TRIATHLETE

I got mine off ebay - $185 shipped. It was a real blast driving to work today - first time out of the neighborhood with the SSK. It already seems to be loosening up or I'm just forgetting how the stock shifter felt. I see what you all mean about the "notchy" shift action. Way cool...! :jump:

Thanks for your input. It actualy feels pretty cool - just making sure I didn't screw anything up... :P

99 C2 Coupe - Just finished the DIY install and find the shifter seems to hit hard, like metal to metal, in all forward gear positions including reverse. Shifting back into 2nd, 4th and 6th hits smoother/softer - more like the feel of the stock shifter. Is this normal? FWIW - I've never owned a car with a ssk or driven one. Reducing/increasing "end play" has no effect. I marked both cables before disassembly and had the car in neutral when I pulled out the stock shifter. Any ideas? Thanks.

I'm in the USA - worked for me. From the clip, "...let's see, the Cayman looks like a Boxter with a hardtop, a "coupe". This thing should be called the Coxter" Pretty funny -

It's a pain, and I am sure there is a special VW tool to do it with. I use a combination of tiny (jewelers?) screwdrivers and needle nose pliers to depress the detents and then slide the spade connectors out. Thanks FB - I was afraid of that... Do the lugs slide out the top or back through the bottom of the connector? It looks like it could go either way. It looks like I have something to do while the Turkey is in the oven tomorrow.

99 C2 My passenger window stopped functioning after doing the hidden garage door mod and installing the "Non-smoker" option. Apparently, the factory electrical tape surrounding the wire harness to the power windows unravelled at some pint and got tangled in the shifter. Now I have four broken wires at the power window switch connector. Can anybody tell me how to remove the spade lugs? I've opened the latches on the connectors and tried pulling and pushing them out to no avail. Any help is appreciated.

Unstuck - several seconds after I extricated (unstuck) my foot from the service manager's a$$! They sprayed a bunch of brake cleaner into the hose fitting and seat until it came loose. Good luck.

Wow! You and I are having the same kind of day...check my other posts! For what it's worth, I found a local independent guy that offered to put my car on the rack and find everything else that's wrong with the car so I can have it all addressed by the DEALER before the warranty runs out in six months. He was very complimentary toward the 996 but not so complimentary about the dealer and the poor service/attitude. When I have a service appointment I expect the car back in a day or two at most . One week or more is unacceptable. The Dealer got an ear full from me today about the poor service and all they want to do is sell me another car! Go figure...

I'd like a car that is in my garage more than the Dealer's. Its hard to get excited about a car that breaks every two months and requires a week or two for an appointment only to sit for another week before it gets repaired (if they get it right the first time). I never expected the reliability of a Honda when I bought the C2, but this is ridiculous. It's very hard for me to get excited about the Porsche experience at the moment. Over and out until I cool off...

Just got the car back from the dealer after more than two weeks. I'm told it was nothing more than a loose nut - no charge. Got three miles down the road and stopped the car. The smell of fuel overcame me. Opened the lid and see the supply side fitting is still leaking just as it was when I had the car towed on October 18th. The mechanic swears he started the car and inspected the line after tightening the nut. There was plenty of swearing going on at this point... Turns out the check valve was stuck. 20 minutes later I was on my way. It sure looks like I need to find a competent independent shop when the warranty runs out or cut my losses and dump this turd. What a load of crap.

Well I finally got my car back after two weeks. See my other post. I talked with the salesman about the "lemon". He advises I trade it in on a 2001 or newer car. My car was very early production May 98? and seems to have had every known issue to date. $15K depreciation and I need to spend more money to have a better Porsche experience? Sheesh...I'm depressed...That 2006 BMW 3 series with a six speed looks pretty nice right about now.

gcp - you got mail - the DIY is not mine, just passing it on... http://basketcasemotorsports.bravehost.com/Tank.htm

Take it to the dealer. My neighbor bought a third party warranty and took his car to an independant shop. The shop ended up taking the car to the local dealer for warranty work. Why take the risk - you paid for the warranty service when you bought the CPO car from the dealer. Make them pay!

On the contrary! The car had been serviced religiously before I bought it! I have the records of the EIGHTEEN trips to the dealer during its first six years of previous ownership. I can only surmise that the car WAS a garage queen because of the low mileage - <4K per year. Perhaps that's the root cause of all these issues...

I Hope you are sitting down when you read this. I bought my first P-car last year, a certified 99 C2 with 23K miles on it and had the same experience. The salesman showed me a copy of the CPO checklist all rubber stamped but never put a copy with my contract. Coincidence? Read on... The fuel door lock was missing when I picked up the car - pretty embarassing for the salesman as he was delivering the car. A fender washer was also missing causing the edge of the body panel to stick out by the time I pulled into my driveway. Dealer fixed both under warranty. The cruise control didn't work the FIRST time I tried it. Dealer fixed after leaving the car for more than a week. A month later I discoverd the reverse switch was inoperable (no back-up lights). Took the car back and they had it fixed in ten minutes. A/C ran out of freon in Orlando last October. One week at the dealer and no leak found - dealer topped off freon. This spring A/C ran out of freon - same as above. May no A/C - parked the car for two weeks waiting for an appointment. Dealer had car for eight days - replaced Evaporator core - under warranty. Found LOTs oil on the bottom of the engine and at least three coil packs were full of oil when replacing the spark plugs. Saw the TSB on leaking O-rings on the oil protection pipes, so I brought the car back to address leaking o-rings. They said no problem and promptly pulled the tranny away from the motor, informed me I needed a new clutch lining and replaced the RMS and crankcase bolts - a different TSB. I specifically asked about the o-rings - no problem - I was told all leaks were fixed. Two weeks later the car starts skipping and I get a flashing CEL (check engine light). Called the dealer immediately and limped it to them that Saturday. Guess what? A coil pack shorted out because it was full of oil. They never addressed the original complaint! This occurred even though I brought digital color pictures of the spark plugs covered in oil when I brought the car in the first time. Another week without the car and new oil pipes and o-rings installed. Under warranty. A week later - CEL light on again. Back to the dealer - new MAF installed at no charge. Did I mention the passenger power motor went bad? Another week in the shop - under warranty. Finally, two weeks ago the coolant tank took a dump so I replaced it myself because it wasn't covered and the dealer wanted $650. I did it in two hours with the info on RennTech. Unfortunately, now I have a fuel leak! The car was towed to the dealer Monday and I was told they won't get to it until next Tuesday. Six months left on the warranty and at least $7-8K in covered warranty repairs to date. CPO is the only way to go. I've only got 43K miles on the car. It has depreciated $15K since I bought it. My wife is busting my balls to get rid of it and get a BMW. Never had these kinds of problems with either of my 325s. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the **** car - when its working. The dealer has been great but six weeks without the car in the first year and a half of ownership sucks. Is my experience unique or do all P-cars need this much care and feeding? I drive my car every day. Could that be the problem? Should I start shopping for a beater and resign myself to the fact that P-cars are really meant to be garage queens? No flames please... Thanks for the CPO list Loren

Pulled the fuel line off and inspected threads, seat and ferrule. Everything looks fine. Reconnected and still leaking! Any ideas? Thanks for looking.

Just when I finished patting myself on the back for replacing the leaking coolant tank on my 99 C2 this past weekend, the fuel line (one with 19mm nut) is leaking! The 17mm nut is fine. I hand tightened the nuts all the way down before applying an open ended wrench to re-tighten. I was gentle with torque. I pulled the hose off tonight and re-seated the nut and it is still leaking. Is there an O-ring that may have fallen off of is it possible I've hosed up the ferrule on the fuel line? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

Here you go - http://basketcasemotorsports.bravehost.com/Tank.htm I just did my 99 C2 yesterday - two hours tops. Getting the tank out was a bear. I ended up pushing it back in and pulling a few more hoses off to finally extricate it. You will only need a pint of coolant (Porsche brand) if you follow the instructions and reuse what you drain. Good luck. I'm enjoying the $400 I saved by doing it myself, but this DIY is not for novices - if in doubt pay somebody else to do it.

I finally got my car in to the dealer. The oil leaks are covered under Certified Porsche warranty. They were VERY nice and quick to point out the cam cover, cam solenoid seals as well as the oil protection pipe O-rings will all be addressed. The service manager just called to inform me that the clutch plate was worn and might have another 5-10K miles left. He offered to put a new one in for "free" if I bought the part(s) - $290. Sounds like a steal to me so consider it done. I'm surprised the clutch is that worn at 39K miles, but the car was bought used with 23K miles on it. Who knows how hard the previous owner was on the clutch...

I also replaced the stock amp in the trunk as well as the head unit. The car's existing wire harness was used for the speakers with the exception of an extra pair of wires added to run the tweeters in the dash. I went with Diamond Audio Hex speakers that use an outboard crossover that requires a separate run to the tweets. All interconnects were aftermarket. I'm getting better sound than the stock "Premium" system but can't say it was worth the $3500 as the background noise from the tires at highway speeds in in excess of 85 dB C scale. That's AFTER putting two boxes of Dynamat in the doors and rear quarter panels. The sound is pretty tight when its parked though... :)

Yes- one AUX input intended for Satellite radio.

This is the only "adult" aftermarket radio I found and put in my car. The display color is selectable and the amber matches perfectly with the other interior dash displays. For what its worth... good luck. http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/Pr...ProductID=13364

Success!!! The top screw for the coil pack on the middle plug on the driver's side was a bear. After taking what seemed like an eternity to get the socket cap screw out, I drove the company van to Harbor Freight Tools for something to speed thinks along. This is what I found... It's not on their website but cost $6.99 and it comes with 8 bits. I spent another $2.95 for the 8 piece metric bit set to get the 5mm 1/4" drive bit. The screw tightened in a flash using the thumb speed wheel. The top socket cap screws on the rear coils came out real fast with the 5mm bit once they were loose. You probably don't need the cheesy ratchet - just bust them loose with an allen key and pop the 5mm bit on the socket cap screw and spin with your fingers. Alas, the ball-end allen wrench didn't help at all. Sorry Loren.

Success!!! The top screw for the coil pack on the middle plug on the driver's side was a bear. After taking what seemed like an eternity to get the socket cap screw out, I drove the company van to Harbor Freight Tools for something to speed thinks along. I picked up a small 1/4" socket drive ratchet that cost $6.99 and comes with 8 bits. I spent another $2.95 for the 8 piece metric bit set to get the 5mm 1/4" drive bit. The screw tightened in a flash using the thumb speed wheel. The top socket cap screws on the rear coils came out real fast with the 5mm bit once they were loose. You probably don't need the cheesy ratchet - just bust them loose with an allen key and pop the 5mm bit on the socket cap screw and spin with your fingers. Alas, the ball-end allen wrench didn't help at all. Sorry Loren. Tried to upload a picture of the cheesy tool but ran into problems...

Thanks for the tips and words of encouragement. Getting the plugs out and in is duck soup with a 3" wobble extension + 1.5" extender. It's the %$^ socket cap screws that are giving me fits. I'm not looking forward to disconnecting and reconnecting the coil pack "one handed" either. Gonna give it another try tonight with the ball-end allen key. Stay tuned...