JP Rodkey

That was where I was at last summer at this time. I bought a '98 with a fried engine due to failed water pump. Replaced the engine with a low mileage 2.5 out of a '97. Car has now at 70k miles. Once I got things sorted, it has run almost like a new car. It's wife's daily driver and she's happy. Your estimate for an engine repair is a bit higher than needed. Assuming you have the skills and tools to do your own swap, you can budget $5k for a stock engine. Obviously, you can go nuts on "upgrade" engine choices.

We can solve your dilmemna right now: I'll give you $1000 cash and you won't have to mess with it or ever have to worry about repairs.

All M96 engines have an IMS regardless of transmission type. It is what drives the timing chains for each camshaft pair. m I'm pretty sure he was asking whether IMS failures occur on tiptronic equiped cars - not just manual transmission cars.

You've already got sound advice. For those of us who do virtually all of our own work, those prices are indeed head-twisters, and a big reason we do our own work. That "bad valve" figure of $462 does not seem realistic to me. These engines are unique and major repair (I consider valves a major repair) tend to be quite costly. Assuming the head(s) have to be removed, I would bet the final bill for valve work alone would easily be in the $1000's range.

Ah yes......BTDT. Until last fall, Porsche NA did not have a system capable of storing that data centrally, or sharing between dealers. Each dealer kept their own data for each car serviced. And it took a very friendly dealer who would give you the service records for a newly purchased used car. I was told at that time that Porsche was going to implement a centralized system with that capability, but the service manager did not know the timing.

There are too many possibilities to have a single answer. The cockpit shifter moves the cable which operates a bellcrank with a rod attached and in turn operates the transmission shift lever. The tiptronic multi-function switch is bolted to the port side of the transmission and operated by the same transmission shift lever. So here are most possibilities: Cockpit shifter or cable binding or damaged Shifter cable kinked or binding or loose between cockpit and rear of transmission Bellcrank binding or lack of lubrication Adjustment of rod between bellcrank and transmission shift lever Transmission shift lever damaged Multi-function switch binding or damaged Shift lever rod binding in transmission case Interference where shift lever rod enters valve body If you're moving the cockpit shifter into P but the dash indicator still shows R and the car won't start, it's very likely the fix is in the shifter mechanism at one of the areas on the list above. It's mechanical, and something is preventing the cable from moving the transmission shift lever from fully moving into P on the transmission. It's going to be a missing cable clip, an adjustment, or damage external to the transmission. Follow the procedure earlier in this thread. I installed a very low mile transmission in my car that had been in storage for 5 year. As the transmission would heat up, the cable became very hard to move. I'd go for a test drive and barely be able to move the lever from D to P - and I'm a big guy. The mechanisms and cable checked out okay. Luckily, I have access to the NA remanufacturing center for these transmissions and I showed up to talk with one of their experts. He figured it was likely a binding between the internal shifter rod where it is supposed to actuate the valve body, and recommended loosening the valve body and retightening the bolts. Before I could get around to doing the job, the problem miraculously disappeared! I'm guessing the years of storaged caused a buildup of goop around the shift rod, or somewhere else, and just driving the thing got things working again. That was last fall and everything works as new and there are no leaks. Rarely do problems fix themselves, but I'm thrilled to have dodged a bullet on this one. Good luck!

Just this morning, closing the top showed cracks/tears on both sides of the window area in the middle. Bummer. So now I need to figure out what to do. Already read the threads and know my options. The GAHH version is a real possibility. The canvas part of the top is perfect so I hate to trash it, but might not be an option. I would be interested in pitching in if you decide to do the GAHH top. I'm sure it can be done by one person, but imagine two would be much better. If I decide to go the GAHH route, you can help me out. Just a thought. Welcome to Barrington Illinois friend! Lol, I would NEVER take my Box to that Porsche dealership, even if my life depended on it... they overcharge on EVERYTHING just because of the neighborhood they're in. If you absolutely "have" to take it to a Porsche Dealer, Take it to Napelton Porsche of Westmont off Ogden. Much more "realistic" pricing.

The stamps are intended for the Maintenance booklet. So, you'd want the Owner's Manual and the Maintenance booklet at a minimum. Entire sets, including the pouch, are routinely on eBay for sale. A complete set will run you between $150 and $200 typically. It's probably where the set that belongs to your car wound up.

What you describe sounds more like power steering fluid. It is slightly green, as you describe, and there is a union fitting under the driver side hidden above that plastic panel. The coolant lines from the engine to the front are all metal and run under the center of the car. You'll find the source for sure once to get the panel removed.

Some type of phenolic is pretty much the industry standard for internal chain tensioners. Do you have any idea how loud the engine would be if the tension surface was metal?

If it were mine, I'd get the alignment checked. Firstly, it is good practice since the car is new to you and you will get a baseline for the future. Second, it should ID anything major in the suspension. And third, it will get your steering where you want it to be.

To directly answer your question: check tire air pressures. One low tire will often first be indicated exactly as you describe. If that doesn't do it, time for an alignment most likely.

I bought a poorly maintained '98 with a blown engine. Dropped in a used replacement with new O2 sensors, AOS, and spark plugs. And that's the extent of maintenance. I realize this isn't fair comparison, but now that I'm familiar with the car, I expect maintenance to be quite manageable. One has to look at Porsche as exceptionally designed, engineered, and manufactured true sports cars for public use. And because they're sports cars, when used as designed, require a different measure of maintenance from cars desgined to be driven and ignored. I also have three 928's which are often maligned for their maintence. I've found that if sorted out properly, they give far superior performance and reliability than most cars and do it applying very reasonable level and cost of maintenance.

Did the water pump looks like this? Oddly -- the impeller spins freely now -- so I'm not sure how the shaft sheared off? m Wow....that's pretty catastrophic. And no, mine doesn't look like that. The impeller broke off of the shaft and simply sat in the housing doing nothing while the shaft turned. The pulley and belt stayed intact. I bought the car knowing it had overheated. I managed to get the engine to run, but there was a loud rattle coming from the front of the engine. Putting two and two together (overheat and rattle), I decided to check out the water pump. Removed the pump to find the broken impeller. When removing the pump, the pulley had significant wobble to it. The wobble of the shaft was obviously due to the bearing. I'm guessing that the bearing wore out over time allowing the belt to pull the pulley/shaft off center, and after enough wear, allowed the impeller to begin hitting the water pump housing which in turned caused it to finally break off of the shaft.

Well, you do know it's going somewhere it's not supposed to go. Check directly under the expansion tank for a leak, which is not uncommon. I have an engine sitting about 20 feet from me right now that was rendered to core status because of a water pump impeller separated from the shaft. The leaking happened around the pulley shaft at such a slow rate that it went unnoticed by the PO until it was too late. I assume he ignored the temp guage because it works fine. If you can't find anything external, then best bet would be to hook up a system pressure tester. If you don't have one, many parts stores have them for loaners. If that doesn't expose a leaking hose or component and you see the pressure dropping, it's probably going to be internal - possibly head gasket. Don't forget that the coolant is directed all the way from the back of the car to the two front radiators along with all the fittings, connections, and hoses. Depending on your abilities and resources, that might be the time to take it to an indy for a diagnosis/opinion. Good luck!