number9ine

If you're checking your level after just a few minutes you may try removing, examining and re-seating the expansion tank cap. If there's a leak in the cap seal it could explain the flashing light (which is a low coolant level warning), and after a short drive the water level may return to normal before your visual inspection. Loren's probably right that the sensor in the tank is faulty, but there's the odd chance that it's a leak of some sort and a longer drive may result in an expansion tank overflow and overheat. Mark

Hi 355, Gently pull off the woofer port covers on either side, exposing two Torx screws. After removing those the unit should slide out just fine. The covers are for the LATCH car seat system, there's nothing you need to remove there. Mark

Hi, If you have a 2005 911 it's a 997, not a 993. Is that a typo or am I not understanding your situation? I'm not sure what the proper part number is for your airbag controller but if the the new one differs from the original then it may be incompatible with your car. If your car is a 997 my understanding is that you need a PIWIS for certain functions instead of a PST2. If your car is a 993 then there should be no part number starting with 996 anywhere in it. I'll wait for someone to chime in with more info, but in the meantime you may consider cross-posting this in the 997 forum. Mark

No. Mark

Take a trip to the track and you'll get over it quickly! I get the most smiles per mile going around corners in my P-car. :)

Just saw this and thought to comment on it: Torque is the definitive measurement of acceleration, and faster acceleration is your stated goal. The tradeoff of torque for additional horsepower would leave you at a disadvantage at corner exit speeds or at highway speeds, all for a gain of a few mph top speed (horsepower). Considering your car's stock top speed can be legally and safely achieved in few places, you may consider seeking mods that improve your torque response in the midrange instead of focusing on increased hp numbers and higher redline. Horsepower may increase with greater torque, but torque doesn't necessarily increase with added HP. Mark

With some more track time, the gap between you and other (possibly more powerful) cars will increase. From your responses here it's apparent you're looking for people with like minds to agree with you on modifications to your car, and don't subscribe to the idea of buying a higher hp car now or learning the dynamic limits of your current car. I wish you luck in seeking additional straight-line performance from your car, and I hope the associated expense and risk isn't untenable. Best of luck. Mark

Exhaust backpressure can affect the torque characteristics of your car, which is why the stock exhaust is tuned carefully to optimize power delivery in all operating states. Any modification to that may yield extra power in one state while robbing your car of power in another. If you replace with the stock part, does the problem go away? That's your first troubleshooting step. If re-fitting the stock exhaust solves the issue, then it's a matter of deciding whether you want that extra power up top, or reliable power across the board. I'd choose the latter. Mark

Awesome! Was it an instructed event? First time out? 997s are wondeful track cars. If this wasn't some sort of timed event or race, I humbly suggest that you might instead concentrate on being smooth and consistent and not worry about what's behind of or ahead of you. The "red mist" is tough to avoid, but it's worth it if you can. That's a tough situation to be in, sorry to hear it. All the more reason, IMO, to love what you have, which is an excellent car. If you can avoid the upgrade bug for a few more years you'll be able to turn your car into something liquid and step up to whatever's latest and greatest. If you spend a lot of money now trying to "fix" your car, it will just increase the equity gap. Not that it's my business but since you've raised the subject of money: If you're considering a swap because you can't get financed on a new GT3 with your rollover debt but can finance engine upgrades with cash or revolving debt, I suggest putting the cash into your car note, or leaving the credit card in your wallet. A Porsche is truly a luxury good and almost never a good financial investment, but even a diehard enthusiast would be hard pressed to pour money into a depreciating asset owned by the bank with cash due at sale. Since you've done some reading here let me start by repeating what you probably already know: There's precious little performance to gain from your car without spending a LOT of money. I don't think I've seen a GT3 swap in a 997, although I do believe it's been done on a 996. Anything's possible, but the GT3 is more than just your 911 with a dry-sump motor; everything has been tuned, upgraded or optimized for the GT1 motor's output. I imagine that the money spent doing this could easily eclipse the finance and depreciation costs of upgrading to a GT3. The turbo and SC kits are expensive, and hard to justify considering all the 996 turbos out there--for cheaper money than your current car--that reliably put down GT3 HP and nice, flat torque. I never tire of this topic, because despite being posted many times by many people the answer seems to fall on deaf ears. Here it is, tailored to your context: You can expect to spend about $1-5000 on the intake/exhaust/chip trilogy and still be disappointed on the straights when any car with higher displacement or forced induction blows your doors off. Plain as that. Here are a few options available that might suit your need for extra speed: Buy a cheaper but more powerful car (996 TT, vette, etc.) once you have enough cash to wipe out your negative equity. Maybe you'd like owning one of those Audis that made you see red mist. Buy a momentum car, like a Miata, and track it. Learn to live without all the motor you already have, so that you hone your driving skills to the point where the extra power is just a bonus. Like you, my car is a 997.1S and I have dreams of stepping up to the GT3, but at the end of the day I can't come close to mastering the capabilities of my car and I've been driving on the track for years now. My next car is probably a 912, less is more sometimes. Stay off the racetrack and hit the drag strip instead, where far less money will get you far more speed and bragging rights. A little NOS goes a long way, live life a quarter mile at a time, etc. I hope that you understand my perspective just as I'm trying to understand yours. You have a great car, some say the best car. Taking the original and attempting to improve it may yield a lesser product, and few have been demonstrated to refine Porsche's formula without a lot of time, money and know-how. There are faster cars, better-handling cars, and more exclusive cars, but your Porsche is in rare company and the sum of its parts is arguably greater than cars that cost twice as much. Enjoy. Mark

Joe, if you would rather invest the time than money for inspection then by all means, do so. Just keep in mind that isn't equal to a knowledgeable eye examining your car because as you admit, you're no Porsche expert. And that goes for the typical things you may look at, like suspension bits, leaks, bushings, etc. Sometimes knowing where to look or what to look for is worth a penny. Yes the car has a suspension. Is it in an unusual configuration for a production car? Yes. Yes the car has an engine. Is it a flat-six--extremely rare for a modern engine--with its own set of maintenance gotchas and failure modes? Yes. My point is you'll be learning along the way, instead of spending a little cash to benefit from someone else's knowledge early on. You may benefit financially in the long run, but if something goes wrong that a Porsche tech would've caught and you didn't, please believe me when I say it's likely to cost far more than a PPI. No doubt you will. I do very little of my own mechanical work and would love to do more, but my time at home is very limited. I follow the same mantra as you and agree that it's better safe than sorry, regardless of whether someone else is doing it or I am. If you can DIY and achieve the same result, that's a good thing. Seems this is your bottom line: Since this means you'll be your own mechanic on the car, then PM porschelibrarian and get yourself the technical manual for your car. One day when I catch up on sleep I hope to find a nice older P-car (maybe an early 912) to wrench on myself. Until then, post about what you do to and with your car so we can all live vicariously through you. Take pictures too, we want to see your car! Mark

Was it the oil pressure warning lamp under the speedometer? If so, I recommend you stop driving the car until you find out what's causing the low oil pressure. Oil starvation may cost you an engine, and could have any number of causes. Are there any leaks under your car? Have you had any maintenance performed recently? EDIT: Just browsed the 996 GT3 owner's manual, and the text "Failure Indicator" with the oil icon in the OBC means that the "oil pressure indicator is faulty." If that's what you saw, hopefully it's the only thing gone wrong. I'd still avoid driving and have everything checked out to be sure.

It's a narrow body. I'd also be skeptical that it's a C4, there's no "4" on the back. Get some photos of the trunk (should be shallow and shaped differently than a C2), or the calipers (should be silver). Mark

These two statements are incongruous. $50 isn't going to buy you much of anything from your local Porsche dealer, and the $250 or so that a proper PPI at an indy mechanic will buy you is a fraction of the cheapest maintenance item on your car. Being a "maintenance ****" is a great thing on these cars, because the relative cost of failures on your car could eclipse its market value at a stroke. PPI is cheap insurance, and it gives you a complete laundry list of things that will need your attention. Good luck and enjoy! Mark

I've had strut mounts go on non-P-cars I've owned in the past, and a crashing noise over bumps is definitely a symptom. As far as your struts go, they can definitely show their age without failing. Does the car hop when you hit expansion joints, or continue to track straight? Do you feel unnecessary rebound when camber changes abruptly in turns? I would say those are signs that you should replace the struts. Do you feel a lot of driveline vibration? If one of the motor or trans mounts has failed, you'll get some nasty noises over bumps. Considering your car's age and track history, I wouldn't rule this out even if it's not the cause of your current problem. You mention you track the car. Are you running on the track tires, or do you have a separate set for the street? What brand and spec are they? The PS2s my car was sold with made a horrific hollow banging noise over every rut, expansion joint, and pothole they found--even with zero miles on the tread. Currently running Contis that are quiet as a mouse by conparison. As I'm sure you know, once tires are heat-cycled a few times they become very loud and hard. Hope this helps. Mark

What you trade in dust, you'll probably gain in noise. All aftermarket pads I've used or heard about are noisy affairs. I find that if I keep my wheels waxed, it helps prevent dust buildup and allows it to come off with a rinse.

Sorry to hear that Dr. ColorChip fudged it, I imagine white is a tough color to match for their system. I have DCC in Ocean Blue for my wife's car and it's a perfect match (once it's dry). The actual name of your paint, FYI, is Carrara White, not Carrera. It's named for the region of Italy that supplies white marble famously used in Michelangelo's David, among other things. Mark

Hi Joe, Congrats on a free Porsche, and a nice one at that. Every one of your questions has been addressed on this forum, and it's possible that you're not getting answers because of this. The Search function at top right leads to a wealth of information, and you should check out the 986 forum and DIY subforum for interesting topics. I'll bite on some of the questions you have: 1. Use only transmission fluid recommended by Porsche. They publish a list for trans fluid, oil, tires, and a host of other maintenance items on your car. These can be found via the TSBs available for Contributing Members, or via searches of the forum. BEFORE you spend the time and money changing your fluid (which I believe is a 90k service item on your car), you should check out the bearings in your shift housing. Here's a link: http://www.renntech....ft-difficulties 2. Top issues are covered in their own sub-forum here. You can learn how to check for wear to the servicable parts, how to adjust your top, common failures, and how to put it into "service position" so you can see what's going on. Before you use the top too many more times you should check out the results of some other noisy tops: http://www.renntech....st=0entry1024, or http://www.renntech....le-top-problem/ 3. "De-snorkeling" your car is good if you like additional noise for no good reason at all, and the risk of fouling up your air filter (however small this may be). I'll go the unpopular route and say that if you want to improve the car's handling and speed, then do something about the nut between the steering wheel and the seat first. Porsche Club of America (PCA) hosts High-Performance Driver Education (HPDE or just DE) events that don't cost much and are tons of fun. Out on the track with your car you'll quickly realize the yawning gap between your skills and the capabilities of your "lowly" 200-hp, purpose-built sports car. My rule of thumb: If I learn to out-drive my car, then I'm allowed to modify it, or sell it and buy more car. In the meantime, if you want to lose weight, buy smaller, lighter wheels and hit the gym. 4. The internet has a number of options for replacement parts and maintenance items, all of which are cheaper than your dealer. The popular choice (and site supporter) here is via the "Porsche Parts at Dealer Cost" link above, which will save you some coin on OEM parts. They stock maintenance items too. Wherever you shop, make sure you're buying the right part for your car by coming here and reading up first. 5. You might have a look at 6speedonline.com's classifieds forum, a lot of folks on that board mod their cars and sell wheels and tires as take-offs. Hopefully you'll find some "comps" for what you're selling. 17" wheels are great on the Boxster, my wife has Boxster-offset MY02 996-style 10-spokes and loves the look (although she isn't the one cleaning them ). The tires are cheaper, the car handles just as well and it rides better than my old 986S with 18" did. 6. I hear good things about Plexus. My wife's vinyl top window has some light fogging at the corners and fold point, and requires a "karate chop" to avoid creasing when closed. I've used some Meg's fine cut cleaner on the fog and followed up with PlastX and the results are good, but fade over time. 7. There are dozens of options to replace your "mushroom" shifter with something else from the Porsche parts cabinet; the later 986 models have a different shift knob that matches the 996 knob. If you want to go a little less conventional, you could get your shifter re-done in leather by someone like Paul Champagne (http://www.designpau...cheLeather.html) and spray the gate pattern top any color you like. 8. The windstop clips that hold the lexan windblocker between the rollbar hoops are failing. See here: http://www.renntech....windstop-clips/ You can fix by replacing, or use the "poor man's method" of stuffing some 1/8" foam double-stick tape between the clip and the blocker frame. I did the latter on my wife's 99 Boxster and it's been rattle-free for a year now. Remove yours until you fix, or you may find that it removes itself at speed. At your car's age, it may make sense for you to spend a few bucks getting a PPI (pre-purchase inspection, even though you already own the car) at your local mechanic. That way, you can identify and fix problems before they become expensive failures. Congrats on your "new" car, enjoy it in good health. Mark

People generally say that driveline loss is somewhere between 5-15% and isn't linear. So, your gain is somewhere between negative 10 and positive 20 horsepower as compared to the 325 hp stock figure. Let's be optimistic and call it 10 extra ponies. You've now spent $300 per horsepower. And since faster acceleration was probably the intended result, you would have wanted more torque. What figure did their dyno give you for that? For $3k you could've bought three sets of new tires, 3 years' maintenance, two sets of brake pads and rotors installed, or half a dozen days' instructed seat time on a closed track to improve your driving skills (including gas, brake pads, lunch, and a beer at the end of each day). I understand the car makes a different noise now that you may like better, but neighbors and pedestrians may not. At the end of the day the noise is the only reliably measurable quantity, and its benefit is highly subjective. This is all my two cents, I still understand why people choose to buy these mods, I just don't agree with them. /end rant.

Here's another post describing the same symptom your car has, where the engine was replaced by Porsche: http://www.renntech....-engine-issues/ I'm sorry friend, but from the looks of that oil soot you may have engine damage. I'd stop driving the car further and let your mechanic have a look ASAP. Is the car warrantied? Mark

A search for "steering angle" in quotes brought up a bunch of relevant posts on the first page of results. I've seen Loren suggest searches like +steering +angle, where I assume the plus prefix means AND between terms. Mark

93 here in NY. 91 RON+MON/2 (AKI) is the minimum octane listed in my owner's manual, and 87/89/93 is what's available at the pump. When I lived in CA, I did 91. I understand that the car will adjust to a lower octane by detecting higher instances of detonation with the engine sensors and adjusting the timing to compensate. While it might help reduce knocking that would hurt the engine, I imagine that over time it causes increased wear and tear on something. I'll take the manufacturer's word for it. If you want better mileage I'd suggest a lighter foot, and less weight in the car. If you get on it like I do you're gonna be visiting the pump more often. :) I'm stunned by my car, driving like I stole it will get me 19-21 MPG on the computer. My friend has an '04 C4S and his gets 17-18 MPG or so on a hot foot. Are you getting less? If so you may want to let a mechanic have a look. Simple things like oil, air filter, tire pressure, plugs, etc. can have a big effect. Mark

I ordered one for my wife's '99 Boxster last year as a preventative measure. Not sure what the part number was, I'd have to dig out the receipt. The replacement was blue, and it was quite a few revisions removed from the old cap, which was blue too. This cap design has been around on VAG and Porsche products for a few decades now. The one in your picture says "West Germany" on it, so the pic itself is probably some old stock photo. If you click the "Porsche Parts at Dealer Cost" link above and give them a call, you're guaranteed to get the right cap, whatever the color. Mark

Huh? I assume your comment refers to the E46, not the E90 where the difference is two cylinders, among other things. Even on the E46 3-series, the difference is displacement. 100 HP from an NA engine doesn't come without adding cubic inches. All for a few million dollars in R&D, of course. wvicary is right, and while his comments ring true for many manufacturers they're especially true for Porsche. For example, the M96/M97 range of engines might be built on many similar parts, but the differences in performance are all accomplished with significant modification to displacement, internals, accessories, and the like. Even the N/A Powerkit engines rely on some serious, expensive internal and external part swaps to make all of 30 horsepower and a dollop more torque. The engine/model differences may be conceived as a marketing excercise, but their execution is wholly dependant on hours and dollars of mechanical engineering, not a "control tweak." An aftermarket air filter or exhaust accomplishes three things in my mind: 1) a waste of money due to no significant performance gain, 2) the risk of upsetting the delicate balance between engine systems tuned by some of the best engineering minds on the planet, and 3) on-and off-throttle noise that sounds more Tokyo than Stuttgart. Note that 3) is the only measurable benefit, which I think any aftermarket shopper should balance against cost and reliability. Hell, Porsche makes loud bits for their cars that cost a lot of money--see PSE, motorsound, etc. Porsche's items don't come with dubious claims of extra power. My advice? Take that money and enroll in a PCA driver education weekend. A few of those, and you'll feel a LOT faster in everything you drive. If you want noise, roll the window down or make motor sounds like the kids do when they imagine driving these wonderful cars. Mark

I believe the widths are the same, but the offsets are different in the rear (51 widebody, 67 narrow). Doing a few searches, it looks like the rears can be mounted but will require 17mm spacers. Good luck. Mark

I don't know how large those letters are, but I'd guess about 1/4" high based on the secondary ring for the key. I personally think the raised-edge chrome lettering will show too much contrast in a 9x6 interior, where no straight lines or chrome bits are to be found. I'd look into embossing or stitching the leather instead. Talk to this guy, his leather work is phenomenal: http://www.designpaulchampagne.com/PorscheLeather.html Post pictures when you get it done! Mark