Kim

Izzy, I took it one step further. For $39 on ebay, I bought two (one for each seat) rubber inflatable bladders, each with its own bulb pump (think "blood pressure test") so that it can be pumped for max comfort. The bladders are inserted in the exact spot you indicate with the arrow. They work great. I could not spend a lengthy time in the seat without this or an equivalent.

Izzy, It is my understanding that after designing the 996 power seat to have power lumbar support, Porsche quickly discontinued this feature, and ceased installing the control (hence, the blank cover on the seat side) .... due to the system being frought with problems.

If the Targa is like the Cab in this respect, then that switch also turns on the side mirror heat.

I agree with most that PPI is important. It does not have to be a Porsche dealer, but, if not, should be someone who knows these cars. Some dealers only give it lip service. The dealer that did mine did a complete and excellent job, and then went over the results with me. It cost over $300, but was money well spent. The Litronic upgrade is fairly easy. Lots of DIY info available. Takes a couple of hours. Check with board sponsor Sunset Porsche for a price. Also Brandywine and Suncoast. Price seems to be about $1500 these days with the wiring harness. Lots of info on this subject available through a Search. Don't know what the clear taillights cost, but changing them is about a 2 minute job. Open the engine cover; remove one 10mm bolt from the side of the light unit, rotate the unit up and out; unplug the electrical connection. Reverse to reinstall. I don't think the CDR23 will work on non-MOST bus cars (pre 03, I think), but am not sure. Investigate that before you buy. If I am correct, then the CDR-220 would be the most recent OEM radio you could put in. They are available on ebay in the $250 range. Lots of help available here. Learn to use the search feature to save yourself much time (and the occasional chiding).

Glad to hear it. Whats with the "Sky King"? Are you a pilot, too?

Joe ... the DIY I followed was not from a manufacturer. I just used the flash to pass wire lead to provide power for my own 12v opener, taking the place of the battery. The lead sounds like it should be the same you are asking about, however. Its in a bundle just to the passenger side of the battery. When you think you've found it, use a test light to make sure. Take a look at these. Wiring diagram of the headlight. Will use the white wire that powers the flash to pass headlight. Next 2 photos show an easy place to access this wire. Just to the passenger side of the battery in a bundle of wires. Use a wire tap to connect the positive lead to the white wire.

Just FYI .... the Becker removal tools cost only a couple of bucks from Becker. I have ended up with an extra set. PM me an address & I will mail them to you.

Izzy, glad it worked out. I did the V-1 install a good while before I found the TSB on remote range and learned how to remove the A pillar trim .... otherwise, I would have done the same. I should have thought to alter my suggestion based upon that. Where did you mount your remote display? I initially thought directly on top of the steering column, in front of the instrument panel would be ideal .... but am not comfortable with obscuring the warning lights. I've also considered putting it in the storage tray under my radio, but that is not much more in the line of sight than the main unit on the windshield.

Sid, You are awry. Fog light is not a part of this discussion. The Litronic unit has a Halogen hi beam and a Xenon HID low beam. When the electronics are connected during the retrofit, the HID low beam will rotate up to join the halogen hi beam to increase visibility (significantly, in my view). There are also fog and turn bulbs in the unit, but they are not involved in this question or process.

I believe the ROW cars have motion and vibration components to their alarm systems that are not included in the US version. Whether that explains the difference or not .... experience shows there is no motion sensor for the interior of my 2000 Cab when the top is down. Additionally, from page 22 of the MY2000 Owners' Manual (bold print is Porsche's): "The infrared passenger compartment monitoring system is always switched off when the convertible top is open".

Search the web for RaggTop cleaner and protectant products. They are terrific.

If by "minor orange stuff", you're talking about the triangle shaped pieces in the outer corners ..... those are replaceable with clear. Costs about $40, I seem to remember.

Sid, I have observed that the only apparent cost effective source of the clear, halogen lights is an owner who has swapped out his for the Litronic retrofit. I put mine up on ebay after the conversion, and was thrilled to get $600 .... exactly half what I had paid for the Litronic kit. As for the difference, Loren has posted the official description. Suffice it to say that halogen lights are the changeable bulbs that have been common in cars for a number of years now. Much brighter than the old technology sealed beam units, and usually less than $!0 to replace ... unless you are using the "off road use only" higher wattages. (no good for our plastic headlights, by the way). "Litronic" is Porsche's inexplicable name for high intensity discharge bulbs (HID) using xenon gas. These are the very white (bluish) lights you see coming at you on newer cars. These 35 watt bulbs typically produce about 3 times the light of a 55 watt halogen bulb. Although they do not always do so, HID bulbs are generally expected to last the life of the car, unlike the halogens. As Loren's text points out, the lights in the Porsche Litronic retrofit kit are not "bi-xenon" like newer, factory Porsche lights. They use the HID bulb for the low beam, and a typical halogen bulb for the high beam. If the electonics are installed, the low beam HID bulb will rotate up to join the halogen bulb when lights are switched to hi beam.

The DIY Loren has referenced is one of the most complete and thorough I have seen.However, if you don't wish to get quite so technically involved, the phone connection you mention is an excellent and quick way to go. Remove the passenger side, carpeted cover directly forward of the radio stack, you will see the empty, 4 pin plug just sitting there. The switched hot that you need is readily identifiable with a test light. It should be the Green / Black stripe wire.PIN OUT for Phone Accessory Plug:1 red/green 12v +2 green/black 12v + switched3 yellow/black Tel. Mute4 brown groundTo access this power source, I placed my V-1 just to the right of the rear view mirror, and right up against the windshield frame. I plugged one modular end into the V-1, and cut the modular plug off the other end (first, note the color order). Using a credit card to do the stuffing, I simply stuffed the wire behind the molding of the windshield frame, ran it across the top to the A-pillar, and down the front of the A-pillar, stuffing all the way.At that point, I manipulated it through the seam in the dash, right at that location. A tight fit, but not difficult. (this is why you cut off the modular plug).Run the wire under the dash in any convenient route, to the area behind the radio where the unused, 4 pin phone plug is sitting. Use a Radio Shack (or equivalent) modular phone tool to reapply a modular end. (be sure to keep the color order of wires the same as when you cut it off to begin with).Use the V-1 Aux adaptor (see photo), and wire its red wire in a splice into the switched hot on the Porsche phone connector. The Aux adaptor's ground wire is already equipped with a lug which can go under a convenient nut in the dash structure.Plug the modular lead from your V-1 into the proper jack on the Aux Adaptor, and you're in business.Note that only a 3-4 inch lead of the V-1 phone wire is exposed. This is the V-1 Aux Adaptor: A wide shot of the location of the Porsche phone connector. Yours will not have the black tape on it: A closer shot of the phone connector: Wires: Brown, Yellow/Black, Green/Black, Green/Red.

What you are describing sounds like the lead for a power antenna (which we don't have, of course). In a car with a power antenna, the antenna lead stays hot (even after key is removed) so that the antenna can retract. Antenna motor then shuts itself off via internal contacts. Could it be that Becker includes this as part of a universal wiring set up ... in case the radio is used in something other than a 996?

If you get a new factory motor, installed by Porsche mechanics .... then the car will not be the same one that has "history" of engine failure. That old engine is gone, having suffered a failure rare enough so that most on this board probably have never heard of it. Chassis in the great shape you describe, plus a brand new motor .... would make it, in my mind, much more desirable than an equal car with the original motor if I were shopping .... assuming you had the paper work to support the qualified installation of a factory new engine. If you value it less yourself, then some lucky buyer will probably get a great deal.

Yeah, the extra Y-connector is a nice touch. Wonder why they didn't just supply an extra Porsche one? Maybe its not a normal stock item. The extra rubber tube elbows were in my kit, also. I guess Porsche just can't be sure exactly what kind of vacuum plumbing each installation will require. I cut up those elbows and used the short pieces to convert my Napa Y-connector to female ends. I had bought tubing from Napa, but the non-metric size was not really a tight fit on the Porsche side of the connections, so I was glad to have these elbows. My only experience with Suncoast has been in securing a rear bumper when I recently backed into another car in my driveway. They gave a great price that, even with shipping, was hundreds lower than local retail minus the PCA discount. Just as importantly, they were extremely pleasant to deal with on the phone .... acting as if my business mattered to them. That is very important to me. If Ellis Porsche, here in Atlanta, gave me that feeling, I might not mind paying a higher price in order to shop locally. I have always been amazed that such a basic business prinicple seems to escape so many companies.

The cat clamps, vacuum hose unions, and 2 Y-connectors are standard in the kit. The extra male Y-connector they threw in must mean they are reading RennTech .... I can think of no other explanation. In reading your post, and having posted the PSE parts list for a reader in another thread, I just figured out why the switch is not included as a matter of course. The first lines of the parts list specify that the console switch, left or right of the radio, should be "ordered according to the vehicle equipment". Porsche, for whatever reason, intends that the PSE switch be installed on the driver's side. Since the PSE kit is a 'whole world' item, including a switch as already packed in the kit would lead to a good chance of it being a switch for the wrong side. So, they leave it out of the kit and instruct the installer .... whom they probably assume to be the dealer .... to order the correct one. Mystery solved .... I listened to many, many clips of the PSE and other, aftermarket exhausts prior to buying mine. None of the clips was any real indication of how these exhausts sound .... nor of the reverb and resonance that might or might not accompany them. The only way to get any advance idea of which you prefer is to hear them in person ... in my opinion.

The little blue plastic things are dust boots that go over the wires and into the back of the connector that plugs into the vacuum switch in the engine compartment. Note the last entry in the portion of the parts list:

Although that has the look of the full monty, its impossible to tell from such a picture. There are many very small parts included, such as the pins for the electrical connectors. The parts list is included with the PSE TSB. Here is a screen shot of it:

Not only have the genuine service manuals racheted up in price (to over $1000 list), Porsche doesn't seem anxious to fill orders, even at that price. (based on anecdotal evidence). There are a number of CD versions (with pdf files) floating around. It seems obvious that someone has scanned the entire set of manuals, vintage MY00 or so (8 or 9 notebooks), and marketed to varying degrees of success. I've seen prices on ebay (though not lately, it seems) ranging from $30 to $170 dollars. Be aware that such a manual version would not include the numerous periodic factory updates. Still, in my experience, such a product is far better than nothing, and can be a great help as long as one recognizes its limitations.

In researching a fix for my unglued rear window seam, I found a couple of top shops (Atlanta area) that would sew in my window for approximately $600. I did not investigate a new plastic window. The "zip in" appearance is not for "zip in, zip out" (as my 64 Corvair was) but simply part of the OEM construction, a one-time shot. I am not aware that Porsche sell the rear window as a separate part number. I looked, but did not find a glass replacement window for the 996. I settled for a new, after market German top that is identical to the OEM one .... with the exception that the rear window is stitched all around, as opposed to relying on a glued seam. Wonder why. Fit, finish, and quality are great. Cost $1900.

I have a pair of MY00 muffler cans, taken off for PSE intallation. 52K miles, with a nice mellow tone. Includes Cat clamps, but no brackets, as I had to use old brackets on my PSE cans. Free if you pick them up (I live in Atlanta area). I would ship, but you probably don't wish to pay the freight on 52 pounds + packing at shipper. I also have a brand new pair of muffler brackets for 02 and newer 996s. These were attached to my PSE cans upon arrival, and had to be removed for reason mentioned above. Includes long and short bolts in both sides. I will ship these upon request, and charge only actual packing & shipping costs. If I have a box that will fit, I will pack myself and save you that much. Bracket part #'s: 996.111.237.02 & 996.111.238.02 Let me know via PM.

Beautiful car. I'll take a whack at a couple of your questions: -Rear Bumper Removal - Could someone provide me with a link, best w/ install pictures. Its really easy. Send me a PM with an email address, and I will send you the directions that have been shared with me. -Keys - can i program new keys on my own or do i need to bring it to the dealership. New keys can be programmed by a dealer only. You can order a key pre-cut by proving ownership to a Porsche dealer. The key head must be mated to your car's computer, and this requires a code that PCNA will share only with a dealer. -Online parts - suncoast the cheapest? Suncoast is very nice to work with, but I have found Sunset (Oregon) to be slightly lower in price. Depending upon where you live, and the weight of the part, then shipping from Oregon might offset the savings. Jeff at Sunset is terrific to work with. Phil at Suncoast is very helpful also. Recent example: new rear bumper for my 00 Cab. List: $812 + 6% tax.; Suncoast: $612 + $80 shipping; Sunset: $564 + $100 shipping. -CD changer - I remember in my boxster i purchased a becker cd change that worked perfect w/ my porsche/becker radio for around $300 but i cannot remember where, does this exist for the 996? Probably the exact same changer. Pretty pricey OEM, but often on Ebay for $300 or so. Many guys here going with an iPod running through the Becker radio instead. How much would a new key cost me? Cut key (metal portion) was $80 (from Sunset). I bought a key head (must have bar code tag) on ebay for $50. Local Porsche dealer charged $50 to program 2 heads for me. Hope that helps,

My experience in similar situations has been that, the longer I wait for a solution, the less urgent it becomes for the shop, and the less perceived leverage I have in getting it satisfactorily resolved. I would set them up with Sunset Porsche to get the part .... that alone is going the extra mile on your part. Shipped to them, it will still cost less than they can buy it from the local Porsche dealer. You have no shared responsibility here, and owe them nothing. My personal take is that I would inform them I want it fixed .... right now. Kim 2000 Cab