How reliable is the Porsche 3.2?

[Jd21476]

I inherited my car from my Father about 3 months ago. I have driven it at least 3 times a week and as far as 30 miles or so. I was thinking about driving it to work next week which is 115 miles away through Southern California and I feel right now, with less traffic, is a good time. BUT, my wife could not believe that I was planning on driving a 1983 Porsche that distance. Seems fine to me. What do you all think?

I guess I should add that mine is a 3.4 with a race cam.

[azzarule]

Is there a reason you should worry? Are there any issues with the car? If it has been well maintained, there should be no reason why you can't drive it to work and back everyday, the engine will love it. And so will you! If you have checked the oil levels, and all is good go for it. If it makes you feel better take a container of oil with you and check it when you get to work, because it should be nice and at operating temp, if it has got any oil seals leaking you can top it up. Keep an eye on the temp gauge if you are unsure of the engines health.

[winders]

You could drive that car around the country if you wanted to......

[Trackrash]

Buy a AAA membership and your wife can sleep at night.

The more you drive it the better it will run.

[Jd21476]

I actually have a AAA so thats a good point

[darrin]

QFT "The more you drive it the better it will run."

Get it dialed in and it's super reliable

[Quicksilver]

Most "big" road trips I take in my 87 are about 1000 miles. The one we did the fall of 2017 was 5000 miles. The car is a bomb proof panzer and I don't baby it. It hits redline at least once every time I drive it.

There were some issues with some of the valve guides in some of the 3.2s but any cars that had that problem had the valves done a long time ago. Other issues are the rubber hoses (but if you maintain it they've been replaced), DME solder joints (generally comes on slowly so you'll get home) and all the fairly normal stuff that any car sees: starter, alternator, brakes, clutch, fuel pump.

Pay attention to the car, check things, change the oil, and drive the piss out of it.

[ClickClickBoom]

1000 mile trip tomorrow if I wanted to. Super reliable!
P.S. I did 900 miles in 24 hours, with 4 hours notice, memorial service.

[Koizumi]

It’s a pain being so simple! And every mile has been worth it

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Jd21476

I actually have a AAA so thats a good point

Make sure it has enough range to bring the car home or to your shop.

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

DME solder joints generally comes on slowly so you'll get home

There are many here that might disagree with this statement. However, the fix is an easy one. Get yourself a known good spare DME relay to install if ever you're left stranded.

Buy a new relay and replace your working one and put it in your glove box (known working) and use the new one in the car. Hell, get two of them, they're not that expensive and they're small/easy to store.

The other benefit to doing this is that you'll know how to do it in a controlled, stress free environment so if it happens on the side of the road in poor conditions, you can do it in a few minutes without stress.

The day after I bought mine, I drove it 700 miles home even with the possibility of experiencing mid-April snow while crossing the Canadian Rockies. The only spare part I had was a new DME relay and some hopes and dreams...

So, yeah, if these cars if maintained a bit are very reliable.

[wildthing]

I mean, if it's well maintained, what's the worry? I daily drove mine for a month, other than the temperature inching up in stop and go traffic, it was fine. I would not hesitate to drive mine SF to LA. I was tempted to go to the Parade this year...

[FrankM_]

I wouldn’t worry if the car is in good shape. I regularly drive mine on longer drives that that.

I do carry a spare DME relay, spare round relay and fuses plus a battery charger (my bat is from 2009 but still performing well) and the basic Porsche toolset.

Only had to use the spare dme once, funny enough on my home driveway!


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[sugarwood]

Tell us more about this insane 115 mile commute.
That is like 4 hours a day, with no traffic.
More like 5-6 hours a day in CA ?

[911 SLANT]

Very reliable.

[dreichman]

I drove 2 rally’s last summer within a three week period, about 1,800 miles total. These were hard charging rally’s. 400 miles-ish a day. Most of the time the tach was between 3,500 and 6000 RPM. My 87 Carrera ran great! I would trust that car for any drive.

[safe]

As long as the has been regularly used, no cars like to sit around for years unused that messes up the fuel system, I see no reason it won't make longer trips than you can handle.
A spare DME-relay (or a DME jumer wire, that will never fail) is prudent in any motronic car of this age.
Since you have taken a few shorter trips, which is good in an unknown car, just go for it, 115 miles is nothing.

My car is usually taken out of winter hibernation for a 350-400 mile (one way) trip to the first track day of the year, 1+ hour of effective track time and then a drive home at the end of the day.

[aigel]

My biggest worry would be old tires, nothing older than 6 years.

Mechanically, if it is in one piece, not leaking and not making any weird noises, you should be good to go.

When the 3.0 and 3.2 cars were still affordable, many of us would drive the snot out of them on the track for the weekend and then drive them home a couple hundred miles in the central valley at 110F. I still do this with the 993 and enjoy the a/c.

G

[proporsche]

don`t worry too much and drive it..Last year i did 3600 km in two weeks ;-) which is about 2 230 miles...

Ivan

[3literpwr]

I have an '87 that sat stored for almost 15 years. When it was pulled out of storage, the injectors, fuel tank and a few other items needed to be serviced. I have driven the car for 8 seasons since. I have had one mechanical failure in that time...it was a clutch slave cylinder. I would not be scared to drive it across the country.

That said, I am doing an engine build now. It smoked for years and I found that it had a broken head stud and worn valves (common on 3.2's). The rebuild will be pricey (6k +) with me doing all the work.