cbzzoom

You should not do this. The car has wheel

spin sensors connected to the computer that

removal of the front axles could mess your car

up.

I think this fear is unfounded; a lot of people are worried about the effect on PSM, but all my reading indicates no problems related to that. (for example, this is a pretty common mod on Turbos and I've never heard of them having a computer-related problem)

I do believe you're right that the half shafts is the wrong way to go, it seems like a huge pain in the butt - CV boot grease, axles well stuck in the wheel hubs,etc. not for me!

A little reading indicates the easier way to go might be disconnecting the main drive shaft that goes from the transmission to the front diff.

I'm thinking about trying the simple "RWD mode" on my .1 C4S ; my understanding is you can just disconnect the half shafts in the front and the car should run just fine. (front diff will still spin but since it's not connected to anything that's no problem).

Anyway, my question is - are there any DIY's on half shaft removal/install ? Is this a reasonable home DIY?

Is it simply that the cars are close to perfect except for the the occasional catastrophic engine or transmission failure? Am I missing something? Why have I not seen a single mention of the TÜV reports on the lengthy threads on 996 reliability on several very active 996 boards in the US and UK? Maybe I'm more tuned in to TÜV because I work for a German company (not a car company). Really though, I just took a flier and Googled "Porsche TÜV" and found this.

The TUV results have been posted often on popular Porsche forums. It certainly makes Porsche look good, but it has basically nothing to do with reliability. Obviously if you have an IMS failure or a D-chunk failure, or a scored cylinder, or an AOS failure, or a rod bolt failure, or a snapped shift linkage, or broken water pump, or cracked coolant expansion tank, or any of the other many failures that afflict modern Porsches you simply won't take your car in to the TUV office for inspection. It does seem that most of the M96/97 failures are of the rare/catastrophic variety. (the only exception is the RMS leak which many people have and live with, and that could possibly be detected as a failure if it was bad enough)

So clearly TUV results have absolutely nothing to do with engine failure rates.

The TUV results do reflect that Porsche owners on average take very good care of their cars. Things like worn brakes and tires are failures under TUV and Porsche owners are much more conscious of those things than the average car owner.

There's a similar kind of statistic that gets bandied around that the older 911's have a higher percentage still in operation than any other (mass market) car make. Some people incorrectly use that to suggest that the old 911's are very reliable. In fact it just means that they are well loved and the owners keep them running. Anyone who thinks an old 911 is more reliable than an old Honda Civic is quite delusional - but when your old Civic starts making funny noises, you just ignore it, and your old 911 goes in for an engine rebuild.

Recently bought a speed yellow 997.1 C2S cab. Speed yellow definitely wouldn't have been my first choice, but it has totally grown on me. I'm very happy with the color (and car) and am now a "bright" car lover. Too many silver and shades of gray for most cars out there - especially something that is supposed to be fun like a P-car! Go for it!

I've got a grey car myself, but I agree 100%. It's so boring and conservative all this silver and grey and black. I want to see more, yellow, red, heck I want to see kermit green and orange and chartreuse and bright crazy colors.

I'm sure it helps reduce accidents because you're so visible. Unfortunately I think it also helps the police spot you...

BTW this just came up at the same time on Rennlist :

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/997-forum/401471-6-speed-manual-trans-oil-change.html

I did some research and it appears that the Porsche OEM fill that they call "Shell Transaxle" is in fact Shell Helix Racing 75W90.

If you look at a viscosity chart :

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/visc.html

it's obvious that 75W90 is a very loose spec, so they are absolutely not interchangeable. In particular, the Shell Helix Racing is one of the thinnest 75W90's you can get - most of them (Red Line, etc) are thicker, particularly at low temp.

The OEM fills (PTX and Shell) have very high Viscosity Index, close to 200, while many of the other oils are around 160-180. Higher viscosity index means the viscosity is closer to constant over the range of temperatures.

I just started getting this issue in my 06 C4S. Up until last week it was very smooth taking off in 1st, now it judders pretty badly. If I launch pretty hard at high revs, it's fine, but if I'm gradual and gently it hitches, it feels lumpy; all the higher shifts feel just fine. I did the normal "clutch slip" test by flooring it on the freeway in 4th gear, and it didn't slip at all.

I've done a little research, here's what I gather :

This is most likely an issue of irregularities in the clutch-flywheel contact surface.

It's normal for it to show worst in reverse, and otherwise bad in 1st.

Most likely causes on our cars seems to be either an RMS leak putting oil spots on the clutch, or burned spots on the flywheel from very hard driving.

Some quotes I found around the net :

"I had a dual mass flywheel fail (it was on a brand new Porsche) and it

was exactly as though the clutch had worn out - so a strong judder when

slipping it, for example when setting off normally in first from

stationary. From memory it didn't affect normal gear changes though."

"There is excessive judder on take up in 1st or reverse gears, (often a

sign of clutch plate / flywheel - pressure plate contamination or

damage)."

"Judder is usually the result of either a contaminated clutch surface or

the misalignment of clutch surfaces caused by things like warped

flywheels, broken pressure plate or broken clutch forks. "

"This is clutch judder, likely either due to excessive wear of the clutch

or oil contamination on the clutch plate, do you have an RMS leak? there

are other things that could cause it like engine mounting broken/weak or

spongy and there is a possibility that the dual mass flywheel is

knackered, however old clutch or contaminated plate is the most likely."

I would have the dealer change the fluid.

Paul

Because you enjoy paying huge amounts for very trivial services? Changing the trans fluid is *really* easy and almost impossible to do wrong, because you just fill it as far as it will go. (obviously under warranty don't DIY)

About the Delvac : my understanding is that the OEM fluid was Mobilube PTX or Shell Transaxle , but consumers can't buy that. I've seen around the net that some people seem to be using Delvac successfully but it's definitely not the same. I imagine the best place to get OEM fluid is from Sunset or such like.

Pelican shows Swepco 201 and Red Line 75-90 for our cars. It would be interesting to start getting reports from people trying different fluids, as I find the OEM fluid is too thick in cold weather - the first few shifts before warming the car are very stiff.

Is it possible to swap the left and right rear tires halfway through the tires expected usable life to double the usability? This way the inboard side of one tire gets transferred to the out board side to balance the wear. No rotational issues, so, why not?

Most high performance tires now are asymmetrical, so you can't do this. Even on ones that aren't asymmetrical, the tire manufacturers recommend it, though lord knows if that's for good reason or just to pad their pockets.

My rearview mirror rattles something fierce, it's starting to drive me mad. It seems to be the front and back plastic halves of the mirror itself that are loose and rattling. I figure I can just take it apart and put some foam or felt tape inside.

Has anyone does this, or have a diagram about how the mirror comes apart and go back together?

All indications are that the M97 has many of the same failure modes as the M96 (IMS, RMS, cam chain, cylinder liners, etc). Unfortunately we don't have preventative measures available yet and in some cases they are hard/impossible to do without taking the engines apart.

Hopefully Flat6/LNE figure something out.

As it stands, I believe you can buy a 996 and do the aftermarket mods and get a more robust engine than an M97.

I'm looking to buy an early 997 (probably 06 or 07, 20k - 40k miles), and for various reasons it looks like I probably have to buy one from far away online (the biggest issue is that I want adaptive sport seats which seem to be very rare). I've learned a bit by reading here (eg. obviously get a PPI), but I have a few questions.

I'd prefer to get a car from a P dealer so it's CPO, or from a 1-owner private party, but it seems like most of the cars are being sold by independent sports car shops)

1. I've talked to two dealers (not porsche dealers - just some generic sports car shops) who refuse to let me get a car inspected unless I commit to buying it and put down a non-refundable deposit of $500 or $1000 or so. Is this common? Or should I take this as a bad sign and walk away?

2. If a car was a lease and then sold at auction and is now being sold by some random dealer, is that a bad sign? I've read a few times that P dealers will keep the good lease returns and dump the bad ones.

3. Is there a preferred shipping company that will treat the car right? Do I need to get insurance before I complete the purchase so that it's insured in transit ?

4. Is it insane to buy the car sight-unseen? If I fly out, should I get all the details in writing first? What if they give me the financial details in writing but refuse to get a detailed description of the car in writing?

5. How important are service records? eg. if I see a car that seems nice but has no service records and the carfax is blank, is that bad?

Thanks