When do you do a Valve Job?

[larry47us]

You're lucky your mechanic is close by. Mine is too far away to bring it back for "repairs." This is why my final PPI is so important. I think that Marc will do a great job for me. He said that he is going to give it a real solid drive, in addition to looking at the final product.

That's what I need. That way, any deficiencies can be discussed and fixed BEFORE I pick it up.

Chris, I hope yours gets fixed soon. Is the shop giving you any headaches about the punch list?

larry

[gruen911]

Larry,
Having read your posts and those of the others, I would suggest that you hold off as well for 2 reasons:
1) Unless you have very specific mileage and repair documentation on the engine, who is to say that the engine needs a valve job, or that it only needs a valve job?
From your position far away in Chicago, it seems that you have no idea whether there are any problems with the engine, or alternatively, if there are big problems with your engine.
Another question to ask is how many miles are on the bottom end? If the engine has 40k miles since the last valve job, chances are that the bottom end has 2-3 times that much mileage. If that is the case, once you get down to the heads, it would be very tempting to spend the extra half day and open the bottom too and change the the crank bearings. Those bearings eventually need to be replaced too once the odometer turns 100k!
The only reason to do the valve job now is to save on the labor costs of pulling the engine because it's already out. Pulling the engine out and putting it back in are relatively easy and relatively cheap (5 hours labor @ $??.00) Save the money for the entire job which you will inevitably need down the road and do it all at once when you decide if you like the car and you have an extra $7k burning a hole in your pocket.

2) Whenever you have the mechanical work done, you will want the shop to be local so they can stand by their work if there are problems down the road. Spend the next few months while you wait around checking out good Porsche shops in the Chicago area.

[sundaypunch]

Originally posted by gruen911

2) Whenever you have the mechanical work done, you will want the shop to be local so they can stand by their work if there are problems down the road. Spend the next few months while you wait around checking out good Porsche shops in the Chicago area.

That is an excellent point and reason enough to hold off.

[larry47us]

Green and Sunday

Your points are well taken. It seems that the last time the engine was touched, about 65K ago, the top and bottom end were done. But the documentation is sketchy at best - I have an estimate of the work done, no final bill, so I don't know how far they went.

With compression and leakdown being solid, it seems that the work was done then. So, in another 5 years - more or less - I will have the engine done again. But hopefully they will be troublefree years till then. If not, that's what Porsche mechanics are for.

thanks for the comments.

larry