boeykew

Thank you. I meanwhile ordered the microswitch assembly and got a proper tool for the 8mm special fasteners holding the lock. Indeed using a 6 mm Torx (T40) is tempting but it is loose fit and I imagine you cannot transmit a lot of torque. One more question: what is the best product to restore the original seal between the door and the foam waterproofing membrane between doorframe and door panel? Some sort of glue or a silicone bead? Grds...

On my 996 C4 one of the door micro-switches must be faulty as when I open the door, the window opens correctly with 1cm, but when the door is open and releasing the exterior door handle the windows moves up again, which complicates the closing of the door as the upper part of the window enters in conflict with the rubber seal in the roof. During a ride on a bumpy road ( famous Belgian concrete slab b-roads) the electronics do intermittently and randomly move the window up and down with 1cm, quite annoying. I removed the door panel, but the access to the exterior door handle and the door lock which both contain a micro-switch is at least awkward. I hardly can put my hand in the opening of the steel doorframe and when it is in, impossible to see what you do. Any advise how to replace these switches would be helpful.

Many thanks for the constructive feedback. First sensible explanation of what Calcium batteries are. Thanks for that! Got a new battery and new (revised) alternator. Read the 997 DiY alternator replacement on this site first and was apprehensive about the amount of stuff that has to be removed before accessing the alternator. Well not on a 996: took me one hour and 15 min to replace both. Straight forward. Now I notice the difference: althought the old battery was not faulty ( no shot circuit in one of the cells) the starting power (revs made by the start motor) is much higher. The battery must have been tired. Another noticeable thing: since a while the idling of the engine was not clean, with noticeable vibrations and hesitations regularly. I did change the spark plugs (30k old) and the 6 ignition coils (11yrs old, 133k and some rusty...) but it didn't improve idling smoothness. Guess what, with the new alternator the idling fault is solved! It probably did send tension peaks into the car's electrics.... Grz...

Many thanks, the alternator is equipped with a simple straight pulley, so it must be the alternator or regulator. I'll take it out and have it exchanged. There is a specialized shop in our village and you can swap a faulty alternator for a reconditioned one for less then 100€. Maybe I change the battery too. 6 yrs is already something for a lead-acid battery. They now offer "Calcium-calcium" batteries, without lead. Anybody any experience? Grz...

The voltmeter from my 996 3.6C4 Tiptronic. from 2002 shows since 3 weeks a strange behavior. The engine starts easily when cold in the morning, the voltmeter indicating 12,5V before cranking the engine, when it runs warm it indicates nearly 14V. Once warm and at idle the voltmeter stabilizes slightly below 13,5V. Until there everything is normal. Now it comes: when running the engine flat out, it will shift @ 7000rpm and then immediately the central info panel turns red with the message that the battery tension is critically low! 5 to 10 sec later it disappears and the voltmeter is showing 13,5V. It happened regularly so I started to check the voltmeter whilst accelerating flat out ( one eye on the road and one on the dash...), well during acceleration the voltmeter shows a steady tension drop: at 4000rpm the needle is gone below 12V and at 6000rpm below 11V. Shortly afterwards the alarm message appears. Whilst lowering the revs, the tension seems to pick up again. The battery is 6 years old, but showing 12,35V when disconnected after use. I left the battery on a microprocessor controlled charger for a night and the charger tells me the battery is fine and not broken. So faulty alternator or regulator? Many thanks in advance.

We drove the car longer and since then and about 1500km further down the road, there were no new signs of white/yellowish deposit anymore in the oil-filler pipe. I guess no-one needs to see a picture of that ! Many thanks to the members for their re-conforting words.

Forgot to attach the picture:

I'm breathing again ! :jump: I did review all the engine removal and dismantling manuals and read all te topics about "intermix" on this forum, and I was cold and warm at the same time ! Fortunately I'm missing most of the symptoms of a severe intermix problem. Nevertheless, I will monoitor the evolution of any futher mayo in the oil filler cap and we will take in the coming weeks the car out for a couple of longer trips. Many thanks for those re-assuring words! I'm adding a picture I took when I removed the filler cap. Cleaned it up now! Rgds..

Hi my wife bought last July a 2002 996 Carrera 4 with 96 000km. The full maintenance history being supplied with the (German import) car, and being a hobby mechanic, I did the maintenance incl changing spark pugs, oil (Mobil1), filters, etc... all according to the maintenace schedule provided on this site. By the way great site ! Now 7500km later, my wife tells me she got an oil level warning message. First time since 7 months I open the lid and pull out the oil dipstick. The oil level is just at the minimum mark. So I decide to top-up with some Mobil 1 and remove the oil filler cap. I was horrified to see some accumulation of crème beige thick deposit. :eek: Nothing massive, but on the inside of the cap and on the inside of the filler tube irregularly and at some places 1mm thick max. I checked again the colour of the oil with the dipstick and it is transclucent with the colour of (english beakfast )tea with no traces of intermix. I checked the cooling water reservoir which is just above minimum level (but I do not recall at which level it stood 7 months ago) and the colour of the fluid is translucent and yellowish. No traces of mayonnaise anywhere here. I topped up the cooling level and oil level... the engine starts well, does not smoke, runs smootly on all 6 cyl... Could this formation of deposit in the oil filler cap be caused by the very low temperatures we experienced the last months in Belgium combined with the fact that my wife only travels 40km every day (20 in the morning and 20 in the evening) and therefore the engine nevers get hot enough to get rid of some 'natural" condensation in the crancase?? In this case this could be "normal" for a 996... At the other hand, once the engine reaches operation temperature (which is at this season after +-10km) she got a firm foot and does not shy taking it in higher revs... What shall I check next....coolant level and oil level (+ deposit evolution) I will certainly but shall I check the oil-cooler for faults?