JFP in PA

All coolant system combustion gas tests require a running engine to get accurate results. The Lisle tester works fine, but it can be fooled by coolant getting into the tester which can lead to strange results. If you use the Lisle tester, follow the directions very carefully and watch to see if the test fluid level increases, which would be a sign that liquid coolant has gotten into it.

Other than the ground fault Loren mentioned, I am also not aware of any "catastrophic failure" issues with these cars.

10% is pretty much the limit on leak down tests, so your one cylinder is highly suspect. A combustion leak tester is a good idea, I prefer the two stage Uview unit, which tends to be more accurate than single stage devices, but also costs more.

A good start to getting into this is to have the car scanned with a Porsche specific scan tool (Durametric, PIWIS, PST II) and write down all of the codes, then let us know what you have found.

P1551 is a signal interruption in the IAC; most common causes are wiring breaks, bad IAC, or a problem with the DME.

Please do not quote your previous posts to try and "bump" it, that is against forum rules.

That's the bit that concerns me. Is it like my 911 where it's basically 2 bolts and support the engine on a jack? Any opinions on the Numeric cables and SSK. I promised myself I was going to leave this car stock, but if I have to get in there and replace stuff, I might as well go for a mild upgrade :) Yes on the front engine mount. The after market (Numeric & SSK) cables have a lot more metal in them than the OEM does, which tends to make them much more durable and somewhat improves the shifter feel, but that move away from plastics decreases sound isolation a bit and some have complained that while the shift feels better, they are getting noise transmitted into the cabin; so they can have some trade offs.

Well, like I said, it's not difficult, but it takes time; lots of time.

The cables set is a bit over $400 alone, and I believe it is about 4-5 hours to change them out (it is not hard, but you need to pull the car's interior apart to get at the inside bits, lower the front of the engine, and then route the cables through the rear bulkhead to the gear box as they are one piece). The job is more aggravation and time consuming than hard.

and this, Ladies and Gentlemen is why I'm not an auto technician :) Diagnosis is the thrust bearing. They also mentioned my shifter cables are very worn. Was quoted $1200 parts+labor for replacement. That seems awful high. Is it hard, or just time consuming? I'm off to go look for a good writeup... To do the thrust bearing, they have to pull the gear box out. If it were in my shop, I would recommend renewing the clutch while in there, and removing the rear seal on your non serviceable IMS bearing. $1200 is not that bad a price to replace the throw out bearing.

Based upon the excessive deviation on the bank 2 cam, I would say that the P0021 code is real. What concerns me is the value as your engine would not run with a cam deviation of 90 degrees.

Supposedly, on the 997, you unplug one of the two wires (I do not know which) and then you still have to fabricate a new on/off circuit to control the exhaust.

OK, let's start with the easy stuff: All these cars came prepped for cruise control, on board computer, etc., but they were only completed and activated on cars ordered with the option. With the Durametric system, these options can be activated (some require the Pro version), but would still require any sensors, switches, wiring, etc. to be installed to make the system function. To find out what is available on your specific model, you need to go through the Durametric system and examine each section's "coding" subheading. As for the blinking side lights, on your model, you may be limited to either having them as turn indicators or side markers, but not both, by just coding without some rewiring. Some models offer the flexibility to work as indicators and side markers at the same time. It is very easy to override the PSE speed control, just unplug the vacuum lines on the PSE, the default position is "open" (read loud). If you want to be able to close and open it on command at any speed, this DIY was posted here: http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/2470-remove-pse-cutout-in-2-minutes-no-tools-required/ No Durametric system can update the code in your DME or controllers, that would require a PIWIS. Under several categories in Durametric, instrument cluster for example, you will find a subsection called "coding" which will list what is active and what is not, as well as activation options for the category. I'd suggest doing some searching, as these have been a popular subjects both here and on other websites.

The critical item is camshaft deviation values, which are how far the cams are off the ideal value; on a Durametric system, they would look like this: Porsche uses some unusual terminology on fuel trims; RKAT is the adaptation value near idle. FRA is the adaptation value under load and further divided into FRAU (lower load range ) and FRAO (higher load range) ranges. The RKAT values near idle are used to change the length of the injector pulse to account for deviations from ideality (ie intake leaks) to maintain the proper O2 sensor reading. The RKAT value is an additive factor and can deviate by +/- 4.5%. The FRA value is a multiplicative factor and can deviate by 1.32 to 0.70. The positive values or values greater than 1 increase the injector pulse length to account for a lean mixture, and negative values and values less than 1 are to compensate for a rich mixture.

You should be looking at the cam deviation values (real time data) and they should be in normal spec range (+/- 6 degrees); if the VarioCam unit is acting up, the values should be well outside that range.

If the P0021 was real, you should have been able to see the cam deviation values as being well out of whack at the same time.

You should also check with Durametric to see if they have any reconditioned units; same performance and warrantee for less money.

If memory serves, there was a rental company that was selling off their units on fleabay, which would indicate that they were not renting well. Why do you need the pro version?

I may be wrong, but I have never heard of anyone renting one of these diagnostic tools, especially when you can buy one of your own for less than $300.

We have often submitted virgin samples of oil when testing new products, Fe levels were typically below the sensitivity limits of the analytical system and not reported.

You are better man than I am, mine is in the corner of my personal shop, under its dust cover with the lead to the Ctek maintainer poking out, quietly enjoying the 65F shop temps vs. the 20F and 6 inches of snow outside. Expecting another foot over night tonight. My neighbor once asked me how the Porsche handled in the wet or snow, my answer was "How would I know, it has never even seen a cloudy day?"

The bearings are typically running a couple thousandth's on an engine with low miles on it. We have used the Wix/NAPA Gold and XP (full synthetic media) filters (1042 and 1042XP) for some time with very good results. And as weird as this sounds, they are actually cheaper than the OEM style cartridge. LN is making an adaptor now for the 9A1 style engines as well.

We offer a full UOA form a local lab to all our customers with their normal service; many of them take advantage of this service, which has given us a rather substantial data base of oil related information. Because we also see other makes was well, many of whom are also running filter and/or drain plug magnets, I can tell you that we see the same very fine ferrous particles in all of the engines, regardless of make or oil brand. With the exception of specific engines that had demonstrated significant internal issues, the Fe levels in the UOA's of engines with fine ferrous particles trapped by the magnets never strayed particularly far from average values. This could be happening for one of two reasons: (1) The magnets are doing their jobs and removing most, if not all, of the finer particles that could slip through the filters; (2) UOA analytical technique's may only report higher than normal Fe concentrations if there happens to be a particle in the specimen analyzed. As I noted earlier, the first oil change with a filter magnet in place typically is much worse in terms of the amount of fine ferrous materials than subsequent changes. I believe this may indicate that there is always some fine materials circulating in the oil, but that it remains unobserved unless you concentrate it which the filter magnet does an excellent job of as it sees every drop of oil in the engine at some point in time. We have on occasion actually sent fairly large samples (5 or more quarts) of used oil from engines without any aftermarket magnets to the lab we use and had them filter it warm through a 1 micron lab filter. After a solvent wash and air drying, this small amount fine dust was easily picked up with a magnet. As for seeing metal in the filter, you need to remember that the OEM cartridge style filter has a nominal pore diameter in excess of 30 microns; anything smaller than that will pass through it, so you would not visually observe anything by inspecting the filter media. The spin on filters we use are "full filtration" (read 100% filtration with no by-pass) and have a finer pore diameter of around 20 microns, and we also do not see any trapped ferrous materials on them on engines running normally, but if using a filter magnet, there is always some very fine ferrous materials on the housing walls, which was trapped by the magnet. We have also had this fine material taken from multiple cars analyzed by our lab, and the results came back that it was basically metallic iron with other trace level materials. I seriously doubt that fine metallic iron is a normal component in any motor oils.

Pull fuse B1 and see what stops working.

A lot of people are "jumping on the bandwagon" with all sorts of bearing designs and materials. Problem is, they have no history, and some have been shown to have problems all their own. As a shop owner, I have to go with proven units with the highest installed base and proven performance.