Long Islander

Hi,

The leather on my seats (black interior) are beginning to crack a little on the head rest. Any one know what my options are on repairing it or should I just get new seats?

Thanks,

Raymond

If it's just a little crack, I would re-dye it. I had Color Plus custom mix some leather dye for me, and I'm very happy with the results. With black seats, no need for custom mix.

I dyed the entire seat, using their brush that leaves no brush strokes. You can easily do it without removing the seat. Just make sure you cover up all around. Or, you can just put some dye on a cotton cloth and rub it over the cracked areas, and then wipe off the excess. The cracks will be filled in and you won't even notice them anymore. This should take no more than 5 minutes.

You might want to take a look at this web site:

http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog.htm

Only $29.95 per pair for H7s.

Mine makes a banging noise over bumps when closed. When tipped up, it seems fine. I'd have to experiment with it open before I can say.

Sounds like the rattle I had some years back. If I pressed my finger up against the back rear edge of the sunroof, the noise would go away. I spayed some silicone or WD40 (can't remember which) on a towel and ran it along the back edge of the sunroof frame (back rubber part). The noise went away and never came back. You might need to do a couple of passes at it. Good luck.

The Zanio stuff is just fine, and another swirl remover that I found easier top use and gave better results was the Meguires Swirl remover. It works best with an orbital buffer, but you can get good results by hand as well.

After you do the swirl remover, give the car a good coat of Rejex, that will help you keep the paint surface looking good longer.

I hope I'm not too late to this thread, but aren't all these "swirl removal" products merely silicone-based fillers that don't remove the scratches and swirls, but just fill them in so that you don't notice them? The significance of that is that the silicone eventually washes away, and your scratches and swirls come back. In addition, I spoke to the manufacturer of Rejex, and they said that any silicone-based polishes limit the ability of Rejex to stick to your car, so your protection is not as long lasting. They recommended either Menzerna Final Polish II or 3M Imperial Glaze to polish and remove light scratches. I've been using Menzerna for some time now, and I like the results. It has a mild abrasive that's just enough to get out minor surface scratches in the clearcoat without any silicones.

Is there a kit for an auto dimming mirror with Homelink? I noted the tsb on this subject but it is without Homelink.

Well, yes and no. You could buy this Homelink auto-dimming mirror with the Homelink remote, but they didn't bother to make an adapter that let's you directly attach it to a Porsche 996 mirror.

http://www.aaaremotes.com/aurevimiwiho.html

At least, that was what they told me when I called them about a year ago. You could just remove your Porsche mirror and stick their mount just below it on your windshield, but that won't look too great. You could go to an auto glass shop and see if they can remove the Porsche mirror mount, but I'd ask first before I bought this.

Let us know what you find/decide.

I currently have a black, self adhesive "Carrera" emblem on the back of my 2000 C2. For aesthetic reasons, I have ordered and will be replacing the original black emblem with another silver, self adhesive "Carrera" emblem. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to remove the original emblem and it's residual adhesive backing from the car without damaging the paint surfaces?

Thank you.

CAUTION! Make sure you get the correct "Carrera" emblem. Starting in model year 2002, Porsche started installing the Carrera emblem lower down (close to the bumper), where the engine lid is curved upward. As a consequence, the top of the "C" in Carrera is concave. If you get that emblem, the top of the C will stick up from the engine lid when you place it in your original location. There's a thread on this from 2005 when I discovered this myself (after torturing myself).

You need to get part no. 996-559-237-07-4PU (for silver). If the parts guy says that has been superceded by part no. 996-559-237-10-4PU, go to another parts guy. If you really can't find the 07-04PU part, then you'll need to stick the new one on where the 2002+ models have it.

Nice upgrade, in both cases. What was the difference in ride quality when you switched to the 18" wheels?

has anyone tried using an exterior motion detector on their car and if so what brand and does porsche make one that is compatible with the already existing factory alarm. Thanks already had car vandalized once and would like to deter futher idiots.

I'm not aware of any such thing as an exterior motion detector, but when I bought my 2001 coupe (7 years ago), I had a Stinger Doubleguard shock sensor and Directed Electronics 504m tilt sensor installed by a local car stereo shop. Both are made by Directed Electronics, the manufacturer of Viper car alarms (www.directed.com). Both were devices meant to integrate easily with factory alarms, but of course, nothing is so easy. One of them (I think it was the tilt sensor) required at least three return trips to the shop to get sorted out, and only after I got someone from DE on the phone with my installer (who was a very experienced and talented guy). My advice would be to pick a shop that's close to home, because it's likely to take several return trips to them before it works right.

Anyone running 9x17 wheels with 255/40 rubber in the front for track days on a narrow body 996 ? and/or do you know it will work

Thanks

Jeremy

I doubt they'll fit. I have the standard 17" wheels with 205/55 tires in the front, and with 15mm spacers, they barely clear when turned full lock in either direction. You might be able to get 225/50's on there, but your best bet is to check with a place like Wheel Enhancement or Tire Rack.

Interesting.

I had a feeling that someone might have your experience. I figured that a 911 might feel like it had a LSD because so much weight is on the rear tires that it takes a lot of lateral g to break it loose and thus puts the car into a slide, oversteering rather that just spinning the inside wheel.

But enough theory - anyone else throwing it around - what's the word?

Oh and I wouldn't mind hereing the details of your 02, mwetter.

I have a 2001 C2 with standard 17" tires, and the car plows heavily, especially when accelerating. I think Porsche was so concerned about tail-happy handling, that they tuned the suspension for a lot of understeer. I was told you could correct this problem by having a Porsche dealer do a GT2 (or maybe it was GT3) alignment, but I haven't done that.

It seems finding a small piece of high density polyethylene plastic without buying a large sheet of it is proving difficult for many. I spoke with someone at Plastic Supply Inc. (800-832-6774), www.plastic-supply.com, and they are willing to sell small remnant pieces for a nominal sum and mail it out. You can also try doing a search on the internet for Starboard, Seaboard or Marineboard.

Any suggestions on width size? I'm planning on 7mm in the front, and 14mm in the rear. Does it really look bad going larger than that in the rear?

Don't even bother with 7mm -- you won't notice the difference. Go with 15mm front from H&R. I did this on my 17" stock wheels and the difference is noticeable. I left the rear wheels as is.

Where can I buy all of the different types of fluids for my 2003 C2? - such as transmission oil, power steering, brake fluid, Mobil1, etc.

I live in Houston so does anyone know of a good place nearby?

I've found that DOT 4 brake fluid is hard to come by locally in my area, so I order ATE Super Gold from www.cdoc.com. The only other place I've found locally that has DOT 4, of course, is the Porsche dealer, whose prices are much higher and parts dept hours pretty inconvenient (closed weekends).

My car is at the dealer for some maintenance (not battery related) and the tech noticed that the car had trouble starting. He thinks the battery is on the way out. I just installed a brand new Optima 34R a couple of months ago so it seems a little strange if the battery is not holding a charge. Anyone have a similar experience? Is it an Optima thing, or Porsche thing or something else?

Optima batteries come with a 72 month warranty. I have one that's three years old, and I thought there was something wrong with the battery because it went dead in the winter. I took the battery out and had an Interstate battery dealer (a local gas station) test it. They said it was fine and there was no charge. Haven't had a problem since (must have just been lack of charge).

You need to find another shop. All 986/996 have the OBC - it is a simple matter of turning it on. All 986/996 can be retrofitted with the 4 stalk steering column switch assembly. Problem is, shops are not trained on how to do it as it is not an official Porsche retrofit. That is why 99.9% of the owners end up doing it themselves.

If you want to come an visit on July 28th we are doing the retrofit with stalk on 1 and maybe 2 cars. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=14592

Why you have the outside temp sensor if the car did not come with the OBC option is interesting. I can tell you what I knoe if you REALLY want to know, since it has nothing to do with your questio.

Thanks Jeff you confirmed what I thought. I figured that they would turn it on for me at no additional cost since they were doing the 60k maint. and were going to have to hook it up to the tester anyway. I really just wanted it turned on so I could do the hack in the future.

Will

If all you want is the outside temp display, just having it turned on will achieve that. Of course, if you want full OBC functionality with original look, the 4-stalk conversion is a nice hack. I did it several years ago, when I first got my 2001. One thing I would mention is that you should definitely solder your connections and cover then with heat-shrink tubing when you make up your wiring harness -- rather than crimp-on connectors. Also, if you wrap your wiring harness in friction tape (vs. electrical tape), you'll have a very professional wiring harness.

I just bough new speakers for my 996. The sizes are the same, but they are different shape. I cant seem to mount the new speakers on. Do they sell any kits or brackets to make this easier? I don't feel like gluing them. Any suggestions?

Kristian

I did the same thing on my 996 coupe several years ago. Note that I have the base stereo with no door speakers, so I just replaced my front and rear 4" speakers.

There are no adapters. The problem is that the Porsche speakers' mounting screw holes are not at standard locations for speakers. What you have to do is to remove your original speakers and cut the plastic frames and use them as mounting frames. Leave the speaker connector plug in place (that way, your new speakers will just plug right into to the original wires). Solder wires from your new speakers onto the connector plug (make sure polarity is consistent). Then glue the new speakers into the "frames." Support the "frames" from the sides with something and let the weight of the speaker dangle down, allowing the glue to dry overnight (silicone will work well). Finally, screw your new speakers (which have been glued onto the frames) onto the inside of the speaker grills. Plug your original speaker wires back together and re-mount the speakers/grills into the openings. Your original speaker grills will remain completely stock, so should something go wrong with your speakers, you can just re-do this whole operation.

BTW, Crutchfield has some Kenwood 4" speakers that have excellent specs. I have older versions of these and they sound great and have high efficiency, which is important since the base stereo doesn't have too much power.

Good luck.

My fav five:

Garage door opener remote installation in overhead lighting console

Painted bumperettes (black rubber from the factory on pre-2002)

Chrome lug bolts from Ralph Boothe

Non-smoker kit

OBC installation with stalk

I am looking to upgrade the factory speakers in my 996 and would like opinions on speakers members have installed. Anything to look out for? Did you use a local installer?

Thanks in advance...

Do you have door speakers or not?

I have since found out that this is available only in black or grey.

I have a metropole blue interior and will use a black I guess.

I have graphite grey, and I got the black non-smoker kit. It looks very nice since it matches the black trim around the center of the dash (around the radio and climate controls). It has a nice rubbery texture.

Has anyone bought a Homelink visor kit and taken it apart to install above the overhead console? Used Homelink devices are often available on Ebay, such as this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...2177&rd=1,1

The appearance of the unit shouldn't matter, since I would just install 3 small black momentary switches and a small red LED in the overhead console, with the Homelink electronic box above the overhead console. But I'm not so sure how easy it would be to take the Homelink unit apart.

Anyone?

I tapped into the switched 12V source in the overhead console area so running wires was not an issue. Easy install.

Wouldn't you be better off with an unswitched 12V source so you can open the door when you're in the car before you turn the ignition key? Is there an unswitched power source in the overhead console?

Last weekend, I participated in a PCA autocross, and once again experienced significant understeer in my 2001 C2. One of the instructors who had a 996 race car told me to have the front wheels aligned by a Porsche dealer to GT3 specifications, which should make them tilt inward more at the top and lessen, if not eliminate the under steer.

Has anyone had this done? If so, what does it cost, and was the difference noticeable?

On a related note, I left the PSM engaged the whole time, but this didn't do anything to elimiinate the understeer. Is it supposed to kick in only to prevent oversteer?

One last thing. Just after the finish line, hard braking was called for, which resulted in plenty of front wheel lock up in my case. Isn't the ABS supposed to prevent lock up? How can I test if my ABS is working at all?

I realised later on that I had pressed the car key in my pocket against the side of the chair I had sat in and the radio signals from the key activated the unlocking of the door and beacause the pressure was applied for longer than a few seconds the windows also came down

You mean I can open the windows using my remote? I have a 2001 US version. What do you have?

Hi all,

I just found out I'm gonna be a Dad......Does anyone have any input or experience with the Porsche child/ baby seat for an 02 cab? Can you get one for less than $800 somewhere?

Thanks

Congratulations. $800 for a Porsche seat? Yikes! I believe Britax makes the Porsche infant seat, so you can just buy that from BabiesRus or Buy Buy Baby. When our 4-year-old was an infant, I used a Graco infant carrier without the base (which didn't really fit) in our 911 coupe. It was a bit of a pain getting the infant carrier in there and then buckling the seat belt around it, so we hardly ever used our 911 as a family (still don't). If you can get an infant car seat whose base fits in and stays permanently buckled in (with the infant carrier/baby snapping in and out of the base), that should make it easier to get him/her in and out.

The other problems with baby in 911 are: (1) you have to push the front passenger so far forward to accommodate the infant car seat that there's little leg room left for your adult passenger; and (2) a baby stroller won't fit in the front luggage compartment, so you can't stray too far from your car with baby when you arrive at your destination (unless you enjoy heavy lifting). Good luck.

Any suggestion on where to get "flat bottom" oval tips that will fit a 99 C2? Or any other alternative BAD A$$ tips I might like (standard oval is too plain for me!)

Check out these 2002-2004 style double-tips at Automotion (the ones they call "Turbo"). They're supposed to fit 1999-2001 911's.

http://www.automotion.com/productpage.aspx...port+Tail+Pipes