In for a service... ouch :(

[hamzamian]

The car's in for a service at the moment and the following need doing

- all 4 brake calipers seized... replacements £80each (swap for refurbed units)
- power steering pump leak (minor.. in the hose/attachement)
- fuel leak somewhere in o/s wheel arch? ... as yet cause unidentified
- auxillary belts need changing
- throttle cable needs changing

Not too bad overall i guess... also though the cam belts were last changed at 66k and the car is now at 93k.. due for a change now or leave it till the next service?

Any recommendations on brake calipers other than just going with the suggested refurbed units?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

How long ago were the belts done? 3 years/36k would be a safer bet than the official 4 years/48k.

Fuel line can be done with a flexi-pipe, or will be very expensive if they talk you into replacing the lot with original parts.

 

[NeilW]

I would second 3 years. I left my last change 3.5 years and the belt that came off had missing teeth.

 

[hamzamian]

wow really... its been a lot longer than 3 years... more like 5 as the car has been stored for over a year and had little use the rest of the time

I guess that means that they need to be replaced after all then?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I guess that means that they need to be replaced after all then?

Yes!! Also, mine was laid up for 18 months and the oil seals had hardened. 1 year after I had the belts done I had to have them changed again as oil was contaminating them. Might be worth biting the bullet and doing seals and rollers whilst you're at it.

Sorry.......[]

 

[cococola]

I had refurb calipers already on my 944 when I bought it and they have been fine over the last two and a half years they look good aswell in painted red.[8D]

 

[Paul Fraser]

- all 4 brake calipers seized... replacements £80each (swap for refurbed units)

Get some brake refurb kits from Bert Gear and refurb the calipers yourself if you are at all handy with a spanner -- it is not a hard job, just a bit messy and time consuming. That'll cost you about £50 iirc and the cost of some brake fluid, as compared with £320+2-3 hours labour +VAT.

- power steering pump leak (minor.. in the hose/attachement)

Leave for now till other jobs done, monitor fluid level.

- fuel leak somewhere in o/s wheel arch? ... as yet cause unidentified

Fuel lines rusting if you are lucky (if you have a metal fuel tank it may be corrosion around the strap which means dropping the diff). You should be able to get the garage to replace the rusted sections with flexible tubing if you don't want to splash out on new fuel lines (which again, I think, involves dropping the diff). Relatively cheap job and one, like the brakes you'll have to get done.

- auxillary belts need changing

I have no idea what an aux belt is. Do you mean cam belts? Think that'll be a two-three hundred and maybe a water pump.

- throttle cable needs changing

Don't know, never done it, wouldn't have thought it is a big job.

If you get it all done at a garage I would have thought you'll be looking 800-900 quid, if not more.

 

[Fred Hindle]

Seized calipers.
The piston housing separates from the caliper so can be left attached to the system. Clean the caliper with a wire brush (A Dremel is ideal for this), make sure you do all the bits that have smooth faces where bits slide against each other and where the pads sit. Then everything is cleaned then use something like petrol to remove any oil or dirt, then paint (I used aluminum paint). Leave to dry.
When assembling the caliper back together use plenty of copper grease.
£320 = silly money for a weekend's work! And not a full weekend at that.

Cheers,

 

[hamzamian]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Unfortunately given the amount of free time I have at the moment doing the work myself just isn't an option (even though it does sound fairly easy to do)... so I will just have to let the garage do it and pay up for it

 

[wibble]

Seized calipers - easier said than done. If the plate bolts are heavily corroded, then the average DIYer will never shift them in a month of Sundays. All my attempts failed, so had mine refurb'd. Even the indie had to send them away as two of the bolts would not shift.

The results are excellent and well worth time and effort saved. £80 sounds like a good price to me.

 

[Paul Fraser]

£80 sounds like the price for the refurbed single piston ATE calipers which don't have the plates that the later calipers do, hence my comment about an easy refurb.

 

[hamzamian]

hmm... well sounds like the fuel lines have been replaced and they had to be done by a company called Pirtek to comply with legal requirements or something or other.... hmm... circa £200 for the pleasure!! ouch.

 

[hamzamian]

hmm ok so the bill is at about £1000 so far and that doesn't include changing the belts!

I'm starting to wonder about how worthwhile it is getting it all done now..... the car is only worth £3000 and won't be worth any more once its all done I dont think ?

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: hamzamian

I'm starting to wonder about how worthwhile it is getting it all done now

Very worthwhile if you love her and want to keep her in tip-top condition. In the long run it should even out over the years and you'll turn into a complete 944 anorak like some of the obsessed people on here []

 

[hamzamian]

if i knew i was going to keep the car long term then yes i agree it probably is worthwhile... however knowing how fickle i am with cars and how often i tend to change its likely that i'll be bored of it within a year and sell it to buy something else!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Looks like yet another proof that you always end up spending big time at the first service! []

As I've said before, you need to check all the history and work out what was done when before you buy a car, or be prepared to have the work done and factor that into the price. You can't buy a 20-year-old car with work needed and then recoup the money in the short term. A lux should work out about £1k per year on maintenance unless you do all the work yourself, but of course that could be £2k one year and then a couple of cheap years. Mine's been about £700 per year on average, but I took a long time to find a car that I was confident would not throw too many surprises up.

As you'll have read, with some bodywork looming along with wanting to renovate the suspension after 130k miles I might well be spending several £k over the next year.....[&:]

 

[hamzamian]

Well I've asked for everything to be done including all the belts, rollers, pulleys and water pump...

final bill is looking like it will be over £2,000 at the moment

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Where are you getting all this done? Does sound a bit on the high side, but then it might be being done properly....

 

[hamzamian]

Place called Portia Craft in NW London. Came recommended to me by a bodyshop that I used for my M3 that also does a lot of work on Porsches.

Never used them before but I do get the impression that they are doing the job properly and they've put right a few other problems like a loose exhaust manifold, broken horn, replaced temperature sensors, sorted out the idle, adjusted the fueling, replaced the brake lines with braided steel ones and probably a few other things so I guess it just all adds up slowly....

I guess im going to have to keep the car a while now just to make having all this work done worthwhile! (Bet it doesnt happen and I end up getting bored in 6 months and selling it)

I'm pretty happy with the service so far, they have been careful on costs, sourced a good price for the brake calipers and replaced fuel lines with the flexi stuff and they've been in touch to confirm all the work before doing it.