Q – I had the rear crankshaft seal replaced on the engine in my ‘91 Carrera 2 and it still leaks. I know, you are going to say, “Take it back and have them redo it”! I did. And it is still leaking. I am quite frustrated about this and Lynn wants to know how to get the garage floor clean. Now the shop is telling me that to fix it properly will require a complete tear down. – Fred
A – Fred, I understand your frustration. My wife isn’t too happy either when I park a drippy car in the garage. First the oil leak. On the C2, the rear most main bearing and seal carrier is sealed to the engine block with an O-ring. Surely the engineers thought that it would remain “sealed for life”. Ha! Now those same engineers say that when the O-ring fails, replace it. Oh, and to replace it, you have to split the case!
There was a time when Honda produced an engine that had a minor problem with a motor mount boss on the engine. The engine block would stress crack near the boss and start leaking oil. The resourceful Japanese created (with the help of Dow Corning, “better living through chemistry”) “Hondabond”, an RTV silicone sealant, similar to bathtub caulk. They thought that smearing a little of this miracle goo on the crack would take care of the leak, and it did. They also redesigned a more robust engine mount bracket. And the motor mount engineer is now designing sun visors.
What does that have to do with a Porsche? Well, after taking the rear of your engine apart again, (for the third time!), clean the gap between the engine block and “bearing bushing for bearing no. 8” with brake clearer, acetone, or an equally vile solvent to remove all traces of oil. Pack Hondabond into the crack and let it dry for 24 hours. Once everything is reassembled, I bet it won’t leak. And besides, if it does, think of how much kitty litter your can buy for the $10,000 that it would cost to fix it using the Porsche-approved method.
To clean the garage floor, try “Gunk Engine Brite” which is water-emulsified solvent for oil. Follow the directions and be patient, it may take two or three applications but eventually, the oil will work its way to the surface where a heavy duty floor soap can finish the job. – MC
Q – I left the key in the ignition of my Porsche and my battery went dead. So I put it on charge and waited. Now three days later, it is still dead. Should I buy a new battery or a new battery charger? And why would leaving the key in the ignition make the battery go dead? Nothing was left on. – Todd
A – My hunch is that you used an “automatic battery charger”. Oddly, in another of those Madison Avenue oxymoronic terms, an automatic battery charger may not actually charge a stone dead battery. Surprise! I am not knocking automatic chargers or trickle chargers. In fact, they are one of the best inventions for batteries ever created, but they just don’t work well on dead batteries.
The automatic “brain” of the charger regulates the amount of power that the battery will receive. To know how much power it needs, it has to have some voltage before it can even decide to charge the battery. The brain in the charger may not know that there is a dead battery in the circuit that needs a charge. So it just goes to sleep and does nothing…while you wait.
If your battery is totally dead, you can connect it to another car with jumper cables or to another charged battery. After a short time, usually fifteen minutes to an hour, the dead battery will have absorbed enough energy from the good battery to wake up the automatic battery charger. You can then disconnect the jumper cables, connect your automatic charger to the (mostly) dead battery and after that it should work fine.
Don’t rush the process though. Porsche’s have large batteries and it may take two or three days to fully charge the battery. A safe charging rate on an automatic charger is about 15 amps. Quick charging a battery at a higher rate can damage the battery or your car. And, I have warned about this before, don’t charge the battery by running the car or you can damage the car.
Another method, but a potentially dangerous one, is the tried and true “manual battery charger”, designed at the turn of the century. There is nothing automatic about it. If you put a manual charger on a dead battery it will charge till the cows come home. The problem is that it doesn’t know when to stop and the cows may never come home.
In the old days, charging batteries wasn’t so simple. You had to determine how low on charge the battery was by testing voltage and the “specific gravity” of the electrolyte. Then depending on the size of the battery, your had to figure out how many amps that to apply, and for how long. Last but not least, you had to remember to turn it off! A miscalculation could lead to a boiling battery, acid all over the floor (or in your trunk) and in extreme cases, a fire! Now aren’t you glad that YOU don’t have a manual charger?
Now that you have heard the warnings, with a manual charger, an overnight 2 amp charge will bring a dead battery to life enough to top it off with an automatic battery charger. And last but not least, if you leave the key in the ignition, on many cars, circuits will be powered up, you won’t even know it, and your battery will go dead. –MC
Q – I hate to do it but I have to sell my Porsche. I don’t use it enough and I don’t have a spot in my garage for it. As disappointed as I am to do it, I need to find out what I should do to get the best price for it. What do you suggest? – Ted
A – Ted. I am sorry that you’re in this situation. I would much rather offer you some driving suggestions, sell you a storage lift for you garage but if you mind is made up, here goes.
Wash the car well and walk around it looking for flaws. The prospective buyer will do this and you should be prepared to have your Porsche picked apart. If you have any door dings, have them removed by one of the fine paintless dent removers. The price is low and the quality is good. Buyers do not want to see any flaws in the finish that look neglected.
I suggest that you have the paint touched up. When done well, this is not inexpensive but if you want your car to be the stand out, it’s got to look sharp. If you can’t afford a professional job, pass on it. Don’t try it yourself unless you have a basic solid color or the cure may be worse than the disease.
Have the car professionally high speed buffed to bring out the best that the paint has to offer. I do not suggest that you try this at home since high speed buffing requires finesse that only years of practice and experience can teach. You may not need this if your paint is already spectacular. If the though of a buffing wheel scares you, take the car to one of the reputable detail shops that advertise in the club newsletter. Ask for their advice.
Clean your wheels including the inside of the wheel, behind the spokes. This is just one more area that will be scrutinized by the buyer and don’t forget the brake calipers and rotors. If you have rusty, aftermarket rotors, consider painting them if you can clearly see them through the spokes. When it looks like you haven’t scrimped on maintenance, the buyer will be impressed.
Clean the wheel wells, the front bumper lower spoiler and any of the black plastic cladding on the lower part of the car then apply a heavy duty protectant like “back to black” etc. The contrast will amaze you. For other black plastic surfaces, a protectant will bring back the color.
Clean the interior like you would before the picnic when Fred will be giving it the evil eye. Remove the floor mats and unless they are in great shape, don’t put them back in. Put them aside and if you sell it, give them to the owner as an after thought. If the carpet in the car is stained, have it professionally steam cleaned. If the leather seats are dirty, use a good leather cleaner and if you have a darker leather, use neatsfoot oil to soften it up and even out the finish. It will smell like leather too.
The engine compartment needs to look sharp too. If you had oil leaks (and who didn’t), wash oily residue of road grime off the bottom of the engine with Gunk Engine Brite and your local power wash. This is a good time to clean that scum off the inside of the wheel
wells too. Once you get the bottom of the engine clean, open the lid that see what looks ugly. A quick and easy engine coating that I use is “No Touch Tire Cleaner”. It makes the rubber, fabric and plated surface look spiffy and it is easy to do. Once you coat it, wipe off the excess and you will be amazed at the major difference for minimal effort.
Get every service invoice that you have for the car and put them in order. Consider an excel spread sheet that you can email to the buyer. I want the car that was owned by a well organized, anal retentive, neat freak. –MC
Q – I just spent a lot of money restoring my car and I was wondering about my insurance coverage since I have now spent three times what any other car like mine is selling for. What do you suggest? Mark
A – Many of your fellow hobbyists are in the same boat (or tub, if that’s your flavor). The first thing I recommend is forwarding copies of your receipts to your insurance agent to put him on notice of your expenses. I prefer to fax them or email since this stamps them with a time and date for reference. Next you need to ask if your present carrier offers coverage for your project. Many don’t offer the coverage that I prefer which is “agreed value”. Your receipts, an appraisal, and pictures of the car bolster your valuation if you experience a loss. Even if your car is not done, it should still carry agreed value insurance.
Many companies offer “stated value” coverage. I have found this useful to at least let the adjuster know that my car was not just a (in my case) garden variety Rabbit. When my car was “totaled” (their opinion) I was paid in full for the needed repairs and allowed to keep the car. I fixed it and it still wins “best of show” awards 25 years later. Beauty is in the eyes of the motorhead. I don’t recommend stated value coverage since the adjuster will want the value proven to him/her. If you suffer the trauma of a loss, the last thing you want to do is debate the wisdom how you spent your money to a bean counter.
“Actual cash value” coverage is what the majority of policies contain. For a collectible car, this is worthless unless you like arguing with an adjuster about why your car is special. For your daily driver, it’s no big deal unless you have tricked it out.
These topics are expanded on in an excellent article about insurance written by Dennis Denyer a few years ago. Dennis kindly agreed to freshen it up for a future P4 so stay tuned for more. –CM
Q – On my 74 911 the crankshaft pulley fell of the end of the engine at about 110 miles an hour! The red light came on and the engine felt like the turbo kicked in. And it is not a turbo. What a thrill.
When I looked at the pulley I can see a hole where a pin would have gone through it and into the crank but there is no hole in the crank. What gives? Can I just bolt the pulley back on without the pin. Randy
A – Randy, the pin hole mushed over when the pulley came loose. First the good news: The crankshaft is hardened and it is probably OK unless you mess up trying to get that pin out. This process will be time consuming since it involves removing the exhaust and rear motor mount bracket just to gain access. Once you can see what you are doing you have to find the hole and the pin. I use an abrasive Roloc disc to clean away the metal that was transferred to the crankshaft during the failure. When you find the remains of the pin, start with a small drill and begin drilling it out. Your ace in the hole is that the crankshaft is hardened and the pin is not. When you get the hole large enough, put a screw in it and pry it out.
So you have saved the crank, you need a pin, and the pulley is damaged. Smart Racing products makes a replacement pulley out of billet aluminum that comes with a new bolt and sells for about $120.00. The pin is the same as a VW beetle main bearing dowel pin that you can get from any VW shop. The crank will need to be smooth and true before you bolt the pulley on and judicious smoothing with the Roloc disc has worked well for me.
About that “turbo boost” effect? The fan and alternator take about 20 horsepower to run at that speed when the failure occurred. You felt the difference between gross horsepower and net horsepower. As far as running the engine without the pin by just bolting the pulley back on? The pin is for alignment of the timing marks and the bolt secures the pulley. You could have bolted it down snug and driven it but then the crank could have been damaged more than it already was. In a third world country, this would have gotten you out of the bush but it is better that you didn’t try it. –MC
My Boxster suffered that broken intermediate shaft failure and I had the engine replaced two months ago. Today while I was on the freeway, it started to blow giant clouds of blue smoke then the check engine light came on. The engine still runs fine and I checked the oil. It is only ½ quart low and there are no leaks (unlike the last time it croaked) I am ticked! After a $10,000 bill on the engine I want to burn this sucker. Rod
Such language! I am not an attorney, if you burn it you will need one now that everyone knows about your evil thoughts. But seriously, it is probably not as bad as you think, just another speed bump on the road of life.
Porsche has updated a device called the crankcase breather assembly three times. My hunch is that yours has failed. They fail suddenly and dramatically but do no harm except for the smoke screen that you have been laying down and possible fouling of the spark plugs and OXS sensor.
The unit is located on top of the engine and it costs a little over a hundred dollars. Labor to replace it will cost a few hundreds but if you don’t drive very far after if fails (and how could you without attracting the authorities) it is likely that resetting the computer will shut off the warning light. –MC
Q – I have a vintage Turbo and the tires are shaking. I think I need a tire balance but I do not want the weights to show if that is possible. What do you suggest? Mark
A – There are a number of factors that affect a smooth feel from your tires and wheel. First, are the wheels true side to side and are they round? Second, do the tires pass the same test? While a bent tire or wheel can be perfectly balanced, the car will still shake.
Assuming that the every thing you can see looks good, then you can proceed to measure the balance. The two types of balance that affect shake are static and dynamic. Think of static as “up and down” imbalance. Up until the sixties, when tires were very narrow, this was correctable by using a bubble balancer, no electronics, no problem, just put an equal amount of weight on both sides of the wheel and you are set. Things have really changed (and now you know when I started working on cars.)
When the famous “Wide Oval” tires became popular a new consideration had to be made that involves “dynamic” imbalance. That is where side to side imbalance will also cause a shake or wobble. This is where hiding the weights can get tricky. With wide tires and wheels, if you simply find the point of static imbalance and put the weight essentially behind the spokes in the middle, you can still get shake.
On tires that need a lot of weight on opposite sides, inside and outside, hiding the weights may not work out to well. In that instance, the tire can be dismounted and rotated on the wheel and sometimes this helps. If you are as picky as me, it is worth the effort. If the tire needs weight in roughly the same spot inside and outside, you have a better chance of hiding the weight. In that instance, the machine can be “fooled” by programming in a narrower wheel and it generally tells you to put a heavier weight behind the spoke.
If you cannot hide the weight (and new Porsches do not have hidden weights) there are European chrome plated “Hershey bar” weights that look (and are) expensive. I have not been able to get the original weights from Porsche so these are a nice option.
How much weight does it take to feel a shake? Glad you asked (oh yeah, you didn’t ask). A tire imbalance of 15 grams can be felt at higher speeds. An imbalance of 20 grams can be felt at freeway speeds and an imbalance of 35 or 40 grams will annoy you almost all the time. Clearly the goal is 5 grams or less. –MC
Q – My 2003 Boxster S just dumped a few gallons of oil as it was driving it and the dealer tells me that the engine is ruined. It is under warranty but naturally, my summer of fun is over. Down the road, is this likely to happen again? Joey
Q – My 2005 Carrera just lost all its oil and the shop tells me that the engine needs to be replaced. Prior to this, two main engine seals were replaced and even though the dealer is replacing the engine under warranty, I want to know if there is anything I could have done to cause or prevent this. Jeff
Q – My 2001 Boxster died on the freeway and I had it towed to the dealer where I was told that the engine needs to be replaced. I have about 90,000 miles on it and it is not under warranty. They estimated about $16,000 to replace the engine. I have always had the oil changed and I use synthetic oil. What the heck! I am really upset. Scott
A – These engines have a defect that Porsche is aware of and they are very gracious to clients with vehicles under warranty. When the warranty is up however, you can expect a hassle. You need to keep meticulous records of oil changes and services performed. If you lose them or miss an interval, heaven help you because Porsche won’t. What the future holds for those who were shown no love by the company no one knows but certainly a quality oriented company like Porsche is well aware of the problem and very sensitive to the negative feedback that comes from it.
Don’t beat yourselves up it’s not your fault. My ex brother-in-law had a total failure at 11,000 miles and although it could have been HIS fault, Porsche still bought him a new engine. As far as the replacement engines go, you can rest assured that the problem has been remedied. After all, rumor has it that the warranty department pitched a tent in the hallway outside engineering and has refused to leave until they can get some rest. And for all those dealer techs who got tired of fixing squeaks and rattles, they now have job security that other folks can only envy. –MC
Hi MC, I have a 1995 Cabrio and the rear window is starting to pucker and pull away from the top. It looks like the glue is letting go. Is that repairable? I got a price to replace the window at about a thousand dollars but the shop said that they would not recommend it. They suggested an entire new top at about two thousand dollars! Help. Tom
A – Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the top shop is correct. The window is not glued to the top as it appears, it is actually heat bonded during installation of the top. There is a resistance wire that surrounds the window that heats up when voltage is applied. It literally melts the window into the top. Porsche has revised this process and sent bulletins on it but suffice to say, glue won’t work as a repair.
As far as the window replacement, the shop was probably recommending against it because it would look different than the rest of the top and based on age, the top is already 13 years old and probably deteriorated. It would not be long before you would have to go back and replace it anyway. For my money, the difference between a whole top versus just the window would make me consider just the window but, as a seasoned veteran once said “buy the best and cry once”.
The newer tops do not seem as strong or as thick as the older Cabs and I like the zippered rear windows too. Durability seems to be reduced on the newer fabrics and the bonded window idea hasn’t held up to well either. Too many bean counters? By the way, the price you got on the top seems reasonable to me compared to others that I have researched. –Hi MC
Hi MC, I just replaced my hood emblem and one of my ham-fisted buddies pushed on it to shut the hood and squashed it…just like the one I took off! The emblem swap started badly when I dropped one of the nuts inside the trunk and could not get it out. Then getting the rubber gasket in place was tough and as I tried to secure the emblem, it kept slipping under the emblem. It looked so easy. Frustrated in Ferndale
Hey frustrated, I had the same experience with my own car except the person who squashed it was no friend of mine. The emblem seems to be such a logical place to push the hood shut. After all, who wants a hand print on the paint!
A few tricks I have learned are to first make sure the pins on the emblem are straight enough that they will fit into the holes in the hood. If they are not (and they often aren’t) you can gingerly straighten them while applying pressure to the face of the emblem (so you don’t distort it and break the cloisonné)
Next I mix up a little epoxy to fill the void on back of the emblem so when it gets pushed on (and it will) it will not squash. After the epoxy dries, I warm the gasket up in the micro wave in a cup of water until it is very soft and pliable then stretch it over the emblem. As far as those pesky nuts, I use a nut driver with a small glob of butyl tape (bubble gum would work) to stick the nut to the driver while I am fishing it up into the hole. It works like a charm. –MC