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Top end re-build

My 964 has done 93k miles with no top end rebuild and after a recent compresion test was found to be amazingly tight.
Luck of the draw I guess but I do know my car has been really well looked after all it's life. Regular servicing and oil changes with the good stuff will do wonders to prolong the life of an engine.

I have to say that after 18 months I still love my car. Took it to Bedford for the first trackday of the year and it was just so good to drive. Good fun keeping the scooby boys honest with their four wheel drive and monster power. That said the best driver there was a bloke in a rusty 2 litre Astra. God he was quick.
 
ORIGINAL: Porker993

[8|] My 1989 964 C4 had well over 110,000 miles on it when I sold it - no mention of a top end rebuild being necessary. Same thing with the 993 - people worry about them needing a top end rebuild due to posts on Renn List etc., but my indie claims they are extremely rare. Maybe it's something to do with different temperatures/driving styles in the US and Europe.

That's a good point about people getting over worried about the bad things they read and assume that the problem affects the majority. Similarly, boxster owners get all up tight about the RMS leak which in most cases is just a minor inconvenience.

The 964 I'm about to look at falls into the batch of engines that were built in 1991 just before the cylinder head gaskets were introduced because it's engine number is lower than 62M52757 (tiptronic engine number series). It will be interesting to see from the paperwork when it first got it's head gaskets. Maybe it was this that precipitated the decision for the rebuild. I'll soon find out[:)]
 
ORIGINAL: ian_uk

There is no doubt that people in the US are forced to have top end rebuilds earlier than over here due to the extra gadgets fitted to their cars for clean air reasons and the much stricter MOT requirements. We can drive around in cars that would fail US emissions without a problem. Worse on the US 993s than 964s.

The best way to know if your car needs it is commpression and leakdown tests plus oil usage.

Some US Rennlisters claim their mechanics use the infamous wiggle test. This boils down to a mechanic wiggling the valves with his finger to see if there is any play. My indie reckoned this was hogwash.

Interesting point about more stringent emissions tests though - that might explain why so many US 993s seem to require top end rebuilds compared to UK cars.
 
Darren ,

There are many trains of thought on this but the engine builders in the US I read and actual spoke to (one top builder) the phone ( i'm UK based through but brought some parts from him ) said ...to run the 964 engine is it needs to be run in quickly, after the rebuild run quite hard through the rev range ....due to the way the nikasil bores work, and the way the rings have to be bed in or they will tarnish up and then smoke over time or break...don't potter around in 4th gear at 2K revs for 3K miles ;-)....use the gears and the rev range but not like a boy racer ......fast but gentle ;-)

Its not quite like a "normal run in" is all I can say

I'm pretty sure I have something on my link below or just search the Pelican boy for a run "in thread"
 
I looked at this when I had my engine done. I was told:

1. first 250 miles - be very gentle - don't go over 5000 revs, and don't race the engine. Let the engine get warm.

2. to 500 miles - keep to under 5,000 revs but start t rev the engine a little more like normal.

3. to 2500 miles - still don't crank it up as fast as you can - gentle acceleration etc. But - use the full rev range every so often - I would not go above 6500 until the first service. Don't sit on the motorway at 70 in top. If you have a long trip better to make sure you go between say 2500 and 4000 by changing speed or gears. Best is cross-country runs. You are trying to avoid a groove at one rev position. The running in polishes new bearings, rings and the like and it needs to run at different loads, revs etc.

4. At 2500 you will have the first service - tappets done, new oil etc. Only after that can you use the engine fully - although it will be 'stiff' for probably another 5000 miles.
 
Guys

Thanks for your help.

I'll need to do the odd run to work or I'll be running in for the next 3 years!

Thanks once again.

Darren.
 

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