Like Stray, you have my condolences about your uncle passing.

Rear seal...not a huge job? Chucks-Garage says a Porsche repair shop can do it in 16 hours. (Me?..I can probably do it 16 days....no make that weeks since I'll break a lot of things in the process!)

If you are handy...handy with a check book that is...and in New York…$80.00 x 16 hours..ca-ching, ca-ching.

Then of course, if you replace the rear seal, it would be silly not to replace the clutch which might be worn or oil soaked anyway. Then there is the cost of these parts as well to consider. Not cheap.

Cars that sit for a long time seem to have problems with seals. The fronts should be done with the timing & balance shaft belts, which SoCal rightly said should be replaced before you even crank it. (Of course he didn't tell you why you should buy electrical contact cleaner. Another dirty little secret.)

btw..how is your health?

But joking aside…I did PM you.

I appreciate the condolences. I know my uncle would be so happy that I'm getting his pride and joy back in good running condition. I've decided to do it and basically pay whatever it takes. Honestly this type of work is way beyond what I'm capable of doing. I'll be taking it to a good shop in a few weeks to get the verdict, but I already know to expect a huge bill.

On the plus side, I found some of his receipts. He had the timing belt changed about 20,000 miles ago. I guess I may have them change it again just in case though. I think I'm going to follow some of the tips here and then try to start it when I put the new battery in, maybe tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes.


Chris

DON'T TURN THAT KEY !

Just pretend that a spark plug is stuck into to a brick of plastic explosives !

This is an 'interferance engine'. If the timing is a little off - big, big problems.

DON'T even TURN the engine over by hand...do nothing. It needs belts anyway right?...and as SoCal said:

"Change the timing belts!!!!!

The car has sit with out running the belts have taken a "set" meaning that they will NOT like being run around the pulleys again!

I would do this BEFORE even thinking of starting it.

IF you don't and the timing belt breaks it's over $1,500 to get a shop to replace all the bent valves."


So spend the first several hundred bucks getting the work in the front done...belts, tensioners, seals etc.

If the rear main is leaking (I really hope it is something else!) then you may as well do the cluch. Now we are talking thousands & if you are sinking that much into it you may want opinions on the local 'wrenches' and what other things can be done as long as you are going to "do this right'.

Investing an extra $100 or so now can easily save you a $1000 in a couple of months and you will have peace of mind & be able to enjoy driving it rather than feeling like you have a 'money pit' that could leave you strandard in the middle of nowhere at anytime.

(btw...I'm on the south shore.)

tom.carson@ps.net

Jeez Carson, I was just gonna say belts and a PPI just to be sure- cheap 100 bucks spent will save a lot more- even if familiar with the vehicle's history.- You never know what will strand you... but its always something you didnt look at.

Hey guys, here's an update of where I'm at. I finally brought the car in and it turns out the leak is not the rear main seal as I was told (by someone I wasn't totally confident in). I'm not sure what this really means, but they said that the belly pan was dripping oil, probably because the last oil change my uncle had done wasn't done correctly.

I paid through the nose to have the car looked at by one of the top shops in my area (my brother is actually friends with 2 of the mechanics) and they said the engine looked in surprisingly good shape. There's a very, very small leak in the rear main, so small I wouldn't even see oil on the floor. We're going to keep an eye on it for now, but that's all they saw in terms of leaks

I had them change the oil, coolant, and all the fluids, as well as the timing belt, balance shaft, and all of the other belts, seals and tensioners. My brother was able to do some minor things for me (new window switches, hood shocks, fog light replacement, turn signal, hatch lock). Yeah it cost me a pretty heavy price, but now I have an awesome car that IMHO still kicks ass in the looks and handling departments.

The only thing left to do is deal with a water leak in the hatch. I'm not sure where it's coming in. Any advice/pointers on how these are normally handled? Or is it better to just take to an interior shop (oh no, not more $$$!!).

Anyway, thanks for the advice. These cars are so much fun, I can't wait for the weather to finally start getting better here in NY!

Chris

Great news

Yeah it can be expensive to have someone else do the work...but if it's done right it's worth it. And look at all the money you saved not having to do a rear seal.

btw...would you recommend the shop to others?

Enjoy

Carson,

I just picked it up tonight. Silver Star Motorsports in Roslyn. Expensive but worth it. Now if we could just get some normal Spring weather already!! I'm on the South Shore too (Malverne), where are you?

Man...you don't even know how sweet of a car you have. 89 was the only year the factory built a 2.7 liter, all other 944's have 2.5 liter engines. This means your car has a 3 liter block in it, you lucky dog you, but with the 2.5 liter crank making 2.7 liters. :) You have something very special, and I mean VERY darn special.

Chris...great news...I bet you love driving that thing

Rudtner's (Bill Rudtner) in Feeport is also very good...New York prices of course...but he is a great guy with a very professionally equipped shop (a new bigger place) and wall to wall P cars.

I sent you a PM

Hey chris where are you located on the island? Im out in suffolk