Maintenance cost - really?

[skimp930]

Hi folks. I have a 88 930S (owned it for a couple of weeks - see my previous post for pics) and it's already at a shop with no start issues. Ahhhhhh shhhh***ttttt. I hoped to enjoy it a bit before it needed anything but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. What I am surprised is the time charged by mechanics to service these cars.

I got the car towed to a reputable shop and told them it would not start and for them to get it started. The first thing they did was to pull the plugs and replaced them as they were bad. I though it was a minor job but they charged $360 for labor + plug cost. Does it really take 4 hours to pull the spark plugs and replace them? Holy crap. Am i missing something? Or is this the Porsche tax? He said it took another 2 hours to do some pressure testing ($180). So far I'm out $620 dollars + tow fee.

They did get it started but idled bad. They told tell me that my fuel injectors may be bad, as there was signs of fuel in my exhaust system and my old plugs were drenched in gas. They also mentioned my hydrocarbon reading was off the charts (extremely high). So to replace the fuel injectors, it's gonna cost another 5 hours of labor + injector cost. Is that right? Does it really take that long?

I'm not too familiar with maintenance cost on these cars but I feel like I getting raped on service charge. Is this normal?

Thanks for reading my rank but I'm just surprised.

Sean

[willtel]

The labor times are really high in my opinion. You can change plugs and adjust the valves in 4 hours if you are a professional wrench. The injectors are about the same location as the plugs and also shouldn't really take that long, they are also fairly easy to test, make sure you get your old injectors back if you decide to replace them.

It may help if you tell us what shop you took it to, if you would rather not do that publicly you can send me a private message. There are plenty of 930 owners in the Atlanta area and we can help you choose a reputable shop to service your car.

Bottom line, paying for 930 maintenance is very expensive but I think you are being overcharged for labor.

[full quack]

Not knowing what type of shop you took it to, I can only state what appears obvious.

It would seem that the shop you took it to, is not up on these old girls. You simply cannot approach repairs on these, as you would a more conventional fuel injected car. To start replacing parts BEFORE you determine the no start issue is an expensive road to go down.

Are these folks a porsche shop? Are any of the mechanics older than 25?

There is no "Porsche tax", just straight shop time which should range from $98-$125 per hour. It does not take 4 hours to change plugs, nor does it take 2 hours to check pressures on a C.I.S. system.

Find a more appropriate shop for your old girl, and put this one down to experiance.

My .02 worth.

Mark

[Jbp]

4 houers fore pluggchange??????? Realy??
1 houer for me to change mine in my garage
on and saturday night.(3,3 cis)


Jocke.

[chris129]

To do a plug change I guess there's a few things the need to be taken out first - at its extreme form what does that include and how much time does it take to do that? 4hrs sounds very long.

[speednme1]

Unbelievable or better yet believable.. May I suggest you find a new shop. One with a fair labor rate and expertise. Also the forums are a great place to learn a little on usual routine maintenance. You would be surprise what one could diy. Most diy just takes patience, at the very least knowing how long some items( to repair or replace ) should take is a plus.

[skimp930]

Thanks for the reply guys. The shop I took it to seemd to be a reputable shop at first and I found several old post here who would recommend them. The shop owner is an older gentlemen who has worked on these cars for 30+ years but another mechanic is actually working on the car, who also supposively have several years of experience. I'm gonna stop by the shop and to talk to the owner and get his take on the times charged. I don't mind paying market rate for service, or even a premium for great service but hate getting screwed, just like the next guy.

[wjfk32]

Plugs are easy...Just take your time..

Find some porsche friends or some old school car friends to help u out.

Get yourself a nice set of metric tools--And start learning basic stuff..

If u don't, you will paying big time..In time you are not going to like your car? It will be more times in shop than on the road..

Put Some Techron or MMO (PREFER MMO)in your next fillup==3ounce to 10gallons..Italian tune up..It will help..

Walt

[pkracer21j]

I would of guessed ignition issues first, Green Distributor wire, then check the CDI box, coil etc. then moved on to fuel. Make sure the control pressures are in spec, test/clean injectors, etc. just my .02

[Dave 86 930 Fl]

The easy part is buying a 930, the hard (expensive) part is owning a 930. I stopped taking my car to the shop after I got screwed with my pants on, now I do most of the work myself. The tuff stuff gets done by the 901 Shop in Ft Pierce, Florida. great guys, resonable prices and fabulous work.

[Miguel Antonett]

Welcome to the club, 930s are great cars and very responsive to adjustments, little tweak here and there and you have a fantastic car, but must be meticiulos and pay attention to details to make them work as they should - after all they're simple cars to work on; however, if you take it to the wrong shop you'll get screw real fast even with the pants on... It just happened to me, I recently moved and my tools and stuff are still in boxes... after $4K and two months @ a local "known" shop to replace an engine harness the car runs like s---t with a high idle, about 100hp under, running lean and overboosting... and the mechanic is telling me that he's done with the car unless he gets into refurbishing the distributor and WUR so more $s w/o commitmnet from his part... I'm actually waiting to get set up again to take it apart and work on it myself.

[oilonly]

When I first got my 930 over 3 years ago first thing I did was read up and learn how to work on the car. My instincts told me right off the bat that if I brought a Porsche anywhere for service I would get hosed.

[skimp930]

When I purchased the car, I planned to work on the car myself. I planned to get Wayne's books and learn as much as I could...but I didn't expect the car to die on me so soon. I didn't even have a chance to get my emission testing done. Oh well... I'm just hoping something good will happen. Looking forward to better days with my new girl. Thanks everyone for your feed back.

By the way, would a fouled injectors cause the hydrocarbons to be high? They mentioned the CO was fine.

Thanks,
Sean

[Tt surgeon]

I've worked on 996, 997.1tt, now I'm trying my luck with the 930. Already got hosed by a shop once, back to scarred knuckles for me!

[wcc]

That doesn't sound right to me at all. Did they lube you up first? LOL... Sorry, that suxs! It kinda sounds like the WUR gave up the ghost to me. Was it blowing black smoke? Too bad you didn't tow it home and post up. You'd save a ton and learn a lot..

[skimp930]

lol wcc...no lube. It still hurts and I need counceling soon. It was blowing black smoke at startup but goes away after. I have small spotches of black something on my garage floor...not sure what it is exactly what it is but it's coming out of the exhaust.

Sean

[mark houghton]

The truth be known....there're aren't many shops left with mechanics that understand CIS, let alone the intracacies of a 930. Thus, if you're going to own one of these and unless you have extremely deep pockets and don't care about throwing darts and when one might just happen to hit on an "expert", then most owners are DIY type of guys. You (we) become the experts.

[oilonly]

It was blowing black smoke at startup but goes away after.

Does it idle very low also at start up?

[RarlyL8]

Our base charge for a plug change on a 930 is 1 hour. The air filter housing and intercooler must be removed. 45 minutes of that hour is for plug #1.
Yes fouled plugs will put HC through the roof.
Fuel injector change is a 2 hour job and must be done carefully or the lines will leak. Be warned, fuel injectors are $135 EACH standard retail. Leaking fuel injectors do produce a distinct rough idle.
Testing the fuel pressure is a 1 hour job. It is good that you had that done, be sure to get the results.
None of the things you had done were unnecessary; a bit expensive yes but not unnecessary. Your car will run better and you will enjoy it more now that it starts/drives well.

[RarlyL8]

The black spots on your floor is carbon being washed out of the muffler by the water vapor as it condenses. Sounds like the engine has run very rich for some time. Again, get the results of the fuel pressure test.