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mikefocke

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Everything posted by mikefocke

  1. mikefocke
    ZF made it, ask if they have experience with Porsche Tiptronic ZF gearboxes. The engine and tip come out together and then are removed on a bench. Perfect time to redo your IMS and RMS. Not to mention the water pump, oil filler hookup, anti-freeze hookup and AOS, they are all plastic and prone to fail. Slippery slope. Vertex says the rebuilt trans exchange costs $3k.
  2. mikefocke
    Every time this question comes up those in the know say you'd be better off trading in your cars for the one you want. I don't know if that opinion changes if you have to buy a replacement transmission. Tips are usually pretty robust and I've not heard of many failing. Mine is 9 years old and zero issues so far. There is a list of wrecking yards on my web site under "sources". Dallas is a big place, there must be a transmission shop around that knows these transmissions as they aren't unique to Porsche. I know when the dealer told me to buy a new transmission for my son's Mazda it turned out to be a $30 speed sensor at a transmission shop. So don't assume the worst.
  3. mikefocke
    I've run Silverstars for several years, zero issues. They aren't as good as HIDs but are without some of the issues in the stock headlamp mountings.
  4. mikefocke
    You car has been sitting and that leads to smoke. But not the second time you use the car afterwards. Your AOS has been bad, that leads to smoke, dirty intake, dirty throttle body, fouled plugs, contaminated cats, oil covered O2 sensors, etc. That is if you are lucky and didn't experience hydrolock. Have you looked at your anti-freeze expansion tank and its contents. That chocolate milk you describe reeks of intermix of oil and water.
  5. mikefocke
    OTOH, I've had 2 Boxsters and they have been more trouble free than my Honda and Acura of around the same vintage and mileage. For the Boxsters I was the third owner of each, the Honda/Acura were both bought new. Any tools you buy for the 996 are liable to be useful on the 986. At the 2000 point they were awfully similar. There are about 8 forums where people can help you if you do have problems. There are factory manuals available. There are third party manuals available. There are third party parts available for both cars. There are diagnostic computers available...etc. As for the oil change, there are online pictorials that would show you how trivial it is...only hard part is having the 3 needed parts (filter, o-ring and crush ring) on hand as JiffyLube doesn't carry them (though mine will do the oil change just as my muffler shop will change the O2 sensor and for no more cost than on my Honda...oh and the part was cheaper). And the amount of the right oil. Do on your 996 and 986 change the oil much more frequently than the owner's manual calls for (this based on used oil analysis from hundreds of samples). And a special sized filter removal tool is needed as well as a big oil pan. YMMV.
  6. mikefocke
    While I have the functions advertised, beware before you buy if your top has even the slightest need for the chop in order to bend right. All it takes is one use of the one touch and you can put a hole in the plastic. Been there, done that. So don't make it too easy so that you are reminded to do the chop. Anyone know of a good top shop in the Raleigh NC area? Or an '03-04 top with frame available for a decent price.
  7. mikefocke
    Bulb. Easy way to check is rotate the high and low beam bulbs. Instructions in the owner's manual. Problem follows bulb, then bulb. Doesn't then housing. Buy two as the other is about to go and start out again with 2 new bright ones.
  8. mikefocke
    In the states we have many choices of many brands and seldom do we worry about who had the contract for Porsche that year. Porsche didn't make the battery so all we try to do is get a battery as good or better and without the price surcharge of the Porsche branding.
  9. mikefocke
    Nothing is going to be as simple and light today as that 914 was (previously owned a '70 914-4). But when I compare the quality of my Boxsters with the 914, the Boxsters win by a huge huge margin. Now if I could buy a 914 with the safety, reliability and build quality (not to mention rust-proofing) of the Boxster.... I've owned my current Boxster for 5 years and had nothing on it that I needed to do that required any special expensive tools (oil filter wrench and security torque bits at under $40 total). Your 996 is generally the same as a Boxster from the front bumper to the cabin..and the engine little different, just turned around. So any work you learn to do on one will translate. Perfect? No car is. Problems well known? yep. Fixes available? yep. Some of them expensive? Yep. It isn't 1970 and this isn't a $3,700 car new.
  10. mikefocke
    You can replace Pana with Excellence magazine and get about the same value if all you are buying for is the mag. I belonged to the BMW club for a while, to PCA for a while, didn't find I used anything of value, didn't renew. I found Pana nothing but a shill for the Porsche marque. With online forums and ads, there just wasn't enough to persuade me to renew as there always seemed a conflict between their dates and my calendar. Plus the local was dominated by early Porsche model owners and those with big bucks and big HP. One person's opinion. Your location and your personality may have a completely different experience.
  11. mikefocke
    The site you linked to says no, it won't.
  12. mikefocke
    GummiPflege is what I've used for years on my Boxster's rubber weatherstripping, seals, top contact points, etc. Easy to apply, keeps them flexible. Just don't drip it on the leather seats. I apply about every 6 months or so, say once in the spring and once before I put it away for the winter. I've heard of people buying it at BMW dealers. I bought mine years ago online.
  13. mikefocke
    You are cursed.
  14. mikefocke
    Both sources have an incentive to sell you more tires. Tirerack's article discusses mounting all-season on one axle and winter tires on the other, not two brands of winter tires. The differences between summer and all-season and between all-season and winter tires are significant on snow and ice. Are there any sources that cite independent tests to show that the difference in winter tires is that different? How old are the tires (sidewall date)? Temperature?
  15. mikefocke
    A shop owwner's reputation and profits depend on his using parts with little risk and high historical reliability. The individual owner doing his own work may well value the possible redo labor hours slightly differently. Different perspectives. Plus there is always the human tendency to value cost now versus cost in the future differently. I have multiple cars, I value down time differently from someone who has to take the bus when his car is on the rack. You often have to pay more money to try to reduce risk...no matter if the part is a IMS bearing or an axle. We all value that risk differently. Isn't it fun.
  16. mikefocke
    The option sticker is most commonly pasted on the inside of the front hood. A perhaps 2.5" by 2.5" square sticker with a series of 3 digit codes and other things on it. To see what mine looks like and what the order sheet was for my '01 as an example...look here for what we refer to often as the build sticker as it tells what Porsche built into the car at the factory. Another list of options I know of is at Pedro's Garage. For years I maintained one but when he started his, I gave up and gave him all my info.
  17. mikefocke
    Mike, that's why I got confused and said 418/419. But 418/419 were NOT the codes, 491/492 were. They're real codes, the reader says "secondary air injection bank A" and "secondary air injection bank B" but they're not in the Bentley guide. The 996TT thread I linked to above lists the codes as legit Porsche codes. In their case, it was a vacuum leak, caused by various failures of parts, roughly half of which don't exist on the 986S, but some do. I double-checked and cleared the codes again today and they haven't come back (yet), but always have within a few days of driving. (I'll take photos next time if you still don't believe me!) 5 months ago, I thought it was just excess oil from the AOS failure working its way through, but that was 6 months ago so I'm having a hard time convincing myself it will just go away for good if I ignore it long enough... I understand and that is why I'm confused and looked at 2 different versions of the DME diagnostic manuals. What may be a code for the 996TT may have nothing to do with the year and model car/engine you drive. Readers can be wrong, or the manuals can be wrong. Good luck.
  18. mikefocke
    I think you might want to go back and read the codes again and write them down. 418 exists, 419, 491 and 492 don't in my factory 5.2 and 7.2 DME docs for 986s. It is usually a good idea to post the model and year of your car when posing code interpretation requests as it can make a difference..
  19. mikefocke
    Don't you need cam locking tools too?
  20. mikefocke
    P1539 Triggering of the actuator, no active position. Causes: – Open circuit, triggering – Open circuit, B+ supply – Actuator defective
  21. mikefocke
    You might talk to Pedro of www.pedrosgarage.com who just replaced his 200k+ miles 2.5 with a 2.7 by using the 2.5 heads. He said it went very easily with no odd-ball ECU mods or flashes necessary. He runs www.pedrosboard.com..the successor to PPBB.
  22. mikefocke
    The fuel pump could have overheated as in the later Boxster design it is cooled by the fuel in the tank.
  23. mikefocke
    Arrange to take off any mod'ing parts you have added that would have value, replacing them with the original parts. The insurance company is entitled to all the original parts, not any value you added. Love that color and hate to see a good Boxster go. That said, I value my 58k '01S well equipped at $16.5k so your $20k is a nice settlement. You may also be pleasantly surprised at what they add to the "value of the car", things like registration fees and taxes. (I was...got more for my car after 3 months of ownership than I paid for it and they had records of how much I had paid!)
  24. mikefocke
    Have you asked the warranty company to review the claim in light of the possible difference in labor rates for cars with different transmissions? Everyone I know of changes lots more for the TIP equipped cars when R&Ring the trans.
  25. mikefocke
    More info please When you turned the key, did the key seem to go to the far right starting position? When you did that, did you hear any sounds of a solenoid clicking, a starter motor turning? What was the state of the gas in your tank? Had you had any odd electrical issues prior to the incident where the car didn't start? Was the steering wheel "locked" when you pressed on the key? Clutch position? Gearshift position?
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