symsy Posted 16April, 2015 Report Share Posted 16April, 2015 Knowing way better how to hold a computer mouse rather than a torque wrench, please indulge me in some techy/buyers tips I am in the market for a car and having owned lesser mileage cars of of this type wondered what peoples general view or experience is with cars . I now theres the factory recommendations but wondered what people who own them have done or would do. My question has a few parts . As I have now seen a couple of cars that appear pretty straight , unmolested and honest. If you had a car 140-160kms that hadnt had a top end engine refresh , unknow if tensioners or can chains have been done or clutch or if gearbox overhauled, but has a pretty much reconcilable andtraceable history of service etc on face value, would you pull the lot out and do it at this kind of mileage as a precaution or preventative maintenence mesaure if the car seemed to running normally at present? My other question is and Im sorry for my non tech description, is that one of the cars I viewed has a very fine weep what looks like where the botom pully or shaft is, is this common and is it hard to change/repair? Should I be prepared for some heafty bills? Last [art , if you pulled one of these motors out what else would you put on your hotlist of preventative items? Thanks in advance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
550Spyder Posted 16April, 2015 Report Share Posted 16April, 2015 1 find a good porsche independent mechanic to do a PPI. They will let you know what is a real issue and what is not. 2 for mine just drive until gearbox/clutch is an issue rather than pre emptive. Unlikely to really let go. 3 140km is still pretty low km. get a leak down test and a compression test and take it from there. 3.2 is a strong and reliable engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symsy Posted 17April, 2015 Author Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 Anythougths on cam chain/tensioners or this folklore about them breaking or skipping? I had at 84 in the UK and had a top end refresh at 140k and then just went straight on to another 120k making 260k total with no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 17April, 2015 Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 Early (pre-84) tensioners are a sealed unit, with the oil used as the damper kept inside the tensioner. The chain tensioners are like little coil over struts that keep the chain under tension, but more crucially, dampen out oscillations in the chain which can minutely affect camshaft timing, and , worse case, allow the chain to jump a cog (we all had that happen on the box at some crucial point,right?). The chains lengthen with age and heat, so the job of the tensioner is to keep it taught. Very early <72? Tensioners were a cup design which relied on oil falling off the chain to fill it and were more prone to failure, and I think low mileage, gentyl driven cars were worse here. From 84 onwards, Porsche switched to oil-fed tensioners (known as Carrera tensioners). A lot of people mistakenly assume that it is oil pressure that holds the tension, but it still is a spring that holds the tension, just that the oil doing the damping never runs out because the engine oil pump supplys a continuous feed. So it's a combination of the cup and sealed design. The Carrera tensioners are possible to retro fit with some t pieces and external oil lines and new cam covers. This is a common upgrade on all pre84 cars and easily spotted from the outside, where you can see an oil line running down the middle of the cam cover. Unfortunately this upgrade now costs $1500 in parts to do. For the 3.2 cars this removed a weak point of the engine but they are not immune to tensioner failure, as the actual tensioner can still fail like any other part. You can't really tell unless you start hearing a loud, clattering noise unlike a small Diesel engine. By then it's time to rush the car to surgery. If the tensioner fails and the cam timing is out pistons hit valves. Weeping at the pulley shaft could be a crankshaft main seal. If you leave the car idling it might to smoke from the oil dripping on the muffler. A PPI can spot this type of issue. As for preventative maintenance - stick to regular servicing and take care of anything that crops up. PUlling a working engine 'in case' is not a good idea unless you're addressing a specific issue. You should mentally prepare yourself for a 10-15k bill and hope that it never happens. I wouldn't pre-emptively do a clutch if there is nothing wrong. Remember that, on the internet, few people post 'another 40,000 kms of trouble free motoring'. It's always failures that get posted and it can lead to what I call internet hypo-cardria - the feeling that the last tech article you read about is about to happen to your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.J. Posted 17April, 2015 Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 my 3.2 has 312,000km's, has had a top end rebuild and that's about it.. runs perfect, doesn't blow smoke nor leak oil, original gearbox shifts fine. these cars are really that good if they have had general maintenance on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symsy Posted 17April, 2015 Author Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 Thanks for the input , I can smell a little oil in the a cabin and the garage floor of the car I viewed was clean as was underneath apart from a very small weep near tansmission again what i would say an egg cup or two full and is probably rear gearbox oil seal as a guess. It had a leak at the oil reservoir and the owner showed me the new gaskets he bought etc but found out it was just loose where pipes entered etc. The only obvious oil /damp area and I say damp I could only tell by the dust stuck to it is the main bottom shaft at front.. I nearly missed it. Maybe time for some heavy negotiaion, because other than that a nice car 88 car albeit an import Shame its 500kms away from a good dealer to check it proper without a lot of costs .. appreciate your insights Did either of you as ownerrs have a view on boxetr brake upgrades also on an 87/88 car? This ones been done with new parts .. I underatnd theres quite a bit more pad surface area? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 17April, 2015 Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 I can't really comment on brake upgrades..I guess as long as the job is well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5032 Posted 17April, 2015 Report Share Posted 17April, 2015 Thanks for the input , I can smell a little oil in the a cabin and the garage floor of the car I viewed was clean as was underneath apart from a very small weep near tansmission again what i would say an egg cup or two full and is probably rear gearbox oil seal as a guess. It had a leak at the oil reservoir and the owner showed me the new gaskets he bought etc but found out it was just loose where pipes entered etc. The only obvious oil /damp area and I say damp I could only tell by the dust stuck to it is the main bottom shaft at front.. I nearly missed it. Maybe time for some heavy negotiaion, because other than that a nice car 88 car albeit an import Shame its 500kms away from a good dealer to check it proper without a lot of costs .. appreciate your insights Did either of you as ownerrs have a view on boxetr brake upgrades also on an 87/88 car? This ones been done with new parts .. I underatnd theres quite a bit more pad surface area? Steve Re the brake upgrades...Unless you will be doing heavy track work, the standard 3.2 brakes are pretty good...make sure they have been properly maintained however no real need for an upgrade if you will be using the car as a weekend cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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