j_beede

78,000 miles... now that's more like it Johan! My C2 has 34,000 miles on it. The clutch engagement is smooth and lockup is firm. Pedal travel feels great. I've not owned a rear-engined car before, maybe the light odor that I notice when I park can be attributed to the proximity of my nose to the rear engine ? Probably not. 1953 XK120... Nice. Did it have skirts?

Interesting allenone20. Your mileage seems to fall in the usually reported range for a 997--i.e. 30,000-40,000 miles for a clutch. I have limited experience with a "three on the tree" but have accumulated about one million miles of manual transmission mileage and have never(!) replaced a clutch in any vehicle--street or track. My 8V GTI and Audi 80Q made it a combined 250,000 miles with their factory clutches. I need to better understand the 997 clutch design as mine seems to get a little warm and smelly from what I consider to be slight "abuse". $1400 is less than a local indie shop quoted, was that a while ago? Your flywheel was either good to go or resurfaced I presume? ...j

Any C2 or C2S 6-speed owners care to share what they paid for a clutch replacement... with or without flywheel? Indie versus dealer? Anyone get less than 30,000 miles or more than 40,000 on a clutch? I am assuming that the C2 and C2S have identical transmissions and clutches--that assumption may be wrong.

Sorry to hear this report racerken. Every blown head gasket I have expeienced (wet sump engines) was accompanied by foamy or creamy look to engine oil "Reading" the spark plugs from both banks may give some clues, dry? wet with oil? wet with coolant? FYI: Every case of IMS bearing failure I have heard of was accompanied by a large volume of oil on the ground. No unusual noises? I would avoid any attempt at starting until discussing the situation with a Porsche mechanic.

Old but interesting post... Griss? Anyone? How did this story end?

I think Jake Raby (Flat6 Innov) has a device that will provide detail on IMS bearings for some (996?) models--not mine, I already asked. If my understanding is correct the only way to know if your M05 has the old (small) bearing or the more recent (large) bearing is to drop the transmission. Since the RMS and IMS bearing are vertically stacked, seepage in either or both could produce a damp spot below. I suppose if the joint between the transmission and block is dry one could claim that both bearings are dry. When it comes time for a clutch I will find out which bearing I have. If it is the small one I will happily do the LN plain bearing substitution. If it is the larger bearing I plan to have it "unsealed" it and hope for the best.

My error... from the sentence below it sounded like you were talking about oil level. Note: My oil level indicator is formatted like a stacked bar chart. "The only thing I did before the journey was to top up the oil by 0.4 L bringing the level up to 3 bars rather than 2 bars full." Theoretically we should be speaking the same language (though in the US "braces" go on your teeth, a "lift" is something you discuss with a plastic surgeon, and "stones" have nothing to do with the weight of your Porsche :)). Thanks for the pressure vocabulary lesson. It's been a while but I still recall atm, Torr, Pa, Boyle, Charles, and PV=nRT and other ideal gas law bits. I don't recall much from fluid mechanics. Odd. I'll adjust my earlier comment by saying that your post-shutdown 1 bar reading could be a pressure sensor anomaly. I assume that disconnecting the oil sending unit would store a code, perhaps a resistive connection (hot or ground) would not? Hopefully your 997 is in good nick these days. (Did I say that right?) ...j

Have you determined whether your 997 has the smaller IMS bearing that can be extracted replaced via the LN Enginering kit? As you probably know some MY05 have the smaller bearing and some have the larger (incompatible with LN Eng) bearing. ...j

My MY05 997.1 coupe's oil level indicator has 5 bars--I believe. Three large bars between the MIN and MAX levels plus a smaller bar below MIN and another small bar above MAX. In the owner's manual it seems to say that the max fill level is 4 bars. Is it your preference to keep your level at 3 bars? The two "events" you describe sound consistent with an electrical "glitch" in my opinion. For the pressure gauge to show a non-zero value with the ignition off suggests a grounding fault. I will have to take a look at my pressure gauge during idle, then with the ignition switch off, then with the key out. ...j

The aftermarket clear film applied to my hood, front fascia, side mirrors, etc. looks like new, feels great, and works great. The very thick clear stone guards on the leading edges of my rear fenders has yellowed. My understanding is that the rear fender guards are factory applied. Is this correct? I would estimate that it is 10 times thicker than the clear film applied tot he hood.

The heavy clear stone guards on my white MY05 C2 are in great shape--except they have yellowed over the years. The dazzling white color of my car exacerbates this cosmetic problem. I am looking for ideas for cleaning/polishing them or perhaps removing them without damaging the paint. Anyone have experience with this?

2005 C2 coupe 6sp. First time out in the rain so I thought I'd do a "grip check" as I exited the driveway. Two observations: 1) amazingly good grip, 2) lots of momentary dash lights (PSM was on). Any Durametric experts know if momentary dash light illumination like this typically produces codes that could be read via Durametric cable? As an aside, my rain sensing wiper feature wipes more often than I need/like--even at minimum setting. Anyone know if there is a patch for this? Maybe this something that can be altered via Durametric or PIWIS or other? ...j

Looks like the Kenwood radio doesn't support variable dimming from the dashboard control. It simply switches from "bright" to "dim" when it detects the headlights are on. This should make debug easier but the end result will not be quite what I expected.

Given the popularity of adding/replacing the factory "stereo" with units that have HD, blue tooth and GPS built in, I suspect that this is an issue that has been encountered (if not discussed) before. If I can figure out how to pull the head out of of my dash I will "scope" the dimming signal if it is available in the stock radio connector. I'll start looking for a radio connector break out diagram for 2005 997.1 with Bose. If the dimming signal is PWM--as jl-c predicts--then I will build a little ac-coupled DAC to provide the dc levels that the radio (presumably) expects. Based on yesterday's phone call to Kenwood I don't think they will provide the details on what the signalling of the orange-white wire is supposed to be. Surely there is a Kenwood car stereo forum where I can get that information.

The double DIN Kenwood unit in my C2 coupe doesn't dim with the headlight switch or the dashboard dimmer knob. The factory gauges do dim down as expected. I can manually dim the Kenwood via the touch screen menus but then it is too faint for daytime driving. The deck (DNX6990HD) is pleasing in all other regards. I just spoke to Kenwood and Crutchfield, they were apologetic but could not provide technical advice. My real concern is that the digital dimming function in the 997 is in some way incompatible with the orange/white wire on the Kenwood that expects (I suppose) a variable dc voltage like it would get form a "normal" car's dash dimmer potentiometer. A visit to my local car stereo shop produced a four figure quote for pulling everything out and starting over from scratch. Anyone happen to have experience with this? ...j

You probably know this... per the manual for my '05 C2 coupe the passenger window auto-up feature only works after the window is more than half closed.

Since your alternative is filler/sand/prime/paint I see no reason not to try the paintless path--unless you chosse to leave it as is. Keep in mind that dents stretch the metal and really can't be simply "popped out". Given the location of your dent they will likely need to drill an access hole in the door jam.

In that "other" forum you would likely be told to ignore the report and drive it like you stole it. :eek: Didn't the lab that did your oil analysis offer an interpretation of the results? Taking your report to a mechanic may be your only option--but if they are not trained in qualitative analysis I don't know how reliable their interpretation would be. Oil reports from light aircraft that I have seen come with an interpretation. Maybe there is a Lycoming or Continental mechanic near you that could give you an opinion? Some 996 owners are reporting oil consumption in the 500 miles per quart range. Over the span of a 5,000 mile oil change cycle that would mean 10 quarts added(!). Are you experiencing high oil consumption? I think that would need to be taken into account along with the solids and metals report.

I think the real obstacle is that LNE/Raby will not sell the required extraction tool as a standalone item--it is only available for purchase if you also buy their ~$600 IMSB kit. Still a bargain compared to P-Service I suppose. Maybe someone who bought the extractor can comment on whether some sort of purchase agreement precludes the resale or loan of the tool?

No disrespect to Wayne, but as he already sells LN parts; I am surprised he would try to develop his own IMS retrofit. That said, to my understanding, his retrofit uses the same style bearing as the OEM (steel with seals), but employs a larger center bolt much like the LN unit. While the smaller center bolts on the OEM style can fail, I really do not think that the bolt is the primary issue, which is lubrication or a lack thereof. All things considered, the primary costs for an IMS retrofit is not the price of the bearing; by far, most of it is labor. After paying all the labor hours, wouldn’t you want to install the strongest and most proven bearing you could lay hands on? Including LN, there are now four possible alternatives either in the market, or close to entry. Some appear to be copying LN, others going the “low cost alternative” approach, and one that supposedly uses bearings within bearings in conjunction with a “knock sensor” to catch a failure developing. While I am confident that the market place forces will eventually result in “shake out” of the lesser players, it is an interesting example of what happens when someone finds a way around a profound problem that the OEM says cannot be done (Porsche still insists that the bearings cannot be changed without splitting the cases, and this remains the “official line” at many dealerships), and the concept quickly turns into a multi million dollar aftermarket business............... This is precisely why the lack of wear data is an issue. Other than the word "ceramic" whay reason is there to think thatt he LNE bearing is better/different/worse than the OEM part? From my reading I gather that the pre-production testing was in the form of driving--specifically the miles put on Jake's wife's 996 after LNE retrofit. A small sample size for sure. With a $20,000 repair bill wieghing in the balance I would have expected to see legitimate MTBF calculations based on comparisons of "zero hour" bearings to failed bearings. I asked for that--request denied. I suspect that data may not exist. My personal view is that the real contribution made by F6/LNE is the extraction tool and flow, not the particular IMSB.

Do you have wear data on the LNE bearing? I have requested this data from Flat6 and was told that the wear data was LNE property and they are not sharing it. I believe that LNE would agree that the real problem is lack of IMSB lubrication not bearing quality. The contribution that LNE has made--without question--is the bearing puller that alows the IMSB to be replaced (in some M96) without tear down.

The ambiguity around IMSB size in replacement ("AT") M96 is precisely why Flat6 needs to develop an inspection tool... something to ease the process for identifying which cars are candidates for the retrofit!

We run Sunoco 110 in our kart race engines and it is leaded. If your catalytic converters are out of the car, why would you need to avoid leaded fuel? Kart engines do not have anti-knock technology and often produce more power on lower octane rated fuel. Some engine builders are recommending high oil to fuel ratios as a claimed way to reduce the effective octane rating of the 110 fuel. If your ignition timing is being retarded by an anti-knock system you may see higher output when using higher octane fuel. Is there a way to monitor throttle position, RPM, and ignition timing? We use MyChron4 telemetry from AIM. Maybe there's an iphone application for that?

Thanks for clearing that I guess Subaru, BMW, Honda, Lycoming, Continental, Ferrai, Lancia, Citroen, et al use(used) different physics? The original question was about the oil usage and the concern of whether or not it was normal. The answer is Yes. It is normal. The responders here gave the original poster good information explaining why and how it is normal. Your posts seem to be more about your opinion of how Porsche designs cars, what oil usage should be etc.. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but you are not correct and do not appear to be well versed on cars. As for physics (and sarcasm)...Porsche has a different design so "Different" physics apply....Which is why I can add a quart of oil every 1000 miles to my 997 Turbo, and blow away any of the cars you have listed above :) To my knowledge, none of the cars you listed use a flat opposed boxer design engine, so would not have the same residual oil in the cylinder to deal with. Don't get so frustrated.....It is just oil...not blood :) DC I always thought that oil consumption was something to avoid--unless you drive a diesel or a Saab 96 :) Actually, as I recall, the Saab 96 would go further than 620 miles on a quart-and--a-half of oil. Learn something new everyday.

I guess Subaru, BMW, Honda, Lycoming, Continental, Ferrai, Lancia, Citroen, et al use(used) different physics?