993 Buying advice needed

[jmills]

My wife and I are considering buying a Porsche 993 and I have been reading a lot on the forums recently. I have gathered that these engines have two issues that I should be aware of-worn valve guides and issues with the SAI. I have some questions about both.

1. Worn valve guides: I know that I need to get a PPI before purchasing a car. Is there a way to tell how worn the valve guides are with a PPI? Will a compression test or leak down test give me an idea? Do these engines normally need a rebuild due to this issue at 50k miles, 70k miles, 90k miles? Can you generalize this way?

2. SAI: I live in SC where we do not have emissions testing. :D From what I understand, the 95 model does not throw a CEL if the SAI system becomes blocked. If this situation is not corrected, does it cause any engine damage? Is there any engine damage with the 96-98 models if the SAI system is clogged and engine not rebuilt? How difficult is it to keep this area clean with regular maintenance? I know there will be an annoying CEL.

Thanks for the any input, and sorry if I am not 100% clear on my understanding. I am still learning.

Joe

[NC TRACKRAT]

My wife and I are considering buying a Porsche 993 and I have been reading a lot on the forums recently. I have gathered that these engines have two issues that I should be aware of-worn valve guides and issues with the SAI. I have some questions about both.

1. Worn valve guides: I know that I need to get a PPI before purchasing a car. Is there a way to tell how worn the valve guides are with a PPI? Will a compression test or leak down test give me an idea? Do these engines normally need a rebuild due to this issue at 50k miles, 70k miles, 90k miles? Can you generalize this way?

2. SAI: I live in SC where we do not have emissions testing. :D From what I understand, the 95 model does not throw a CEL if the SAI system becomes blocked. If this situation is not corrected, does it cause any engine damage? Is there any engine damage with the 96-98 models if the SAI system is clogged and engine not rebuilt? How difficult is it to keep this area clean with regular maintenance? I know there will be an annoying CEL.

Thanks for the any input, and sorry if I am not 100% clear on my understanding. I am still learning.

Joe

Joe-

As a relatively new owner of both a '95 Carrera and a '98 Carrera S, I can fully understand your concerns and share them. There will be others more knowledgeable on the forum who may offer us both some sage advice but as for a compression/leak-down test, I envision that to be a very tedious, labor intensive job, especially on the right bank of plugs. I wonder how anyone can get a good reading on compression or leak-down when it should be taken on a warm engine. As for the SAI, you may be interested in learning that very early '95 U.S. Carreras did not have SAI. I was fortunate to find and purchase a nice, low-mileage example. Let's see what others have to say.

Regards, Stan (in NC)

[jmills]

Thanks for the input. Hopefully others will offer more information.

Joe

[berni29]

Hi

I am in the UK so we have different emissions tests. I have a 1994 993 tiptronic with 185k miles and no major work on the engine or gearbox. The engine does not tap or rattle at all. There are plenty of 993's on similar mileages and original untouched engines so they do last.

All the best

Berni