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BruceP

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Everything posted by BruceP

  1. You might be surprised at how good they are. Bigger wheels don't offer a handling advantage other than on the smoothest pavement. The opposite, in fact. They're a fashion statement, but the reduced sidewall height robs the car of some ability to soak up small irregularities. The dampers end up having to do more work for which they weren't really optimized. From a pure performance point of view, everything I've read says that 18" is the best compromise for looks and performance on a 996, but 17" wheels on real world roads are functionally superior.
  2. Apologies for the semi-hijack of your thread, but it might be relevant to people interested in your question: I'm getting the LN Engineering IMS bearing upgrade done on my '00 this week here in Toronto. Engineered Automotive is doing the work (great Porsche guys, IMHO), and the delivery and support from Charles Navarro at LN seems to have been prompt and superb. It might at least be worth a call to Engineered with your rebuild question. No affiliation, BTW.
  3. You could see whether the company that makes it might direct you. http://www.alcantara.com/en_US/
  4. If it's any help, I can tell you what broke on my car within a few thousand miles of where you are now. - Rear main seal. - Serpentine belt. Didn't fail, but was cracking. - Clutch (the PO must have been rough on it. Never replaced a clutch in my life). - Reverse light switch (no way to predict that failure, I guess). - Battery (I replace these every four years on all my cars, regardless). - Driver door check strap. - Spark plug tubes (diagnosed via an oil leak). - Driver's side cooling fan (failed ballast resistor). - Oil separator housing. - Both radiators (a persistent cooling problem was eventually traced to corrosion in the lower outside corners of the rads. The PO had never taken these apart to clean them, but had only blown out debris. Not enough, if you live where they use salt on the roads). FWIW. Good luck! Bruce.
  5. Just to contribute to your research... I have the EVOMS mufflers. I find them a bit rough and rowdy sounding off idle (they set off car alarms), very civilized and expensive sounding once you're through 2200rpm or so, and then a fantastic shriek past 4500rpm or so. No resonance in the car at any speed.
  6. You can calculate the rolling circumference of the tire approximately like this: The second number - 35 or 45 in your case - is the height of the sidewall expressed as a percentage of the width of the tire, in millimeters. Calculate that. For a 225/45, for example, that number would be 101.25 mm. Then add your wheel size, converted to the same unit of measure. E.G. an 18" wheel is 457mm. Divide by two for the radius. The total radius in this example is about 330mm. Use the 2 x pi x r formula to get your theoretical circumference. Compare the two tire circumferences in terms of the percentage difference between stock and the size you're considering, and you'll get a good sense of whether you're affecting gearing, speedo accuracy, rotational speed differentials (which matter to stability control systems) and, in extreme cases, even suspension geometry. I wouldn't lose any sleep over a 5% difference, say. It seems fussy, but it's a more consistent way to compare tires sizes.
  7. I feel the same way you do about the Mk 1's lightness and simplicity. The 911 experience I was personally looking for was something almost as raw as an air cooled car, but mechanically modern and simpler to maintain. That's what I chose and tuned mine for, and why I love it for me. Porsche guys are always shocked and grinning when they drive it. There is a lot to envy about the Mk2 996s, but I find the 'newer is better' reflex unhelpful sometimes, especially when the opinion is offered without specific reasons. The earlier poster who said that the most desirable 996 is the one you desire the most, I think his answer was the correct one.
  8. I personally don't believe any 996 owner or car will beat the depreciation game, or that almost any 996 will be collectible. I think it will be a very long time before any of these cars, even the limited edition ones, are of the slightest interest to collectors (despite their interesting story). I think 996s are a bit like 944s in that they are destined to be underappreciated by the 'market', and thus will be all the more enjoyable for the people who drive them. My .02 on a direct answer to your question: To me, the best 996s are either stripped down, light and simple C2s, or the TTs and GT3s.
  9. Totally agree. There is so much myth around this subject. But the fact is that the oil change intervals set by manufacturers are the longest they think they can get away with. The reason is that they pay environmental levies based partly on the resources consumed by a car during its service life. Fewer mandated oil changes means lower levies. They are managing this cost against the risk of warranty claims, whereas an owner just wants his car to last.
  10. 1. Not without disassembly. Some believe that oil present inside the shaft is an early warning, but this isn't conclusive and in any case requires taking the thing out. 2. There are now aftermarket bearing upgrades for the IMS which are supposed to be more up to the job. It's not known if this solution will stand the test of time, but the argument for them is persuasive. (I'm having this done next month). In the meantime, most agree that the only preventative maintenance involves oiling: frequent changes, attention to level, correct viscosity. 3. There is no data on this. The fundamental issue is clearly in design and materials spec, not usage. I've seen no pattern at all in how owners with failed engines drove their cars relative to the Porsche universe. Whatever you do, I wouldn't bother babying the car. Just take care of it. If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. I find it interesting how many failures, in fact, have occurred in low speed, low rpm situations.
  11. Ben: Yes! I don't think it was for simplicity or for less parts. They knew they had a problem and have tried various fixes. That said, if it was cheaper to use a single row bearing, Porsche would not hesitate nowadays. :soapbox: Regards, Maurice. Dual row bearings are on the earlier motors, single row on the later motors, as previous posters have said. On LN Engineering's web site, there is a page devoted to the retrofit. On this page, you will find an approximate range of engine numbers for each. There is also a visual way to confirm, if you have the transmission and clutch separated from the engine (obviously not very practical) detailed on that page. Here's the link: http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html Regarding Maurice's comment, I think Porsche is actually much better about this stuff 'nowadays'. However, when the 996 was designed, they were in financial trouble. It shows. It's one reason I have some affection for the car, in my perverse way. The 993 was a transition car that bought Porsche some time, but the 996 literally saved the company. When you consider the impossible circumstances they were operating under, the 996 is a really remarkable car in a lot of important ways. Cheap in spots, for sure (the IMS was a way around having to create separate castings for the right and left heads, for example). But the engineers had their hearts in it. Just my .02 worth of editorial comment. :D
  12. Thanks Loren. That's exactly what I thought, X74. The car looks like it came from the factor with US M030 suspension. What color are the M030 shocks? Are the anti roll bars for the US M030 and X74 the same? What is the significance of the red brake calipers? They look like stock 996 calipers but the red paint looks factory. The standard calipers are available in red, at least in the aftermarket. One possibility, anyway.
  13. Yes, I don't know what the DME is seeing.. May have to take it to the dealer to see. Just to be clear, I'm trying to work out if there is more than one sensor that the various parts of the car use for 'coolant temperature'. I've got the wiring diagram from the workshop manual, but can't make head-nor-tail of the various connections from page to page. FWIW, my understanding is that the early cars have one coolant temperature sensor, at the motor. The later ones have a second one somewhere out by the rads, and the OBD averages the two. This is why earlier cars appear to run hotter than later ones do. This info is a hazy memory, so happy to be corrected if I've got it wrong.
  14. I'm not sure how often you check it. If you check it frequently and the loss was recent and sudden, then you've got a problem. But if you haven't checked it much since the coolant change, you may just have had some air in the system that needed to burp itself out. The cooling plumbing in these cars is mostly horizontal, so it can take a long time to work air out. The first time I had the coolant changed in mine, it took a couple of months and probably a liter of coolant to get it truly filled. Then it was fine. The other thing that's often recommended is to replace the expansion tank cap. This part was updated some years ago. But I would assume that your new tank came with a new cap. The last digit of the part number on the cap should be 1 or higher.
  15. 1. Absolutely without question. I don't know how anyone could own a car with this character and capability that is more easy to live with than this one, and that certainly includes other Porsches, too. I use mine as if it was a Honda, every day, all weather. It just works. I don't have to check for puddles every day, or keep a crate of spare parts in the garage, or chant incantations before I turn the key. It's a brilliant first Porsche. 2. I can't comment helpfully on your market. Where I am, that would be a wonderful price. 3. To me, seals are just annoying, nothing more. A great number of the cars with chronic RMS problems eventually ended up with new motors. Most you'll find now that still have leaks really just need the latest version of the seal. In my opinion, there is only one issue worth worrying about, and that's the possibility of IMS failure. This possibility exists to varying degrees in every M96 engine from the original Boxster up to the last year's 997. It is a very expensive problem to have, if it happens. If you can't sleep knowing that, move on. If you can, this is a stupendous car. 4. Yes, sure. Again in my opinion only, I believe that service records are all-important in a used 996, more important than mileage and even more important than which version of the engine your car has. I'd buy a 100,000 mile car with frequent oil changes and a disciplined pattern of preventative maintenance over a pretty, low-mileage garage queen with an uncertain past. Wear isn't going to be your problem with a 996, care is. This is even true of managing your risk of IMS failure, where oiling has been shown to be a potential contributing factor. I'm a huge fan of the 996, and I think the mechanical-throttled '99s have their own great personality, so there's my bias. Good luck!
  16. Agreed and I'd for further by extending that to ALL cars. If you have cash, go buy what you've always wanted to buy. AMG, M, Ferraris, RS, etc. It'll be like this in autodom for quite some time. But I would never advise someone to go out and buy an original engine MK1 996. It'll cost you $25K to get into a water-cooled 911, but you're potentially staring at a $12-15K bill for a reman Porsche factory engine + labor and this price will never go down. Additional depreciation on a newer car is real money, too. And it's not a risk, it's a certainty. All a matter of how you want to pay the piper, but the piper will be paid. It's a Porsche.
  17. I have never been fool enough to believe that "most expensive" equals "best". Or that "best" equals "most durable/reliable", for that matter. You accept certain risks when you buy a low volume vehicle. You accept a few more when you buy an engine as experimental as this was for Porsche, and a few more when you remember that the M96 was assembled by hand at a bench. And you accept a few more when you buy a car from a company in financial trouble, which Porsche was when the 996 was developed. Take all that into account, and I think that it's amazing how potent and reliable this engine and car are. For me, there is only one problem worth losing any sleep over, and that's the intermediate shaft, a risk that was designed into the engine. The rest of what you hear are either just annoying (like the RMS is) or rumors based on muddled facts (like the slipped sleeve and porous block issues, which were quickly resolved in the 986 before the 996 was sold). Fortunately for buyers, all of this risk and more has already been priced into the used car market. A lot of 996s now are objectively screaming deals, even budgeting for a new motor.
  18. If I were in your shoes, I would at least take a look at the LN Engineering solution for the intermediate shaft. If the engine and tranny are apart anyway, the cost is really quite reasonable, and I find the engineering argument very persuasive.
  19. do you track it? No. I didn't think the OP did either, although he obviously drives it hard. Just offering another data point. :)
  20. To the original poster: Just to add to your data, put me in the "something is wrong" column. My '00 is on its original motor, runs 0W40 Mobil 1 year round, and does not burn any oil at all. So it's possible, and it's surely desirable.
  21. Although price has come into the discussion, I didn't notice it as a concern in your original post, so here's my two cents: I am really enjoying the PS2s as a street tire. Yes, they're ghastly expensive. But I find them very quiet, very resistant to tramlining, superb in the rain and always there for you when the opportunity to enjoy a corner presents itself. The only other tires I'd have any right to comment on are the SO3s that came on the car, and these Michelins were in another class altogether (acknowledging that the Bridgestones were, of course, not new when I took them off).
  22. I have a plain C2S, which I find to be an amazingly able car in the snow. I use Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSports in the OE 18" sizes, on an inexpensive set of rims. One bonus: On a slippery surface, you can actually very safely find out how that passive self-steer feature of the rear suspension works. I was shocked at how easily the car can be collected up again even if you deliberately get it sideways, which itself is not as easy to do as you might think. I've found the 996 more confidence inspiring and useful in the snow than any of my BMWs were. Don't even THINK of running your summer tires in the winter. Below 5C or so, performance rubber turns into hockey pucks. Even if you rarely see snow, winter tires are essential in cold weather, IMHO. The only issue, of course, is ground clearance. Nothing you can do about that. You may occasionally find yourself replacing brake cooling ducts (dirt cheap). The car is very resistant to rust with reasonable care. This spring, I had all the covers removed from underneath the car and had the whole thing washed down. It was in very good shape. However, as I've learned the hard way (apologies for anyone who's heard this story one too many times), the rads don't love salt. I'd have them disassembled and cleaned annually if I were you. I think you'll really love it.
  23. Yes, and separate the AC condensers and rads and clean each, and then between them. My car's cooling issues have been persistent since I bought it. It turned out not to be any mysterious Porsche dysfunctional hydrophenomic ronky booboo valve or other such 996 failed engineering mystery. It turned out to be the PO's failure to keep this area clean, and the eventual corrosion caused by damp, salt soaked mung between the AC condenser and rad. AC condensers were salvaged and hot tanked to clean them thoroughly. Both rads were replaced with new ones. Now, finally, the car cools properly. That simple.
  24. Apart from something broken or jammed, why won't the fans run on high with the car above 105C? What temperature are the fans supposed to switch to high speed? I had this issue a couple of summers ago. I ruled out the relays first (there are different relays for each fan speed, each side of the car). It turned out to be a ballast (I think?) at the fan motor itself. Anyway, same symptom. The fan would run on low but not on high. Fix was a new fan. FWIW.
  25. Just to guild the lilly on this: That thing in the back is a spoiler, not a wing. So it isn't meant to create downforce, which I guess is what you might mean by 'performance'. A spoiler is so-called because it disrupts airflow, in this case preventing the car from turning into a giant wing that lifts the back end off the ground.
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