1984 Tune-up (my other posts were invalid?)
 

I just purchased my first 911 about 3 months ago and need to replace the oil. The car is shifting sloppy so I am doing the shifting improvement project in Dempsey's book, but I need ideas about what other tune-ups may be necessary. From what I can tell the car has not had a major service in at least 100k miles.

The parts I plan to replace or service:
Transmission Fluid (with a new magnetic top plug and Swepco 201)
Oil (should I use the K&N filter?)
Shifter Bushings
Air Filter (with K&N)
Coil
Distributor Cap and Rotor
Wires
Spark Plugs
Fuel Filter
V-Belt
A/C Belt
Battery (I'm upgrading to an Odyssey)

How hard would a valve adjustment be? I think I'm do for one, but don't know how to do it.

--Puff

The Bentley Guide will give you step by step on the Valve Adjust

Your missing "re-packing the bearings" and maybe brake fluid re-new

you might be going a little bit overboard there. I'd first check all of the parts on your list, and make sure they are bad first. obviously this excludes the filters, but why change the cap and rotor before you inspect them?

The sp wires can last a long time, unless the insulation looks cracked.

I'd add the Bentley manual to your list, and a good multimeter. I would also use the Mahle oil and fuel filters.

Well, I don't know how old all the parts are. For peace of mind I will probably still do the belts. From what I remember my bearings are new, but my brakes are giving me a little "stop go" motion. Maybe my discs are warped?

So,
Brake Fluid
Transmission Fluid
Oil
New Filters
Spark plugs?
Battery
Belts

If I do the brake fluid then I will upgrade to steel braided lines =). My calipers have rust on them... so I need to take care of that.

Does this sound better?

In the cold my car takes a little bit longer to start. As if the starter motor is struggling. Do you guys know if this is normal?

if you really want to buy a bunch of parts, then more power to you. I was just trying to make the point that you might be replacing parts with life still left in them if you don't take the time to inspect the first.

Anyway, the brake fluid might need to be changed (flush the fluid). I don't know what you mean by stop-go, and why you are thinking the rotors are warped. Is the pedal pulsing up and down? Do you have a rough spot on the rotors due to rust? Is there oil or brake fluid leaking onto the rotors?

More to the point, maybe you should take the car to a professional to have it gone through before you start to buy parts.

The weak starting is probably due to a weak battery.

If such long time since serviced I would have a base line work done.

Oil plus filter
Air filter
Trans lube
Brake fluid and pads as needed
Dist cap plus rotor
Spark plugs plus wires

Valve adjustment

A new DME relay (at least in the glove comp.)

I've had my first Porsche for about the same period.
I purchased a bunch of parts, did the oil/filter change. Brakes were recently done with ceramic pads by the PO. Will be changing the trans oil soon. Installed a WEVO shifter, and will be installing headers, TTR, bumpsteer, S. Wong chip, and changing out the oil again with B Penn oil when I do my clutch and light flywheel. My biggest concern now is NOT breaking any exhaust bolts!!

However, my biggest mod/repair/maintenance item is attending the Bruce Anderson class next week at J. Woods place. Since I don't know much about this car, I registered for all 3 classes and in my opinion if you're able to, you should do the same.
Of course all the PP members here have been very helpful to say the least and the information sharing here is priceless!

I'll be attempting the above after the class and the holidaze are over!

I'm with Livi on this...go ahead and spend the $$ (it's yours') establishing a solid baseline. This is exactly what I did on mine, providing a piece of mind......I didn't want to guess just how much life would be left on a component (the one's you mentioned)...not a time to count pennies (or even dollars)....... hell, keep your old parts, preserving whatever life they may have on them...

...do it,..do it,...do it. It will help establish that closeness with the mother machine..get started..

however,..should you be on a budget,...well.....handle it accordingly.....if not: baselines' where it's at............Livi's list is a good start. In fact, I'd pull the DME relay and look at production date,..if it's old, I'd change it out....keep the old one to keep along side of your spare!!

I yanked out my ignition wires right off the bat...not caring when they were changed (although I did research my service records)...again,..I was looking for baseline starts...
and, I could afford to do so.....truly a piece of mind....and NOT real cheap for Beru sets...

........not forgetting that you can get bad parts......and complicate issues.

Inanycase: good luck,...I understand your intent completely,...
..and I agree.

Best,

My thoughts exactly. The stop-go motion is like anti-lock
brakes, but because I don't have them it could be due to warped rotors. I will definitely keep those parts that still have life in them around. It's just that I don't want any surprises. This is the first car I will actually be working on... so I don't really know what worn out parts look like.

I'll keep what you guys have said in mind. I hadn't thought about brake pads :p.

How do you guys handle rust? There was some on the outside of the car. I just sanded it off and covered with some touch-up paint. The car is going to be painted this summer :).

--Puff

Something to note: If you are unsure about doing a valve adjustment and are going to get a mechanic to do it, don't change your oil beforehand. Just get him to do it as well.

=) Thanks for the tip.

parts don't get "old" so much as "worn", with the exception of gasoline or belts or rubber seals.

I usually change my cap, rotor, wires, spark plugs etc when they look worn. It's not like they have an expiration date, so what good is this baseline stuff? Judging parts failure is not a matter of time or intuition as much as inspection and observation. If it's worn, change it. If it ain't then don't. Do you need Bruce Anderson to tell you that?

I'm sorry if I sound cranky here, but I am failing to see the logic.

The area of brakes are a something to error on the side of caution. I would recommend taking the car to a brake shop if you don't have the ability to measure the wear and amount of brake run-out. A lot of people will have their rotors turned to make the pads seat better, but I usually change em instead. You should change the brake fluid to get rid of the water that accumulates in all brake fluid. If you have a sticking pad, then one wheel will be black and the car will pull slightly to one side. Your calipers are good if that is not happening and there is no fluid leaking. You can know for sure if your rotors are warped if you measure the amount of run out with a dial indicator. A good tire and brake shop could also do it for you.