wwest

Has anyone bought one of these kits to allow your daytime running lights to be on all the time? There is one on ebay for $10 bucks, and I do like the aspect of keeping the running lights on for safety reasons, but don't want to screw up my car.

Also, if you've done this, will it wear down your battery?

Thank you,

Tom

The first 996 I owned was of canadian origin and therefore had DRLs. The difference was that the street/parking/tail lights operated along with the headlamp DRL bulbs. I thought this such a good idea that when I purchased my new '01 C4 I wanted the same setup so I wired the seat heater fuse power source over to the left and right street/parking/tail light circuits.

I also replaced the W6W DRL bulbs with 3 watt Luxeon LEDS.

We took factory delivery of our '01 C4 and put 2500 miles on it in europe. Picked it up at east coast POE, drove to Memphis, then on home to Seattle. Had a chance to drive it on the track at Daytona so trucked it there and then drove it back home to Seattle. LS400 would have been more comfortable but not nearly as much fun.

Would do it all again in a NY minute..!!

Hi,

I'm interested in swapping out my stock HID bulbs for 6000k bulbs.

Is it D1S bulbs that I'm looking for? Is there anything I should be concerned about when making this change other than the colour of the light as I've already read up on the pros and cons of whiter light.

TIA

Cheers,

Stan

Just realized that I wrote bulg instead of bulb in the topic line. Won't let me edit it!

Are you really willing to give up forward night vision in favor of impressing oncoming drivers, drivers you will likely NEVER meet..??

4300K is the closest "color" available that matches our sun's spectrum and human eyesight has had eons to adjust to taking the most advantage of that.

What codes told you that both sensors were dead? Very unlikey.

Unless the oxygen sensors' internal heaters are in series.....

Stay with the H3 55W.

I went with the H3 55AW, AW for all-weather, slight amber/yellow tint.

And remember that your fog lights are useless with the low beams also on. And running with both on is detrimental to your OWN forward distance vision and is generally done only to IMPRESS oncoming drivers, drivers you'll likely NEVER meet nor care about their opinion.

First it started with the passanger mirror motor engaging in reverse and then not stopping. Posted reply on this forum was to check the reverse switch which unfortunately wasn't the issue. Now when I have gotten in my car the mirrors go in random directions activated by my remote key. When I get in the car I reset the mirrors manually and then push the memory 1 button and the mirrors start moving randomly. I then put the mirrors back and set the memory and it works fine...until I use the key remote which seems to reintroduce the bug. I have reset the memory assigned to the key several times and when I use the remote it engages the mirrors and they go off in their own directions. It is as if the system engages to set the mirrors as it should, but doesn't recognize that they are set correctly and simply starts the mirrors moving.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks as always for everyone's great suggestions.

2002 996 Cabriolet

"I have reset the memory assigned to the key...."

I though/think the key, each key, has a memory "slot" assignment independent of the doorsill numbered buttons.....

you miss the point .. i still have DRL i am just using the parking lights, instead of burning up the HID's. I just don't want to appear to lumenescence to the gendarmes

No, I knew EXACTLY your point.

Most cars use the high beam bulb at reduced brightness because the high beam reflector assembly is designed to case a LONG range beam. Your fog light reflector assembly, on the other hand, is designed to case a LOW and WIDE beam.

Personally I would choose to drive more reasonably as to avoid the "gendarmes" and keep the safety of TRUE DRLs.

And would you believe that those HID lamps probably have an infinite usefull life in comparison to the incandesents in the fog assembly.

My lights work fine with the relay pulled, I like it much better without the HID's coming on when i start the car. Plus it makes the car less conspicuous without the HID's on during the day when carving through traffic. .....

"less conspicuous..."

Yes, that's the POINT..!!

DRLs are to make you SAFER, MORE conspicuous to the oncoming traffic.........

Hi, drive 1998 996 C2 3.4 had some xams money burnig a hole my pocket and on a whim purchased a K&N filter and a Cold Air Induction Kit ! arrived last week and surprised to find the induction kit consisted of a bit of plastic tube and a cap to block off the return back into the filter box... can't help feeling ripped off at this stage!

Fitted both last week and take the motor out for a spin, sounds a little better, but there appears to be a much smoother power delivery (not sure if power increase but feels like it). Before i fitted it there was also like others have expereinced a power drop or hesitation at 4-5000 rpm which seems to have disappeared, £200 appeared to be well spent!

However, one small afterthought was the impact on insurance if any! didn't call the insurance company about the filter but called up to enquire about the induction kit.. the lady i spoke to couldn't find the mod of her computer and in anycase my policy didn't allow mods and the next one that did was £800 more!!!!!!

Did a few searches on Confused and Moneysupermarket but neither had the mod option of the induction kit!

Can anyone suggest if this mod requires insurance approval and suggest the best insurance company in the Uk?

Also, before i decide to take the induction kit off do you think the differences i'ved experienced may be dwon purely to the K&N filter?

Cheers

Lotusrock

In my experience insurance companies look for ANY reason to deny coverage, even the most trivial. Given that the K&N filter is well known to cause MAF/IAT oil then dirt contamination problems and in the long term engine failure due to dirt entering the cylinders they would have good, SOUND, cause. And remember that, other than intake sound/noise, the ONLY advantage to the K&N filter is at WOT and high intake flow, at all other times the throttle valve itself is the major obstruction/restriction to intake airflow.

And if you want colder air at the intake manifold move north. Expensive but FAR more productive.

bulbs arrived (only took 7 days form the UK) work great, they are very close to the "whiteness" of the HID's. I have pulled out the DRL relay to stop the HID's from coming on when i start the car. I'll just use the parking lights as DRL saving the HID's ..

They also sent (free as a promo) replacement bulbs for the side markers. They are a blue tint to replace the orange ones. I'll put them in on the weekend and see how they look, might start a new trend ....

My '99 Canadian origin 996 didn't turn the low beams, HID, on with the DRL relay removed......

My '01 996 C4 has a switch added into the back wall of the center glove box which allows me to open the electrical ciruit to the A/C compressor clutch. I do not allow the A/C compressor to run throughout the winter months.

The primary source of moisture in teh cabin after driving for a period of time is the A/C itself. When the A/C is shut down after use there will ALWAYS be a thin film of moisture, condensate, remaining on the approximately 10,000 square inches of evaparator cooling vane surface area.

So, where is that moisture to go as it evaporates off of those vanes once the A/C is shut down and those vane surface begin to rise in temperature?

Convection airflow carries the airborne water vapor up to the COLD interior windshield surface, cold side window and rear window surfaces.

My '01 Lexus RX300 has two c-best options which allow me to disable the A/C indefinitely and unlink it from automatic operation in defrost/defog/demist mode.

Have a 2k C4 Cab that recently has been acting up. When you set the climate contol to auto and set the temp at..say70 F it seems to heat the cabin well past this temp. I have never had a problem with this in the past and have thought it was one of the best climate control units out there.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

As discussed above, the sensor is on the right side of the dash. It is a thermocouple with a small fan to blow over it. It could be the thermocouple or the fan (or anything which prevents cabin air from blowing over the thermocouple.) Unfortunately, a thermocouple is something that does not fail very often... so, if that's not the problem, then you have to consider the control unit or the thermocouple located in the front of the car (the one that reports the outside temperature on your dashboard).

This brings me to the second point... the thermocouple located in the bumper is part of the climate control system, to the extent that it helps decide how much extra heat or cooling to add (based on the difference between the incoming fresh air and the desired temperature). So the service rep was kind of right - but not being clear. The end result is the climate control uses both sensors to maintain cabin temperature.

Loren might be able to shed more light as to how to diagnose the problem further.

Both, IAT & OAT are thermistors, resistors that change resistance with temperature...colder = higher resistance.

An open OAT (bumper sensor) would indicate EXTREME COLD outside and the system might compensate by increasing the cabin air OUTFLOW temperature beyond your comfort level, but not likely very much above your setpoint, on the average. An open OAT sensor on the other hand would result in the cabin temperature rising higher and higher.

Not recommended. Invest in a good set of winter tires with dedicated winter rims. This would be the best approach for you and the other drives you share the road with. Your family deserves it too! :)

The statement was...

I don't mean snow and ice.

With those exceptions, and often, mostly, even without them, summer tires will outperform ANY winter specialty tire.

On ice or heavily packed snow my summer tires have more CSA for traction than your winter specialty tires.

And be QUIETER and more COMFORTABLE riding to boot.

Has anyone ever tested winter specialty tires against just a good plain old summer tire in any condition other than with a "loose" surface...??

Like the rarity of finding good powder snow for skiing how often do you "find" just the right conditions wherein your winter specialty tires are worth the cost?

Can someone tell me WHY winter tires would use a rubber formulation to soften the tread any moreso than a summer tire is already?.

Besides which, just what is the downside to the manufacturers using the same formulation, softer tread in COLD conditions, in a summer tire?

Has anyone knowledge or indication that they don't...?

My '01 AWD RX300, and the two Jeeps that preceeded it, runs on nice and quiet, comfortably riding, summer tires, Bridgestone Turanzas the year 'round. One set of chains on board year 'round, for the rear, and the second set added onboard during the winter months.

2002 C4S What, if any, are the dangers or risks in using summer tires in 32 degree or lower temps? I don't mean snow and ice but just plain old northeast cold weather.

None....!!!

There are a lot of knowledgeable people in this thread. :eek: Anyway, thanks to the alternator going bad in time for the holidays, shipping is going to take a week...thought I would check back in and see how the debate was going. Which, I have my own opinions about, but all of you are making good points and arguments. Either way, my local wrench tells me that it is possible to kill the alternator if you try to charge a dead battery (that doesn't want to charge) as it will work doubly as hard to reach the require voltage and eventually burn its own diodes out. I know that on my previous 76 and 84 911's it was a no no to disconnect the battery while hte car was running as that would also kill the alternator/generator (whichever it had I don't know).

"...no no to disconnect the battery..."

Yes, YES, in SPADES.

Never, NEVER, have the battery disconnected with the engine running.

The battery is an integral part of the alternator/regulator voltage/current output regulating functionality.

Disconnect the battery with the engine running and the alternator voltage output will likely go into "orbit", excessive level and possibly blow EVERY solid state device in the car.

I don't know the physics of this but the regulator works using a PWM method. The following happens at the sub-millisecond level. The cycle starts by turning the alternator output FULL ON, full battery voltage applied to the rotor's magnetic circuit. Then as soon as the alternator output voltage reaches the "setpoint", ~13.6 volts, the regulator switches the rotor current full off. Now the regulator waits for the circuit voltage to decline to some nominal low level and then begins the cycle again.

A poorly charged battery will represent a high resistance to the charging current so the alternator voltage will rise to the setpoint with microseconds of full rotor voltage being applied. Since it is poorly charged it cannot sustain a high voltage level once the rotor voltage is switch off so the PWM duty cycle will be short.

Over the long term the battery will become fully charged, the battery internal resistance itself being used to regulate the charge RATE until the regulator high voltage limit is reached. That voltage regulator setpoint is to some extent a function of ambient temperature, the colder it is the higher the voltage will approach the upper limit.

Not to rain on anyone's parade...

Ah, hell, why not....

Insofar as overall magnetic, electro-magnetic design/structure is concerned a generator is just as efficient, or can be easily made just as efficient, as an alternator, and at the same speed. The sole difference is the method of rectifying the AC voltage. Yes, internally the generator, like the alternator produces AC voltage. Whereas the alternator uses solid state diodes for rectification the generator uses the brush/commutator method, mechanical method.

The only other difference is that the METAL in the generator will typically retain some small level of magnetism in the "field" over time so a push-started car will be able to recharge a TOTALLY DEAD battery.

Useless feature today.

Well, after swapping the battery with Interstate battery. The problem is back... ABS and Battery light is back on and the voltage hovers below 12 volts. When I drove around last night, the voltage shot up between just below 14 volts and the ABS and Battery light went away. I drove the car this morning and everything was fine until I parked the car for a couple of hours while doing a little shopping. When I returned and started the car again, to my dismay, the ABS and Battery light is back on and the voltage hovers around below 12 volts again.

The battery was tested and confirmed in excellent condition. I am how pondering if the problem could be a problem with the alternator which I am speculating right now. I did a some research on the forum and there has been mentioned of regulator on the alternator that may fix the problem. I am unsure what the regulator does. Has anyone experience a similar problem with mine? I've read that the alternator is extremely expensive. Any way of checking the alternator without removing it? I would appreciate any and all advice and guidance. Thanks

Ron

It sounds as if, truly, you have a load, battery drain, that is (intermittently) remaining on with the ignition completely off. Audio work maybe..??

Sounds to me like the alternator is not providing a charge to the battery - simply put if it's 14-14.4v then it is, if it's 12v or less then it's not. The alternator consists of two main parts, the generator (the large motor looking bit driven by the belt) - this generates Alternatng Current or AC voltage and the 'regulator' which is a series of things called diodes that convert the AC voltage into Direct Current (DC) that is used to charge/power your car.

Now the interesting thing is I have heard you can just replace the regulator if that s the problem - there is no need to replace the entire unit. However, I'm not sure if this can be done it situ or whether the alternator needs to come out.

For future refrence - the regulator is designed/rated to keep charge on an already charged battery - so using it to charge a flat batttery usually will strain the diodes in the regulator - possibly even overheat and destroy them. So if you ever get a flat battery - then charge from an external source - never from a 'long drive' after a quick jump start.

For a 90 amp alternator the diodes will usually be conservatively rated at 200 amps. In any case were the alternator to try and charge a completely DEAD battery at the maximum rate you would quite soon have an EXPLOSIVE situation due to the ~1000 watts heating the battery.

The PWM, Pulse Width Modulated, regulator design is such that battery charge rates that would be too high simply do not happen.

Additionally most alternators have a self-limiting electro-magnetic "structure" design insofar as maximum current output in concerned.

On the other hand it can take more than 24 hours on a charger for a completely DEAD battery to recover to the point of accepting a full charge.

As has been said - double check all the connections on the alternator / jump start points etc incl the main ground connection.

Agreed, absolutely...

To load test the alternator - (with a fully charged battery!) - run ALL the electrical items (full beam etc) and if the voltage is still 14-14.4v, then your alternator/regulator is good.

I hope this helps ..

Well, after swapping the battery with Interstate battery. The problem is back... ABS and Battery light is back on and the voltage hovers below 12 volts. When I drove around last night, the voltage shot up between just below 14 volts and the ABS and Battery light went away. I drove the car this morning and everything was fine until I parked the car for a couple of hours while doing a little shopping. When I returned and started the car again, to my dismay, the ABS and Battery light is back on and the voltage hovers around below 12 volts again.

The battery was tested and confirmed in excellent condition. I am how pondering if the problem could be a problem with the alternator which I am speculating right now. I did a some research on the forum and there has been mentioned of regulator on the alternator that may fix the problem. I am unsure what the regulator does. Has anyone experience a similar problem with mine? I've read that the alternator is extremely expensive. Any way of checking the alternator without removing it? I would appreciate any and all advice and guidance. Thanks

Ron

Check that the battery negative ground strap is tight on the nearby body stud and that the ground stud itself is TIGHT to the body.

Let the battery check in the dealership, i wonder why they give you the car back with the same problem.

The dealer isn't stupid, replace the alternator first, then the battery, more revenue, LOTS MORE REVENUE...!!

Mirror tilt is covered in your Owners Manual and has also been covered here (please do a search).

Do a search for daytime running lights also. On a 996 you have to do some wiring and add a relay (on US cars) to add daytime running lights. For 997s it is a programmable software switch.

On the 996 you can simply bridge the seat heating circuit, SOURCE side, into the street/parking/tail light circuit and have canadian style DRLs. The european 5 watt halogen in the headlamps operates on the same circuit.

Can anyone tell me if coils on a 2002 3.6 Carrera are internally or externally amplified?

thanks

Marcus

If you mean are the ignition coils actually step-up "transformers" then the answer is yes.

But externally the 12 volt battery voltage is "amplified" via a DC to DC inverter to ~300 volts and that is used as the coil primary

"switched" voltage.

12 volts to ~300 volts to ~25,000 volts.

Porsche uses a VC, Viscous Clutch, to couple the front driveline into the rear. Initial coupling coefficient is only about 5% and will increase to about 40% with an extended period of disparate wheel rotation at the rear vs the front, which CANNOT happen if Trac is active.

Same symptoms as mine when my battery died. Your alarm will probably go off soon.......

Yeah, I second that...sounds like the battery going.

No, it sounds a lot like poor battery connections due to the corrosive effects of battery vent gasses.

Remove, clean and burnish the battery posts and cable connections, recharge the battery, and make sure the battery gas vent hose is properly connected and routed OUTSIDE.

In recent weeks the steering on my AUG03 996 C2 UK spec car has begun to feel very light. Doesn't matter if I drive at 10 mph or 100mph, or any speed in between, it feels the same.

It's like driving on ice all the time (without all the skidding!)

I checked the front tyre pressure and they are at 36 psi. The car doesn't feel unstable - just very light steering.

I get no feedback from the road at all when driving. Almost like the power steering has got too much power.

I have an OPC warranty (done in June 07) and the MOT was done a few weeks ago. So hopefully if the steering was dangerous then it would have been picked up during the MOT or OPC checks.

Is this light steering normal? Should I get Porsche to look at it?

many thanks for any help

Most likely the high pressure bypass in the pump is plugged or the bypass itself has failed.