roadsession

after a car wash or wet run brakes will do that.

So yesterday, I'm driving along the highway, and suddenly get a Tiptronic Emergency Run message on my dash. I pull over, turn off the car, but can't get my key out of the ignition - after much jiggling it comes out. I restart the car and the fault message is gone and transmission returns to normal mode but left headlight is out.

I only cruise in my car. No racing or speeding. (2001 911 carrera 6 sp. coupe) Can I put the front wheel/tire size all around? It would be cheaper than the big rear tire and you could rotate them. Thanks for your help

To answer your question - my answer is NO.

gorgeous!

Replaced the voltage regulator, all is good now. $30 for a new voltage regulator...or $300 for a new alternator. Tough choice, eh?

As the Pelican link above says, the original Bosch part# was F-00M-145-225. I bought a Bosch VR-IB225N from Ibc Automotive out of California, which they said was interchangeable and it was. This part is interchangeable with a ton of German cars including VW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc.

It's always best to have your alternator tested if you have this issue but the tell-tale sign to me was that I was seeing the voltage on the console show all sorts of crazy readings. It would jump around... then drop... then spike when I accelerated. Definitely not the constant, steady voltage readings I get under normal operation.

Conceptually this DIY is a 1 / 10 on a scale of difficulty. Getting the MAF off is cake, and getting the belt off is simple (needed to buy a 24mm socket for the tension pulley--also needed a 14mm or 15mm for the alternator). However, once I got to the alternator I had a lot of problems getting it off because of the bushing in the rear flange. Getting it in and aligned so you don't strip the long bolt with the pulley on the right-side of the alternator is also a total PITA. Be sure to follow the instructions closely when taking the alternator out and whack that bolt with a hammer (use a buffer as not to damage the bolt) after a few twists out. Getting the alternator in/out was by far the hardest part of this procedure and probably made it more like a 5 / 10 for me. Had it been easier to get that in/out, I would have had the whole job done in 30 minutes or less. Instead I ended up spending at least a few hours...

Thanks to JFP for the advice. It was dead-on and you saved me a few hundred bucks, which I greatly appreciate (hey, I own a 996, I'm a value hunter :)).

Awesome report and great conclusion!

Hi everyone - I've received about 4 different messages about this issue on both RN and RT - so I thought I'd give a little more detail.

Some of you have written to say that you went to your local tech / indy and he reset it with PIWIS to no avail.

I'll give you the procedure that worked for me:

1. I went to my local P car dealer - to make sure they had the latest/best equipment.
   
2. I asked him to reset the adaptation values for everything on the car - including TCU
   
3. I then took the car on a spirited drive having it go through ALL shift points
   
4. I idled the car for 10 mins afterwards for the computer to learn the new 'style'.
   

It has been over a year since I got this done and (knock on wood) it is still doing well.

NOW - some caveats - I have a Mk2 C4 - which uses the Mercedes AMG sourced 722.6 transmission that came 2002+.

Earlier models used the ZF transmission so I have no idea whether this will work for the ZF transmissions.

Maybe they could spell out "Made in Germany" as well...

:jump:

My car having it's air conditioning system repaired for the summer...

and parked with the other family member cars

Excellent news!

doesn't sound good at all. Turn off the car and flat bed to a shop for diagnosis. Check your oil filter and pan for metal bits....

Thanks...so here are my symptoms. When I'm light on fuel, the car feels very rough on the city streets and on rough pavement there's a lot of clunking going on and the steering feels sort of loose. My tire pressure is absolutely perfect but I can definitely feel looseness....

When the fuel tank is full, the ride is much more compliant and smooth and no harsh clunking....

thoughts?

Thanks...so here are my symptoms. When I'm light on fuel, the car feels very rough on the city streets and on rough pavement there's a lot of clunking going on and the steering feels sort of loose. My tire pressure is absolutely perfect but I can definitely feel looseness....

When the fuel tank is full, the ride is much more compliant and smooth and no harsh clunking....

thoughts?

Had some noise in my front suspension and look what I found, the upper strut mounts were shot. If you are re-doing the front suspension in an older car (mine is 12 years old) you might want to replace these too.

Dharn - is there a way to visually check for this without removing the strut mount...(sorry for the noob question)

I just bought a 2006 996 with the NAV/BOSE combo, and I just realized that the driver dash speaker is out. I swapped with the Passenger side speaker and it is the location, not the speaker that seems to be the problem. I looked at the wiring that fed to the speaker, and it is not factory (which can't be good). I was thinking of back tracing the wiring to the stereo, but not sure how much that might entail (I'm pretty handy but don't have much experience with my Porsche yet and don't want to screw it up)

Any suggestions? Is it likely to be the amp? How screwed am I?

Thanks

If it's a 2006 I doubt you have a 996. A 997 perhaps

VERY nice.

Could be ignition switch?

I used to have a lot of creamy mayo looking stuff on the oil filler cap and I was told it was typical when the car is driven short distances and the engine doesn't have a chance to reach full operating temperature and have all the moisture burn off...

It freaked me out too -

But if you are driving the car to operating temperature regularly, then something else may be wrong.

BTW: oil consumption of 1quart of oil every two or three thousand miles is considered 'normal'...

A link to a discussion on "what's the coldest weather you drive in"

http://forums.rennli...u-drive-in.html

and from the cockpit with the top down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VYgtJg3s4

These are the Fister D's on my MK2 996:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c00U0O46D5U

Here you go:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/28766-mysterious-grinding-noise-when-turning-in-my-02-996/page__p__189168__hl__grinding%20accelerating__fromsearch__1#entry189168

Could be drive shaft/cardan shaft. It's one piece, and you get a 997 part :)

Thanks - what a great post - and sums it up very nicely.

I agree with your points.

my 996 is a daily driver. I can tell you that some days when I've had a REALLY tough day at the office, I get in my car, turn the key, and that special feeling only a Porsche can give sets in.

My drive home erases all my stress.

This is the sound my car made before IMS bearing gave out