Problems With Early C2's?
 

So what are these problems I'm hearing about with the early C2 911's? 1990 specifically? How are they compared to the 3.2 911 series?

They had a head gasket or lack of issue in my understanding!

Head gasket issue and distributor belt issue. Haven;t heard anything else.

There was no head gasket - caused leaks. I believe the warranty fix was to use heads machined for a gasket. If the engine in question has no leaks now, it probably won't anytime soon - some originals failed, most didn't.

Distributor needs a vent kit to keep the drive belt alive (ozone buildup - again a warranty fix). If mileage is 60K+ replace the belt (if condition unknown) and install the vent kit.

'90 and '91 also had the substandard dual-mass flywheel - prone to failure around 60-70K miles. '89s had a standard flywheel. '92-up had an improved dual-mass flywheel. Common fix was to either use a later model dual-mass or a Carrera Cup clutch kit (or some other aftermarket L/W flywheel).

From what I've read, front suspension control arm bushings are supposedly shot around 70K miles. Expensive to replace because you can't just buy the bushing - need to buy the whole arm. Monoballs are also available, but expensive and add to ride harshness. I haven't read of anyone worrying about the bushings on their cars, but ya never know ...

Factory shocks (Monroe?) wear out earlier than most Porsche shocks.

PS rack seals have been known to leak in higher-mileage cars.

The problems are over stated. Only a very small percentage of the engines had the leak, and I would bet a majority of them got fixed under waranty. There is a 10-15 dollar fix available for the distributor that uses factory parts that came on the later 3.6 cars. They are great cars. If these engines were so bad, why would people be putting them in their early cars??

Jeff

90 & 91 also had different (smaller?) rear calipers.