993 user friendly?

[DonDavis]

How many of you folks do your own wrenching on the 993? I was wondering how "friendly" the electronics are and what diagnostic equipment is a must have if I were to tackle most of the maintenance and upkeep myself.

I had a 71 w/3.0 and my plans were to build a 72 with an engine swap (3.0, 3.2, 3.6?) but I need to be fair and consider other possibilities.

[ChrisL]

Everything in packed in there tighter and the parts are more expensive, but you can do all the maintenance and most repairs yourself. The electronics are no more complex than most high-end cars of that age. There's an awesome diy site at http://p-car.com.

Chris.

[maxnine11]

the good news is that electrical/ electronic problems seem quite rare. (other than the problems caused by the faulty engine wiring harness used in the 95s and early 96s).
Once the auxilliary heater blower and the airbox are removed, things look a little better....as in, now you will see engine parts you can recognize
the 96 and up cars are OBD2, and you can buy your own code reader for a bit over $100 and plug it into the diagnostic port to check for fault codes.
max

[DonDavis]

So far, that's kind of what I was thinking.
Hey Max, I was the knucklehead riding with Jack on Oct 18th. We met at Marmalades.

I have a 95 Volvo that does not require a reader. There is an LED that displays the error codes in a series of flashes. What's the skinny with a 95? Max mentioned the 96 and up but can I use a reader with a 95?

Also, any pics of a 993 WB from the rear or quarter would be cool.

[GIBSON]

Chris, thanks for the link to p-car.com. It's a great site that
answered a lot of questions for me, also some great resources.

[maxnine11]

95 cars are OBD 1, all US 1996 cars were required to have OBD II. the 1995s are easier to chip for this reason, and can close the hp gap with the later varioram cars. the 95s also won't set off the CEL for the secondary air injection carbon buildup fiasco.

here are a couple of rear shots of my wide body:





max

[smoak]

Max I have been meaning to tell you, that is one of the greatest shots of a P-car I have ever seen man. The sky color with those tail lights... freakin awesome shot. Your C2S is a thing a beatuty too. By the way... that shot has become my desktop, hope you don't mind my drooling on your car on a daily basis! (Anyway I you can email me a larger version of that shot?)

[maxnine11]

larger??...no problem Bill; just send me a PM with an email address to send it to, and what screen size (resolution). it was taken at Venice Beach, CA.

By the way, the top photo was taken by Island during this summer's rain-forest roundup... ..although i photoshopped the sunroof to 'closed'

max

[NYSCAR]

Max I have to second that comment on your photography. Nice composition and gorgeous car What's your camera?

[maxnine11]

thanks NYSCAR.
the camera is just an out-dated Minolta S304 (3.3 megapixels) review/specs .
Maybe Santa will bring me a newer/better one for Christmas.....
max