87, carrera

[Jstreet]

I’m a car guy who lives in DE, and have recently inherited my uncles 1987 Carrera with 123,334 miles. I had it shipped from CA to DE with Intercity Transport out of Mass. For someone who doesn’t know anything about transporting vehicles, they were awesome. Very professional and were ahead of schedule on delivery. As far as I know the car sat for at least two (2) years. When It arrived, I replaced the battery, removed the old gas from the tank, and changed the oil. I put about a half of a tank of gas in her and turned key. Now I checked to make sure the engine was free, pulled the fuse from the fuel pump and turned it over a few times before I fired it up…but when I plugged the fuel pump back in, she fired right up.
From the records I do have on the car, It has been very well maintained. Date and milage codes on the oil and fuel filters etc. Belts are tight and the owner’s manual has been kept up to date.
Now I know a thing on two about cars and engines and would consider myself to be a pretty decent shade tree YouTube mechanic on my suburban and Xterra. Now I am well aware of the value of this CA, no rust and from what I can tell well running car. I feel like the injectors need to be cleaned due to a slight sputter above 2000 RPM’s and in gear. My question is this can I realistically get to the fuel injectors without pulling the engine? My thoughts are fuel injectors, spark plugs, and check the filter. Anyone have any thoughts or resources?

[Helix8]

Yes, you can remove the injectors with engine in situ. There are injector cleaning companies that can service them (e.g. Mr. Injector). Looks like a very nice car. Wayne Dempsey's 101 Projects for your 911 book is a good start for you.

[Cairo94507]

Sorry about your uncle; he must have been a great guy as he had a great 911. Looks like you are headed in the right direction to get her back on the road. Flush the brakes and check tire date codes too.

[PCA7GGR]

Pore a bottle of Techron in the tank, fill her up and drive it. The fuel system may just clear itself out without you going the next steps.

[Ironman88]

Originally Posted by PCA7GGR

Pore a bottle of Techron in the tank, fill her up and drive it. The fuel system may just clear itself out without you going the next steps.

I would agree with the use of Techron (be sure to get the Techron Plus Fuel System Cleaner - 20oz bottle - link below)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00092893E?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

However - I would put the bottle into your tank that is 3/4's empty. Then run the living heck out of the car for an hour or so - get the engine hot. Then park the car for 24 hours. After that, take the car and fill the tank.

After the initial run with the concentrated Techron, it will continue to work to eat away deposits throughout the fuel system while the car is at rest.

Hopefully that will address the issues for you.

[911obgyn]

Drive it like you stole it. Use the techron and enjoy. Change all the fluids and be prepared for fixing some leaks, little vacuum elbows and tees towards the front of the engine get tired are a pain to change, no need to drop the engine until you do the clutch.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Go drive it 11(edit-I mean 122) miles and take a new pic of the odometer. ( I cant do math!)

Get a large fire extinguisher. Perhaps two. Make sure the engine bay fuel lines are okay before doing too many long strange trips.

Nice car.

[yelcab1]

I dont have uncles like that ...

[mtb001]

Injectors are easy, but easier if you remove AC compressor and airbox. Easy to check/adjust valves if you have plugs out. Normally when you have injectors cleaned, new O-rings are provided. No additional kits needed.

[darrin]

+1 on starting with techtron before pulling injectors, Techron has kept mine clean over their 180k life.

Re the fire extinguisher comment, the Carrera fuel lines are rather notorious for cracking/dry rotting and then leaking onto the engine. If not already addressed, worth checking/replacing -- see, e.g. https://rennlist.com/forums/911-forum/493731-diy-carrera-engine-fuel-line-replacement.html

The other Carrera-specific weak spot worth mentioning is the DME relay located under the driver's seat. It can fail/develop cold soldier joints that can manifest through no-start situations, etc. Worth searching the forum for DME relay and, to cut to the chase, pick up a name brand DME relay to carry around as a spare.

You should also check the date code on your tires -- if more than 6 years old, get a new set

Finally, to alert you to/help you with another common issue, check to make sure that your interior dome light turns on when the driver's door opens/turns off when closed. The switch that activates this light also disengages a relay that provides power to the power windows when the ignition key is turned off and is a relatively frequent failure point. When the switch fails, the relay puts a small load on the battery that will drain it after sitting for a week.

[isby]

You can definitely get to the injectors, as others have mentioned. This was a rewarding project for me and not terribly difficult. On my ‘85, I don’t think the injectors had ever been serviced, so it took a bit of wiggling to pop them out. As I recall, I did need to move the a/c compressor out of the way. I had them serviced by RC Fuel Injection in California. Also, I learned the hard way that you don’t want to leave the newly-serviced injectors sitting around before installing them. You want to get them back in the car right away.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

Wow!! What a transformation a simple cleaning did!

I agree with the others that Techron should really help clean the system up a bit. If you do end up doing the injectors take a look at our DIY guide on fuel injector replacement. I believe it should be a similar procedure as your model and it claims to only be a 1-2 hour job!