Hijack

Since I seem to be following the "paint by numbers" format for standard upgrades to my TT, I'm now on the Diverter Valve and F Hose replacement part of my journey. And boy, how fun this is (sarcasm intended). I figured I'd give the "average joe" version of the DIY process for these to give those of you looking to do this replacement and idea of what you're going to run into. First, as should be common sense with every physical job, don’t start without the right tools. However, as most of us can attest, very few learn this before they already start a DIY project. For Diverter Valve replacement, do not even try this job without a proper set of “cable operated hose clamp pliers”. They look like this: You can buy them at Sears for around $40. Your knuckles and your sanity will thank you later. The ability to lock lets you set them down and use both hands to work on removing and installing the DVs (which, brother, you’re gonna need!). To begin the process of actually removing the OEM DVs and install aftermarkets, many people use the DIY instructions published by AWE. These are good instructions, but one part may be incorrect. In those instructions, they infer that there are worm-drive clamps on the bottom of the DVs. That is incorrect, at least on my car. All the hose clamps were constant tension, spring style as in the picture above. There are 5 hose clamps to worry about. There are three on the F hose that leads from the DVs to metal intercooler pipe and there is one on the bottom of each DV where they attach to the Y hose. The two hardest to deal with are the one on the F hose towards the front of the car and the one at the bottom of that corresponding DV. Here’s why; on my car at least, the compression tabs on the clamps were facing the front of the car. You cannot get to them with a regular set of pliers. You cannot spin these clamps without compressing them either. So unless you have the pliers I referenced above, or a set of C-clamp pliers, you’re SOL. These are C-Clamp pliers: Once you have the proper tools, following the AWE DIY instructions to the point of removing both DVs and the old F hose is relatively straightforward. However, getting the new ones in is a PITA. If you are going to use a new, silicon F hose, the job does become a bit harder for one reason. The OEM hose is rubber and allows you to insert the ports of the DV much easier since it stretches (which is one of the reasons it can leak). The aftermarket F hoses are much thicker and much less malleable, so inserting the DV ports into the F hose is more difficult; so much so that you need to be able to twist the DV back and forth to wiggle them in. As such, you will need to attach the DVs to the F hose first, before you put them back into the lower rubber Y hose. The first DV (towards front of car) is much easier to install. Attach it to the F-Hose and clamp it down. Then install it into the lower Y hose. You can wiggle the DV back and forth to help seat it into the Y hose. The second DV is a PITA! NOTE: Aftermarket DVs like Agency Power’s models are much larger than the OEM parts. They will fit snuggly up underneath the engine compartment. As such, you need to reattach the vacuum hose to the top of the front DV prior to starting to work the the rear DV. You won’t be able to move them around enough after both are installed to get to the top hose connection on the front one. The nice thing is, at least the connection is a 90 rotating fitting so you can get at it easier than the old vertical OEM version. After this is done, you can start work with the second DV, which is truly a PITA! Here’s the issue, since you need to clamp it into the new F hose first, you don’t have a lot of room to work with as you’re trying to push it down into the rubber Y hose. Since it’s already clamped into the F Hose, you cannot turn it back and forth to help seat it and since the Y hose is RUBBER, it keeps bending away from you as you push down into it. To combat this, I simply fished a wire under the Y hose and held both ends in one hand like a leash, pulling the Y hose up as I pushed the DV port down into the hole. If you really have problems with it, you can lubricate the bottom DV port to slide into the rubber. It won’t come lose due to the lubrication once you’ve taken the clamp pliers off the hose clamp, so don’t worry. The orientation and restraint of both the F hose on one side, and the Y hose below won’t let the DV move at all anyhow. Once the new DVs are in, reconnecting everything else is super easy. Good luck!

Wow, I can't believe they're selling that. They just took a flat piece of diamond shape mesh and cut it by hand to match the intake shapes of vairous models. To install them, you need to remove the bumper and glue/screw it to the intake holes. The bumper grill solution shown in the DIY section of these forums is the same thing...but for like $50 total.

Oddly enough, I see a ton of posts talking about replacing or augmenting the plastic bumper grills on our cars, but I couldn't find any ready-made, high quality mesh grill listings in any of these posts (outside of one UK company that looked nice). Any how after quite a bit of Googling, I found a set that seems to be promising. Since I'm not exactly sure it's ok to post commercial links here, just google "Mina Gallery". They offer both a chrome and black set of grills for most 911 (996 and 997) variants. I ordered a set of black and waiting on delivery. It appears they fully replace the stock plastic grills and, to me at least, look very good. I'll report back on the fit and finish once I receive mine and install them.

Well, I got the exhaust installed and I have to say, I'm a bit torn. I don't really know if I'm a huge fan of the raspyness under full throttle. I like the basic tone, but the thing sounds like a dirtbike when I give it the beans. I wonder if there was a problem getting a good math between the cats and muffler? At any rate, new DVs and boost hoses come tomorrow and the intake next week. Then, based on all the threads here, flash time! Everyone was right. This is an addiction!

Looks absolutely fantastic. Having a black car, I'm going to have to learn more about appropriate exterior care methods to keep it looking good. By the way, how did you get the ipod/Iphone hookup working with your stock head unit?

Hello all. Since I figured I would be pretty active here now (more on that to come), I figured I'd make introductions. I just bought my first Porsche (2004 996TT Triple black Cab w/19k miles) this past fall. Living in Pittsburgh, I obviously didn't drive it much at all before putting it to bed for the winter. The car is as stock as can be, and prior to getting to know it, I didn't think I'd be doing much to it (I can hear you all giving a collective giggle right now). Of course, I was wrong. Apparently there is a disease that is contracted upon sitting in the drivers seat of a 996 that makes one unable to stop from looking for upgrades! First, the bad. Thanks to a less than forthcoming dealer and also partly to the fact that I had no idea what I was getting into, I ended up with a great looking car...that had leaking rads, wrong sized tires, a radio that won't pick up anything, and bad alignment. Lesson to those looking at these cars...a full inspection by a trusted mechanic is a must. Let's just hope an upcoming Durametric investigation doesn't turn up any nasty engine history. At any rate, I found a good shop here in pittsburgh (C&G Performance) that corrected my issues for about half what the local Porsche dealer wanted. So now the oddessy begins. I've already ordered the most common of upgrades. I've got a Fabspeed Maxflo system w/new cats on it's way. I'm going to give the engine a thorough leak check and see if the DVs are up to snuff, but I may also upgrade those and all the boost hoses as well as adding a Fabspeed intake. At that point, I'll decide what if anything I want to do with the turbos. I am certainly not out to create a 600+hp monster at this point (but then again, I thought I was happy with 420 at first). Today, I'm spending time with what I'm sure many of you 996 owners have dealth with...the radio/nav system. What a PITA. With Porsche apparently deciding that they needed a completely unique method of pushing power and signal from component to component to speakers, looks like I'm going to have to replace everything if I want ipod/better nav/bluetooth capability. So here I go. I've been pouring over the forums looking at the amazing amount of knowledge shared by this group. Other tibits I've gleaned have me thinking about headers, coil-over suspensions, possibly swapping out front bumpers (or at least making better grills for the rad intakes!). If anyone has any words of wisdom or thinks there are other first steps I should be looking at, I'd be in your debt!