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whelton

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Everything posted by whelton

  1. According to my "Porsche 996 The Essential Companion" book here are some production numbers for the 996 that might interest you: 1999 C4 Cabriolet - 3081 1999 Total 996's - 28,040 Total 996 Mk1's - 85,556 Total 996's - 175,262 Hope that helps. Cheers, Will
  2. Here has been my experience. I bought the glass window Robbins Top for a Boxster (which had the plastic window) and had problems with the glue holding the window in. It kept separating. I sold the car shortly after so never really followed through or complained to Robbins. The installer said it was probably the big temp variation between night and day and the glue couldn't handle it. I think Robbins has fixed this problem now. About a month ago I bought a GAHH top from a private seller on ebay. It was a new top and had never been installed. It has GAHH stamped in the plastic window so I'm assuming it is really a GAHH top. When installing it the installer found that the cable was about an inch shorter than the original cable. He had to make an extension to make it work. I e-mailed GAHH asking about this. I explained that I didn't buy direct from them and was just curious if they had ever had the issue. They never even bothered to reply at all, not even to tell me to ***** off. Any company that has a website with an e-mail contact and doesn't even bother with any sort of reply at all goes off my list of people to do business with. But in the end the top was installed, works great and looks fantastic. My installer did say to me that he was not eager to install a non-OEM top on a 996 again. That wasn't really an options for me since Porsche quoted $10,000 for a new top installed and I got this done all up for $1,550. So I guess my opinion would be if you can afford an OEM top it will be easier for the installer. But if the price difference is huge the GAHH top looks 100% OEM after it is installed.
  3. Thanks Loren. Also, I forgot to mention that : 1.) sometime when the gear shift from from 3rd to 4th in manual mode, it jerks and almost like jumps into the next gear, with a "thugg" noise; 2.) in auto mode, shifting from 4th to 5th has a hesitation, takes a second or so to shift into the higher gear, while the RPM goes up. Thanks. I don't want to cause you any stress but I too have a 99 Carrera with 80,000 kilometers on it and here is what just happened with mine. I was noticing a vibration and had planned to replace the engine mounts. About 6 weeks ago I had one case of a really hard downshift from 3rd to 2nd and thought nothing of it. I took it for a long drive on Saturday (about 200 kilometers) and all was great. Then Sunday it started slipping in 2nd gear when accelerating and it also was slipping in reverse. I took it out for a test drive and when I stepped down on it to see if it was kicking down properly, it hit so hard in second it shook the whole car. Felt like I had been hit by another car. The slipping continued also. I took it in to my regular service guy first thing Monday morning and he suggested that he would first check the computer and possible reflash it. There were no error codes at all. I asked that he replace the fluid while he had it there. While I was waiting from my ride to work he was draining the fluid and I heard "the fluid is really black, I see silver in there". Not something you want to hear. When they took the pan off there 1/2" x 1/4" pieces of metal in the pan. It has been sent in to be repair by a transmission specialist here. Two of the drums have broken up. Apparently it can happen with that particular transmission. It's almost the same as the one in a 330 BMW where it tends to happen more often. I'm looking at about $8,000 ($6,500 USD) for the total repair bill. I'm doing the 100,000 k service while the engine is out of the car and replacing the engine mounts and transmission mount while I'm at it. Believe it or not you have to buy part of the transmission casing just to get the mount. And he's going to clean my engine really good while it's out. I have to laugh about it to keep from crying because I have just spent $7,500 on it with a new top, new wheels, led tail lights, etc., etc. It looks really good sitting in the garage. Anyway I'm sure your problem won't anywhere near that bad, but I would be curious to know if the above suggestions solve your problem. I just bought the car 2 months ago (no warranty) from someone I know and he only drove it about 15,000 kilometers in 3 years. It has never been to the track or anything and he drives like an old lady. I've never run it hard either. I had planned to use it as a daily driver. I'm not so sure that was good idea. I'm not convinced Porsches are cut out to be daily drivers. I've got about 40 traffic lights on my commute so maybe it's just too much shifting for it. I'm back to driving the dog car ($1,000 Mitsubishi Hatchback with 210,000 kilometers on it and no back seat) for the next 5 weeks. Good luck with your car! Cheers, Will
  4. Hi, I've used this forum a lot over the past few weeks and it has helped me with so many things. This the first time I've posted though. I bought a 1999 996 cab a few weeks ago. I have a sort of clanging noise in the rear panel behind the drivers seat when making a left turn (car is RHD). I read the TSB for this and have an idea of how to fix, but I can't remove rear panel trim because of the catch that the rear seat back locks onto. The TSB says to remove with a 6 mm allen wrench. I raised the top a bit and can see it is turning all the way through. But the bit that it bolts into is round so I can't stop it from turning with any tools I have. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution. I'd appreciate any input. I've wasted hours on it but still not ready to just live with noise or only make right turns. Cheers, Will
  5. Maurice, Thanks for your assistance with my top issues. Yesterday I noticed that the top is now separating on the other side of the window. I took it to a trim shop today and the owner said nothing would probably hold the pieces together. I also noticed that the side I glued back together is starting to separate again. He believes it is the big temperature changes that we can have here in Australia. I have decided to scrap the Robbins top because I will never be satisfied with all these problems. I'm trying to decide what my best option would be: 1) Try another after market top with a plastic window. I've e-mailed Tops on Line to see if they can tell me how the top is bonded at the back. I don't mind spending another $500 for a plastic window top if it is made closer to OEM than the Robbins top. I wonder if anyone on here has any experience with these tops. 2) I've asked Porsche for a quote on an OEM top. The way prices are for anything Porsche here in Australia, I'm optimistic that I will use that option. 3) Just take off the Robbins top and put my old top back on. It is a bit worn on the sides where it folds and the window is a bit scratched, but it closed properly and still seems very well made. It also gave a lot less wind noise. I'm waiting to get the answers I've e-mailed to Porsche and Tops on Line and will then decide what to do. This has been a frustrating and expensive exercise just to have a glass window. The good old Boxster chop wasn't such an inconvenience after all. I love my Boxster but if I can't get the top back to working properly and looking decent it will be time for a trade. Anyway thanks for all your help and suggestions. Cheers, William
  6. Thanks for your reply. At least I know I'm not the only one with problems. I did find the metal spring you were talking about after more searches yesterday on forums. One suggestion was to turn it over so it would be tighter. I tried that late yesterday evening. I will put the top down today for a few hours and see if that fixed the alignment problem. I've got my finger's crossed. Mine doesn't go all the way shut to the windscreen but if I push just a little it locks into place. I prefer it to be really tight anyway. I'm not sure you would be able to loosen along the back rail or the rear seam will show when the top is up. My front corners bulge just a bit where the seams are located but I'm guessing this may flatten a bit over time. And I do have a small wrinkle in one corner. I could take it all apart again on that side and glue it a bit to get rid of the wrinkle. I'll live with it for now because I'm tired of messing with it. I've also got wrinkles on both sides at the back where the top meets the back fenders. I don't think any adjustment will get rid of this. But I can live with these if I have to. They are not too noticeable. If I can figure out how I will attach a pic. One thing I found with my top which you might want to watch our for is that the top actually separated where it is glued in the back. Right below the rear window the factory glue just didn't hold. I had to glue it back. I would have sent the top back but I'm in Australia and the shipping would have been too much, plus the hassle with customs here. This has made me worry about the quality of this top. So far the glue is holding except in one small spot. I'm waiting to see if it separates more before gluing that spot back. Anyway, good luck getting yours sorted. Cheers, Will
  7. Hi Guys, Has anyone had problems with the Robbins top alignment when putting up the top? I installed the Robbins top on a 1999 Boxster (with glass window). When I put the top up sometimes it doesn't stay inside the guides above the side windows. The tensioning straps are as tight as I can make them. It only happens when the top has been down for at least 15-20 minutes. If you cycle it up and down in aligns most of the time. I can't see anyway to make it align any differently. There is a note on the instructions from Robbins that they are not liable for any problems with this as it is a known fault with the boxster. I'm seriously regretting changing the top because if I have to fiddle with it for 15 minutes every time I put it up I'll end up never putting the top down. If I can't get this sorted I'm seriously considering changing back to the old top. Putting the top up and down was just a matter of pushing a button. This has been an expensive and troublesome effort to improve the car. Thanks for any suggestions. Cheers, Will
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