When can you Expect Problems with 88 Carrera?

I have an 82 SC Targa and am considering selling it and buying an 88 Carrera coupe. The car has 81K on the clock and seems in excellent condition.

The present owner has had it for abt 20 months and has had the following done:

lowered by abt 1" and realigned;
Bilstein front struts and rear shocks,
turbo rie rods;
Pagid brake pads and new brake disks;
Powerchip [original chip supplied].

Otherwise the car is original. I spoke to his P mechanic and, as far as he knows,
no major work has been done to the car and certainly not in the last 20 months.

My question is: Given the fact that nothing major has been done, at what stage could I expect some serious problems and what are they likely to be?

Thanks in advance

J

Jack,

Valve guides can wear prematurely with the 3.2's, so just watch out for smoke coming from the tail at high revs that isn't unburnt fuel. If you’re driving a 3.2, and if you’re leaving a constant haze of smoke behind you, I think it’s a sign that your rings are shot as opposed to your guides which are more rev-related.

Actually, there is a simple method for (roughly) checking for valve guide wear that you can employ while driving, but I'm somewhat vague on the exact procedure.

Can someone help me out?

I've got an '88 Carrera and, INMHO, you should have no worries. A properly looked after car should go on forever. The valve guide problem would have reared itself by now if it was going to and you're looking at general wear and tear. Mine has 93K and has no problems whatsoever. I've had an alternator mishap which cost me next to nothing but took a while to diagnose. Car uses NO oil and has NO leaks - on Mobil 1 as well. I recently cleaned up the underside and there are no potential problems - everything is free and working correctly. Fair enough an exhaust may be needed soon and I will probably require a clutch in a year or so (although I may not!) but otherwise it's the best car I've ever had. My Golf GTI has 130K on it and the Porsche is both better built and better looked after so I'm looking forward to posting about my first 25 years with the car if I can find a way to store petrol!

Roy

Agree with the previous post. Have a 85 Targa and it sat for a long time before I purchased it. Did a 60,000 inspection and found nothing out of the normal items that any car should have.

Did replace the clutch but knew that this was a weak point in my particular car, and other than that, not ONE problem with the car in over two years of more or less daily driving.

Also had problems with the alternator but just had it overhauled for under $100 and feel that its ready for another 70K miles with no other worries. Am also using Mobil one and no leaks and minimal use between changes.

Buy the car if the price is reasonable, and enjoy the best of the late series 911!

JoeA

Have owned 2 '88s. A cab and a coupe. These are very rugged cars.

Jack K - Out interest, why are you considering replacing you 82 Targa with an 88 Carrera coupe? My understanding is that with a few mod's an SC can put out as much, if not more hp than a 3.2. The G50 transmission must be a worthwhile upgrade, but what else is driving you?

I ask only bacause I am currently weighing up a late SC with a G50 Carerra.

billyb

I own a 88 coupe which i purchase two years ago,is my first porsche and i got lucky to find out that they have the G50 tranny and the 3.2 are realible,i pay $21,000 US,i am the second owner it had 54,000 miles on it and was fully stock,it was painted because someone scratched at the supermarket and the previous owner wanted to paint the entire car,at this time she has 60,000 miles i had to replace the main fuel line which porsche wanted $650 dollars,which i made for $99 dollars,the bushing in the shift gear had to be replaced,other than that this car is been great and i run this car extremely hard on the street,modification done to this point,custom made exhaust system,chip,bore out throddle body,turbo system,cross drilled rotors,stainless brake lines,shocks,aero mirrors,lowerd,stereo system,17 inch wheels,turbo tie rods,external fans on the condensor for better cooling in the a/c,and few other that i can not even remenber,but in general i think that the 88 is a grat car but of couse it depends on who you ask.just my two cents.....

As long as the engine is OK, compression and leak down, how long the engine can go is up to you and preventive maintenance. One test you can do is to get the car in 2nd gear up in the rpms and then let the engine compression slow you down. Do this a couple of times and look behind for oil burning smoke. Worn valve guides seem to come up alot with these cars but I have'nt seen it. I think if you would look at any run of models, they all have some items that may fail, some (heater boxes, chain tensioners, rubber clutches,) more catastrophic then others.

I bought my car for one thing, to run it HARD. At track events, I run my car with my brother in back to back sessions, about 40 minutes of extreme stress. My rev limiter is bumped up to over 7000 and its gets there often. Porsche owners love taking there cars to the track. Why? Because these cars can take it!! I do run synthetic Castrol 5w 50. Its expensive, but it can't hurt. Don't worry about the engine life, with proper care it may outlive you.

I've got an 88, 199K+ Miles. This has been one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned. While things wear out, they don't "break". So, I've done the clutch, fuel lines, fixed some oil leaks, some switches and fans, etc. Nothing strange and nothing out of the ordinary. My valve guides are a little worn, but using the STP Oil Treatment every now and then I use a quart of oil every 1K miles. No smoke out the back either!

The others have give some good suggestions, but one thing I would like to emphasize at that mileage:

Clutch!

Although different drivers tend to get varying miles from clutches, if that car has the original clutch, I'd say its very possible it is near the end of its life. Shops tend to charge quite a bit of $$ in parts and labor for this job, too, so its something to consider.

Thanks for all the replies.

billyb - The reasons for my contemplating the change are:

1. I figure that I get a car 6 years younger and, in principle, the general technical advancements that Porsche made during that time should be significant.

2. Notwhithstanding the obvious advantage of the Targa top, I am irritated by its characteristics - wind noise; leaking, body flexing; windows and doors continually out of alignment; vibration noises from the Targa top inside the car, etc.

3. Call me crazy but the car is basically my daily driver and in Sydney, Australia, we get a few hot, humid, months where the air conditioning system in the SC is just not good enough and the car becomes uncomfortable to be in. I am hoping that the 88 Carrera is a considerable improvement in that department.

When I bought my 82 SC, the clutch, lower cylinder head studs, replaced timing chain tensioners with mechanical adjustable type, engine sound proofing system, cam feed lines, windscreen, Targa top and a few other minor things had been redone and the car is in great condition. My concern with the 88 Carrera is that nothing major has been done. However, a lot of replies indicate that doesn't necessarily mean problems are imminent.

[This message has been edited by Jack K (edited 11-09-2000).]