carrera3.2

I do my own oil changes by running the back wheels of my (30 mm lowered) 2003 C2 onto a pair of 2"x12" pieces of wood. That gives me enough space to get the wrench, oil drain pan, etc. under the drain plug and to drop the oil and the filter. It takes no more than 1/2 hour to do this on the 996. It is the easiest to service car I have ever owned (spark plug replacement excepted :soapbox: ). I get my oil filters for less than $12 at Pelican (Hengst or Mahle) and the Mobil 1 0W-40 oil at Walmart for ca. $7/qt. Be sure that you get the proper Mahle oil filter wrench before you start this in order to safely remove the oil filter canister. It costs less than $30 from Pelican and makes the job a lot simpler. No reason to pay a shop $200-300 when you can do it yourself for less than $80. Good luck, and be sure to recycle your used oil properly.

As you have stated, we will see the results of two variables - an amateur driver vs. a professional (or semi-professional) driver and a hot version of the Mini vs. a (presumably) stock C4S. We await the outcome. Good luck!

I am a PCA driving instructor and last month one of my students came to the track with a late model Mini Cooper S, one with a turbocharger. I drove it a couple of laps and then sat with the student as he drove sessions for the rest of the day. I was impressed with the Mini's track performance. It did a very respectable job; however, it would be no match on our long track for my 2003 C2. Not even close.

OK, time for an update on this subject. I got back from a morning session on the alignment machine. Too negative rear camber problem solved! Car handles beautifully! After installing a set of adjustable upper control arms on the rear, my indie suspension shop was able to attain the proper factory alignment specs. I hope this means that I will not see the excessive inner tread wear on the rear tires that I was experiencing before. As noted, these adjustable control arems are not cheap, ranging from ca. $1000 to $350. After investigating all of the sets I could, and finding that most of the differences are related to cosmetics rather than quality of materials, I opted for the least expensive set. Time will tell if this was a good choice, but everything seems a great improvement at the moment.

idrhoades, Thanks for letting me know that this can be done. My 2003 C2 with factory US M030 has been lowered ca. 30mm by replacement of the original springs with a set of H&R sport springs. With this setup, the rear camber still is too negative at the best set point and there is excessive inner tread wear on the rear tires. I have replaced the upper control arms with a set of adjustable ones, but still have the original lower track control arms. I have a full alignment scheduled for tomorrow by an excellent indie shop. I hope they will be able to solve the alignment problems with this setup. I will report back after the alignment as this must be a common problem for anyone wishing to lower a 996 without using Bilstein PSSx or GT3 suspension part$.

OK, I just checked the Durametric website and they say that the new beta version of the software will read and clear codes related to the ABS/PSM 5.7 system of my car. I will see if this is true and report my results after I get my alignment finished.

I live in Northern Colorado. I just got my Durametric a couple of months ago. It is supposed to have the latest software update. Are you maybe referring to the beta version of Durametric software that is available by download? I have not gotten that.

I have a 2003 C2 with PSM and am getting a suspension alignment this week at an independent shop following installation of a set of adjustable upper rear control arms. In the 996 factory workshop manual it says "The steering angle sensor must be recalibrated if the previous wheel adjustment values for vehicles with PSM were changed! The steering angle sensor actual value must be checked after a suspension alignment which resulted in no changes being made to the wheel alignment values. The Porsche System Tester 2 is necessary to calibrate the steering angle sensor and to check the steering angle actual value." Whew! So does this mean that I must take my car to a Porsche dealership shop to have this sensor reset performed or can it be done using a Durametric. I have the latter, but have not used it enough to know its full capabilities. Thanks for any information on this subjefct.

I guess I did not make myself very clear. I presently cannot get my car adjusted to the factory specs with the lowered suspension my car has. My query has to do with whether or not using adjustable rear control arms in place of the stock non-adjustable ones will enable me to get to the factory specs without any additional problems. Thanks.

Does anyone have any experience with fitting adjustable rear control arms (top) on their 996s to solve the too negative rear camber problem and resulting inner rear tire wear on lowered C2s? I just put on a new set of 285/30/18s on my stock 10Jx18 rear wheels on my 2003 C2 with M030 and H&R springs that lower it by 30mm after finding extreme inner tire wear. My alignment guy could not get the camber into spec (too negative) , but said that if I got a set of adjustable rear control arms (top) he could get it into spec and the uneven wear pattern would be reduced or eliminated. I know this effect is common on lowered 996s, and with the price of tires, I would like to solve this problem. I found sets of these adjustable rear control arms (top) for ca. $350-550 and wondered if there is any collective knowledge on this forum of how well they work. Any problems with tire rubbing? (I tried a search, but did not find anything really relevant.) Thanks.

Here in Colorado, we can normally get only as high as 91 octane at the pump. That's OK at +5000 ft altitude because the higher the altitude (for a NA engine), the lower the octane rating has to be to prevent serious knocking. We have only about 80% of the oxygen content of ambient air as exists at sea level. The take-home lesson is that the closer you live and drive to sea level, the more critical it is to use higher octane fuel in your high-performance engine.

Hi, I don't know if this will be of any help to you, but rebuilt 6-speed manuals are available and you may even get some advice about such a conversion from this source: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-996-997-forum/545796-factory-remanufactured-c2-6-spd-w-lsd.html (I have no personal or financial connections with this source at all!) Good luck! Jim

I have heard that term used for the Porsche 928s because they weighed upwards of 3500 lbs by the time production ceased. They were by no means slow, with 5.4 litres and 345 hp at the end.

I push the dipstick all the way down.

Hmmm! I'd take a closer look at the front end for possible collision repair. It seems like pretty low miles to have alignment problems. Also, why would they run a buffer on a car that has been used so little unless the body shop did it. I would definitely try to talk with the previous owner. You don't want a crooked car! That is a good idea! I had a PPI run on my car before I bought it. It was performed by the Chair of the National Technical Committee of the PCA. It was the best $250 insurance policy inverstment I made. Be sure to run a Carfax on this car and have all of the fault codes read out (using something more advanced than what is available at Autozone). You also want all of the historical service records you can get on this car. If the previous owner doesn't have them, then ask the seller where they are.

I bought my pristine 2003 C2 in August with less than 36K miles on it for $32K. It was out of warranty, but had had both the IMS and RMS replaced under warranty with the latest updates. I imagine a C4 with such low mileage would be worth more. However, unless it comes with a warranty, I would be a little anxious because many of these seal issues seem not to show up on these cars until they have 20-30K miles on them.

You might want to perform the following test: with the wheels "locked" and in the air, go to each brake caliper, momentarily open each bleed valve (don't leave it open) and see what happens in every individual case. Is brake fluid expelled under pressure? Does the brake rotor come free? It is quite possible for enough back pressure to develop in the brake system to prevent the brake pads from releasing from the rotors. If you think about it, the hydraulic/mechanical advantage when you step on the brakes to direct the pads against the rotors is immense. On the other hand, there is little back pressure to release the pads after you remove your foot from the brake pedal. Your car is likely not old enought to have had much interior deterioration of the flexible brake lines. However, as Bruce Anderson has repeatedly warned, just because the outside of these flexible lines looks good does not mean that the interiors have not become deteriorated from constant exposure to brake fluid. What commonly happens is the the flexible material swells on the inside, reducing the actual diameter and making it more and more difficult for the pressure to be released from the brake pads after you remove your foot from the pedal. Like cholesterol in human arteries. You may have small pieces of debris in your system. I have personal experience with this. I bought a 3.2 Carrera that appeared to have flexible brake lines in excellent condition. I flushed the brake fluid. However, when I drove along narrow streets where I could get feed-back noise from the car, I could hear what sounded like dragging brake noises. There was no serious indication that anything was wrong. One day I took this car to a track (instead of my usual track car). As I got more used to it, I pushed harder. Finally, I was doing about 100 mph on a straight that ended in an abrupt right. When I got to my braking point, all Hell broke loose. The front brakes completely locked up and I ruined my new tires by flat spotting them. New flexible lines solved the problem. The old lines appeared to be original and were then about 17-18 years old.

OK, this may not be a relevant observation, but I had a situation many years ago on my 1986.5 928S, with ABS, where the brakes would come on by themselves while I was driving at freeway speeds. They essentially would lock up entirely, as if you were standing on the brakes. Very scary! It turns out that the cause was a failing brake master cylinder vacuum booster. I replaced it and the problem went away. It was too long ago for me to remember all of the details and the 928S, of course, did not have PSM. Does your wheel lockup occur even when you turn off the PSM?

I agree with phllipj. It is common for those who track their cars to take their camber settings to the most negative value they can obtain because it is advantageous to do so on the track. However, off the track, this leads to just the wear pattern you have.

You really don't need to put a 996 up 8" in order to change the oil and filter. I drive the rear wheels of my '03 C2 (that is 1.25" below stock height to begin with) up onto a pair of 2" x 10" boards and there is still enough room to get the oil filter and drain plug out and the oil drained into a shallow pan. The 996 is the easiest car I have ever had to perform routine service on.

Topping off coolant with distilled water not good? Porsche recommends the 996 coolant composition be at a 1:1 ratio of water and their "antifreeze". Going away from that ratio with excess water will raise the freezing point and reduce the anti-corrosion/lubricating properties of the coolant mix.

Just a comment about the coolant. You don't want to run your car with it at a low level. As another person has pointed out, it is probably low now because of air bubbles remaining in the original fill that have come out. Proper coolan t flushing of these 996 engines requires special care and the Porsche dealerships have a device to do this. My strong advice is to ask the Porsche dealer who installed the new water pump to fill the coolant reservoir up to the proper level using the Porsche brand coolant that they used. I personally would not use any other brand of coolant. Also be aware that Porsche has used two different "factory" coolants. The original one is yellow-green and the most recent version is bright pink. There is a serious difference of opinion over whether or not these two coolants can be mixed. Some say mixing will cause gelling, others say it is OK to mix them. I chose not to put my '03 in jeopardy and had the local dealer flush the system of my yellow-green coolant and install the new pink version (the only one that is now still available, at about $30/gallon). It allows me to sleep better. :rolleyes:

Dan, I have been sending my Porsche oil samples for many years to Blackstone Labs in Fort Wayne, IN for analysis and have been pleased with their analysis and comments on the results. See their website at: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ They will send you sampling kits upon request. I think they charge $22.50 for normal anayses. Worth the cost IMHO. Good luck. Jim

Check out the following website: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/group-b...-trac-grip.html

Porsche Certified Pre-Owned You can download the brochure here Thanks everyone for their reply. So what do you think is a fair price for a 02 Coupe with 56k miles, lightly optioned? Cosmetics in pretty nice condition, no accidents, verifiable service history, 60k service done and CPO from the dealer (2 yrs)? I am thinkning $29-30, am I high? $32K is too high for an 02 with that Mileage. Even with the CPO. Shoot for $29K. I just bought, through a private sale, a highly optioned 2003 C2 coupe in flawless condition with less than 36K miles on it and all past records for $32K. It did not, however, come with a CPO. The entire IMS (not just the seal) on this car was replaced under warranty in 2006. I am trying to decide if I should get a CPO, as it is still possible to do so through a regional PCNA dealer.