beej

Digging into 125,000 miles now with my '99 daily driver 996 C2... and I've just had to have the M030 suspension replaced. The OEM sports exhaust corroded (it's not stainless!) and I had to replace that as well.

Hi all,

Has anyone had to replace the rubber seal for the rear window? On my 1998 996 C2, one of the bottom corners came loose in a car wash and it doesn't sit well when pushed back in.

The PET suggests that the seal is 996 545 521 04. There's also plastic trim part 996 545 545 01 but this doesn't look like it needs changing.

Can this work be done as a self-repair? Perhaps I'm not doing it right. If anyone has been through this themselves, I'd appreciate any advice! :)

BJ

Hi James,

Not OEM replacement bushes, no.

But I did keep costs down by finding OEM quality parts on eBay!

(I had poly bushes on a previous car but didn't like the firmness)

Beej

Just to end this, in case it helps anyone else: picked up the 996 today and the engineer showed me the parts he replaced. The rear suspension parts, AFAICT from 11 years of history never replaced before, the rubber bushes were certainly deteriorated and he showed the passenger side wishbone had play in it which was resulting in a clunk on bumps, and presumably the shimmy at the rear.

He also showed part of the chassis (or sub-frame?) where it had cracked when he was trying to remove the eccentric screw which had over 11 years... become "as one" with the suspension. He'd drilled it out and then hit it with a hammer, and that had cracked the sub-frame itself. Cast aluminium isn't infinitely strong!

Looked for the PET part of that chassis part to share the knowledge, but didn't find it. Under the engine mount somewhere :)

While the lower wishbones were being fitted, some problems were found, so I'm having to replace the control arm (996.341.043 which is #17 on PET sheet 501) as well as the eccentric screw (what a great name for a part! 996.331.217) which has had to be drilled out :(

The control arms I've found at an affordable price online, but had to go to Porsche for the eccentric screw. I'm buying pairs as I want both sides of the car done. You might find the 996 screw has been deleted so using the 997 screw instead.

I've never had to pay 17 pounds for a screw before... :)

Hi fellas,

I recently fitted an ipod cable to my CDR22. Bought it from ebay where it was described as for Becker stereos. I knew it wouldn't change my Nano, but it ended up blowing the Nano, and the replacement Nano, so I'm playing it safe and replacing the cable with a 3.5" jack instead!

I've got no more details. Thanks for the advice - it seems the right thing to do is get the arm not just a poly replacement for the bushes, so I've gone and got "OEM-equivalent" replacements for £130 each rather than £250 that the dealer wants. Booked in for the repair next week.

Many thanks!

Howdy folks,

I can feel increased lateral movement at the back of the car depending on road bumps, thick paint on lane changes, and so on. Last year's MOT test [sorry, don't know what this annual check is called in the USA] brought out that the bushes on the rear lower suspension arms, both sides of the car, were deteriorating.

My local guy wants to replace the arm as well as the bush, with the OEM part (probably 996.341.053) costing £250/$400 each. I didn't ask the dealer yet.

Yet poly bushes seem to be available on their own. But would that do the job, or do I risk replacing the deteriorating bushes only to find there's still a bit of a shimmy at the back of the car?

Thanks if you more experienced guys have an opinion :)

thanks Loren - turns out that the plastic part on the left is not the one in the PET - replaced now, and slots in and screws fine :D thanks

Hi everyone,

This is about the front plate on my 996. European style not USA, ok! :)

The front plate fell off (fortunately at work) and I wanted to solve this by getting a new plate... the current one is 10 years old anyway and tatty. The dealer printed a new plate (12GBP) and provided new screws and end caps (88 pence!). The bracket is new enough. But they didn't have replacements for the nylon clips that fix the bracket to the bumper.

Last night I drilled the plate and mounted it. But here's the problem - the bracket just won't stay on the car.

How is the bracket supposed to stay locked inside the two square holes on the front bumper? The white plastic part on the left of this photo doesn't click home. What am I doing wrong? :(

Brilliant! Thank you for explaining, very kind of you to help out.

Hi Loren and others,

There was an object rattling under my seat, and I've finally found what it was.

Can anyone please tell me if this is a part from the car that needs reattaching, or just junk? :)

Thanks very much!

While checking the oil tonight, the engine compartment lid closed on me. It hangs in the open position for just a couple of seconds, then starts falling. Any tips on a quick fix for it to stay open or shall I get a good stick? :)

Update. The air con pipe was replaced without dropping the engine; it was the forward half of the pipe not the back half that leads to the engine bay. Access through the driver side wheel arch.

Sadly, the cold air lasted a day, and it's gone again. The engineer said that it was gassed with some UV fluid (?) to make it easier to find the (new?) leak. Fingers crossed it isn't the compressor, I've been hoping to avoid the cost of that part :(

Update. This time, done PROPERLY.

The leak has been found on the pipework under the car, on the right hand side about half-way between front and rear wheels. The pipe is leaking just under where it is clamped to the chassis. The engineer is investigating options. Is it one single metal pipe running from front to back, requiring engine to be dropped to replace?

He handed me a print-out from the machine - which stated it vacuumed no refrigerant out, pumped in 850g and detected no leaks.

Is the compressor in the 996 affected by sitting in the sun? After work yesterday, there was no cold air. But first thing this morning, before the sun could shine on the car, it was blowing cold-ish air (not icy cold, but cold) and I drove to work in luxury. Confusing :(

One option is to go back to the garage and see if the 850g is still in there.

I took my 102,000 miles 1998 C2 in to regas the aircon at the local garage. The machine confirmed 0kg of refrigerant in the system, detected no leaks, and took 20 minutes to pump in 0.85kg with 10ml of oil. The car was driven out of the workshop into the sun, and when I collected it 30 mins afterwards, the car blew very cold air at me so I was happy.

This morning however, another hot day in the UK, and the car is back to blowing ambient air - it's not cold at all :(

I'm hoping the compressor isn't shot - it can definitely be heard to kick in when the button is pressed - and it worked during winter when it was cold outside.

There aren't many posts I could find about basic aircon maintenance so I'm looking for advice :)

1998 996 C2 - now 101,000 miles!

I'm the fourth owner :)

oil seal @ 21,000

cam seal @ 36,000

new clutch, coolant tank @ 63,000

cam seal @ 68,000 (and a load of other seals, sleeves and rings)

cam seals @ 70,000

seal ring @ 73,000

clutch release @ 76,000

new gearbox @ approx 80,000

Blue Pearl complete respray @ approx 80,000 (previous owner had a girlfriend incident...)

ignition barrel @ 85,000

corroded brake pipes, radiator fan, clutch/slave repair @ 93,000

oil separator @ 93,000

radiator @ 99,000 (pressure test found coolant leak from possible stone damage)

I've left out oil/brakes/suspension/sensors. Of all those seals, one was about 20p and I presume that is RMS? At present mileage, car needs discs and pads all round, and I can feel suspension arms/bushes need attention, and possibly sway bar too as car clunks when I get in and switch on.

Car is now a daily driver :)

Many thanks both. The keys look significantly different, so I've bought the correct set from eBay UK and will bin these ones that came with the car.

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all the talk and advice so far. I went into German and Swedish car parts (gsfcarparts dot com, a UK trade supplier) hoping for a near match to the Porsche pink coolant, but the best they could come up with was Febi Bilstein 19400 purple coolant. Here's the datasheet online:

http://www.febi.com/en/jsp/download.jsp?fi...frostschutz.pdf

Ethyleneglycol (=1,2-Ethanediol)

Na-2-EH-hexanoate

Methyl-1H-BTZ

For just topping up, what do you think? If not, I'll scrap this plan and just go with what my Indy has, or buy the branded stuff.

I've a 996, which I think has had the replacement coolant lid because it screws very tight (doesn't click or anything) and there's no sign of any residues :)

Hello,

Are these keys, the ones which came with my 996, correct? I can slot them into the CDR-22 but they don't let me pull the thing out. These keys in my hand are on eBay UK as "Becker Radio Removal Keys".

Maybe the previous owner of my car bought the wrong ones? Or am I just really useless? :(