mpaton

I haven't driven it on the street yet, but the MAF and IAT in the MAF harness are working again, and the ABS/PSM is also. I had intended to use soldered connections and heat shrink tubing and similar sized wires, and did so, although this practice always brings to mind being told in the late 70s, (by informed people) that crimping was way more reliable in the automotive environment, as the wiring could remain flexible, presumably due to not having stiff solder) and hence resistant to vibration induced damage. Maybe it's the greater availability of heat shrink tubing that makes the difference. Thanks for the help. Does anyone know what the mystery option not on my car could be? 3 wires, brown, orange with red tracer, and purple with green tracer. connected to 3 female pins in 6 place inline AMP connector with BMW part number on it.

Thanks to both of you for this correlation between MAF faults and ABS/PSM. I don't have the wires repaired yet, as I've discovered the squirrel chewed the wire in 2 places, and after trimming the ragged ends, if I just joined them, the wires would be about 3 inches too short. Anyway, I'm happy enough that it will probably work again when I fix the wires. This is actually the second time I've seen the ABS/PSM warnings. I was just leaving the Porsche dealer in town, and it's site is elevated about 6 feet above the road wth a short ramp, so I was angling down this to avoid grounding the front cover, and was on the brakes until I could see the road was clear. Just as I could see the road was clear, the car went Bong! PSM inoperative! Drive to Dealer Bong! ABS inoperative! Drive to Dealer. My thought was D***!!! why doesn't it know I'm already at the dealer. So I went out one entrance, and back in the next one. Turned it on and off a few times, but fault was still there. Went in to talk to the shop foreman, and we reasoned that when I was going down the ramp, one of the front wheels was in the air, and as the brakes were lightly on, that wheel wasn't turning. When I came off the brakes, it was still in the air and the fault triggered before the wheel came down and started turning. Anyway the foreman came out, and when I started it up, the fault was gone. Thanks again. I'll post when it's all together again.

I did buy a durametric early on, in 2002. I'm not sure how useful that is, although it is the same year as the car. Also the colors of the wires in the mystery bundle are Purple/Green Orange/Red Brown

I've just recently discovered this misfortune to my 911, and to the wife's Transit Connect. We believe it's a squirrel (or worse, a pair of them). The Transit Connect got it's #2 fuel injector wires chewed right through, and that was simple enough to fix. I learnt that a soldering iron that runs on 4 AA batteries actually is worth having, and the biggest frustration was my own old person eyesight. It seems that 55 years of being short sighted makes one used to having good close in vision, and cataract surgery taking that away isn't always as great as it seems. Why can we have auto-focus cameras, but not auto-focus glasses. Anyway, the first thing I noticed on the 911 (2002 Carrera, manual transmission) was after it moved a few feet, the ABS and PSM announced itself as being disabled. After a few more feet, there was a check engine light, which turned out to be a MAF fault. Closer inspection revealed that the squirrel had climbed up between the catalytic converters, and gone to the right rear side of the engine compartment, and chewed on 4 wire bundles. The 4 wires in the MAF sensor bundle were all severed both O2 sensor wire bundles were chewed on, but apparently non severed (by inspecting after taking off the car). I haven't yet tested the heater continuity on these, but I will. The 4th wire bundle contained 3 wires, and all were severed. I don't know the function of this 4th bundle, I'm hoping somebody here might. The O2 sensors each have plug and socket disconnects, and these physically mount to plastic clips that are part of a plate attached to the body of the car. this plate also retains a 5 wire connector containing 3 pins with wires attached (and these 3 wires are severed) However, it looks like in the case of this connector, the plug is merely retained by the plastic plate, but there is no electrical connection to anything, at least on my car. Does anyone know what this connector would be for? I imagine that when I repair the MAF wires, I'll be able to clear that code, but I still need to find the cause of the ABS/PSM failures. The speed sensor wires have all been checked, and have NOT been chewed on. An Autel scanner that I have can display wheel speed on all 4 wheels, so that seems good. As far as I know, all the other sensors for ABS and PSM are inside the car, and there are no signs that the squirrels have been inside. I have not yet checked fuses, but but I intend doing that. I believe that if ABS goes out, then PSM will always disable, but I don't know if the reverse is true. Does anyone know if a MAF fault would also disable ABS? It doesn't seem unreasonable, but I don't know if it's actually the case. When I drove the car slowly, the short distance to my lift, it behaved fine despite having no MAF sensor, but that's not much of a surprise; reversion to an Alpha-N mode can work quite well. But I would think that Traction Control mode would want the airflow system to be fully operational. Clearly this IS wishful thinking, but I don't know if that's all it is. I see, further forward on the right side of the engine compartment what appear to be 2 large round wire bundle connectors, which don't look or feel chewed, but they are going to be much harder to inspect. I hope I don't have to. Thanks, Michael

Recently I had a horn failure on my 2002 996, and after changing them both, and cleaning leaves and insect parts off th eradiators, I resolved that I wouldn't put the bumper cover back until I had decided on a good place to relocate the emergency trunk release cable. I've had 2 occasions in 17 years to have to use this cable. As I read the threads on here, it seems that I haven't had the patience to wait or a battery jump to bring voltage up, but then it seems that these H type batteries die leaving almost an internal short. Anyway, back to the release cable. The first time I used it , it worked well. Years later, on the second occasion, it was very stiff. So. hard to pull that I cut my finger on the cable. I eventually used a tool, and pulled very much harder, and it did release the lock, but I didn't think it ever would again. I though the cable must have rusted to something. Looking at it recently, I could see that it was stiff because as it turns from running across the car to rearwards, it rubs against a plastic bracket holding a headlight drain tube to the body. It had actually worn slots in both webs of the plastic clip, and it was binding in there. Relocation was a must if it was ever going to work again. I was about to follow creekman's suggestion, when i discovered that I could route the cable past the position at which it usually turne rearward, then over the energy absorber supporting the passenger side of the bumper, and then downwards and slightly towards the center of the car. In this position, the loop can lie in between the horns, and can be reached with a hand going up through the bumper cover hole that the horn sound comes out of. The energy absorber is a suitable large radius curve, won't grab the cable, and it pulls easily. So that's where it is now!

Thanks. So I confess I wasn't expecting a snap ring to go back in, as the Single Row Pro has this groove for a clip in th the outer race of the bearing. Hope I didn't miss that in the instructions.

Thanks for the advice. When one attempts to completely understand the process, sometimes it gets a bit theoretical, which isn't always wrong. However your advice on when to stop pressing in the bearing does reflect that you've done this lots of times, and it's easy for you to feel. I'm by no means ham fisted, but it would be reassuring if you could estimate how much torque it takes to press in the single row pro bearing with the faultless tool. I'd imagine there is some static friction to overcome on each twist of the wrench and then it moves more easily. And I'm sure I'll feel that. Not having done any before, I'm concerned that the torque to overcome static friction may be close to the torque it takes to damage the case, or oil pump, or whatever we are pressing the shaft against. Do I take it that you never lock the bank 2 camshafts? I know it's optional, and it's probably people who've never done one before that worry.

So i have an original single row IMS bearing and I'm going through the process of understanding the procedure. I will be putting in a Single Row Pro kit, which is a double row that fits in the single row space. This seems to require the "Faultless" tool kit to insert the bearing, and I have that. However when I read the instructions for it, there is nothing about cooling the bearing prior to insertion, as there is in the instructions for the other kit. Do the people here who do a lot of these cool the bearing anyway? The instructions don't say NOT to, but it's apparent that the instructions could still use a little refinement. Does anyone know why this bearing requires a different insertion tool kit? Clearly it gives more control over the process, and reduces the chances of hammer impact damaging anything. However it still pushes on the intermediate shaft, and that force has to be resisted by something at the other end. But What? Oil pump, Crankcase? The kit doesn't appear to give any more control over when to stop pressing the bearing in, which is a little disappointing. Thirdly, this kit is Recommended but not required for inserting the dual row bearing that replaces an original dual row bearing. Do these have significantly different insertion forces? I have the tool kit with the cam locking plates. I believe the shorter plate is for locking the cams on the 5 chain engine which I don't have. However, can this plate be used to lock the intake cam on BANK 2 of the 3 chain engine? I would prefer to do this, as valve spring forces from this bank could apply torque to the IMS, which would act to try and cause it to rotate. If it did rotate enough, then the tensioners being out on bank 1 would make for bad news. In fact in an ideal world, I'd like to lock the Intermediate shaft as well. Is this not perhaps a reason to use the set screws from the Pelican procedure (while still using cam and crank locking plates? This assumes that at least one of these set screws would find a suitable part of the sprocket to bear on. Let's be clear that I am NOT advocating leaving off the proper locking plates and pin. Michael

I believe I may also have mechanical failure of the steering lock, but I wouldn't mind another opinion. I've read the DIY articles about switch replacement, and lock replacement, and their support articles, but none of them seemed like quite the right place for a diagnosis, nor was I able to find detailed symptoms of "the mechanical failure".. My 02 Carrera 2 has 54000 miles, not been driven much the past couple of years. Last week the ignition switch started operating differently from before. The car can still be started, but there seem to be some new key detent positions. Taking the positions 0,1,2 from the user manual as if they were an analog scale: When starting the car in Position 2, the key returns to a new position 1.2, which functions just like 1. It can be moved back to Position 1. When turning the ignition off, the key wants to stop in new position 0.5, and the ignition is off there. If I turn it to position 0, I am working against a spring, and if I release pressure on the key, it will return to position 0.5. If I hold the key in position 0, I have to maintain a counter clockwise torque to pull the key out of the barrel. It also takes more force to pull the key out. There used to be a clunk from the steering lock when they key was pulled, presumably pushing the locking bolt against the column shaft, effectively "arming" the steering lock. That doesn't happen any more, nor does the steering lock no matter where I position the wheel with the key out. If I open the door with the key out, the dashboard display says the key is not removed. Locking the door with the key produces a single beep, and the car does appear to be locked, although the red light on the inside power lock button is lit. Presumably the sensor is really looking at lock arming. Putting the key back in also requires both a counter clockwise torque on the key, and more insertion force. Once the key is in, it doesn't stay in Position 0, but springs to new Position 0.5. I've tried WD40 down the barrel with no change to these symptoms. From what I've read here, there doesn't seem much point in bothering with changing the switch, I should just go straight for the lock replacement. It appears to be something mechanical sticking inside the locking mechanism. Has anyone else had most of these symptoms?

:clapping: Very insightful Michael. I now own a dedicated race car so I do not track the 996 anymore. However, I do try to drive my cars on the street the way I want to drive on the track (e.g., heel/toeing, rev matching, inputs etc . . .) because I don't want to commit any bad habits to muscle memory. I think that left foot braking has a lot of benefit on the track even for RWD cars, and particularly for low HP momentum cars like my race car. I am positive you are correct that PSM would not allow me to do much effective LFB on the track in the 996. However, I can use LFB in normal slowing conditions like you find in the street, which is what I try to do in the 996 and all of the cars I drive. Then, when I go back to the track in the car that does not have PSM, I will be better prepared. I think LFB will be most helpful in those turns where I really do not need to slow down too much but rather I need to settle the car . . . TD I saw your post on the rally school on Rennlist. My forest rallying was in 1977, in a 998cc rear engined car (drives like a 911), and pace notes were NOT allowed. I knew a few people who did LFB, but I couldn't either do it right, or get an advantage from it. I can see the advantage for FWD rallying, or for any Turbo lagging car, but the track advantage on a NA car seems to be small, mostly that of getting a more precise amount of slowing when even a lift would be too much. Some of my instructor colleagues swear by it even when they do it in a 996 that chops all power when they do it; that makes me think they're not too sensitive. But I agree the street is the place to practice. Most people's left foot has no finesse to begin with, it's just a clutch pusher. Did you do clutchless shifts with LFB at the rally school like Makinen in the Mini? Michael

I was afraid of that. I don't want to mess with the brake pedal, because it is perfect for heel/toeing right now. Oh well . . . I tried. As always, I appreciate the answer Loren. Hi TD, Presumably you've verified that the car will let you left foot brake. My 02 with PSM won't let you. It may be that all 02s won't let you with the e-throttle. more than just a little brake pressure cuts the throttle entirely. When I rallied, left foot braking was mostly for FWD cars, and there weren't any 4WD rally cars. Which of the varied benefits of LFB were you aiming or in your 911? Michael Paton

In this case, they are quite correct. One of the PSM components that provides Yaw Stability under Braking (which does not disable when you turn off PSM) will push back quite hard on the brake pedal. It does this because it does not approve of people braking while turning. The only reasonable way for this to be an error is that PSM does depend on steering wheel angle, so if your steering wheel is not straight when the car is going straight, I would have the dealer fix that. If the wheel is straight, then I'll tell you that you are indeed driving too fast to be braking around a turn. You'll probably find that your local PCA region holds High Speed Driver Education events several times a year at a local track. As a PCA National Instructor for these events, I can tell you that not only do you probably have something to learn from these events, but you'd find it a whole lot of fun at the same time. Regards, Michael