benjr

Does anyone know anyone who will rent their bay or just a lift by hour or by day in San Diego? I was going to a place called DIY garage in North San Diego but it closed. All of the military bases have it but you have to have military ID. Please help the only way I can keep my 993 on the road is to do it myself. I have to address a noisy lifter and my car is at 60k so most likely I need to drop the engine.

Ben

stace

I can't help you with a lift rental suggestion but, do a search here on lifter replacement. I don't think you need to drop the engine. A lift will still be handy but I think it's fairly easy to change lifters with the engine in place. Good luck with your project.

benjr

Thanks Im at 60 k and was considering the lift because I may be due for a top end rebuild...

stace

A top end rebuild would be indicated by excessive oil consumption. Many of these cars have well more than 100k miles without a top end rebuild. If you do rebuild be sure NOT to use Porsche valve guides. Steve W. can supply superior guides that will last the life of the car. Keep us posted on your progress and remember the Rennlist chant - we need pictures.

M. Schneider

Man,,, I don't get this low 60K threshold for a top end rebuild. Are these cars run without oil..damage? Go figure.

Much of the 3.6 can be serviced without removal of the engine, lifters too.

chaoscreature

BenJr,

There are quite a few people here in San Diego who own lifts and would probably jump at the opportunity to assist with a lifter replacement on your car (for experience if nothing else).
I would volunteer to help but all my jack stands are tied up with my own car...
Best of luck!

mgianzero

Ben,

Welcome fellow RL and targa owner!

I have a 4-post car lift, but I'm up in North Tustin area. You are more than welcome to put it on the lift and look at it. Obviously, no charge and we may be able to see a few things. Changing out the lifters is not too terribly difficult. But they usually begin making a bit of clatter (large amount of ticking) and usually there are other things that go first on these cars.

But a top-end rebuild is quite a project. There are tests that can be done to determine the degree of blockage, and, therefore, determine if you're in need of a top end rebuild. I know a shop in Lake Forest that does such a test. I cleaned out my ports about 6 years ago and everything seems to run fine. However, I was NOT throwing and codes at the time. Just a meticulous Porsche owner.

Also, if you do a top-end rebuild yourself, be careful what type of lift you are looking for to do the job. A scissors lift can do if there's a removable backbar to it. But, the ideal lift for such a job is a 2-post lift. There you have the clearance and floor space underneath to place rolling jacks, etc. to be able to manipulate the engine / tranny with more ease.

My next BIG project would be to do a top-end rebuild, but I'm waiting til I build my separate garage with a new lift to be able to do this more easily. I'm in the planning stages of build the garage (aka - man cave) to do this.

Just search on RL about engine dropping, etc for top-end and you'll see all the nuances of doing such a project.

Hope my rambling helped ---

Marc G.

benjr

im being overly cautious. My friend had the same issue and ended up having the heads reworked. I figure I might as well use a lift in case I decide to remove the heads.

benjr

I appreciate it and will consider, I also have a friend in Yorba Linda with a lift but I am concerned with driving the car that far with a noisy lifter. Its not just noisy..one has failed and its on the top left front of engine. Loud enough to not want to drive it. Whats the name of the shop in Lake Forest? Once I get the lifter sorted I would be very interested in testing ports for blockage

mgianzero

Ben,

Hergesheimer's is the shop in Lake Forest ((949) 458-7223). Mark and Laura are the owners. Their test only takes about 20 minutes and they did it gratuitous for me. Otherwise a cheap test. They claim it works. I think they measure the air flow to the exhaust by measuring the oxygen levels with an OBD reader.

Another way to have an idea how good your valve guides are is to determine the amount of oil you are burning. Usually anything less than a liter for every 500-800 miles can be a concern. A good running engine will burn a little oil at startup. Mine uses about a liter per every 2,000 miles.

I wouldn't put a rule like "most 993's over 60k usually need a top-end rebuild." Some cars go over 150k and don't require it. I'm at 74K and still running strong. Another friend is at 85k and no problems. The general rule of thumb is to do frequent oil changes (I change mine every 7k). It's not necessary to change as frequent as non-synthetic oil cars. Also, your using 9+ liters of oil, so these cars have more reserve. That being said, it also depends on how you drive your car (highway vs stop-n-go), oil type (you'll find A LOT of threads on RL about that!) and it's good to change your check valve (part of SAI system) fairly frequently. I do it every 20k.

The general philosophy is that these 993's run hot and Porsche installed softer (bronze type) valve guides in these engines compared to other 911's. So the heat, amount of wear additives in your motor oil (Zinc, Phosphorous, etc.) and soft valve guide material can lead to premature failure of the valve guides. Valve guides are like piston rings in that, when they wear out, the case oil just blows by them and your car ends up burning more oil. When your car burns more oil, it ends up clogging exhaust SAI ports and eventually throws an OBD code. Unfortunately, since the SAI system is an emissions regulated item that is checked at smog, it must be fixed somehow in order to pass your smog. Hope that helps explain it.

I'm not too far from Yorba Linda (10 miles) if you ever want to stop by. Can you record your lifter noise so we can hear it? Does it get any better with warming up the engine? Usually it does, but if they are shot, then it might not. I'm surprised just one lifter went like that, but anything can happen.

Ed Hughes

I'd be happy to allow use of mine for a morning, or afternoon, but I'd be looking at the latter part of March, most likely, due to travel commitments. Many have done extensive work with just jacks and jackstands. I've done engine drops thusly, back in the day.

But, if you are planning on having the engine out for some time for extensive work, that would be hard to accomodate.

JB 911

I am a new in the 993 ownership but have done a lot of reading. I have a theory that may be completely wrong but I wonder if a lot of the original owners didn't change the oil often enough because 1. it was $200 2. it was more they they bargained for as a DIY and 3. they were given bad advice that with the synthetic they could go further between oil changes than we would.

I hear and agree with the reason below about the soft valve guides failing prematurely, but why some do and some don't???

Ed Hughes

I'd say that the minority of these cars require head work with so low of miles. Every era of 911 has had an Achilles heel, and the few get a lot of publicity, I presume, due to the fact owners care about them-for the most part-and most expect perfection from Porsche.

benjr

Ive decided to break down and buy one. I need access for to long to make it convinient to borrow one. The MaxJax dealer is pushing the longhorn a lower cost alternative. See links below. Any input as to which is best? I dont want to risk my life over a few hundred bucks but it it is just as good??? I dont want a scissor lift.


http://indyautolift.com/TP_Longhorn-6K.html

http://www.bestbuyautoequipment.com/...nmarmaxjax.htm

ufixit

I have just opened a do it yourself shop in Oceanside that has lifts for rent. Please call me at 760.544.6181 for a reservation or google U Fix It Oceanside