GOB

98 C2 Coupe 6 speed. Got it last year with 39K kms on the odometer and I knew back then that I needed to replace tires, starter, and clutch (already did change these). Besides replacing the aforementioned, I have also replaced the AC unit, brakes (lines, pads, fluids), expansion tank and cap, droplinks (fronts), and fuel pump. I have also replaced spark plugs, poly rib belt, all fluids, all filters, rear console hinge, wiper blades, and rear window rubber seal. Now I am dealing with an erratic idle problem which means sooner than later I will have to replace the MAF or the ICV or both. Truth be told, I was not expecting so many things to go wrong in a car that now has 45K kms. Lesson learned: buy one that is as mint as possible and do not be persuaded by a lower price car that needs some work. Never again :soapbox:

Here are the part numbers: 996-343-069-03-M100 996-343-070-03-M100 Its number 5 on the attached diagram. If you remove one of your front wheels and then turn it "toward the other side, away from you" you will clearly see this relatively thin bar (think width of a regular pencil) right in front of you.

And here I thought I had dodged a bullet. Well, yesterday afternoon the car would not idle properly (sometimes held rpms in the 400-600 range, if it was a drop from 2K rpms or so, it would just die) so I again took it for a "spirited drive" and what happened after taking it to 7K rpms in second and third was that the rpms now held steady at 1,800! This high idle was present for approximately 5 minutes after the run. I restarted the car and the high idle was still there. Turned it off for about an hour and when restarted, all was fine. Took it to the dealer this morning and they told me that it sounds as if the MAF is going bad, but since no CEL on, that to use it until it does light up. I told them about my ICV cleaning (they were amazed to hear that someone would actually do this by themself) and they told me that the BMW 318is (E36 series) uses the same ICV and costs half as much as what Porsche dealers charge. So, I guess I am back to having an erratic problematic idling car. :censored:

Just as follow up, I replaced the front droplinks and the clunking noise from the front suspension is completely gone! :thumbup: When I held the old ones, the bolts were so loose that they would not hold in a still position and instead would immediately droop. For those interested, replacement of these is EXTREMELY easy (I watched the tech do it and paid $25 for it). You basically raise the front end, remove tires, turn the wheel to better expose the droplinks, each end of it requires an open end wrench and a socket. Installation of the new ones is the reversal of removal. All in all, took less than 20 minutes to do both sides.

I run 36F/44R (ROW M030 suspension) and at times its a tad too harsh. I was under the impression that under inflating the tires is a definite no no and that 1-2 pounds under is a lot worse than 5 pounds over. The roads around here are FAR from smooth and perfect. So I will be OK with lowering the pressures?

The Ferrari and Jag guys swear by http://leatherique.com/

When my expansion tank decided to finally fail :censored: I took it upon myself to refill the system. The trick that the local mechanic told me was to park the car on an incline (nose down) and leave it with the coolant cap removed overnight. That should get all of the air bubbles out. Get the car on level ground to properly measure the level on the expansion tank and top off. Just to be 100% sure, I took it for a drive the following morning (don't forget to put the cap back on!) until things got to normal operating temperature. Let it cool off for about 3 hours. Uncap the coolant tank (careful!). Left the car on the incline with cap removed again overnight. No problems ever since. :rolleyes:

Well, I finally found the time to read the posts on how to remove the ICV and I did so (cleaned it with carb cleaner). Bunch of soot came out. The rear bolt (closest to the interior of the car) was a 3!tch to get to! Since my last post the car has not acted up again and lets hope that the cleaning out of the ICV was the root the the inconsistent idle problems Goes without saying that :renntech:

For a while I have complained about front suspension clunking type noise when I go over bumps and I thought it was the top strut bearings, but I have perhaps found another source. I put the car on a lift and the front right side droplink has quite a bit of play where it attaches to the sway bar (anti roll bar). I'd venture to guess its a tad less than 1/4" play and I can easily get to move it with my thumb (in an up and down direction). The left side has some, but I really have to use some force (up and down) to get barely any movement (but there is some). The rear droplinks had as much movement as the front left. Question is: is there supposed to be any movement at all on these? :eek: I took a pry bar to the control arms and they moved a bit without making any noise and the bushings seemed to flex fine. My rear sway bar bushings do have some play and show some wear and tear, odd thing is that no noise from the back, just in the front. Lesson: buy a car that is as mint as possible and is NOT a good idea to get a "fixer upper" since all the fixing will eventually frustrate you, even if you saved money in the long run :blush:

What does it mean when the red light on the key fob flashes rapidly while pressing the button? Time to replace batteries on it? I have never had a "solid red light" when I press my key fob and in the last few weeks, the reach of the remote has gone down from its original (almost insignificant!) reach. Yes, I will eventually get to do the DIY mod for longer reach on the remote keyless :notworthy:

I did bleed my brakes with the help of another person (certified Porsche tech) and it was fine. Here is a hint: put your left foot against the "firewall" so you do not over extend the reach of the brake pedal. That way, you avoid potentially breaking the master cylinder seal. It can be done, but it takes two people (one pumping the pedal, the other opening and closing the nipples on the calipers) and making sure to pump the pedal slowly and not all the way to the bottom. It can be done, just follow the procedures mentioned.

Thank you all for your replies. I had to leave on a business trip this afternoon, so I am away from my car to try and clean out the ICV. My car is not throwing any CEL at all (nor do I want it!). Will report back once I get this taken care of next Monday or Tuesday. Again, thank you very much.

My 98 RoW 996 was working fine up until a few months ago. One morning, I started the car and it would start fine, but die right away as it could not hold idle. Re started it about 5 times and the same thing happened. I called the local mechanic and he told me to take it out for a spirited drive. I did and at the end of the drive, no problem. The same exact scenario happened about a month ago, but that time, I cleaned out the throttle body and MAF connectors with some carb cleaner. Tons of black soot around the butterfly. Once cleaned, it ran fine. This morning, yeap, once again, no idle. "Nice drive" and now the idle is a tad high (900-950), but at least its holding idle. Any ideas what is causing this? It has a 3 month old fuel pump and filter. Is it the MAF going bad? Is it some sort of warm up regulator? ICV? :cursing: I don't want to replace everything only to find out I only needed to do something else. Your help is greatly appreciated! Gus

I too came from a BMW (M Coupe with Metal Master brake pads) and I can't stand the feeling of the brakes on my C2. I thought "something" was wrong, so I went ahead and got new brake lines, new pads (Mintex Red Box), new fluid (ATE Super Blue) and new tires (needed them anyways, got sticky Falken Azenis RT-615), properly bedded them all in and I STILL don't like the way my car brakes. For some reason or another that "instant BAM your head on the windshield" feeling is not there and I particularly like it. I can brake and invoke the ABS, but the rate of deceleration seems to be about half as much as it used to be on my prior car. One of these days, I am going to get off my lazy butt and actually measure my braking distances from certain speeds and report back. I drove a 2003 M3 Cabrio the other day and it was the same feeling as my old M Coupe. I also drove a 997 GT3 a few weeks ago and those brakes are unbeleivable (all relatively slow stops). The best way I can describe my frustration is as if the discs and pads are "glazed" and the rate of deceleration (braking ability) is more adequate for say a diesel VW compact car?! Any suggestions? Don't want to spend the $600 on discs to see if that is what the problem is as they are way within spec. Close to 8 years ago, I used to hammer my dad's 993 C2S and his 996 at Sebring and those brakes never seemed to fade and always ready to haul down, but not the case in my specific car. The head tech for the local stealership says the brakes are O.K. on my car and he finds no fault in them.

Thanks Loren. I will see what part number the dealership installed. I wish I could trust the dealer as much as I trust Renntech :renntech: .

Well, it was about time mine expired :censored: I noticed that the 99/00 tanks cost roughly twice as much as the 01+ tanks. I know that the newer tanks are a tad larger than the original ones, but my concern is if in fact the 01+ tanks fit a 98-00 996. Will buying a new 99/00 tank yield the same results eventually (cracking)? Could someone please confirm the correct part number that I should use on my 98 ROW car? If I could get away with using the 01+ tanks, I would rather do that and save ±$150. Thanks.

Please forgive my ignorance as I am not too mechanically inclined, but is this "Holy Grail" tool required to properly adjust a B&M shifter? :eek: I am about to purchase a B&M SSK, but want to make sure that the mechanic can adjust it properly as I do not want to go a step backwards with the install of this SSK. Everyone loves the B&M, but I want to make sure I do this properly.

Richard, once again, thank you very much! From what I read, it looks like either version (Mk1 or Mk2) will work on my 3.4. I also downloaded the file and it was "O.K.". I just went out for a "spirited 10 minute drive to nowhere" and the sound of no mufflers is incredible. I am going to do the muffler bypass pipes at a local muffler shop and try that for a while. If its too much, then I am going to do the Mk2 version of the mod with the pic you listed. I already got a call from a neighbor asking if it was me "running around" LOL! :D :jump: Thank you very much for your responses and pictures show. :renntech:

Richard, thank you very much for your response. I did actually search Rennlist (and Pelican, and 6Speed, and Renntech!) but all I found there are the 3.6 cans I mentioned in my original post. By looking at the pics, I noticed that the Mk2 (3.6 motors I am guessing) have the bypass from the "top circle" to the "muffler tip downpipe", yet on the Mk1 (3.4 motor) the bypass is located between the "cat converter hookup pipe" to the "muffler tip downpipe". This exact difference is the one I want to make sure I get right. I have a 98 RoW 3.4 C2 and want to make sure that I cut the muffler right as I have no replacement in case I mess it up and importing one would cost an arm and a leg. Are these to versions of the same mod on the same can (3.4)? If so, what difference did you obtain? Assuming stock mufflers is a level 0 and muffler bypass is level 100 (sound wise), I would like something like a 60. Any ideas or suggestions? Spending more than $300 is not an option as I am tired of spending money on my car and all I need is a louder exhaust (hence me not shopping around for Cargraphic, Fabspeed, Tubi, etc.)

Hello. I have seen what the mod looks like on 3.6 mufflers, but before cutting mine up, I wanted to make sure and see it first hand so I can show the muffler shop EXACTLY what they need to do to it. I am assuming its "merely" cutting out the "sealed lid" and making a bypass pipe that connects to the pipe that goes to the tips, but again, any and every picture or detail would be more than welcome. I removed my mufflers and running it without anything (yes, I know my bumper cover can get hot, but I am only doing maximum 5 minutes drive and off for hours). The sound is amazing (takes me back when I was growing up and RSRs were the norm), but to be truthful, its a tad too loud for a quasi daily driver, especially around this neighborhood... Thank you in advance to all who reply.

Thanks Wardhog!

I was doing some serious cleaning in my car and found two black plastic pieces with the following part numbers and I do not know where they go :unsure: 996.551.101.00 996.521.361.00 Thanks! :thumbup:

I had something similar happen to my old M Coupe, but at 240 km/h. It turned out to be the front windshield seal. Air pressure at those speeds have funny efects on aero and any deficiency is quicky found. I think Melchoir has it right, but if you do find someone willing to ride along, ask him to "gently push out" on the window or the windshiled. That will pin point the area where air is coming in.

Thanks Geoff! Yeah, the local stealer will not reset the gauge for me since they insist doing all the work. They want close to $700 for the whole thing versus me doing it (pump and labor, no resetting) for close to $300. Guess I am going to have to bite the bullet on this one.

I did all of my windows (including front windshield :P ) with Johnson Film's Executive 35. Tinted window laws are non existent down here. Its clear enough where you don't feel you are in a bat cave and no problems at night. Labor is cheap down here: $110 for the entire job :lol: Depending on the angle, it can look silver mirror type or it can look like a plain tint.