TRIATHLETE

94k, all original, daily driver, no issues at all, no leaks, nothing, burns on oil, no smoke, runs like a hose, as my old Texas buddy would say. Seriously considering changing the water pump. Any input on that?

You are lucky to get 90K+ miles without a waterpump replacement - mine went at 62K. My mechanic commented that 60K was typical life of the original pump on a 99 C2 and also said the pump has been re-designed with stronger bearings.

It's your call - mine went quite quickly on the way to work - lots of steam at the stoplight. I was lucky enough to drive the car straight to the shop without damaging anything. You wouldn't want to be caught out on the highway when it goes... Good luck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_996

"The engines in the 1999 and 2000 version have a large failure rate due to a design error. This problem was fixed in mid 2000. One will notice the resale price difference with these model years."

I am shopping for a 911 and do not want to replace the engine and can't afford a 02. I just want confirmation that in m/y 2001 the 3.4 issues have been addressed, can't always trust Wikipedia.

Same engine in the 2001 as my 1999 except for e-gas. IMHO, Whoever posted that on Wikipedia is smoking crack. ;)

Just a quick follow-up to this post. I struggled through my stubbornness and took the car to a local service station (I’m 45 minutes from a P dealer).

The damage was $80.

Glad to hear the "quick fix" service at the local service station seemed to resolve your lack of cold A/C. You mention in your note the system took 1.95 oz. of refridgerant. Didn't it really take 1.95 lbs?? I am about to recharge my system in MY 2002 and will use the pressure valve to determine appropriate additional R134-A t add to fully charge and the 1.95oz number implies one can ( or less) will fill system??.

Demosan

Demosan - I think tshegos meant 1.95 LBS as he said they evacuated the systen before replacing freon. (The system holds 2lbs and the system will not cool when you get below 1.75 lbs.) What I want to know is did the A/C guy find the leak(s).

Posted this request on the other Renn site with little response..

I need a quick fix. I have a wedding to attend in a couple of days and my A/C stopped blowing cold. It is predicted to be in the 90s for the wedding. If I don’t get the A/C cold (she will want to take the Rover- Eeks!).

The air slowly lost it's coolness over a month or so. I realize there is probably a root cause (and expensive fix) for the warm air – however, no time to a trip to the dealer. I’ve watched people recharge their A/C systems and it appears to be fairly simple.

Does anyone have experience or have a cook book for the recharge process.

Find a reputable independant A/C specialist in your area and have the system diagnosed. My guy charges $59 for the complete analysis, including dye to find leaks. They performed the diagnosis and topped off the system while I waited - 30-40 minutes. This will keep you out of the Rover and get you to the wedding on time... ;)

You should have cold air for a few weeks and can address the source of the leaks or other issues after the honeymoon. Good luck.

Thanks John, I think i'll do that, just get them to recharge the system, and then take it to an ac specialist and see if he can determine where the leak actually is.

Thanks!

Phil...

Good luck with the recharge - have them inspect for leaks under black light with dye. I had the same problem - recharge lasted a year. The second time it lasted a month. The dealer and an independant shop never found the leak so the dealer replaced the Evaporator/fan assembly two years ago. Cold air ever since. Cost was $2300 US.

I believe the lines are clogged because water sat in the foam condesate catch reservoir just below the dashboard all night. Can anyone tell me where the condesate lines are that I need to check for clogging????

I found the source of the leak.

I think the leaking "gasket" may be secondary to the main problem - item #7 in Loren's drawing is probably stopped up below the junction of the A/C condensation drain.

Have you checked the passenger side drain under the hood for blockage? If not, remove the plastic covers over the battery and each side. Peek into the pasender side drain pan located to the front and right of the pollen filter and and look for a 1" rubber grommeted hole. Is it clear of leaves, etc.? If not, pull out all the debris and pour a pint of water into the area and see if it pours out freely under the front passenger side of the car.

If the water doesn't drain freely then you probably have one or more obstuctions inside the drain tube. I cleared mine by blowing the clogs out with compresed air. The backed up water acted as a plunger and shot a pile of crud to the ground. After that, the interior stopped smelling like wet dog and I've been trouble free since.

FWIW - I check both dash drain holes every six months as they tend to accumulate seed pods in the Spring and leaves every Fall.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

Same concern here. I Just love this car full leather full CF, Violet Metallic, Champion tuned suspension+ wheels, full GT3 Aero kit, and well would like to consider all options before I drop $20k into a replacement and a SC. Bimmers are nice, had an 02 M5 loved it, just a little to big for my sporty taste.

:offtopic: I stoppped by the BMW dealer today to return the big bow borrowed to surprise the wife. I took a seat in the new Z4 Coupe - much smaller than an M5! The local paper's auto writer called it the "Cayman killer" at $20K less and 255 HP. I can't believe I can buy a brand new 2007 Z4 for the same price I paid for my 99 C2 three years ago. Humm....

Oops, I meant 2008 528i

I see that but I am trying to see about 3.4's specifically. I am at 75k, and have an odd quick dry tap for the initial burst of start up, and a once and a while knock that is independent, subtle but definately a lower end knock(after 5=days of no start). I don't want to let his car go and well putting $10k into a replacement 3.4 and considering a SC, all falls into the range of a TT or better engine. Besides that I have to keep the faith "knock on wood" that 911's are the gritiest, dirtiest, meanest reliable bang for the buck sports cars on the planet that still looks good dressed up.

Oh and I have a little RMS sweat but I do not lose any oil either.

99 C2 - 65K miles and still running strong. RMS/clutch replaced at 40K - all the other leaks fixed at that time. Had to replace the water pump at 64.5K

Love the car but getting nervous about long term reliability especially with all the recent posts about engine failures. The resale value is still in the sweet spot so I'm real tempted to get out of it while the getting is good and move back to BMW (just bough the wife a 2008 328i - NICE car). No flames please. :rolleyes:

I have a 99 996 and have a really annoying rattle coming fom the dash area. :cursing:

It only happens when I'm moving. It seems to come from the instrument cluster area. It's driving me nuts. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Phillipj

Also check your emergency brake release button. I performed most of the Dash TSBs but still had a rattle that I swore was coming from the dash. It turned out to be the e-brake release button rattling around inside the handle.

Its easy to check - just put your finger on the button when you hear the rattle. If it goes away, you found the culprit. I stuck a small piece of the "fuzzy" side of velcro to the button and the rattle went away. Good luck!

What hoses is he going to replace? My pump died at over 100k (IIRC). I think total bill on it was about five hundred. Would have done it myself but didn't have adequate time.

Turns out the hoses were just fine - no need to replace. The some of the plastic vanes in the water pump were broken off - pictures to follow. Here's the bill:

Labor - R&R waterpump, Therm housing 6hrs @ $93 = $558

Part - 996 106 011 54 Water Pump 1 @ $270

Part - 996 106 121 53 Thermostat Housing 1 @ $37

Part - 000 043 301 05 Coolant/Antifreeze 1 @ $45

Parts $352.36

Labor $558.00

Hazmat $2.00

Supplies $12.00

Tax $63.73

Total $988.09

Sounds like you got a real deal at $500

any sign before it gave up? load noise when engine was cold, etc?

Zip, nada, nothing... No sign of a problem until yesterday. I heard a strange sound coming out of the back of the car like marbles rolling around in a tin can as I left my part of town yesterday. 10 miles down and off the highway the excitmenet started. I pulled over to make sure it was steam and not a fire back there. Water temp was normal - only small leakage, so I decided to make the last two miles to work.

It was sounding pretty bad this morning as I topped it off and limped it into the shop 2 miles from the office. Coolant was leaking out the water pump pretty well at the shop when I left it.

On a positive note, I saved $600 doing the 60K service myself a few months ago so the unexpected expense is somewhat offset.

1999 911 C2

The water pump took a dump on my way to work yesterday. Scary experience as cars were honking at the sight of steam billowed from the rear deck at every light. Luck for me I got to work without overheating.

I searched the site and only found a few posts regarding repair procedure and cost. Thank you Loren for a previous post explaining that the engine needs to be hoisted while the engine mount is removed to access the pump. That info sent me to the yellow pages instead of the tool box.

Bottom line - $988 from an indie to replace the water pump, thermostat, housing, new gasket, hoses and coolant flush. He quoted six hours labor at $93/hr.

What concerns me is the frequency this indie says he's replacing water pumps. He says 911s and Boxers are routinely coming in for water pumps with 50-65K miles on them. Anyone else had to replace their water pump yet?

FWIW - I love the response from another local indie advertising their expreience with P-cars, and I quote... "The water pump is $290 and I'll have to get back to you with the labor quote as I've never replaced one..." Needless to say he never called back - thank god! . <_<

Happy Friday everyone.

My 2000 Cab has 44,400 miles. I bought it with 39,000 miles and the car is CPO. When I drove off, the dealer said, "see you in 15,000 miles for an oil change." I thought to myself, "whatever".

I'm going to get the oil changed at 45,000, but here is my question: do you think that the process of certifying the car would address other preventative maintenance issues that would need to be taken care of now or should I have the regularly scheduled 45k maintenance items performed in full? I plan on going to an indy shop for the oil change if I don't need additional service performed.

Thanks, and enjoy the weekend.

I can only speak for myself/local Porsche dealer so here goes. My CPO P-car had new brakes/tires all around and the carpet was removed and cleaned (still smelled like wet dog after all the Orange air freshener wore off - that's another story...) before I took delivery. The 100 point inspection was a joke as the fuel filler door latch was MISSING when they went over the car with me on delivery day and the cruise control didn't work on the way home. I asked if the car had experienced the dreaded RMS - was told no problem - good to go.

Let's just say that after two years, a half dozen trips to the dealer and 10 weeks without the car to address $8-10K in warranty issues, get a FULL inspection by an indy and bring the documentation to your dealer. They are obligated to fix the problems the indy finds.

My local Porsche dealer never questioned a repair once I brought it to their attention. Too bad 80% of what was fixed over the past two years was on the car when I bought it! Good luck.

Dealers were supposed to replace the 00 caps long ago -- but many were missed. The 00 caps are known to leak. The newer 01 caps (usually) don't leak.

I replaced my coolant tank last August and reused the old cap assuming it was the new version. I had to add a little coolant every couple of months until I realized the old cap, orignial 1999, was leaking.

I haven't had any coolant loss in six months since replacing the cap with the latest version.

I guess I am leaning toward ' waste of money ' too because I am pretty sure that there are none of the issues that you ( Triathlete ) mentioned. What I was wondering was how likely there are hidden things that might show up on a code reader that indicate some impending failure.

The other thing I was wondering was why you guys are suggesting an independant shop. Why I wouldn't trust the dealer while it is still under warranty? Don't they have every reason to dig up any issue? Am I naive? Thanks for the comments.

Take heart that you have a 2002 - much tighter car than my 99 C2. Having said that, I wouldn't be too sure about the dealer "finding" warranty problems as my dealer sold me the car with all the oil leaks, no cruise control and other issues right off the lot. So much for that 100 point pre-inspection.

It wouldn't bother me that much except that the average time the dealer had my car to fix said issues was a week and a half for each problem. That is unacceptable considering I had an appointment for every repair!

IMHO, there could be a conflict of interest while you are under warranty. From what I've been told, the mechanic performing the warranty work only gets paid 50% of his rate. No incentive there to find something they can't charge you for. Perhaps that is why my car sat around the shop so long... :cursing:

As far as stored codes warning of impending doom go, don't think that's the case. My dealer didn't even bother to check them last time the car was in. He said no need to check unless I have a CEL (check engine light) on the dash.

Finally, it is comforting to know that my $80 is going to ONE guy that knows what he's doing and doesn't have to support a multi million dollar showroom. My guy fixed a few minor problem in less than half a day. In by 8 - out by noon. That's customer service. Good luck.

My 2002 C4S is coming out of factory warranty in about 3 weeks.

I have no known issues ( looks dry underneath ). It is not due for service for 4 more months.

Has 24000 km ( 15000 mi ). I just shelled out for a 3 year extended warranty beyond the factory one.

I did all my own work on my old SC so it bugs me to pay others for service. The last oil change cost me over $500 (cdn). On the other hand I knew this car wasn't going to be cheap to own when I bought it. Should I take it in for a check up just in case in the next few days? What do you think?

What are you worried about if you already bought the extended warranty? IMO - taking it in now is a waste of time and money. On the other hand, had you NOT bought the warranty, a complete eval by an independent shop prior to warranty expiration would be a no brainer.

The inspection on my CPO 99 C2 cost $80 and was well worth the piece of mind. Ironically/luckily nothing major was found as my car experienced all of the known issues (RMS, Coolant tank, power seat motor, oil leaks, cruise control, MAF, coil pack) during the two year CPO warrany and was repaired on Porche's nickel (except for the coolant tank - not covered). Good luck!

I also had this problem in my 99 C2. Since I haven't had time to do a real fix, you may consider my method: folding a parking lot pass over itself several times and shoving it in behind the horn pad to space it off on the side where the bushing is weak. Ghetto, yeah, but your horn won't blow after every bump or hard turn! :)

Funny! I had to do the same thing while I waited for the parts to arrive. My car got so bad that the horn would honk every time I hit the brakes. It was really pi....ing off the drivers in front of me when I approached a red light. Ghetto fix - lol!

I have a 99' 996. Recently, I noticed that if I just brush the airbag/horn pad on my sterring wheel, the horn blows. Now it has become even more sensitive, and certain bumps will cause the horn to beep. :eek: It has to be something behind with the airbag/horn pad on the steering wheel.

1) Any ideas as to the cause? My first thought is that the horn switch spring (?) is growing weak.

2) How hard is it to pull the airbag/horn pad to take a look?

Thanks. :clapping:

Dean

I had the same problem on my 99 C2. I'll bet the ranch that the bushings in the 4 spoke frame are shot. The Part number is 993 347 088 01. Retail $65 - I paid $47 from Sunset. Its a relatively easy fix, just follow the instructions in kabel's post (link) to remove the airbag.

One extra note not covered is how to remove the air bag power connector from the steering column. Just pop off the yellow plug from underneath with a flat head screwdriver. Good luck.

99 C2 - I've successfully eliminated all of the dashboard rattles thanks to the TSB. Now, the only rattle left, the LOUDEST one, is coming from the button rattling inside the hand brake when travelling on rough pavement.

Is there a quick fix for this or should I just stuff some rubber around it. Thanks for any ideas.

When I was a resident, I bought my wife a beater( nissan, first and only japanese car, sorry bad taste in my mouth) to get around in, blew the motor after two weeks, numerous other problems, finally got my money back for the car. Later I did a carfax on it just for kicks, nothing showed up, not even the fact that the car was scrapped after I returned it!

Not to pile on here about CarFax, but I've had two opposite experiences with their service. The report on my current P-car matched the dealer's EXACTLY. I was very impressed with the results.

Just for kicks, I Carfaxed my other car (1994 BMW 325). This time the report came back - One owner, No lease car, ONE title. I know for a fact that the I was the THIRD owner of the car, It WAS a lease when sold new, and had been titled three times.

I know this because I bought it from a friend who purchased it from the original owner. I had the Original owners/dealers stamps in the owners manual. Long story short, I emailed Crafax about the discrepancy and they confirmed one of the preceding posts. Carfax searches DMV records and looks for the words, "NEW TITLE" or something like that. My BMW was retitled both times in Florida, where the DMV uses the words. "Re-titled", so the computers at Carfax completely missed this one.

You will need to remove the latch to get to the microswitch.

A contributing member wrote that up here.

Thanks Loren but yak! I didn't want to have to remove the latch...Don't know that the dinky light's worth the trouble....I'll ponder on it a while

I replaced the microswitch ($41 from Sunet) because the trunk light wasn't coming on and a new bulb didn't fix it. The replacement instructions in Loren's link were very helpful.

Warning - there is LOTS of play in the latch/mounting bolts and I'm still wrestling to get the latch aligned and keep the lid shut. It latches the first time but won't catch after a few open and close cycles. The bolts are plenty tight. Any ideas???

No TSB that I know of - if it is not locking then you should get an alarm chirp when you lock the car.

He may be experiencing the same thing I have run into:

The locking mechanism that pushes the locking plunger into the locked position for the gas door IS, in fact, actuating properly. Thus, no beep when setting alarm.

The entire plunger assembly was missing on my 99 C2 (bought used in 04) when I picked it up from the dealer. This was discovered during customer orientation - quite embarassing for the sales guy. I didn't notice a problem with alarm though...no chirps even with the assembly missing.

The locking mechanism was replaced under CPO warranty a week later. Good luck.

I also plan to get a vinyl fishing tape and hit up the drain tubes as I think I spotted them today.

The access to the drain tubes is under the hood, one on each side of the battery. Remove the plastic covers and vacuum out ALL the debris that has probably collected in and around the tubes. Mine were covered in an inch of old leaves, pine needles and muck.

Once found, pour a small amount of water into each drain. Look for the water to drain out under the car, behind each front wheel. If one or both drains are blocked, the water will just sit in the drain well and you'll be dry under that side of the car.

If blocked, I recommend using forced air to clear them. The tubes routing make it difficult to get a fish tape through - you may damage the tubes. The service manual says to blow the tubes out from the bottom but I did it from the top. I used some plastic tubing that was the same diameter as the drain opening and compresed air. Worked like a charm - blew a nasty chunk of goo out the bottom and the standing water followed, clearing the tubes. You might be able to free the obstruction by simply blowing into the tube if compressed air is not available - that's how I cleared my other drain a year later.

FWIW - Checking/clearing the drain tubes is supposed to be SOP at the dealer for every service but mine looked as though they had never been touched. Good luck.

ive recently purchased a 1999 996 c 2 coupe. it came with the leather sport seats, however im looking to replace them as the vehicle has 100k and the seats are quite worn. i badly want to stay with the sport seats as they are comfortable and look sharp, they are also heated. im wondering if i can get a sport seat that is full position power (all direction), heated, and has memory for my model year of car.

Have the seat covers replaced. Call any local auto upholster. I was quoted $2000 for both seats.