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BruceP

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Everything posted by BruceP

  1. My '00 C2 (manual) runs hot in slow city traffic. All components of the cooling system are functioning as designed, but it's not hard to get the coolant temps well above 105C in town in the summer. As soon as air is moving through the rads again, it cools right back down. So, my question: Given that the cooling problem is in low speed/no speed conditions, would adding the 3rd center rad be of any value, or is it really only useful as a track mod? (I am aware of the fan mod, BTW, but I don't think it's a real answer. When the car is hot, the fans are running on high speed anyway). TIA as always, Bruce.
  2. The entire series of M96 engines is controversial. That engine design spans the beginning of the 996 series in '98 to midway through the 997 series, ending with the 2008. There is lots of reading to be had on this, and my own experience has been that message board discussions can become unbalanced and emotional, and people can seem more expert than they are. I'd do my own research, if I were you. Besides that, I'd offer these three pieces of highly subjective advice: 1. Drive some. You will love them, or you will not be impressed. My observation has been that those who buy Porsches of any vintage for love of the marque are much happier than those who buy them for image or performance bragging rights or just to see what the fuss is about. If you don't fall in love, I'd move on. If you do, then... 2. Used Porsches are cheap to buy, but expensive to own. Any vintage, ever. The problems you might have change from series to series, but the ownership cost is high compared to an average car. Which brings me to... 3. Service records and some knowledge of the car's provenance and how it was used are more important than low mileage. Experts say buy the newest one you can afford. I usually challenge this by saying that depreciation is a certain cost, where engine problems are only a risk, and that a well cared for older car shouldn't be passed over. But in today's climate, I think newer ones really can be ridiculously good deals. FWIW, I would spend some time in both a 996 and a 997. In my humble opinion, the two cars have different characters.
  3. Just to beef up your sample, no drone here. '00 C2 with EVOMS exhaust. I should add, though, that the drone you describe wouldn't bug me that much. I really try to avoid spending any time in that part of the rpm range, certainly not 2200 rpm. IMHO, these motors don't like it.
  4. Put me in the winter driving club, too. I run Pirelli 240 Snowsports in the OE sizes on a set of 18" wheels. No PSM. I find the car shockingly good in the snow, apart from ground clearance. Playing around in parking lots to get a feel for it, I was amazed at how easy it is to collect the car back up when the rear end gets loose. The passive rear steer property of this axle design seems to do its thing on slippery surfaces, too. I drive it with a lot of confidence in Toronto winters. Another positive surprise was heat. Not that I expected it to be bad, but it really works very well. I'm getting warm air in just a few minutes. The main issues for me have been minor: brake cooling ducts are regular replacement items. And I probably need to pay more attention to alignment because of the potholes. The only other thing I try to do is take it out for a good run, at least an hour, every couple of weeks. The short trips I take daily combined with the tendency of the motor to accumulate condensation in the oil, make me nervous. I did uprate the battery significantly, 760 CCA if I recall correctly. Not necessary, I'm sure, but I'd had problems with the original one.
  5. That's very helpful, thank you. I actually replaced the spark plug tubes last year, so your hypothesis narrows things down quite a bit. I certainly like the sound of the simple repair! :)
  6. My visibility is limited to how far I can squeeze my melon under the car with a flashlight, unfortunately. Underground condo parking lot... no lift. But as far as I can see, it really is concentrated around the sump cover area. If it was coming from anywhere else, it would have to be something directly above that. The cam covers look dry, subject to the caveat above...
  7. Thanks, Loren. Will post back when I know something. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...
  8. '00 C2 manual/Canada version, 94,000 km. I've noticed some weeping of oil around where the edge of the sump cover where I'd suppose a gasket might be. Obviously, I'm well aware of all the usual, hysterical, awful possibilities. But the engine is dry everywhere else I can see, there is no smoke, no oil consumption, no puddle in the driveway, and the car runs like a champ. Is it possible that the leak is just at the sump cover? Could find nothing directly relevant by searching. TIA! Bruce.
  9. I didn't catch which side this was on, so I don't know if this is helpful, but in case: I had a rattle in the dash on the passenger side, which my ears told me was coming from the vent. It turned out to be something related to the passenger side airbag, for which there was a TSB. Don't know what they did, but it worked.
  10. A lot of people will tell you to buy the newest one you can afford. But I don't think that's the best advice for everyone, not if you have to stretch to buy that newer car. The fact is that each year you'll lose in depreciation conservatively half the value of a new motor. And that depreciation is certain, not speculative like the fear of engine failure is. Depreciation is real money, too. Yes, newer cars diminish the risk somewhat, but like all insurance they come at a price. From my own really thorough homework on this, I drew the following conclusion: In managing the risk of engine failure, mileage and model year are not nearly so important as how the car has been driven and maintained. I won't elaborate because the topic seems to light some people up, but I'll just say this: Owning a Porsche is more expensive than buying a Porsche, one way or another, no matter what you choose. For my money, I'd give up a model year or two if it meant that I got a car driven by someone knowledgeable and who cared, and on which there was clear provenance, a complete ownership and maintenance history.
  11. Maybe someone in the know can confirm this, but my understanding has always been that the newer cars don't run cooler so much as they report the operating temperature differently. Supposedly, the Mk. 2 cars have two sensors whose readings are averaged, and the Mk. 1 cars have only one, which is in the hotter of the two locations. All I know is, my cooling system is now working as designed, and sitting in traffic can still send the operating temperature north of 105 C...
  12. Not necessarily, I don't believe. There are separate resistors low speed and high speed fan operation, and for each side. I had a similar problem, only I was getting fan operation on the right but not the left. This was the checklist of fan-related problems I put together with help from this forum, from easiest/cheapest to hardest/most expensive: Fuses. There is a fuse for the left and one for the right. Relays. There are separate relays for each side, and for high and low speed fan operation. In other words, four of them. Ballast resistors. Can become corroded, apparently, and the dealer tech claimed that such corrosion could leave you with partial fan operation. The fan itself. In my case, this was the problem. The whole thing just gave out. What's strange to me is that you're having trouble with both of them at the same time, but I know it's possible for a fan to fail in this way. Mine did. I was getting low speed operation only from the left side and both speeds on the right. So you may not want to assume the fans are fine just because they work at low speed. Anyway, consider this a courtesy bump. I'm sure someone who knows what they're talking about will chime in.
  13. So what? It is law to have at least 10% ethanol in all pump fuels in CO....will not cause this effect by itself. I didn't mean to suggest that there was a connection. I was just anticipating questions people might have ("bad gas" is a common theory for this kind of thing, whereas up here Shell is a Top Tier fuel vendor, and their premium happens to have no ethanol in it).
  14. Me again... '00 C2 Coupe, 6 speed. On the drive to work this morning, the engine suddenly began to idle very roughly, enough so that I was worried it would stall and had some trouble getting the car to launch smoothly. This continued for ten minutes or so. I was stuck in traffic at the time, although the car was not running hot. I pulled out of the lineup and drove gently around the block, and after a short while the idle returned to normal. No CEL at any time during the whole episode. But it kind of freaked me out. Recent work done? Yes. A new rad fan last week. Engine stock? No. EVO intake and exhaust, REVO chip. None recent. Recent drives? Mostly urban, short freeway bursts. Too much commuter duty. Fuel? Shell V Power only, because it has no ethanol. Anybody have any thoughts? TIA, as always, Bruce.
  15. OBD=On Board Diagnostics. To the best of my knowledge, the information is not available through the onboard computer. These are the instructions: On your climate control panel, press and hold in the recirculate and the top (arrow up) buttons on the right side of the panel for a few seconds. The left screen will change. Using the + key below that screen, advance so the display reads 6c. Then press the center vent button once. The display will show you your coolant temp. To restore your climate control display, press the Auto button. If you don't change the temperature display while you're in OBD mode, all you have to do to get it back is hold the arrow up and recirc buttons in for a few seconds, and it will default to the temperature display. If you do this again later during the same trip, the temp will display instantly, which is handy for hard sessions. Again, I really found this useful. It seems like things have to get pretty hot before the car will let you know there's a problem by itself. I'd still be sitting in traffic at 108C without forums like this. PS I believe that this doesn't work - or work the same way - on Mk. 2 cars. Perhaps an expert can chime in.
  16. Relays and fuses all checked out. I took it into the dealer thinking the resistor would be the culprit, but it turns out I need whole new fan. So that's the end of the story, for whatever use it may be to others. Two thoughts: Knowing how to get the actual temperature reading from the OBD was very helpful to me. Without that trick and this forum, I might never have realized I had a problem. And I'm going to assume that spending a bunch of time running at 105-108 C won't have any long term ill effects? If something was going to go boom, it would have by now? Thanks to those who replied.
  17. Who knew! I was avoiding using search criteria this specific! Thank you, Loren. Looks like the search begins at the fuse panel... Bruce.
  18. I have a '00 C2, 6-speed, Canada version. I keep an eye on the operating temperature, using the OBD hack rather than the gage. In traffic, the car has always run pretty warm, regularly over 100 C in the spring-summer-fall. Last night, it was up over 105 C, and I thought I'd hop out and check to see if the cooling fans had switched to high speed as they are supposed to at this temperature. On the passenger side of the car, the fan was loud and you could feel air being moved. On the driver side, the fan was on but quieter, and less air was moving. Is this normal? If not, can you suggest an explanation? I can imagine losing a fan altogether, but I can't figure out why it would just refuse to switch speeds. TIA, Bruce.
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