I would not go bombing around without checking for a bad head gasket.

In 2001 we bought a used '95 954 that had been leased for two leases. In 2004 my wife noticed that it was running rough after getting off the highway after a 15 mile trip. Since she was right near our dealer, she drove in.

They looked at the car and told her not to drive it.

Upon evaluation, the verdict was a blown head gasket. Nothing bad had happened to the car, such as overheating, etc.

When the head was removed, it was found that part of the head gasket had corroded away! The car had 97k on it.

Since I had lurked this board for a while, I had obtained an aftermarket insurance policy (only a manufacturer can issue a warrantee) - they paid $1800 to repair the car. We only had 1000 miles left on the policy!!!

The car had never lost any coolant of note - it was losing a tiny bit as the cylinder and piston in the affected cylinder was clean as a whistle.
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'96 855R,'64 PV544 driver, '67 P1800 basket case, '95 855, '95 854, the first three are mine, heh, heh, 485,000 miles put on 9 bricks