Thanks everyone! Javelin, I'll keep you in mind, though I have to admit the aftermarket lights have grown on me a bit, especially the fronts. The only problem is the turn signals have too little resistance because they're LEDs so they blink too fast.
I gave the new Porsche a good cleaning and promptly took it on a 270-mile round trip drive. The car didn't miss a beat, it drives great and that flat 6 is so smooth! It didn't appear to consume any oil or coolant, and as far as I can tell everything works as it should. It had a check engine light for codes p1124 and p1126, which is a lean conditions on each cylinder bank, but I cleared the codes and the light has not returned. I'm taking it to the local Porsche specialist next week and we'll see what it needs there, but so far I'm really enjoying the car. It was warm enough I got a little top-down time with it too :)
Glad the car worked out well for you!
Are the sideskirts aftermarket? I don't really love the tail lights/headlights, but it looks like someone cared/loved the car to put some money in it and make it theirs'.
Lean engine codes is probably a vacuum leak. If you can look at your fuel trims with whatever you used to clear the codes, you can see if the lean condition is still present.
In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :
I always thought your dad's T was black?
In reply to MiniDave :
You'll be shocked to know that it has in fact always been burgundy, at least since my grandpa painted it back in the 70s :) The fenders are black however. Not very Henry Ford of us, I know haha
Welp, I just got home from the local Porsche specialist - a super nice and experienced guy - and I am now much more aware of the condition of the car, and that condition is, well, significantly less than perfect. The biggest problem is that it need as new water pump ASAP - the one that's on there is definitely going bad and has partially shredded the belt. So I'm having him do that as well as a major service to try to get things into better shape. Some other things the car needs:
New shocks
New brake pads f/r
The cam deviation is wider than it should be, which isn't a great sign...
In reply to AMiataCalledSteve :
Brake pads are the easiest in the world on these. Fixed calipers all the way around.
Shocks aren't bad, standard struts. Tire Rack has Konis for cheap.
I wouldn't fret about the cam deviation.
Brakes are easy *if they've been serviced somewhat recently*. Not being in the rust belt might improve the situation though. The first time I did them on my 986 I spent like an hour or more managing to free the very stuck retaining pins. But once they're freed up it's a couple of minutes per corner.
That's good to hear. I was planning to do the brakes myself no matter what, I do all the brakes on my cars, but the relative simplicity is nice to hear. Since this is supposed to be my daily, I'm letting the Porsche specialist get a lot of the knowledge-heavy or fiddly jobs out of the way so I can drive the car in confidence, but I do plan to do as much of the other stuff as possible, because he is not cheap. Very fair - just not cheap. I really enjoyed talking to him today though, he has loads of interesting knowledge and stories in his head and he doesn't mind sharing them. All in, it's going to be about $2500, but since I bought the car so cheap I feel that expense isn't putting me too far behind.
Good things aren't cheap, cheap things aren't good. If you can afford the specialist go for it. In my eye's, you can start ownership with a good baseline. Then you can drive it with a relatively clear head. Nice car, good luck with it.
I got the Boxster back today, my wallet is significantly lighter but I'm happy about it. Pete from Stuttgart Motor Werks is a very detail oriented guy and the car is in much better shape now. It has a new water pump and thermostat, new plugs, new fuel filter, cabin filter, air filters - new everything filters, really. The hinges have all been lubed, it has new coolant and oil, all the drain passages have been cleaned out, as well as all the radiator ducts. It has a new coolant cap, the seals for the top and the doors have all been lubricated, and a bunch of other miscellaneous things that I would never have thought to check. It's a beautiful day here in western NC, so driving it home with the top down was a treat! I ended up spending just under $3200 on the major service and water pump, but all in I think I have less than 9k in the car so I think I'm doing ok :)
Also, Javelin I just sent you a pm about those lights
If you think you may be DIY'ing the car, consider investing in Durametric. I would keep an eye on the camshaft deviation and maybe drop the oil pan next service interval and look for timing chain guide bits. Deviations are usually wear on the chain ramps or a wiggly IMS. The deviation is there to compensate for chain guide ramp wear, but if they are errartic or widen over time you would want to know that.
Sounds like a nice car! Just send it.
The water pump is not too hard to change, you could probably do it yourself next time if you wanted. I thought just getting the belt back on was the most annoying part of the whole job.
Welp, I got the car back, did a weekend of wonderful driving until I started it up a couple days ago and it started burning up a belt really bad - smoke was coming out of the engine compartment and you could hear a pulley squeaking. I started it up this morning, and no belt burn but the pulley squeak is still there. Sigh. I really don't have the money or time to be fixing this car all the time, and I still have my Mazda3, maybe I'll just sell this thing.
Given that you just dropped $3200 to Pete, I would take it back to him and ask him to take another pass at that belt service. I could be a defective new water pump. If any of the tensioners or idlers were bad, that would have been the time to catch it.
Edit: $3200
Tyler H said:Given that you just dropped $2500 to Pete, I would take it back to him and ask him to take another pass at that belt service.
^ this
Yeah, I gave him a call this morning and I'll be taking it back to him this Wednesday.
Definitely frustrating but I encourage you to see it through. There's an initial catch-up but after that you'll probably be good for a while.
it's worth it. 25k on mine (at 106k now) and it's been a wonderful experience!
Well, the Boxster is on its way to the shop, the tow driver just left. Pete didn't want me to drive it and gave me the number of a very friendly and cautious towing company - I'll definitely be using them in the future if I ever need anything towed. I started it up to back it into a place the rollback could get it and it started smoking again, but the smoke was coming out one side of the exhaust - oil in the RH cylinder bank?I didn't hear the pulley squeaking again, but maybe that was the smoke I smelled the first time, not a belt burning. Either way, there shouldn't have been any pulley squeaking at all, so something isn't right. IDK, I guess I'll just be waiting on a call from Pete.
Got a call from Pete. Apparently one of the belt idlers is a cheap aftermarket unit and it's started going bad. It'll be another $350, but he says he can't see any other problems popping up with the car and I should be good once he finishes it. I bet the idler was installed when the cheap aftermarket water pump we just replaced was also installed. I'm just glad it wasn't another $1000 job. I'll have the car back on Friday.
Glad it's nothing big!
I have an intermittent pulley squeak and smoke from the exhaust. Already replaced the AOS but still a puff now and again at start up. I've noticed it's more likely if I shut the car off before it's warmed up fully.
Haven't chased the pulley down too far. It comes and goes. Might be the AC pulley. Meh
Occasional puff of smoke on startup is not unusual for porsche flat engines.
Yes, get used to the start up puff of smoke, it's completely normal. My Boxster would sometimes puff ad alarming amount in the first few seconds of running after a cold start, but I learned to not sweat it.
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