gusmagoo

Yours is a C2, so you won’t have the known issues caused by a split tank that the C4 has, however there are a few anomalies with the readings for fuel which are well discussed if you do a search. If you have a handbook and follow the rule of thumb they advise you shouldn’t have any problems, if you do, your sender might be at fault. Fill up as soon as possible after the warning light comes on, and don’t try and squeeze every last ounce into the tank once the fill nozzle knocks itself off. The fuel gauge indicator gives an estimate of mileage left not an accurate figure and if you only put a very small amount of fuel in, the gauge might not move at all, this is normal, as it only registers when filled above a certain level. Despite me saying all this, it does sound like your sender may be at fault. A good indie will be able to replace this. Let us know if you sort it out.

Few issues here I feel I have to comment on. Firstly, the yellow mayo stuff at the top of your oil filler pipe is a red herring. They all do that, caused usually by a build up of condensation at the top of the pipe during cold/humid weather or when the car is only used for short journeys. It will probably be less evident during the summer months in a dry climate. Check your water, if there's any oil in that, start to worry. Water in your engine will most likely be identified by plumes of steam exiting your exhaust pipes! Secondly, oil pressure gauges fluctuate, they all do it. Mine is at 4 or 5 when motoring and 2 to 3 when stood still. Don't worry about it. Unless it reads 0 and you have warning lights lit! Thirdly, remember that when measuring your oil level on the dash, you HAVE to have the car on perfectly LEVEL ground. Even the slightest gradient will show too little or too much. I measure mine in my (level) garage before use and (about 15 mins) after use. Additionally I've been advised to always keep my engine oil FULL. Each bar represents about 200 ml so filling up is easy to work out. These are all things I've picked up from various sources and have accepted and adopted as my opinion so if you disagree with any of it don't shoot me, if there's any doubt about a symptom you have get it to a decent independent (or the OPC if you're desperate) ASAP. The suggestion of a borescope inspection of the cylinders is a good one, this could be piston slap due to scored cylinder liners and the borescope will find that. For what it's worth, If my car had that loud a knock, I wouldn't run it, it would be being recovered to the repairers right now. When you find the cause, please let us all know! Good luck!

Have you done this yet as i'm fitting the second cubby in mine this weekend, Pics would also be cool and an explaination how you wired it...

They all do it mate, don't worry about it, you've just got a bit of the classic "porsche paranoia" Ask your mechanic next time it's in for a service. If it reads 0 and you have a warning light on then start to worry, otherwise, enjoy! :)

Yep! Plus one on this one! My wind shield has a number of stone chips and has a sand blasted appearance in certain lighting conditions. No amount of cleaning makes any difference and my Mercedes C220 was even worse! Must be a German car trait! The solution for me will eventually be to repace the screen as the roads over here in the UK mean that before long I'll have a cracked wind shield and will be able to then have it replaced under my insurance scheme. The excess is usually only about 50 UK pounds and it doesn't affect your no claims bonus... :beer:

Thanks PorscheFever, and welcome to the forum! I’ve still not had the car in for its promised service and check over so I’m none the wiser, but me and a few buddies have come to a similar conclusion. It’s got to be either the cable or possibly the shift tip selector lever which, I think, is part of or near to the gearbox? Or at least attached to it in some way…And has been highlighted as a problem before… I hope you sort your problem soon, and let us know on here maybe? I’ll be sure to post a full run down of the solution when I’ve done the deed. Best wishes, Gus… :thankyou:

Ah I see, for some reason, it has been suggested that this is not normal by a few people over here in the UK. I hadn't noticed it before, and thought perhaps it should only rise if the system was OVER pressurized, possibly highlighting a problem. If Loren says it's normal, thats good enough for me. I will question my friendly UK forum members for some clarification on this one! I will drive it happily this weekend and as usual, keep an eye on my temperatures and fluid levels. Many thanks for your help everyone. :thankyou:

Hi everyone, Quick question, I've recently noticed that the black plunger type relief valve (the one with a sort of spring clip on it) located just forward of the water reservoir cap on my 2004 C2 tiptronic appears to rise when the engine is at normal running temperature (as if open) and falls back down again when it's cooled down. I'm not losing any water (that I can see anyway) the car has no visible leaks and never goes higher than 82 degrees on the temperature gauge. I'm led to believe that this shouldn't be happening and am not sure if it is safe to drive this weekend. My water level appears to be steady midway between Min and Max whith a cold engine, and rises a little when warm. Can any one suggest a reason for this rise and fall, (of the valve) and is it safe for me to drive the car? No other warning lights or issues to the best of my knowledge, thanks in advance.

Thanks very much RFM for that info BUT I’ve been told that the shift was re designed for the later cars and there isn’t any rectangular box on the side from about 02 onwards. However If I find that there is one I will surely update the post and carry out the service. Once again, thank you for your input…. :thankyou:

Hey there Dirtydonki! The reality here is that as yet I've done nothing about it, apart from change my shifting style to get the car to do what I want every time, which is positively engage in each position on the gate. This isn't an ideal fix but till I actually determine what the problem is I can't really give an answer here…it's such an uncommon problem (I too have had problems finding any relevant posts). My next move will be to clean and freshly lubricate the lever and all moving parts under the shift cover then attempting to lubricate the cable. Currently I suspect this is being caused by a seizing/sticky/dirty cable, or the Tiptronic gear linkage seizing. My symptoms can now be "demonstrated" by me slowly attempting to go from D to R. This nearly always doesn't work, and I get the shift not selected message sometimes too. A quick jolt towards park then back into R makes it work every time. Reading past history I discovered a line saying "free off lube and adjusts seized tipo gear linkage" from 2006. When selecting P, I take my finger off the gate button and positively slide it into P which has seemed to prevent the no starts. It's not an ignition problem, I'm convinced of that. As previously said I'll report back when I've discovered more. (It's a weekend car). If you learn any more do let us know! Cheers, Gus… ;) PS my original post on this issue is also worth a read, and can be found here.... http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=59468&highlight=engage+park

I’m afraid they all over read speed but only by a fraction. They are meant to for reasons touched upon above (so I've been told) Personally, I wouldn’t worry about it. Just look at your sat nav if you want a more accurate speed but why would you? As for tyres, whatever the stock size is for the wheels that came with the car, assuming that the wheels are original to that car are the ones you should stick with. That’s what years and years of research finally settled on and in a car capable of post 150 mile an hour speeds you’re only risking killing yourself if you start meddling with the setup. You might also invalidate your insurance. Just live with it.

Might be worth checking that the mirror is seated correctly in its housing. If the lugs holding it in have popped out in some way the mechanism might think it’s fully returned when it hasn’t. But now that I’m saying it, would it allow you to adjust it further if it had popped out? Not sure…

We've seen these here in the UK and discussed them at length including a survey to see how many people like them! Checkout this post on 911uk.com and see what you think. http://www.911uk.com...pic.php?t=60470 You can also get a modified version to accomodate the headlight washers. If you study the pictures where they've been fitted to pre and post facelift cars it is clear to me that they look daft on pre facelift (996.1) cars as the mould clearly follows the design on the 996.2 facelift cars and the pre facelift design is different. ( IE the indicators particularly look obscured by the covers) as can be seen here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=848422&mid=0 and here http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/techart-headlight-covers-washers-porsche-9901-p-13462.html I personally think they look OK on a dark colored facelift car, but wouldn't want them on my own car. I'm not a mod man.

After 1600 miles of driving since purchase the symptoms have now changed slightly. The starting issue (or lack of cranking) still happens but not as often. Now when moving the shift from drive to reverse, the dashboard light makes a clear positive move to R, but the gear does not seem to engage and no beep from the parking sensors, this happens mainly if I do it slowly, the shift seems to be in the correct position but the car fails to engage Reverse, presumably remaining in N (the next nearest position that it goes through to reach R) Occasionally the “in-between gears” or something, warning pops up on the dash but that’s usually because its half way through a move (whilst performing this action slowly) The problem is quickly solved by either positively moving the shift (rather than doing it slowly) or by firstly putting in P THEN moving it into R, it always works when you do it like that. The reverse gear then happily engages and the reverse “beep” sounds for my parking sensors… 1. Does this sound like a position sensor fault? 2. Where is the position sensor? 3. Do we have a part number for it? 4. Is there a possibility that it could be the cable itself that is worn, seizing or misadjusted? If so can someone please tell me the part number for that too. Thanks for your patience and help. PS Im not sure now how "free" the shift is supposed to be, this being my first Porsche, it just seems normal, should it move freely with say, thumb and first 2 fingers? In addition to above latest symptoms I've just noticed that at 30k miles four years ago it has the following work done. "free off, lub and adjust seized tipo gear linkage" Does anyone think this might be the cause of the above symptoms yet again? Thanks in advance for you're suggestions...

Thanks Den, on reflection i'm pretty sure it wont let me go into reverse from neutral, (I didnt try that because I was afraid of forcing something, it seems alien to go from N to R without my foot on the brake in any instance! Habit I guess!) My point was that you could get into N from D or R without the brake depressed. That alone was what i wasn't sure about... Thanks a million for all your help, kingd regards Gus... :thankyou:

Mmmmmm, I was wrong, the component at the base of the shaft is the Foot Brake switch solenoid preventing you pushing the lever down, to then let you move the shift, unless you have your foot on the brake. That besides, If it isn't closed, you can't start the car, and additionally if it isn't closed it won't engage reverse, even if the dashboard says it's in reverse so i'm even more confident now that the problem is related to the shaft not being all the way up when it should be! (meaning that the solenoid effectively remains open, until the shaft is fully up) I will get to the bottom of this! (then perhaps write a book about it, or make a film ) :D

Yea, now I fully understand your gripe, and would still definitely advise you to save yourself a lot of hassle and just leave it in drive like everyone else probably does. However can you just confirm that you can go from Drive to Neutral and Reverse to neutral (whilst rolling and no brake depression) as well as go from Neutral to drive as you say! After thinking about this for a while I'm guessing that the above is a big must otherwise you would never be able to get the car into (freewheeling) neutral allowing you to tow the vehicle in the event of a breakdown and no power! And it is the gear change that lags behind the lights (by about 2 seconds) not the other way around, right? Appologies for repeating myself I just want to be sure, the Porsche Parranoia is affecting me quite a lot this week, now then, where's that bottle of red wine :thumbup: (It's early evening over here by the way!)

Black was number 1 on my list of requirements! Whilst we're on the subject, I'm trying to discover the cause of a start glitch on mine which has baffled everyone so far... Can I therefore ask if it is normal to be able to move the shift lever from Drive to Neutral without touching the brake and whilst moving forward or stationary? Also I appear to be able to move the shift lever from Reverse to Neutral without applying the brakes... Is this common, or a fault? I will say though that you can't move it from Neutral into Drive or Reverse without then having you're foot on the brake... I'm confused! Also, the gear indicator lights on the dash change in drive about two seconds before the actual gear moves... Is that normal too? (First time owner) The start glitch I mention is detailed on another post and the symptoms may be related but I just don't know... Anyone got any theories? Possibly related start glitch can be found here http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/36832-996-tiptronic-shift-lever-glitch-engaging-park/ Thanks in advance for any help and apologies for hijacking this thread! Gus...

Thanks roadsession, but I actually think my problem lies elsewhere... Having received the spare gear shift unit bought for peanuts online, I've been studying how it works and what everything does on it. I'm convinced the problem lies with the sprung cental shaft seizing before it has fully popped up, so that the solenoid located at the base of the shaft does not fully close, preventing a start. This soleniod appears to tell the brain of the car when the lever is correctly sat in a position, preventing an inadvertent knock of the lever... The reason why I cant tell this is happening is because the button itself (that you press to move the shift) has a small spring located underneath to pop the cover back up unaided, disguising the fact that the shaft hasn't popped back up!... (if you catch my drift!) I will report back when I have investigated further.... :)

I think I understand what you're asking... I've done an awful lot of reading about Tiptronics in the last few months; opinion on this side of the pond is that you are much better to leave the shift in drive in stop start traffic, so as not to be constantly disengaging and engaging the torque converter (I think) which supposedly causes more wear than leaving it in drive... Defonately never put it in Park as if someone rear ends you they are likely to break something on your car more so than if it had been alowed to roll forward at impact. The park position having locked the wheels... I'm not quite sure why they tell you to put it in Neutral and i'm quite happy just to leave mine in drive... As for your request to disengage the parking paul break light thing, Its basically a safety issue and is probably illegal, and given that you could engage reverse by mistake and immediately roll back if you were on a hill youre bound to be asking for trouble! Its set up like that for a reason... I'd leave well alone, and if you dont like doing what the book says (which I've never done anyway!) just leave it in drive! :)

Thanks roadsession I'll look into that. I've just bought a second hand shift for next to nothing just to see how the whole thing works! Heck it might even have some useful parts on it!

Hi Benny email me via "UK helicopter pilot .com" and I'll send you a copy of the PET parts catalogue for the 996. You'll need adobe reader to view it. It may shed some light on the differences in part numbers but the 01 02 03 thing doesn't always work like that in my experience. don't be too quick to buy the parts if you're not sure. Of course a friendly parts department will tell you over the phone.

Greetings fellow members from a newbie! Not long ago I became the proud owner of my first Porsche, a 2004 996 C2 Tiptronic here in the UK. I started a thread on 911uk.com regarding my Tip shift having an intermittent glitch but have had very little response. Being as I estimate there being a lot more Tip owners out there I'd like to ask the question again. Here's my post; I'll try and keep this brief to prevent you getting bored, this question \ concern relates to the usage of my 2004 996 Tiptronic gear shift, the car has done 64k miles, FSH… Having parked and locked up for a short time I returned to the car to find that I couldn't start the car… Everything was fine with battery, warning lights fuel etc, but turning the ignition key from position 2 to position 3 resulted in silence. No engine cranking at all, all lights went out from p2 to p3 as if to direct power to starter as expected, but total silence. Initially I was totally perplexed and ended up ringing Porsche for some advice. They found it difficult to diagnose over the phone and advised recovery. Then I remembered once having an issue, years ago, with an auto that hadn't been correctly placed in park, (on most autos you can't start the car if it's not in park, here in the UK anyway) so I released the handbrake and rocked the car by grabbing the back wheel. I clearly heard a click, presumably the park lock clicking into place and immediately started the car with no issues; the shift lever button was also heard to click. Additionally going from drive to reverse sometimes doesn't engage reverse, though this is easily rectified by going from drive to park to reverse, again when you hear the button pop back up fully you know you've now got reverse, engine running. The part of the lever button I can see always pops up, but you can then hear an additional click and the button moves but a tiny bit, like someone taps it from underneath! The lever and button is free moving with no stiffness. The car has only covered 3000 miles in the last year, making me think lack of use may be a factor. The gearbox is working faultlessly and not displaying the dreaded flashing number 4. It's recently been given a clean bill of health from a main agent (though it was bought from an indie) since the episode I've adjusted my use of the shift to prevent this happening but do notice sometimes that the button doesn't always pop up immediately or click when I think it should. I'm convinced it's something to do with the lever or lock button itself. Has anyone ever experienced this sort of glitch before and does anyone know what is causing it. I'm not in the least bit concerned about it but I'm surprised the techies at Porsche didn't appear to understand what I told them had happened when they rang me an hour or so later. It was good of them to ring me back though… Since writing this in December about 1 start in 15 fails, but I can always get reverse now from any direction. Any constructive advice will be greatly appreciated, regards, Gus.

I am sick of hearing about this "mid life crisis" green with envy, sucking lemons, bull shine! I am 42 and have just bought a shiny black 2004 996 C2 Tiptronic, and I love it! I drove a 911 SC regularly when I was in my teens that belonged to a female friend of mine, it was a platonic friendship and she loved a younger man driving her round in the summer. We had a great deal of fun; sadly, she died of cancer last year at 50. I'm single with no kids and no worries, never been married and never been in a crisis. I've simply realized a lifelong ambition before it's my turn to knock on those pearly gates, that said, if this is my "mid life" I'll be enjoying the car for a long while yet! :D