Photogirl

12 minutes ago, bally4563 said:

What cured the hot start issue?

Purge valve solenoid (not the thing near the wheel arch - this is near the top of the engine. I did a thread on it.

14 hours ago, K.I.T.T. said:

Just catching up - how many miles has your car done @Photogirl? Apols if I've missed this.

 

Hi @K.I.T.T., Bambi has done 65k, full service history, garaged, well maintained. Currently on all original parts save for one coffin arm and MAF (and some minor bits). I bought her in 2008, she is a 1998 2.5.

She's been sparsely driven in the last few years due to a frustrating hot start problem (this was thankfully resolved not long ago at the 4th indi I went to). My intention is to start using her much more often.

42 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

Hope you're not suggesting that is what @Photogirl has done!

I've forgiven him!  

48 minutes ago, ATM said:

Just start grovelling more and it might come back.

😆

No problem at all - I'm more than happy to grovel to my friends here, I think they're fantastic. 💖

Whilst some may find this thread dull, I think it could be useful to others in a similar position to myself.

In my defence, the prices I mentioned appear to be in line with the other indis I got in touch with (one was actually a bit more on two of the things). This appears to be largely down to region.

However - as has been rightly pointed out I don't own a high value car and so there may be ways to minimise expenditure on it. In that respect the advice about parts and pointing me in the direction of TROOPER88 has been extremely useful.

For completeness I will say that following my meeting with the workshop yesterday, they have been very helpful in looking at different options and different suppliers (again, thank you to the members here for the discussion about parts) - which has brought some of the figures down quite noticeably. As also mentioned many of these are not urgent so can be considered later on.

The workshop didn't even mention the IMS if we were to do the clutch this time, it was me who was (only mildly) curious about it. 

9 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

If you go to the extent of removing it, it would need replacing.  Most people who do the IMS bearing opt for one of the kits with a ceramic bearing or oiled fed bearing which cost £1k+ once fitted.  It is possible to replace the original bearing like-for-like which cost about £50, plus labour if an indy is prepared to do it:

Deep groove ball bearing - double rows bd20-17-a-ddua17nx01-nsk - 20x4 (123bearing.co.uk)

You cannot buy the bearing only from Porsche.

Thanks - I'm personally not fussed about it, but I'm aware that if I had to part with the car the bearing is probably one of the first things I'd be asked about. I've heard of people removing them to inspect so was curious about any implications.

If I did replace it I was thinking of the LN version. I'm wondering if the LN bearing is stronger than the Porsche one - interestingly they recommend replacing it every 6 years. 

11 hours ago, ½cwt said:

But even according the the US class action against Porsche 8 times less likely to fail than the single row later bearing used from part way into the 2001 model year.

I think their figures were around 8% failure rate for models after late 2000. Failure rate on the earlier bearings is said to be around 1%.

Just wondering - does the advice to leave it alone include removing it for inspection? 

2 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Yes this is what he's told me too.  He should see and respond to PMs (well he has to mine) but does not participate any longer.

We're in touch now so thank you for letting TROOPER88 know about this discussion. For some reason I can't send PMs (the facility disappeared off my profile a few years ago for some reason).

19 hours ago, The Caped Crusader said:

Who said you couldn't drive it away after a failed MOT? You can unless it's failed on something classed as 'dangerous'. If not, you've got 10 days to go and get it fixed before retest. 

Thank you everyone - just to say TROOPER88 and I are in contact.  👍

58 minutes ago, The Caped Crusader said:

I don't understand why you're even bothering taking the car back to them. MOT or not, get it trailered to @TROOPER88 for a few hundred and get it all checked and sorted for a reasonable sum.

 

Is it just me that's getting frustrated with this thread? 🤔

It's not a question of taking it back - the car is already there undergoing a service plus I understand I can't legally drive it away due to the failed MOT. So I was going to get those essentials done then the other things elsewhere. I was interested in getting some thoughts on the prices. It appears they're quite similar at the local indis I've consulted, so it was helpful to get TROOPER88's contact details.

Apologies for causing frustration - that wasn't my intent - this is a bit of a learning process. I'll leave it here and update when there's a resolution. Many thanks indeed to all who have contributed. 

12 minutes ago, hopz121 said:

I am still intrigued to know who the specialist is who's quoted the work. I am fairly local to you and would like to know where to avoid.

I plan on travelling to Cotswold for the majority of work on mine, his prices are exceptionally good to make the trip very worth while! I have had quote recently to do some basic stuff locally and the price quoted by cotswold was a good 40% cheaper! 

It's Walkers at Adversane - well recommended and well regarded so I thought I'd give them a try this time. I've used Mortimers before, they're very knowledgeable and similar prices. 

Can I ask again why the advice is to leave my IMS bearing alone if doing the clutch. It seems it would be fairly inexpensive to do at the same time?

I've got the impression it would also be a selling point if I had to part with the car.

Interestingly a bit of phoning around and the quotes were in a similar ballpark. Looks like all the indis are expensive around here.

I looked up the cost of the Spyder-performance suspension refresh kit (about £1100 inc VAT), not including shocks and labour.

The garage confirmed the quote for the front shock absorbers was for Bilstein B4 (not Porsche branded).

The technician confirmed they are using Meyle coffin arms - I've asked them to double check the price (a set of 4 I think is cheaper than 3 on their own).

The quote for the ignition coils was for OE, I have asked them to quote for Beru.

Regarding dropping the engine, I believe this was to do with making the brake pipe jobs more straightforward, and the cost would be partly offset if I did the clutch, water pump, anti-roll bar at the same time.

I can elect to just get the MOT points done and leave the suspension related points until another time. However since the brake pipes will have engine out it would probably make sense to get the clutch done (I'm undecided about the water pump, it would save a small amount of money doing it this way as the job is a bit quicker with the engine out). No commentary on replacing the IMS bearing.

Thanks @map that's how I'm thinking - get the MOT necessaries out of the way and rethink the rest. I hadn't thought of getting a trailer to transport the car so thank you for much for the suggestion.

7 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

Pretty sure they're known for high quality and prices to match.

I got the Cayman there, the suspension started groaning badly a couple of weeks later hence having to get two coffin arms replaced (and I believe they gave a bit of a discount because of the recent purchase). 

There's nowhere affordable in my locality, they are all pricey. I suspect if I got the quotes done somewhere else (within an hour's drive) they would be similar to this one. It's quite disheartening given it's not a high value car. 

I'm going to have the parts discussion in the morning and see what they say. 

6 minutes ago, K.I.T.T. said:

 

Any decent independent garage (specialist or otherwise) worth their salt would be using OEM parts over OE where justified - in your case, for a bulk of the work.

Thank you again - that really is so helpful.

I wonder if in the morning they'll tell me the quote is for OEM not OE!

17 minutes ago, K.I.T.T. said:

@Photogirl pardon my French, but some (all - maybe with the exception of MOT) of the prices you've been quoted sound absolutely batsh!t crazy.

I have a spreadsheet of all parts / labour for my car over the past 22 years, and have included some comparisons below.

 

Just for some perspective, in 2021 I paid sub £1200 at a Porsche specialist to:

Remove / refit engine
New AOS supplied and fitted
New waterpump supplied and fitted
New plug and tubes
Brake pipe over engine

 

I find it odd to replace 3 x coffin arms - may as well go the whole hog.

Now parts prices may have increased a bit since I did this (parts bought in 2020, fit in 2021), but again for perspective:

Parts

4 x Koni Special Active shocks - £540
4 x H&R -10mm spring - £125
4 x Spyder Performance coffin arms - £190
2 x front top mounts (Sachs - OE with pn ground off), bearings (OE), dust covers and bump stops (OE) - £180

 

Labour

£500

For all the above (and some other arms / TREs / etc not included in my list), IE a full suspension refresh and geo at a Lotus / motorsports specialist.

 

TLDR: <£1,600 parts and labour for a complete suspension overhaul

 

I would urge you to shop around and find somewhere that won't commit daylight robbery. Most of the things you've mentioned don't need a Porsche specialist. The brake pipe is possible to do with the engine in situ with kunifer pipe - my engine was out anyway, but there is no reason to drop the engine just to do the brake lines.

A specialist in Yorkshire has been suggested by name earlier in the thread - personally, I cannot recommend them. Have a few other folks that I know who feel the same.

There's another specialist in Westhoughton who I would steer very clear of.

Thank you very much for that breakdown, greatly appreciated. A huge difference, as you say. 

I think it must be a combination of things - the workshop uses Porsche parts instead of the alternatives which would be a lot more affordable. I suspect being in the south-east also adds a loading. They will also be including the time taken to remove and properly refit the Zeintop - which apparently is traumatizing.

I'm not looking forward to talking to them in the morning  😆

Oh - the three coffin arms is because I had one done last year (it had failed). I had that done at Mortimers, and they also did two coffin arms on the Cayman for around £600 (as I recall they were non-Porsche parts too). 

My local ordinary garage is no cheaper and at times more expensive. 

9 minutes ago, Boxer boy said:

Could you get a male to accompany you ? Pref one not to dissimilar in appearance  to Vinnie Jones and knows a bit about cars .

Not wanting to get tangled up in woke nonsense it feels to me they saw a woman coming .

I did take one with me but clearly he didn't have the desired effect - possibly a little too slim and groomed.

You may be right!

10 hours ago, ½cwt said:

Definitely get in touch with Paul, @TROOPER88, at Torque Boxsters.  He will give honest advice on where to use Porsche and where to use other parts and he has pretty much universal good reviews.  He might even advise on getting the car to him without the MOT.

HOME | My Site Copy 2 (torqueboxsters.co.uk)

I've bookmarked torqueboxsters - thank you, that's really good to know. At the moment getting there and back would be a limiting factor (timewise and trainwise), but would be great if or when my circumstances improve. Some of the quoted items are not all that urgent so can wait. 

The MOT failure points will have been started as I had said I wanted them doing (not expecting quite such a high quote!) But I will discuss those again tomorrow. Other bits on the list can wait. 

17 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

I added up all these numbers and came to £7789.  And am I right that you have to add VAT on top? (have never understood inc VAT).

For a 1998 2.5.

I refer to my first post in the thread.

You are displaying true love towards your car and someone else is displaying true love towards your bank account.

I do hope you get to find a trusted place that uses respectable third party parts mentioned above and knows how to solve problems on a budget, eg putting joins in pipes rather than dropping the engine.

Yes, including VAT (so none to add on top).

A few of those things don't need doing immediately and will be left off. That said the prices weren't far off another indi I consulted last year, but I'll do some more looking around.

Must admit I'm yet to find anywhere that will solve problems on a budget  😟

I'm seeing them in the morning to discuss.

1 minute ago, Menoporsche said:

My clutch is dead at 50k miles, I think as most of them were commuting. Driving habits matter more than mileage. 

I try to avoid heavy traffic and mostly have in the past - but these days it's awful, I dread driving because everywhere feels like on big traffic jam. I must say my knee is really suffering now. The Cayman is a PDK and I'm turning to that for any kind of town driving. Bambi is much nicer to drive (in my opinion, I realise others will have different tastes) and I miss using her. 

10 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

Clutch weight could be the assister spring on the pedal.

Thank you, I'll ask them about that.

20 minutes ago, Sanky said:

I find some of the so called specialists in Yorkshire can have a bit of snobbery about them, when it comes to the 986 Boxster.  Think they just want folks with higher priced Porsches, who don't question anything and just pay the bill.

I've never understood that attitude. The parts price and labour rate is the same regardless.  I do agree that owners of older models are more likely to question a quote - maybe the workshop is charging for all the time they spend explaining themselves?  😆

13 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

We know the brake pipes can start off just looking dodgy and irritating testers, but over time can genuinely corrode and be bloody dangerous. Especially under the clips IIRC.  On a 1998 car I'd say they are worth a serious look and probably replacement.

Without question - they are being replaced. Likewise the PAS lines, I don't want that hanging over me. Interestingly the MOT tester said the PAS lines were 'critical' but the Porsche engineers both said they were not an urgent issue or failure (but I'll get them done so they are at least off my mind).

What I'm aiming to do is to get everything done which is immediate and which is likely to need doing within the next year or two. 

Shame I can't afford to get the calipers done as I wanted to at least SEE where some of the expenditure has gone. 

I am still undecided about the water pump - I recall general forum advice is to replace at about this age?

Clutch - original, 65k on it, works fine albeit heavy and hurts my knee (though that has been the case since I bought the car, and as per other 986s I've driven). Do you think I should I consider this whilst they're in the vicinity?  Edit:  IMS might be affordable to do at the same time, just wondering why the advice is to leave it alone? 

3 minutes ago, Sanky said:

Ahh okay.

Maybe the garage doesn't want the work, hence quoting higher prices.   GLW

OMG - how dare they not want my custom  😆

I can't think why that would be though, they are Porsche specialists and do tonnes of classics. They don't seem faint-hearted and this is fairly routine stuff. 

3 minutes ago, greenman986s said:

surface corrosion can be "sanded" off and then repaint the ARB

I've done that in the past with the brake pipes, but the MOT tester clobbered me for it.