kbrandsma

The higher the better. I did mine with half the distance george996 suggests. Also #5 is removed from the front of the car, just the opposite of the other seven. I removed number 1 from up above. To get to #1, I removed the tube from the air filter to the TB and that made #1 very accessible and easy to remove. I purchased the 10mm trible square from Autozone, brand name OEM. It comes with a set of three, 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm. I took the 10mm to a local muffler shop and they cut it in half to get it down to a length that would fit. The space is tight around the 10mm triplesquare bolt. SOme people permanently weld a wrench to gain the leverage needed. Good luck!

Make sure you cleaned the teeth of the drive shaft. The manual also says to apply a thin coat of grease to the shaft. (Olista Longtime 3 EP or equivalent.) I used a synthetic high temperature grease and the transmission went effortlessly in. Did you remove the dual mass flywheel (DMF) and if so have you removed anything that was used to hold the DMF stationary while you torqued the bolts.I'm just trying to think what else might be getting in the way.

I would second the Zaino Brothers' SYstem including their clay bar. The link below is after a wash with dawn, clay bar and four coats of Zaino after my purchase in July 07 of my 98 2.5 l Boxster. I used Zaino's #5 wax, then #2 wax, then #5 wax and then I finished with #2 wax. I used the Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer #6 between wax coats and I touch up with #6 spray as needed after a quick dusting with my California Duster. I wash monthly with Zaino washing soap. No swirls and daily compliments. Press view slide show after opening this link.

If oil is coming out of the transmission crankcase housing where it bolts on to the engine block, you may have an RMS issue. Hard to say without better photo shots. The only reason to take it apart would be to confirm a RMS leak or not. A leak no matter how small may eventually saturate the clutch but more importantly the Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF). If oil gets on the DMF it will need to be replace and that is a spendy item. ($500 to $700 US plus any markup from the dealer.) When people replace the clutch they usually don't replace the DMF but simply re-install the old one. The RMS is less than $25 US, the expense is the labor to get to it. I replaced my IMS because it had a new redesign since my old but original 1998 was installed. The IMS cost about $90 US. A new clutch is $375-$500 US. The deal is that to get the car torned down to really looking at the RMS and IMS you have to remove the clutch and the DMF. So if the AOS is throwing oil (oil tubes and bellows included) replace and clean everything up. Then drive and wait to see if leak is stopped. You don't need to remove transmission and clutch to get to the AOS. The RMS is above the oil level and won't leak unless driven. If you ship the car to US, it most likely won't be leaking. What part of Washington State are you going to. I live in Everett, which is about 30 minutes North of Seattle. Good luck and keep us posted!

I had my 98 5 speed apart this winter and replaced the AOS, RMS, IMS, J Tube, clutch, O2 sensors and Oil Filler tubes. I was leaving a quarter size drop of oil every other day or so. When I had it all apart to determine the problem I decided to replace them all. The total cost with some additional tools (like transmission jack) was just north of $1200. I figured at my mileage of 52K, it was time or near time to do most of the items. The RMS and IMS priobably wasn't necessary but I did them anyway because of the convenience. This photo shows the RMS and IMS and very little oil saturation from them, but you see the cross member (and oil on it) and the area below the bellows (passenger side) with fresh oil. My oil filler tubes were cracked and the previous owner had just replaced the bellows but not the AOS. I was not careful enough in replacing the middle oil filler tube and so I also had to replace an additional one that connects to the engine block. I had broke off the ears that connects to the engine block. If you like I have some info on that part of the oil filler tube I could send you. I would check your oil filler tube and replace if needed. If they are cracked and damaged the AOS most likely is the problem. Check your AOS and also your J tube for presence of a large amount of oil. Some folks just replace the bellows first so you could check your bellows and replace if needed. If leak is still there then AOS and J tube. You could save the RMS and IMS until such time it is determined that they are the problem. The RMS and IMS requires removing the muffler/exhaust, transmission and clutch. If you do it yourself, probably not a big deal, but if a shop or Indie it will cost you north of $2K. I would highly recommend replacing your clutch if over 30-40K miles or if they are damaged by oil saturation. Good Luck and keep us posted. IMHO I think it is ok to drive as long as oil is checked often.

The Air Oil Seperator (AOS) also has a bellows that looks like a little accordian. The bellows can crack and break apart. The bellows is located on the bottom of the AOS. A failed AOS can also cause your oil filler tubes to contract and expand and eventually crack. Both the bellows and cracked filler tubes can lead to oil on the ground. If the oil is dead center and more to the drivers side these 2 items might not be the culprit as they are both on the passenger's side. But it is possible that oil could be traveling down the main support frame cross member that runs from tire to tire under the car right where the transmission meets the engine block. The Rear Main Seal (RMS) and Intermediate Main Seal (IMS) are also at this support crossmember. If the RMS or IMS are at fault you should see more of a heavy nosebleed at the support frame cross member. The last photo is definitely a RMS or IMS problem. The photos below and the search feature on this site can help you find more info. Your new AOS will come with a new bellows and you will need to purchase a new J tube. A J tube is a recommended replacement when doing the AOS. The cost is just south of $30 for the J tuble. You will need your VIN number when ordering the J tube because the part is different after 1998. Good luck? Bellows connected to air oil seperator. Red A identifies Oil filler tubes Blue B is the J tube that connects from AOS to the Throttle Body (TB) RMS and/or IMS problems (red X is rear jacking point and bolts into the rear main support cross member.

The triple square bolt is 10mm.

four here!

When you re-installed the four stalk switch did you position the switch assembly to the corect depth on the steering column before tightening the pinch collar bolt. The correct depth is 2.16 inches plus or minus .02 inches.

I just added the fourth stalk OBC Mod. Here is the link: SELECT HERE Good Luck!

I odered and received a Durametric Tool last week and ran the codes. It indicated a passenger seat belt problem. Sprayed electrical cleaner into the seat belt receptacle on the passenger side and used canned air to dry and clean. Cleared the code and light has stayed out going on a week now. If it comes back I'll will replace the passenger buckle and electrical harness per TSB. The drivers side was done by previous owner in 2006.

I did the exact same mods and placed in the exact same spot. I tapped into TC switch for the light and ran to my spoiler switch, which was in the middle opening. I then tapped into the spoiler switch lights and went to the garage door switch at the bottom. By the way I took some clear gloss and sprayed my spoiler switch which had the matt finish and matched the gloss to the other buttons. Looks great!

I thought that might be hard to understand. This was strange. Let me see if I can try again. When I went to add my new harness with the five yellow VW wires, there was already a factory installed harness with only 1 wire in place. The the clip portion of the harness was not attached to anything (because there was no 4th stock to attach it to) and the one wire went to the white harness and was installed in slot #22. I knew it was factory installed because it was wrapped in the original factory black tape with all other wires . I probably should of snapped a photo. Go Figure!

I finished adding the 4th stalk this evening. I ordered all parts from Sunset Porsche in Beaverton, Oregon. Jeff knew all the parts to include. Here are the part numbers and the price I paid. 1) 996-613-219-10 EWC 4 coulmn switch - $166.29 2) 999-650-513-40 Plug Socket (for wiring harness) - $2.86 3) 000-979-009 VW Wiring Set (5 of them) - $13.05 4) 993-552-573-01-01C Steering Wheel Switch Cover (additional opening for 4th stalk on Left hand side) - $6.06 Here are some photos of the wiring harness I made with #2 and #3 above. When I went to add the wiring harness there was already a plug (#2 above) with one wire that went to the white harness #22. Since I already had the new harness made I decided to leave the one I found in place and remove the wire from the white harness (#22) and replaced it with my new #22. Pointers I learned and would recommend. A) Remove the Instrument Cluster 1st. This will make room for removing the drivers airbag B ) Protect your dash when placing the cluster upside down on it. Leather gets scratched easily C) Invest in a long T30 screw driver for removing air bag screws D) The airbag screws where really tight and I used a pair of vice grips to gain additional leverage E) After removing airbag turn steering wheel and front tires dead center before removing the steering wheel for reference on re-install F) Sunset sent all 009 wires (#3) and they where very tight in the white plug behind cluster. Most posts listed on this forum and others suggest having 010 wires for the white plug and butt them into the 009s from the 4th stalk. Although it was very tight I managed to use all 009s and everything worked. If I had to do it over I would use the 2 different sizes 009 and 010 On a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10 I would rate this mod a 3. Other sites for reference: Yoseif's Home Page D2 Performance More Photos of 4th Stock and OBC Hack The White plug is in the middle Cluster placed on dash 4th Stock is placed on steering column and beginning re-assembly, you can see wiring harness coming out of dash

There are lots of threads on this Board and others regarding this mod. Here are 2 good ones. Yoseif's Home Page D2 Performance

The support frame for the mount also is removed if I'm not mistaken. I believe it bolts into the tranny. I'll double check when I get home this evening.

I purchased the 4th stalk in November and I am just now starting the hack. The previous owner had used an Indy in the Bellevue, WA area. I called them up and asked about using the PST2 tool to turn on the OBC. I was surprised that they had never heard of this. The asked me to come in and show them how it's done at no charge. The good folks at Squires Autowerks enabled my OBC. If you are looking for an Indy in the Seattle area check out Squires in Bellevue, WA.

If the IMS is still exposed, replace it as well. Cost is about $75 from Sunset. Very easy to do. You will lose some oil in the process but you can catch it and reuse or change your oil if it makes since to do so.

Also remove the right rear tire and check the bellows from the AOS. Don't rule out the bellows when determining the cause of the oil leak. If you are going to drop the tranny you will need to also drop the muffler and catalytic converters.

Don't remove that nut you will damage the mount. I have a 5 speed and recently replaced my RMS and IMS. To remove the transmission supports you remove the other 2 bolts and nuts (2 bolts and nuts on each side). Good luck!

That's exactly what I did as well. Do you have any pictures? Here is a link to a recent post on 986Forum

l recently purchased the Durametric tool and software. I am located in Everett just north of Seattle.

Welcome, I purchased mine in July 07. The previous owner had only driven it 100 miles in the past 2 years. I noticed that at about 80 mph there is a slight shimmy. I think the tires will eventually need to be replaced. I'm going to try and have them re-balanced first and see if that helps. Good luck and welcome again!

I purchased the 4 stalk from Sunset in November and I am just now getting ready to do the hack. All parts were under $200 and the female connector or plug socket was $2.86 PN 999-650-513-40.

Hi Gus, I recently did a short shift upgrade and used the eBay shifter.