creekman

I am really interested in swapping out tail lights. Any update on availability of LED Tail Lights for 996 C4S (wide body)?

I wouldn't wait for the wide body LED tail lights. I think the bottom line is that there are not enough cars to make the tooling worth while. I

finally bought new factory lights since mine had broken mounting tabs.

I changed out my 3rd brake light to a LED strip.

Binger,

I haven't, however now I have the plugs in place and everything is working I'm afraid to remove them until I have the plugs in hand. Now

it's a catch 22, I can't get the plugs until I remove the plugs for pictures. I'll probably put this on the back burner until I get some other issuesresolved.

Thank you, that looks like a good lead...

Update... I had Glenn from Pelican Parts get back to me:

Hi Mitch, bad news; my contact at Porsche tells me that plug connector kit is no longer available, sorry.

So I guess that's that.

Bill, you're my hero... I've searched the PET and Glenn from Pelican couldn't find them either.

Thanks bunches,

If you have a vacant switch location on the dash panel why don't you leave the heated seat switch alone and just buy another switch?

They looked like Deutsch Connectors, try looking on Digikey, or Mouser web pages. If you look real close you may find the manufactures name.

Thanks Ronnie... My electrical guru in Dallas thought they were AMP plugs. Good idea, I'll start looking on the internet as you have suggested.

I've been through both the body and electrical sections of the PET parts manual and so far I haven't run across the plug or harness. The plugs

literally fall apart when you touch them.

2003 996 C4S

Here's my question, I've had my instrument cluster in and out 3 or 4 times to change out the Porsche check light for the LS3 V8

MIL light. (Malfunction indicator light?

The 3 large colored plugs have deteriorated to the point that the over center clamps have broken off. It appears that the

clamps are necessary to make complete contact with the recessed pins on the back of the instrument cluster. Does anyone know

if you can just buy the gray, blue and green plugs without the attaching harness?

Thanks,

bBunny, if you move ahead with the OBD2 reader please give us an update on how well it works... I assume since it's i-Phone compatible then the

software will run on a Mac O/S.

Is it OK to turn the ignition on with the gauge cluster removed. I'm having some work done on the cluster and need to retract my Cab top. I'm not sure why it would matter but don't want to mess my electronics up.

I just did that with no problem, albeit and I didn't take it for a drive...

badges2, I would contact our Web Master, Loren... and ask him. You'll need to forward your Vin number, but I'm sure he has the answer.

If you're concerned that a repainted front bumper might hurt your re-sale value, take some pictures for a record. I had a clear bra installed on my car which I thought was better than the re-paint. My front was in pretty good shape so the bra for me made sense. However the clear bra installed was probably more money than the cost of a re-spray of the front bumper.

I think DK has it right, none of us is going to see any appreciation in our cars for a very long time, so do whatever makes sense to you.

I'm not sure this will help... have you checked the battery in your key fob? Are you saying that the Porsche dealer can actuate the door locks on

"both" doors with his OBD software?

Loren,

You always seemly know how to cut to the chase... I just had the 54 minutes wait this morning, now I know why... the engine wasn't up to operating

temp... Now I don't have to worry about why the oil level gauge wasn't reading, one less issue to deal with. Thanks,

Curt, Hilux makes some good points, and maybe you should just give the car back to the seller, if he'll take it back? I would add that there's been more than one AWD car that's been turned into a RWD car. I have done this for several reasons that I won't elaborate here. If it's done right there isn't a problem. I guess the re-sale value could be argued, but that doesn't seem to be your immediate problem.

If you need the front differential, I have one for sale...

Curt,

I guess I would chase the wires back to where they came from... Maybe there was some radio/amp/speakers that these wires fed. I don't think that bus is a Porsche part?

Stay warm...

After owning the car for about a year I just noticed that I was missing the visor vanity cover/door. I ordered a new body and cover from Parts Haven - $90.00. It came with the body, lights + and - pig tails, and the needed cover. No mirror. I nipped off the existing

wires to the old body, put the old body on the workbench and used a very thin narrow putty knife and

slowly worked the mirror off. It was glued down to the vanity light body. I then unsoldered the pig tails from the new body

and made sure that I had cleared away the solder so the old wires would go through the holes for re-soldering. I guess I could have just soldered the old and new wires together, but I wanted the factory look.

I then started to silicone the mirror down to the new body, the frame wouldn't fit down on it??? I then looked at the top frame that held the lenses and saw that the new set up had plastic clips that retained the mirror.

Bottom line, the old mirror was attached with silicone, the new frame used plastic clips. All works now...

That computer, I've heard people call it a ECU and a DME, but what ever that little box runs just about everything in the whole car. It does all the magical things that run the engine, it also runs everything from your instruments to the engine room blower. The Porsche electrical system utilizes a CAN Bus system. CAN = Controller Area Network. It's a way that one wire can act as a computer cutting down the number of wires you would need if you didn't use the CAN Bus system.

Bottom line our electrical system is no longer a couple of positive and negative wires, it's a very complicated electrical system. I'm guessing just about any accessory on the car is either run or tied into the ECU some way.

Hopefully someone else can you give a more definitive answer on this...

Does your Owner's manual give you any information?

I imagine just about everything has been said already about the 997 short shift install in the 996, but I thought I would add

my 2 cents. I think for the money it's a great update. I didn't see that much difference in the shifting throw, but I did see a big improvement in the crispness of the gates. Bottom line, it's a worthwhile addition...

As far as the install goes it's a non event once you get the shift knob off. Loren told me to heat the steel shaft, even then It took more muscle than I thought I had. Twisting left and right and pulling at the same time will eventually get the job

done. One thing that I missed is that out of the 9 retaining torx screws there's 3 different styles, so best you mark where

each screw comes from. Also I nearly forgot to release the spring loaded rod keepers after mounting the shift mechanism.

Lastly there's 2 screws in the console storage floor. One is under the storage floor, the other retains the storage floor.

The hole in the console storage on the right side was too large for the washer head torx screw to grab anything. Not sure why,

so I counter sunk a hole in the floor plate which will hold down both the floor plate and the console.

Bottom line, for $225 is a nice upgrade to your shifter. My car has 60,000 miles so it wasn't a matter of replacing a worn

out shifter, it's just a good upgrade...

console_screw_med.pdf

I had a problem with the ignition switch on my "84"... I flooded the ignition switch with a contact cleaner. I imagine you could use WD40 as well,

I inserted the red dispenser tube as far down into the switch as I could get, then flooded the switch. I would suggest putting a towel under the dash

so the excess material doesn't drip out on your carpet. After that I never had a problem with the switch again. In your case it sounds like there's a mechanical problem, but I don't think washing out the dirt in the ignition switch can hurt anything.

Ahsai and kbrandsma, many thanks for the information... That's a good thing to know if you have the need for power at the console. Is this a great site, or what...

I found this plug after removing the console for a 997 short shift install. I don't believe it was attached to the console, could it be for a Tip car? Or????

Thanks,

Leo from AutoAtlanta who can furnish a S.S. skid plate for the our cars, but not GT3 cars and after market spoilers... Here's the reply from Leo to

my e-mail when I requested additional information: Mitch I have a 996 Gt3 and I wanted this skid plate myself. Unfortunately I had to make one out of

thick clear plastic that you can buy from HomeDepot.

Leo was very prompt in his reply and I appreciated his suggestion...

Hey Brad, You gotta love the Caymans, but I'd hate to have to pay California vehicle registration on 2 Porsches. I paid $60.00 this year for my 2003 reg.

Brad, I'm not sure the S.S. skid plate would have saved your front spoiler in your parking bumper incident, it might have just tore off the entire bumper. However as a driveway skid plate it looks like the real deal. I have a rubber skirt which doesn't

show on the website order page. They say it fits a C4S, and I thought my spoiler was stock?