viper501

When my brake wear light came on it was intermittent at first. Once it came on and stayed on I had already ordered new pads and rotors. When I pulled the old pads, they still had quite a bit of use left in 'em. Not that I'd want to push them really hard or go zippin' through some mountain roads but certainly enough to have gone for groceries for a long time beyond what I did. That said, Loren is absolutely correct, you do run the risk of hosing your rotors or worse if you push things too far. Pad replacement is an *easy* DIY with fairly simple hand tools. If your car is a lease, I'd be surprised if they didn't ding you for the pads on turn in, although your contract will probably be the deciding factor there.

I doubt that the change will trigger any warning lights, and certainly not a check Engine light. However, I would think twice about replacing the high beams with a HID bulb. The HID bulbs typically need warm-up time to come on and don't take kindly to frequent on/off cycling. The new bi xenon systems use a swivel to leave one light source on and change the visual cut-off when the high beams are on. You might also have heat issues, although I'm not sure what temperatures the HID high beams would run.

For some strange I cannot myself grasp once the cabin temperature reaches or nears your setpoint the system opens the airflow to the windshield. If you over-ride the system and select dash outlets ONLY it seems to help cooling the passenger cabin dramatically. Cooling airflow to the interior windshield surface is not only a total WASTE it can result in condensation forming on the windshield exterior surfaces. Not a serious problem during daylight hours but at night your forward vision gradually declines.....

Ain't that the truth ...

Also, I'd check and clean the condensors in front of the radiators. If you don't clean the debris out on a regular basis it can get ugly, and expensive. :help:

Bridgestone RE050A Pole Position is another good option.

my question is whether Porsche is even selling the tool to the public. However, I do think it would be worth the investment presuming its less than 8 bills. Not to mention you could resell or rent it to others who want to do their own RMS replacement. You might try calling Sunset and some of the others that do a lot of internet sales and see what they say about availability and pricing. Good luck.

Get the CPO. Many many horror stories about aftermarket warranty companies folding, after they've got your money. Porsche ain't going anywhere. Not to mention that you won't have problems with making sure that warranty claims are part of the package on the CPO car.

In my business I custom build motorcycles and over the years I have finished several uncompleted projects simular to what you refer to here. You should expect the worst, and in reality things are usually MUCH worse than your expectations. If your primary objective is finding a good deal cost wise and a project this could be it. But if you are looking for a 996 for a great value...RUN. Mechanical parts are happiest in motion, most of the damage they experience comes for periods of inactivity. I assure you that the low mileage is a curse and not a blessing in this case. But 25k is not much money and if you enjoy a challenge, this could be a fun project. Just don't expect to make money for your time invested to complete the project. Keep us posted.

+1

only thing might be the factory amp. if you don't have one, then there shouldn't be a problem.

Go get a set of jackstands before you think about crawling under the car with it on a jack. Another option is to back the rear wheels onto a set of RhinoRamps, or similar ramp product. Don't try driving forward onto the ramps unless you've built some of your own as the approach angle is too steep for our cars, or at least for mine (U.S. M030).

Guarantee that was to make the GT3 brake swap less than easy.

I'd be curious about the connections at the tank and whether they are leaking under pressure while the coolant is hot, allowing the coolant to evaporate before it hits the ground. Since that is where the car has most recently been worked on, I think that would be the first place to check. Good luck.

The oiled gauze filter in my car kept popping the MAF check engine light. Pulled it and no more MAF related CEL. Oiled gauze also does not clog up as quick because it doesn't filter as well. It has much larger pores than the paper element, therefore it allows more material, including dirt, to pass through the filter and into the engine. The flow increase in the testing that I have seen is also negligible compared to a clean paper element. Yes, if you're racing the car and plan on regular rebuilds then you might experience some benefit. But remember, racers have also in the past used no filter whatsoever with the knowledge that they are rebuilding at the end of the race. Personally, I won't put one back in my car unless someone proves that it gives me a 50% increase in HP and Torque. :D

Ship your manuals to me, I'll run it through my automated scanner and ship it back to you with a CD, so you automatically have a backup. Of course, you pay the shipping both ways.

Gator - My '99, which is *very* similar in appearance to yours (black w/ aero, 18's, and tint but no yellow in the headlights) is very inaccurate when the car is warm. I don't trust mine as far as I could throw a Buick. It *always* reads very low while a manual check reads just fine. So, I don't trust it. I'd take the two minutes while you're filling up with fuel, or before you leave for work/play, to pull the stick and take a look. Just me two cents though.

........you have access to an ohm meter you can unplug each sensor and check the continuity through the sensor to find a bad one. Or. some folks just twist two wires together and tie-wrap them to the chassis.

Hadn't thought to check the resistance. :cursing: Doh! I'll check that once I get back from Deal's Gap this weekend.

Drilling the sensor holes is *very* easy, so easy a caveman could do it. :D (that may be a U.S. only joke)

Nice mod: when are you going to start selling them on Ebay? (Black, please :) )

PS More seriously, where did your brother get his alcantara from?

http://www.gulffabrics.com/ is the U.S. source for Alcantara. I know I've seen someone post about UK suppliers but I can't remember where it was.

:welcome:

You will find a Brake Pad DIY here.

Loren, I used the DIY, along with some others this weekend to replace my front pads and rotors. Thanks so much for contributing great information. While it wasn't a terribly complex task, it was reassuring to have read through these instructions and some others prior to pulling things apart.

I do wonder why the instructions recommend replacement of the pad spring and the retaining pin assembly. Mine were in perfect shape, not counting accumulated brake grime. I also replaced the screws that attach the rotor to the hub but only ordered two, hence I have two new ones in one side and two reused ones on the other. I don't think that is going to be a problem though.

The only other thing that I am curious about now is the wear sensor indicators. I used a mount and a drill press to drill the new Hawk pads to accept the wear sensors without any problem. I thought that would 'fix' them from coming on as it appeared that only the outside plastic was worn through. The thick wire of the sensors appeared intact. However, my light has returned. Any ideas? I'm not entirely convinced that I need them but I'd like to keep things as 'complete' as possible so there aren't any questions in the future.

I thought I'd post my solution to installing a decent sized amp in the 911 without losing the ability to pack the nose or have the amp overheating when the trunk is full of luggage. My brother and I welded up some sheet aluminum with a couple breaks to form a shelf for the amp. The mount utilizes stock holes for the bracket. There are no holes drilled in the car for this mount. The only 'trick' to the install is repositioning the spare tire. It is shifted to the driver's side (using the factory bracket) and canted about 15 degrees forward with an aluminum 'wedge'.

The bracket is rock solid and there is no movement, even with 'spirited' driving. I am *very* pleased with the end result. Still some more tweaking to do, such as powdercoating the bracket black. Also, I'm going to be building another bracket to hold my sub amp ( JL 250/1 ). I *think* it is going to be mounted perpindicular to the 300/4 on the passenger side of the trunk. We'll see how it ends up.

BTW, total cost was $00.00 for materials (scrap laying around the shop) and about 4 hours of building from start to finish.

Juan, no apologies for your English considering my Spanish is substantially worse. I don't think Orient's car moves off the jack stands. :D Seriously, you shouldn't have a problem *under* the car with a low pressure water wash. I'd be careful about using any high pressure water though. If you want to wash the upper half of the engine, I'd cover the mass airflow sensore and any other electrical connectors/devices and, again, use only a low pressure wash. No high pressure jets/streams of water.

I used either a VW or an Audi (probably the same thing) to hook up my Alpine. Got it from Tweeter. As I recall, they had two possibles, one or the other would supposedly work.

very interesting looking contraption ...

****,. what the hell.. which country are you in?...

I'll put money on Kalifornia, or another blue state. A dog is better than an alarm.

Towards the bottom of the page after the heading: New Trend for RWD cars -- the 996 expained (and a lot more)

http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/h..._handling_5.htm

As a former M Roadster owner, I disagree with their characterization of minimal oversteer in the ///M Roadster suspension. My ///M was far more interested in swapping ends than the 996 ever thought about being. There are tons of examples of that behavior on the various z3 forums.

Pressure gauge should move with RPM once the engine is even remotely warm. Your experience with the electronic level indicator is consistent with mine. I don't know where it measures, or what, but its never right.