umn

Well, both cars have quite different handling characteristics due to, amongst other things, their different polar moment of inertia (PMI). That is obviously reflected in the suspension, which is why the Boxster has, at least according to the parts catalogue, different springs and different shock absorbers. There is no point to drive a low PMI car (boxster) with the same suspension as a high PMI car (996), and there is even less point to use 996 shock absorbers with 986 springs, simply because damping characteristics of the 996 shock absorbers will not match the spring rate of the 986 springs. It is generally safe to assume that Porsche has put some thought into matching the springs and shock absorbers to the car, which is also why aftermarket springs without matching shock absorbers (and possibly anti-roll bars) is not such a good idea. Cheers, Uwe

55 minutes ... not bad, even by your standards! I have long given up wondering if you'll be able to answer my questions, it is just a matter of how many minutes it takes you. ;) To make it harder, I might have to start asking questions in the middle of the night, or maybe pertaining to some obscure country version "I don't understand menu option 3 on my Korean-language navigation system"... As ever, thank you very much for your help, Uwe

Hi Loren, as my 80,000 km service is coming up, I was wondering if you could perhaps post some instructions on how to change the fuel filter. Not even sure about its exact location, I think it is under the passenger's door sill? With that, I think we should have covered pretty much all the maintenance items. Also, I need to change the gasket for the oil pressure relief valve. Could you perhaps tell me the part number and the required torque? Cheers, Uwe

Hi Jeff, I think he might be talking abouth the passenger-side airbag-cover as opposed to the passenger side-airbag-cover. :unsure: Cheers, Uwe

Hi, on comparable tyres, they are pretty much identical. Which is interesting, considering that the 911 monobloc four-pot calipers are a hell of a lot more expensive than the single-pots of the M3. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, if it's the oil pump I'd have it changed now. Why don't you go to a dealer and see what he says. I suspect on a 986 you'd have to lower the engine a bit to change it. Cheers, Uwe

Sorry, I might be a bit slow, but why don't you go to a decent garage and have it looked at rather then second-guessing over the Internet and speculating about engine replacements? Cheers, Uw

No, they do a lot more. They screw up the carefully designed and finely tuned steering geometry of your car. Basically, spacers increases the leverage under which forces are being introduced into the car's suspension. The first thing to go is usually the wheel bearings, but damaged wheel carriers are also known. Perhaps more worryingly, they make the car more unstable under certain conditions. The reasons are highly technical, but here is a copy of something I wrote as an answer to the question why Porsche do not recommend spacers of more than 5mm on the front: "The main issue with spacers [on front wheels] is that they change the scrub radius. Most modern car manufacturers advocate negative scrub radius (BMW being the notable exception), because it stabilises the vehicle under "split mu" breaking, i.e. breaking with right and left front wheels on different friction surfaces. A 986 (I haven't got 996 data here, but I assume it's the same) has a scrub radius of -7mm. That's *negative* scrub radius which stabilises the vehicle under split mu breaking. Introducing spacers decreases this, i.e. if you use 5mm spacers, you are left with a scrub radius of -7mm+5mm=-2mm. You get very close to a positive scrub radius, and in real life with an asymetric contact patch you might already be there. If you fit 15mm spacers, you get a *positive* scrub radius of 8mm, which destabilises the vehicle under split mu breaking and is pretty much the opposite of what the manufacturer intended." Basically, under unfavourable conditions you can send your car into a nice spin ... Cheers, Uwe

That's what I would have done ... Having said that, I kind of expected you, Toolpants, to quickly nip down to your garage, take out your seat, take it apart, shoot a video and overnight it to Scouser. :cheers: Cheers, Uwe

OK, this is getting a bit too far ... AFAIK, all MY 2000 Carrera 2 have the same G96/00 box (this can be easily verified with the parts catalogue). It is however true that sometimes there are country-specific versions of gearboxes because of emission or noise regulations. For instance, the MY94 993 had a G50/20 box for Switzerland, US and Australia and a G50/21 box for ROW. Also, I think there were some country-specific versions for Japan ... Cheers, Uwe

I'm afraid they are. UK engines turn the other way around, so they need different gearboxes, otherwise your car will indeed go backwards. Fear not: you'd still have one forward gear, just six reverse gears seem a bit excessive.

Hi, you need to have someone competent have a look at it and establish if it is oil, condensation or fuel. White/grey on startup is normally either rich mixture or condensation and therefore harmless. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, don't know much about boxsters, but on a 996 if you've got an oil leak in that area it is usually one of two things: 1) the seal of what you called the "water drain plug" which is probably the oil pressure relief valve. The seal is a metal/rubber seal, costs about a tenner and can be changed without draining the oil. 2) the seal of the oil pump. There is an o-ring that seals the case of the oil pump against the crank case and that sometimes gets hard. Because of the pressure involved it usually makes quite a mess. Cheers, Uwe

Didn't want to lecture ... :oops:

Hi Don, I hate to break the news to you, but you can't change the gear ratios in your box. This is because the gears for first and second are fixed to the input shaft and the gears for third to sixth are fixed to the output shaft, i.e. can not be removed. Also, neither Porsche nor GETRAG (who make the box) sell you any spares. NB: this is not true for the G50-derived boxes in the GT2/3 and TTs. Even if you could change the gears, I don't think you would be able to improve 0-60 or top speed. As 0-60mph (or 0-100km/h) is such a common measure in consumer magazines, most sports car gearboxes are designed with that in mind. If you look at the G96/00 gearbox diagramm, you'll see that you hit 100km/h close to the end of second gear (about 6500 rpm), which is what you want. And you reach top speed at 7000 rpm, which is where the engine has its maximum power output and again that is exactly what you want. It might be possible to improve quarter mile performance with a shorter box, I don't know. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, the A-pillar trim needs to go, otherwise in gets scratched when you pull out the dash trim. Incidentally, if it hasn't already been done, it is worthwhile sticking a bit of felt on the A-pillar where it touches the air vents and the dash trim. Makes the car a bit quieter. Cheers, Uwe

The procedure that "bet" explained is exactly what the factory recommends and indeed uses for their Cup-cars. For the front, they do not recommend using the sub-frame #20 to jack up the car. Besides, it's covered by a plastic panel, so you'd have to remove that first. (IMHO if you absolutely must, use the jack at the point where the sub-frame is bolted to the chassis, but that would obviously be off-centre.) For the rear, the preferred point is the oil pan, but use a piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan. The factory recons that you could probably use the cross-member #20 at the rear, but the oil pan is preferable. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, RMS takes longer, because you have to take the flywheel off. 2 hours seems unrealistic. I've seen it done in the factory in Stuttgart and at a Porsche dealership, both times it took about 4-5 hours, and they charge you about 6 hours. As for the gearbox, there may be light at the end of the tunnel. When I was in Stuttgart before X-mas, they told me that GETRAG (who make the gearbox) will start selling reconditioned gearboxes soon, which will make replacement a lot cheaper. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, I would NEVER use Mobil 1 10W30. I've explained the reason here: My diatribe on 5W30 The exact same argument applies to Mobil 1 10W30. It is only ACEA A1 and A5 approved, but not A3, which is what matters for P-cars. The main reason why it is not approved is that the HTHS viscosity is only 3.17 mPa.s, which is too low. Also, 10W30 gets very thin at high temperatures, even thinner than 5W30 of 0W30. Put in 0W-40, and you are fine. FWIW, I wouldn't follow dealer oil recommendations, unless they are backed up by written Porsche approval. Cheers, Uwe

That's absolutely normal, particularly in winter. It is an emulsion of oil vapour and water condensation and therefore technically similar to mayonnaise, which is also an oil-in-water emulsion, with oil being the dispersed phase. I haven't tried the Mobil 1 mayonnaise yet, but I suspect it might be a bit of an acquired taste. How much oil does the car use and approx. how much does the oil needle jerk up and down? What's the mileage of the car? :cheers: Uwe

Hi Don+Jeff, thanks very much for your help. So it looks like this is the way it's supposed to be. Funny, for even with a nut welded on it would still be able to function as a drain hole. Excellent idea to just put in a longer bolt and a nut on the other side, I think that's what I'm going to do. Sorry, can't help you with the tilt sensor straight away, because my car is German spec and hasn't got a tilt sensor. Next time I'm at the dealer's here I'll take a pic for you. Cheers, Uwe

Hi, my battery was on its last legs which at this time of year is not ideal. I therefore got myself a new battery. I got a Bosch Silver 88 Ah (type 8A), which I know a lot of people here in Europe fit into their Carreras. This battery is slightly longer than the original 80 Ah Moll. My problem is that the battery fits into the tray, but I can't bolt it down. There a four holes on the right side of the tray (left side if you look from the front) to accomodate different sizes of batteries. I need the outermost one. My problem is that only three of them actually have nuts attached to them to screw in the bolt, the outermost one doesn't have a nut in it, so I can't screw in the bolt. My question: - Is this intentional or is it just a manufacturing defect? - Are there different types of trays around for different models? Cheers, Uwe 2000 996 C2

Hi, I know I'm a day late, but here's my take on it: There is no cam cover seal, it's just metal on metal with a bit of silicon sealant (used to be Dreibond, now changed) in between. If such a seal is leaking, just tightening the bolts is in my opinion bad workmanship and not surprisingly it is leaking now again. They need to take off the cam covers, clean off the old sealant carefully and thoroughly, re-seal it and put the covers back on. Cleaning off the old sealant is a fiddle, so mechanics like to avoid it. Don't know about your downtown parking problem. The only thing I could possibly think of is the lower oxygen content in the air if it is an underground car park. But if it stalls, there is definitely something wrong. It's of course a pain if you can't reproduce it at the dealer's. Cheers, Uwe

"Design changes" is a bit of an understatement. MY02 has a Mercedes-Benz 'box (A96/50). :D :D :D Cheers, Uwe

Thanks for your help, Loren. It looks like the problem is the O-ring that seals the oil pump against the crank case. Cheers Uwe