally a 20 min job. Easy to clean up to look correct, and can be done without sacrificing integrity of the body pan.

Top-Gun

I was thinking along the same lines, careful cuts and some time with a flapwheel to smooth the tacks down would yield a repair thats likely seamless. Since I don't know what the inside looks like its possible some cutting may have to happen anyways (i.e. if theres no access plug or window to get at the nut).

I guess my bigger concern is how common is this on a car thats reportedly never been touched? The owner's had it since 97 and claims its never had any work done other than normal maintenance and its never been crashed. I suppose if the nut had a cold weld or something from day one its possible the load and vibration on that bolt allowed it to back off over the years? I guess I'm just worried theres more to the story that the owners hiding.

Thanks.

Top-Gun

After doing some serious searching I found this pic;



Looks like theres no access to the nut on the inside at this location either meaning cutting an access window is going to be required. Cutting one on the inside means pulling the motor, one on the outside doesn't. I think given the discounted price on this car this may not be that big a deal after all. I own a TIG and MIG welder so no issue doing a clean repair.

Garth S

Good that you are skilled with MIG?TIG ... my MIG competence would allow me to tackle another's car - but not up to snuff to do my own

No idea on the 993, but some VW products have a 'square' nut captive inside such that they jam against the sheet metal in case the tack weld breaks. It is not only difficult to retrieve such an internal nut - it is difficult to replace: if the small window is well positioned, a standard nut can be counter held with a wrench while the suspension bolt is torqued.

MIG welding in a new 'window' is only an issue if one has to go inside in future: if the window is small enough, a piece of body tape & paint may suffice ....

IXLR8

Thinking about this, is the weld nut really spinning in the frame member or are the bolt threads stripped where the bolt threads are simply spinning in a weld nut with threads that are also buggered up. If the latter, the bolt will neither tighten or loosen.

If you could clamp the bolt head and apply tension while unscrewing, that might work.

In the end, there are other 993s to look at.

matt777

I like to allow $2k for misc stuff when I buy a used car (even after a PPI). Sometimes its just to change something I don't like or repair something found afterwards. I'd just drop the engine. Perhaps there are few other things to do that would save you some $$$ down the road anyway. (wires, ps belt, etc.)

Jeff96-993

I replaced my subframe mounts last year... and I think the bushing bolt goes into a threaded puck on the undersides of the frame rail. Let me search for pictures to see if my memory is worth a darn.

But if that's true, then it would be an easy repair with the engine/trans in the car.... you'd just drop that side by removing the two subframe bolts, and then reweld the puck in place.

I do recall a post by Bill Verburg showing how it's done... I followed his instructions. I believe he had pics in his writeup.

Jeff96-993

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...tallation.html

There's a pic in this one that shows the threaded puck under the frame rail. With the fwd and aft mount bolt out on the side where it's turning, you should get clearance like that shown in the pic. I'm not a weld expert, but it looks like enough clearance to do something to secure the puck again.