number9ine

Took it in to get the tranny rebuilt and was told that it needed a new one. The mechanic got one for $3000 and another $500 to put it in. While he was in there he said the clutch had about 5K miles to go and he would do that installed for $1100 RMS for $80. Also got the shoelace problem fixed p/l $300 and a dollar size door ding $125. All total $5240 and the car never ran so good even better then when I bought it.

Sounds like you got off cheap. What's the "shoelace problem?"

Need a little help from a 987 / 987S owner with the Bose stereo.

My stereo just does not sound right. Could be just me, and my aging (46) ears! LOL!! Just got the car out last week from winter hibernation.

My rear Bose speaker "box" just sounds dull all of a sudden. Not as crisp on the highs, and not as bassy on the lows. If I turn the fader all the way to the rear, the system sounds very flat & dull. Is this normal? I am adjusting the fader to "all rear" just to issolate the issue.

Last fall when I did my own air filter change, I obviousley removed the Bose speaker box. I was extremely careful, and worked slow. Did I do something wrong last fall?

Please help. Thanks.

Hi,

Not a 987 owner but I had a 986 with Bose. I'd suggest checking two things. First, look for a loose connection or frayed wiring on the subwoofer harness plug. Second, remove the sub box and check that your engine compartment cover is seated and secured correctly.

A very remote possibility would be that critter(s) decided to nest in your sub box while the car was hibernating. I certainly hope not, but flip the assembly over and open it to inspect if everything else checks out.

No matter what, setting your fader to rear is going to make the stereo sound like mud, because the frequencies going to the sub are low-pass (probably ~20Hz, but depends on Bose's definition) and the tweeters don't do much work.

Good luck.

Mark

Mark - Thanks a bunch... The string worked !! weirdly, the cable is NOT broken, and there was nothing interfering. The latch mechanism itself seems to be broken... there is no spring action at all and the latching mechanism is weak at best. But the string (like 1/8"rope) put enough upward pressure on the hood to trigger something while I slid a thin sheet of flexible plastic back and forth and it allowed me to get it open...

The alarm went off when it popped, so I had to run in and get my keys, so I lost a bit of detail on what i did, but it opened : - )

But thanks again, I have retrieved my laptop before my trip and can now focus on getting a new latch mechanism when I return. Kind of scary at the same time though that I was able to get into my luggage compartment (with zero damage) of my locked car (forgot it was locked) using a piece of thin rope and a flat sheet of plastic.... maybe that's why they moved to an electric mechanism on later 996's....hmmmm

Thanks again !!

Steve Hoffins

Awesome, Steve! Glad you got it open. Let us know what your mechanic diagnoses when you get the latch fixed.

Mark

Hopefully someone can offer some advice here. I have a '99 996 cabriolet and my luggage compartment won't open. (this is not the electric mechanism, just the early basic cable release) I'd say it's a broken cable, but I'm not positive it is since I have located the emergency release cable with loop on the passenger side and have tried pulling it from different angles so hard that if it were going to pop, it would have.

My trunk has been very hard to close for sometime but I just hadn't gotten around to adjusting or taking it in... now it's completely stuck with my laptop inside and I leave for a trip in a day.

Are there any other tricks ?? it's possible that if the cable isn't broken, a bag strap or something could be interfering. Assuming the emergency cable doesn't do it, is there any other way to access the latch ?? you need to get in the trunk to remove the bumper it appears.

Help !!

Steve H

I'd try two people, one pulling on the emergency cable, the other pushing down on the Porsche crest and simultaneously using something to slide into the gap between the hood and bumper cover to catch the safety release.

If the latch mechanism has been lowered over time you may be able to raise it again. try a few lengths of strong twine under the front of the hood, and one person on either side to hoist the twine and lift at the hood. It may pull the latch mechanism to a height where it will release the trunk. Once you've opened the trunk, the latch is adjustable via mounting bolts beneath the trunk carpeting at front.

I'm not sure what the next step would be if you can't get it open. I'd take the car to a dealer to sort it. Good luck.

Mark

They're all going to peel off after a staggeringly low mile count, but I'm a big fan of Bridgestones. I've done S03 and RE050 Pole Position, both had great wet/dry traction and decent treadwear considering their mixed track/street use. And the cost is MUCH lower than the other OEMs like Bridgestone, Pirelli and even Conti. They come in N-spec on some of the latest 997.2s.

I don't know about Kumho, but a friend had them on his Camaro SS and Z06 vette and loved the performance for the price. Said the treadwear was pretty awful, but it is on all these tires.

Mark

Yes, be sure to clear your browser cache using Ctrl+F5 to get proper operation (on each computer you use).

If you are still having problems please let me know what OS and what browser (including version) you are using.

If folks really don't like this version then we can go back to the old version. But, please try the hard cache clearing first.

I turned the feature back on and cleared my cache, and it seems to have them hovering over their forum titles now instead of under my mouse. It'll take a little getting used to but if the hover is predictable then it's fine by me.

Thanks!

Mark

Has the topic hover preview changed recently? Since the 3.0 upgrade it was showing a small snippet on hover under my mouse a la tooltip, now it's showing a larger one that obscures what's over my mouse, meaning I have to clear it before I can click on a topic.

I've disabled it because I don't find it very useful in the larger size. Is there a way to revert back to the older functionality? Other than this minor gripe, v3.0 is awesome so far.

Mark

This topic has been partially covered in previous posts but I thought I would share my findings.

When I bought my 56K miles 996 a couple of weeks ago, I had to have it smogged to transfer title. It passed smog easily, but I noticed that the speedometer was reading 4 to 5 MPH high compared to the smog machine it was being tested on. I asked the tech about it and he said that of course his machine was right on and the cars speedo had to be off. That's not hard to believe since the rollers that spin the tires could be easily designed and constructed to consistently duplicate a correct speed. And I assume the state is going to be pretty fussy about making sure the test equipment is accurate.

Wow, maybe I have 50k mile car not a 56k mile car! So I performed a 64.3 mile test using a GPS that I use for sailing against the cars speedometer and odometer. All the driving was done on the freeway with the top down for optimum sattelite reception.

I found that the cars speedometer was indeed 4 to 5 mph high compared to my GPS. The variation was not a % variance, it was a consistent 4 to 5 mph overstating.

I also found that the cars odometer was dead on compared to the GPS track log. Thus, the car odometer was not reading high and in fact I feel comfortable that the miles on the odometer are reasonably accurate. The analog speedo is too hard to tell since the width of the needle is just about 4 to 5 mph anyway, and I didn't like staring at the analog guage while zipping down the freeway.

All that said, some poster made comments that all speedos regardless of manufacturer read high. I also tested the speedo of my 2005 Toyota 4Runner, and the Toyota was dead on at all speeds. I prefer knowing what speed I am actuallt going without having to do the extra calculations

It's my understanding that Porsche calibrates the speedometers to a specific, standard wheel and tire size per model. This number could be thrown off by anything making a small change in tire diameter, a change to aftermarket or optional wheels, etc.

My car has N-spec (Porsche OEM approved) tires on the standard 19" wheels for its model spec and the speedo is dead-on as measured against an aftermarket GPS, which itself isn't 100% accurate. Is your car on stock wheels and N-spec tires of the proper size? Either way, our findings are anecdotal.

I've owned many cars with an optimistic speedo calibration. Every VW I've owned, for example, seems to have a 5-10% higher reading than GPS or radar (ugh) suggests.

Mark

About a month ago, I was dismayed to discover a sheet metal screw embedded in my right front tire. I wasn't loosing any air so I took it to a local Firestone dealer and asked his opinion. He said that it was too far from the tread to be repairable and since I wasn't loosing air, he recommended that I leave the screw in place and consider replacing all four tires, which had a lot of wear but probably would have made it through the winter and spring.

I researched replacement tires and decided that I wanted Continental DWS.

The car was parked in a garage during the recent snow event in Baltimore and when I got it out last Monday. I went to the Firestone guy and was prepared to replace four tires. He did not have my size in stock so I asked him to find the Continentals which he agreed to do. When I did not hear from him, I found another local dealer (Hillen) who sold many different brands including Continentals (and Falcon which were rated number one by Consumer Reports).

Wednesday morning, I started out to Hillen to buy new tires but the left front was totally flat!

I was only a block from home so I limped back and got the Porsche tire repair kit out of the car.

I connected the air pump to the power outlet in the passenger foot well, and started to inflate the tire. I could see the hole were the screw used to be and there was air leaking from it. The pump ran for a few minutes, with little effect, and then quit. It blew the 7.5 amp fuse!

I had a manual foot pump at home for bicycle tires so I got out the Porsche tire repair juice and I removed the tire valve (as per Porsche instructions) and emptied the squeeze bottle into the tire. Then I pumped enough air (about 15 lbs) to drive the car to the nearest gas station, (about a mile) and I pumped the tire to about 40 lbs. I used the remaining time on the air pump to top off the other tires and when I was done, I checked the "flat" and it was down to 29 lbs.

So, I drove along a local street the 15 miles or so to Hillen tires. The car handled reasonably well but when I got to the tire store there was very little air left.

I got four new Continental DWS's.

I have replaced the blown 7.5 amp fuse with a 10 amp. There is no excuse for fusing a power plug too low to operate the air pump when there is, after all, NO SPARE!

I replaced the nearly useless Porsche tire repair juice with a pressurized can of tire sealant. At least this will put some air back in the tire.

Next time I'd avoid the "fix-a-flat" sealant (Porsche's or Pep Boys) because the mess it makes won't ever be cleaned off the inside of your wheel. Tire "professionals" hate the stuff.

I use a $6.00 plug kit for punctures to keep me rolling down to the tire shop. Most punctures are slow leaks, so I can use the compressor to keep air in until I get home.

Pull out that 10 amp fuse and replace it with the 7.5 amp, lest you fry something that's expensive to replace. Like Berty987 says, the cig lighter outlet works fine. Make sure you read the label on the compressor itself, which warns you that the pump should only be run for x minutes before turning it off for a rest. I can get about 30 PSI into my tire from the Porsche compressor in about 4 minutes.

I had the building super help me take my hard top off yesterday. He apparently didn't have a good grip on my hood and dropped the thing on the carbrio lid (I think that is what it is called. It is the metal panel that raises up on hinges and lowers back down after the soft top is stowed). So, that pointy piece of the hard top made a 1/2" scratch and a minor dent that is in a very visible area of the car.

So, my question is should I try to take this panel off and hammer it out myself? If so, how hard is that in terms of removing it and hammering it out? I've never done anything like that before so I'm not sure how much it would cost. Otherwise, I suppose I'd have to take it to a body shop to have them take care of it.

Thanks!

The part you refer to is commonly called a "clamshell." It's unfortunate that it was dented and scratched. A paintless dent removal expert may be able to remove the dent, but the paint will need touch-up. If your car is a lighter metallic color it will be very difficult to make it "invisible" via regular touch-up in such a visible area. You can ask a detailing professional to do it for you, they may have better luck.

If PDR and touch-up don't yield a result acceptable to you, the next stop is the body shop. The shop will probably need to "blend" the paint they apply to the repair on your rear quarter and decklid, and the bill could get expensive pretty quickly.

I'd go the dent-removal and touch-up route first, it'll cost you maybe $200 at most depending on whether or not you have a detailer apply the touch-up. If the results don't look good to your eye, take it to a body shop and get an estimate. Best of luck.

Mark

Try replacing the stock filter box and resetting the CEL or seeing if it goes away after a few cycles. If it does, perhaps there's something in your CAI setup that is causing a leak.

Here's the thing. Several people have contacted me to inform me that there is no way this vehicle is a factory wide body, since there were no wide body 964s offered by porsche in 1990.

My porsche mechanic says the body is authentic. I have every last receipt from this car since it had 5,000 miles on it, documenting all services from warranty work to major engine overhauls, but no receipt or mention of body work. I have heard others say that maybe it was a special order car.

Is it possible that even though there was no "production run" 964 wide body made available by porsche, that one could order the wide body as a "special order" thus accounting for the existence of this vehicle?

We have run the vin and the vehicle comes back as a normal body C2. Any ideas??

Maybe it's the relatively low quality of the photo, but the paint on that rear quarter looks horrendous--the reflections seem to show massive amounts of orange peel. There's something wonky about the rear suspension as well. The front is lowered, and the rear looks like a 4x4.

Unless you mechanic is a former body man with a paint meter in his toolbox, get a body shop to give you the real lowdown on the body of that car. Wouldn't Porsche be able to deliver information on options added to the car via their certificate of authenticity service? If it's meaningful to you to know, that might be a good way to find out.

I assume your mechanic has done a PPI on the car. What does he say about the awkward suspension? How does the car check out otherwise? The extra inches of sheetmetal and tire aren't worth it if the car has been otherwise abused, IMO.

Mark

12) I decided to get rid of as much of the dirty, dusty crumbly foam from the inside of the grill as I could:

Great job on the speakers, Gary. I'd be concerned about losing the foam, doesn't it protect the speaker from direct sunlight?

A failure is MUCH more expensive than a replacement. My indy charged me $600 to do the water pump on my wife's '99, which started dripping about a week after we bought it (of course).

My understanding is that it's easy enough to do DIY if you want to save some cash.

Mk1 aerokits are beautiful, but I think you should buy the best example you can find. Your price cap is near the bottom of the market for a Mk1 996, which at best will be someone looking for a quick sale, and at worst will be a damaged, salvaged, and/or abused car. Aerokits can always be added later, and better examples might be found if you include cars that don't have the kit. You might also consider waiting a bit and putting together a little more cash to find a really pristine example, which I see out there in the $25k range.

No matter what, get a thorough PPI. I'd definitely want to put my hands on a 10-plus-year-old sports car before buying it. Too much risk of disappointment when it arrives on the trailer, sight unseen.

Good luck!

Mark

Hi,

A quick search yields your answer:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?/tutorials/article/47-replacing-the-sim-card-tray-in-a-pcm2/

Becker can be contacted via the info on their site:

http://www.beckerautosound.com/

Best of luck,

Mark

Awesome work. One day I'll get my hands this dirty... Kudos to you Yeeha!

Why would that not be covered under warranty? (unless of course you hit something)

997.363.162.02.12H Rear Wheel 11 J x 19 ET 51 - Speed Yellow -- US MSRP $2575.82 (plus mounting and balancing)

I agree, if there's no sign of damage then you should pursue a warranty claim.

If you must pay for a wheel, use the "Porsche Parts at Dealer Cost" link above to buy from Sunset Imports. Of course, shipping might negate some of your savings. The other option is to find a used OEM takeoff wheel (many are removed by the owners on delivery for a set of aftermarket) and have a reputable wheel or body shop paint it the factory yellow. Good luck.

Mark

I see both points and I have driven both... The PDK is awesome... My six speed manual is awsome.. I say what ever you like is the better option..

Just trying to mediate what seems to be a sensitive topic.. (Notice he has both hands on the wheel.. Must be a PDK...)

To each their own, of course. I just love arguing my preference. :)

I don't know about you other six-speed drivers, but when I'm not shifting both hands are on the wheel. loose but steady grip, 10 and 2.

Other than the stitching on the instrument pod and the crease in the door cards, it's hard to tell without some closeup pics. Post here and maybe the peanut gallery can decide.

Mark:

Yes, manual shifting will soon be a lost art like faxing was once way cool. I think the idea of manual shifting is very much like in a sailboat where you can have a rudder or a wheel. Many believe that a rudder gives better feedback/control?

I question your statement about controlling torque and maximizing the powerband. You do know that in Sport Plus mode all upshifts are manual so when are you not controlling powerband? So main difference is only engagement/disengagement of gears and during manual shifts there is a period, no matter how brief, where there is NO power to the wheels, right?

And if someone is distracted by playing with their ipod/phone/nav/whatever then maybe they shouldn't be driving.

In case it's unclear, the argument I'm making isn't the performance potential of manual versus PDK (or rudder v. wheel as you'd have it), but the level of interaction between the tool and its user. In any system there needs to be a balance between simplicity, ease of use, and control. Manual is my tool of choice because a) it's simpler, B) it has a steeper learning curve that requires (fun!) practice to master, and c) it allows more control over the driving experience. I'd argue that the mark of a true enthusiast is their desire to extract the full potential from the tools of their choice. Since the PDK's ease of use has been inferred here as superior to that of a manual, that might also infer that a manual requires that much more involvement and dedication to perform well.

There's no need to question my statement about torque since I qualified it by saying an automanual gives you some control, just not all. With PDK, I can't finesse the throttle and clutch because I have no control over the clutch. Intangible as this is to some it's a quality I appreciate, and it adds to driver involvement. I'll also note that PDK/Tip in any mode will handily upshift without your consent at redline, which may or may not be a good thing. An illustrative example: my wife's tip Boxster upshifts on the trackout through the carousel at Watkins Glen. In less than ideal conditions, the sudden absence of torque under lateral load could result in an unhappy off-track event. There's absolutely nothing that will stop the car from doing this, because when driven properly the car is at redline every time. I haven't driven a PDK on the track yet, perhaps its ratios obviate this behavior. Its software does not.

Agreed 100% on the distracted driving. But as we remove ourselves from the mechanics of driving, we also remove the incentive to pay attention while doing so. We can reactively respond to the safety consequences with legislation and enforcement, or we can proactively respond by driving cars with a level of involvement proportional to the risk of piloting heavy metal objects at high speed.

Mark

Did 1999-2000 996's come with the option for vinyl door panels instead of leather? From what I understand, the vinyl ones look different than the leather. I'm just not sure if the vinyl only came in boxsters.

(I'm buying a used set from someone who can't remember what they look like, but knows they came out of a 2000 996 cab. and that they are in great shape)

Knowing the year and model doesn't guarantee anything. The image on the left is a full leather door card, and full leather is an option in all 996/986 cars. The obvious visual difference is a tucked leather seam on the full leather card vs. a molded ridge on the vinyl card.

Not all vinyl on the cars is created equal. From 97-99, the Boxsters and 996 had a "bumpy" vinyl net optic grain that felt and looked a bit cheap. They returned to the traditional leather-patterned vinyl in the 2000 MY.

Mark

Fair enough.

In favor of PDK:

• It's fun.
• When not thinking about clutch you can spend more time piloting the car and enjoying the experience. More connected to the car not less.
• It's fun.
• Ferrari no longer offers manual trans at all.
• It's fun.

Things that you can do with your left foot:

Count to five.

.

Let's not get carried away. The double-clutch gearboxes I have tried (DSG/S-Tronic, PDK in Panamera) are trick and even enjoyable, but in favor of the manual transmission:

• You're more connected to the car when you're controlling your torque instead of letting the car guess when you want it served up, regardless of how good the car's guess is. Flappy paddles (or toggles) give you some of that, but not all of it.
• A good clutch foot comes from using all of your senses to know just when to engage. It's becoming a lost art, many people have never driven a manual car and couldn't if they had to.
• Ferrari can offer whatever they like for a transmission, I'm not buying. Modern Ferraris are overpriced, oversized, with loud looks and a pretentious air IMO. Fine driving machines though they may be, we're on a Porsche forum.
• For many drivers, putting it in "D" seems to disengage their active awareness, inviting distracted driving, not checking mirrors, lane drift, panic braking, and other dangerous habits. My DD is an automatic wagon, and I dearly wish it was optioned with a stick. In my automagic, sound-deadened, leather-coated, iPod-equipped cocoon I feel less connected to the 2-ton mass that carries me to and fro, and while I actively maintain my situational awareness there's far less incentive for me to do so.
• Stick is fun. There's so much reward in maximizing your powerband, making smooth, quick shifts, grabbing a lower gear for a pass, and heel-toe work in the twisties.

There is absolutely no question that a manual has built-in driver involvement that can't be matched by any auto or automanual tranny. One day soon, rowing your own gears may go the way of the dodo--just like controlling your own car on a freeway, or deciding how fast it goes. I prefer a stronger blend of human in the driving equation.

Mark

Glad this worked for you! Any product labeled "polish" is simply a liquid form of abrasive, just like sandpaper. The only difference is the amount of cut.

There are some jobs that still require a deeper cut and sandpaper is sometimes an ideal first step, but by no means the final step. For example, metal or other liquid polish won't eradicate a nasty rock chip in my headlamp but I can wetsand it out and then use a polish to restore clarity.

I find that for maintenance, PlastX works fine to keep my headlamps in nice shape (no affiliation, it's just easy for me to pick up locally). It also seems to have a hydrophobic component that acts like wax without the residue or fog.

Mark

2010 911 S4 Cab sport chrono, sport exhaust.

Placing it in sport plus and pushing down on the pedal is the most fun that I have ever had in a car. Period. It actually makes you look better and feel better than you really are.

Any of you interested in a unique and wild ride - go to a Porsche store and try one with this setup. You will not be disappointed.

Depending on the speed achieved, it probably is illegal. :)

I have yet to try the PDK, might go and kick some tires the next weekend with nice weather and free time to spare. Did you try the launch control? I bet that would make your salesman sweat...