70Bee

I'm in a serious bind...
Some of you may recall that RUF did the top-end on a 96 993TT with 66k miles that I bought from Texas about 2500 miles ago (most will not). It was one of the main reasons I bought that particular car. The car is running like crap now and I have an 11k rebuild of the RUF rebuild staring me in the face. It is running 75psi on cylinders 4,5,6 and is now down probably at least 50 hp. My wife's 964 cabrio is faster than my 993tt now. Boost won't go past more than .5bar. S-Car-Go seems to have found the problem - sloppy machining. It is so bad that one of the intake valve spring retainers is actually hitting the cam tower! I need advice on how to handle this. RUF is asserting that I must have screwed with the motor. It so happens that virtually everything they touched during the rebuild, from the torn turbo hoses to the stripped valve cover allen bolts, and of course the junior varsity machining job shows evidence of sloppiness. I couldn't believe it myself when I first saw the mess. RUF thinks I am crazy. It doesn't make sense that RUF would let this out of their shop but they did.

After dealing with Wayne Corley, who blew me off for about a month, I am now dealing with Hans Hoffmann who has agreed to look at the estimate I received from S-Car-go. He has set my expectations very low as far as honoring the 1 year warranty on their work. I need help building my case. What else should I look for? I have pictures of the hoses, valve spring retainer, etc. that I can post if someone wants to show me how that is done. What else should I document?
Thanks everyone.

70Bee

I should also add that the bank 4-6 diverter valve was disconnected, engine vacuum is at 5 inches, air/fuel is 15.5 and bank 1-3 sheetmetal is broken.

The leakdown on cylinders 4-6, the cylinders with the sloppy machining, was 3% despite the 75psi number.

Kevin

70Bee...

I'm going to make a different suggestion.. You are a owner of a Ruf repaired engine, I think that you need to step back and approach it a diiferent way.. Ruf has and will fly there techs out to perform warranty work. If they do not want to do that, I would then offer them that you will truck the car back to them so that they can see what is wrong and let them fix the damage. If you have some time, go over to the 996TT forum and read the few threads that concern a few owner that have tranny problems. You also have to realize that if the previous owner missed a shift and floated the valve, or valves.. You could have bent valves (slight) with indentations on each piston.. The bent valve can score the guide and cause accelerated wear. All I am saying is that anything can happen, and could have happened..

I don't work for Ruf nor do I sell there wares. The Ruf techs could have installed a bad set of guides.. Anything could have happened, it is a little to soon to place the blame, without seeing the mechanical evidence. Ruf has more connections with parts and hardware than most other Tuners.. They could replace your heads with new ones, and most likely have the spare parts sitting.. By the way, intercooler hoses fail.. They can shred when the factory hose clamps are used.. Diverter valves also pop off. You have to realize that the hoses and diverter valves weren't that way when the car left the shop.. The reason why the boost won't go past .5 bar is because of the diverter valve being off of it's connection.

I am extending an offer to talk to Ruf Dallas for you as a informed but neutral party.. You can PM me with your contact info...

70Bee

Fair commentary Kevin. I have offered to ship the car already but they declined. I had the car PPI'ed by a good shop in the midwest before I bought the car and it passed with flying colors. No engine codes, no boost problems, no nothing. If anyone missed a shift it was me and I can assure you that I have not missed a shift. But you are right, anything could have happened and this is the basis of Ruf's position.

It would actually make me feel much better if I could prove to myself that this is somehow not RUf's doing. Then I would have nothing to blame but bad luck or my bad driving and I can live with that. I am happy to pay for my own mistakes but not for the mistakes of a shop that is supposedly "amazing", as a very satisfied Ruf driving Rennlister put it. At the very least they should help me diagnose the problem to help determine culpability. Because they will not I am asking for help from this forum. Thanks to the otherswho have already helped me think through this problem.

I appreciate your offer to help and will PM you with my info.

sonny1

70Bee,
Call RUF directly at Germany,and talk directly to Alois, this will help a lot,belive me.,cheers,Sonny.

Woodster

Kevin's advice is very sound.
I dont think Alois will take this call but why not try?
S-CAR-GO is first rate and could obviously fix anything needed.
Many things could have caused this but I would like to think Wayne
and the boys would like to have a look at it first hand.
Sorry for your troubles.
Marty K.

viperbob

Wow this sounds very unusual. I have done a fair amount of business with Wayne and Hans. They have never been anything but nice, knowledgable, and accomadating. Did you send them pics of the damage to the heads or offer to just send one of them down there?

ca993twin

I would recommend that you send an email to Ruf in Germany, with a copy to Wayne/Hans. My experience with Ruf has been amazing... they are very proud of their work, and interested in customer satisfaction. First rate outfit, by my experience.

sonny1

Call RUF, if Alois is there, he will answer your call.Sonny.

70Bee

Viperbob, I emailed pictures down to Ruf and offered to flatbed the car.

The story seems to be drawing to an end. Ruf has agreed to pay for the work on the offending bank of cylinders with S-Car-go doing the work. Since Ruf has been banned from Rennlist and can't post, I would like to point out that they do not believe that the problems are undeniably their reponsibility. Their position is that there are too many exogenous factors that could have led to the damage. In other words, the outcome is not an admission of guilt. I was going to post the pictures of the motor as it came apart but at this point I think that would be counter-productive.

This has been tough for all both parties involved so I 'd like to close this out with several thank you's:
1) Kevin for mediating between Ruf and me. Without his help I would have been drowned in technical rebuttals from Ruf. He helped me understand the three scenarios that could have led to the low compression condition and the likelyhood of each given the evidence.
2) Hans Hoffmann for picking up the ball at Ruf and following through with me after my issues had sat for several weeks.
3) Rennlist for providing the forum for one individual to tap into the expertise of Porsche fanatics everywhere.

Full Boost

70Bee,

I have to admit that the inital post was something that i thought i would NEVER hear about RUF. I am glad that it has all worked out and that your issue was attended to in a timely and professional manner.

I have come to expect nothing less from RUF and have an even higher appreciation of their attitude in regards to dealign with this.

Good luck on the repairs,

Simon

Rickard 993 Turbo

Why is RUF banned here seems like a stupid thing

Craig T.

For us new members, why is RUF banned? I see other vendors and tuners chime in all the time. A few could even be considered clandestine advertising.

sonny1

I guess they are not sponsors?,who knows,Sonny.

K24madness

I have seen the problem first hand.

The upper spring collar is contacting the cam housing on a couple of cylinders. It looks like the valves are sunk to far into the head. This could be from grinding the valves and seats to much or using incorrect valves with to long of a stem height.

There is no way this is from a mishift or other owner related abuse.