jmj996

Good topic. I have the airbag light right now as well (as well as a CEL that I need to diagnose), just ordered the Durametric.

I have a Turbo with 180,000 miles. Runs great and am interested in upgrading the suspension and handling. Am considering trying some DE. What recommendations for shocks , tires and rims. Have had the recommendation to change to 8" fuchi front and 9" rear. Any advise. Also bought the Authority Stage 2 chips on Ebay but w/o instructions. Does any one have access to the instructions. Wrote authority w/o success.

I was in EXACTLY your position just over a year ago. Began with a stock 1986 with 132k miles, and have DE'd it heavily. You picked an AWESOME car to go DE'ing.

Suspension Recommendation: Ground Control - http://www.ground-control.com/. They have the best-priced adjustable (rebound and compression) race-level, adjustable-height strut and shock packages I found. They're customized so that you can lower the front without experiencing bump steer, and have a few little extras that nobody else has, such as a special rear eccentric bolt that allows you to lower the rear even more than the stock eccentric. Give them a call and tell them what you want to do, they'll steer you the right way. They have a 944 turbo specialist, and have track-tested their gear. Also, you should regrease the bearings - straightforward job, but it is a lot of work because you have to remove the calipers and carefully adjust the play when you reinstall them.

Bushings: If they've never been replaced, then on a car with your mileage, you will probably need to change most of them - control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, power steering rack, torque tube, etc. You can get away without doing this for now (I've never heard of a bushing failure causing a problem at the track), but put it on your list because it can significantly affect handling. You may want to go with rubber bushings, just so that you don't stress the other OEM components too much (plus they're much cheaper and new OEM rubber bushings will be just fine for your first years of DE). I'm not completely sold on all these highly-expensive solid spherical bushings, the standard rubber bushings absorb a lot of the stress. If you're going to race, fine, go with solid bushings, but then you're also going to need aftermarket fabricated high-strength control arms (required for NASA racing) anyway that can take the additional stress. The aluminum control arms on these cars are prone to failure around the ball joint, especially if the car is lowered. If you have gobs of money, get aftermarket control. That's my next big upgrade. For now, I'm holding off on the installation of my solid spherical a-arm bushings because they're going to put too much stress on the factory aluminum control arms. Until you do something like this, inspect your ball joints and make sure they're tight. You can replace the ball joints as a preventive measure, but it's an enormous pain.

Brakes: You didn't mention brakes, but you absolutely NEED to do something here. At the very minimum, you need ATE Super Blue brake fluid and track pads - you will see a very wide variety of recommendations for pads. I went with the proven Pagid Oranges, and they were awesome. If anything, they are too good for a stock brake setup because they will generate way more heat than the stock calipers probably ever expected to see, but I've never had a problem with the calipers. Some day, I'll put bigger brakes on all around, but for now, the only other mods I've done are brake cooling ducting (which I'm not convinced really helped that much) and stainless steel brakes lines. Stainless steel brake lines are a VERY easy mod to the front, a bit more challenging in the rear. You'll also need to get your own pressurized brake bleeder.

Tires & Rims - So many things you can do here. The Fuchs are very light and have a nice performance advantage, but you probably want to be more practical. Cheapest way to go by far is to get a set of used 17" 986 or 996 turbo twist wheels, they're not that heavy and they're practically throw-away wheels at the prices you can get them these days, so no worries if you ruin any of them (I've ruined two already from overly-aggressive curbing - albeit unintentional). You'll need some H&R spacers, but otherwise they will mount right up. Get the best tires you can afford. They will make the single biggest difference in your track experience. If you can, start out with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup - at least you can legally drive these to the track if need be, and they are unbelievable! Eventually, if the DE bug really gets you, you'll want to go with slicks.

Autothority Chips: Dump them. Way too many bad stories, and NO support. You NEED support so that you know EXACTLY what you have and are confident that they are matched exactly for your setup. Apparently Autothority was a very good company at one time, but were sold and apparently haven't performed near to the level as before. Get a set of 951Max chips from Russell Barry (these are the same chips that Lindsey Racing resells) or Vitesse Racing (http://www.vitesseracing.com/) chips. I personally have the 951Max chips because they came with the car, and I have been very happy with the chips and with Russell's responses to clarify exactly what the chips were designed to match up with (as far as any mods), but I've also heard numerous excellent feedback about the Vittesse chips.

Be sure to upgrade the driver too. :lol: Read up on proper braking technique at a minimum, learning to do threshold braking and how to enter and drive through the corners so that you can come out of the corners fast.

Lots and lots of other stuff you'll want to do for the track - not sure how mechanically aware you are, but I'll mention a few. Make sure to use a synthetic oil that's appropriate for the track. I use Mobil1 15W-50, as do some others, and that seems to provide adequate protection, but it doesn't contain a lot of the protective additives that the EPA has taken out of modern oils - some guys run motorcyle or racing engine oils so that they get those protective additives, as the engines are prone to oil starvation on rod bearing #2. Change the antifreeze and buy a new radiator drain plug (cheap) BEFORE you attempt the job, or you'll be sorry. Make sure you use the antifreeze that's approved for our cars - the antifreeze you'll usually find at large stores is not correct. I know it when I see it, but I don't happen to have a container around - sorry I couldn't be of more help. Change the transaxle fluid (can find it at Paragon). Get a short-shift kit - somewhat of a pain to install, but BIG difference, and I don't think it's that much harder on the transmission. Check your transmission mount - at that car's age, if it's never been replaced, it will be no good for the track. What I mean is that the transaxle has a single mount on top, and as a result allows the transmission to swing around. That's fine for street driving, but at high G's it's going to swing a lot. If you don't have a firm (or even a new solid) transmission mount, you could break a half-shaft. I haven't done it, but have read about a LOT of folks doing it. You'll see some neat custom mods on rennlist, but by far the cheapest and most commonly praised method is to get the solid trans mount. Replace all of your vacuum lines. Paragon sells a Lindsey vacuum line replacement kit. When you can, clean out your intercooler (just use gasoline) - with your car's mileage, you will be disgusted at what you get out of it. Check the rubber boots on your half-shafts. Most of all, inspect EVERYTHING.

As much as I love renntech.org for its civility and excellent source of info for my 996, rennlist.com's 944 turbo forum is the place to be for this car. Far more active and lots of great archived info. Many other sites you'll want to check out, such as Clarks Garage.

So much to do, so much to learn. But totally worth it! However, if I had all of this to do all over again, I would not start with a stock car. I started with a stock car because I wanted the learning experience and I wanted to know exactly what was done to my car outside of stock parameters. Highly upgraded 944 turbos, some which are totally ready for the track, can be found for many, many thousands less than all of the money you're going to put into this one. You could resell yours and grab a highly upgraded 944 turbo and save BIG. Good luck!

I have to agree that struts affect ride height, which is why I was focusing on that. I also believe that shocks affect ride height. I have very little experience to back that up, but when I replaced a set of relatively new KYB's with a set of race-grade Koni's on the rear of my 86 951 last fall, the rear height went up almost 1/2"!! On this car, the ride-height effect of a rear shock is magnified because it's a torsion bar setup, not an a-arm setup, and the mounting point for the shock is between the suspension pivot point and the rear wheel, not AT the rear wheel. Fortunately I was able to install an aftermarket eccentric bolt that allowed me to drop lower than the stock eccentric allows, getting some of that undesired lift back down.

I'm sold on the fact that I'm buying new rear struts and springs for the 996, but I will not be going the M030 route. One, this is a cabriolet, it's more for joyriding and fun daily driving than really getting on it, plus small kids go for a ride on occasion, and they're stomachs don't always agree with the ride stiffness as it is now! Two, I believe the M030 kit lowers the ride height if I read correctly, and I definitely can't afford to do that with my driveway. :o

So, where is the best place to source OEM-spec strut and spring packages? I have used Sunset Imports on numerous occasions, these guys are great, and they make the extra effort to ship these to me with a nonstandard process (FPO military address). However, I'd like to get a set with the new springs and bump stops already mounted - I just want to pull the old struts and install the new ones in a single swap. Other than getting the caliper bolts, anything else I need to pick up?

I'm very interested by perryinva's comment regarding ride height measurements - I need to find the details and examine this closely after the struts are replaced to see if there's anything else awry. I've had a squeaky rear bushing on the driver's side for quite a long time now and am wondering if it's prematurely wearing out.

Thanks!

Your struts have nothing to do with the your ride height. That's your springs. The springs hold up the weight of the car, the struts dampen the oscillations from the springs.

Removing the struts on a C2 is quite a bit easier than on C4 so both you guys are lucky on that front. You can remove the struts without any special tools really. Most of the nuts and bolts are either 13mm, 16mm or 18mm with the exception of the axle nuts on the rear, which is a 32mm. You'll also need a 10mm allen to loosen the brake calipers. A ball joint removal tool is handy for removing the control arms from the wheel carriers. Once you get the struts out of the car you will need a spring compressor tool to compress the spring for safe disassembly of the strut.

I'm not a race guy but I don't think its possible to corner balance a McPherson strut setup, only coil-over type suspensions. It is possible to replace a rear strut without loosening any alignment eccentrics but I would recommend any alignment anyways.

Is it really possible that one rear spring has degraded that much in ten years versus the other rear spring? Is this more common than just with the two cars being discussed here? Or is it possible that measuring the vehicle height at the top of the rear fender wells is not a valid measurement point?

I never finally replied to this thread because I never got around to truly fixing the problem until this year, I just threw the hardtop on and put off the resolution. I had to use the tool that PTEC described above, and once I manually operated it up and down once, that took care of the problem. Next I will regrease the screw as Izzy suggested, don't want this to happen again.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I have exactly the same issue on my 1999 996 cab and perhaps we can both benefit from the same expert replies and discuss each of our solutions as they are implemented. First, some basics on the car: 52k miles. Standard suspension - standard everything (though I have already added the GT3 front bumper cover for more front downforce, GT3 side skirts, and a Strosek Level 1 rear wing). This car has been tracked three times, and one time I unfortunately caught a sharp inner curb at around 65 mph on a left-hander that jacked the driver's side wheels so hard it ruined them - the outer lip of the rims (OEM BBS lightweight 3-piece 18" wheels) were bent nearly 90 degrees on both the front and back where they impacted the front of the curb. This occurred back in the Spring of 2008 and I did not notice any other damage to the car - I put my street 17" wheels on and everything seemed fine. Also mentioned it to the dealer and had him check it out, and they didn't identify any problems (though they felt overly confident in the strength of the suspension and bearings to survive such an incident). I tracked the car again one more time after that and did not notice any obvious problems then either.

This week, the car started to drag in my driveway. I have a pretty steep driveway, backing down into a basement-level garage. Been using this driveway since June with no issues. Nothing has recently happened to the car, but now it drags - seems very bizarre and sudden, though it could have just been a gradual change that caused this. There is nothing hanging down underneath. I measured the fender heights in the front & back. Fronts are equal, but the rear left is a full 1/2 inch lower than the rear right. Rear tire pressures are equal and 34psi each (though I think they should be 36 psi each - anyway, not a huge deal), so something is very wrong. With a bounce test, the rear suspension seems fine - it settles immediately. Before I spend a load of cash on new shocks & struts all around, plus any dealer help I'll need for the alignment, I want to confirm:

1) Is there is any way to adjust the ride height at each wheel on a standard, stock suspension - or any other remedy you suggest?

2) If so, would it be appropriate to do this? If it means I could postpone any parts replacement and alignment a little bit, I'd like to do it because I won't have the cash to really do this right until early next year.

3) What are the possible causes of this one-sided sagging, and what could I do to confirm these?

As I mentioned in item 2, I need to wait to replace any major parts if possible. This will be a very expensive endeavor, not just because of the parts, but because any dealer assistance I require for a new alignment & such will be incredibly expensive. I have taken this car with me to Italy (my wife is in the Navy) and I would have to pay any dealer labor in Euros, which is 1.5 times the dollar right now. The problem is that this car is a daily driver for us, and we need to keep it on the road until I can afford to replace a load of major suspension parts.

Thanks in advance for your help!

John

Hello all,

My 996 has been flawless for the past year, but now I have a problem with the convertible top. It is currently stuck in the down position because the passenger side flap does not go down. Anyone ever experience this, and what should I be looking for?

Thanks in advance!!

John Jones

Hello,

Can someone tell me where I can find the compatibility listing for these part numbers? They are for struts and shocks.

951.343.031.11 and 951.343.032.11 for the front struts

951.333.032.08 for the rear shocks

I am looking for a set for my 86 951 and ran across these, but the description for the struts says that they are for "late offset" applications. I am a new 951 owner and not sure what this distinction is.

Thanks!

John

Look on gas door for the hook to put the strap that holds the cap

Interesting response, I've never seen this. I always put my gas cap up on the windshield wiper upside down. Could you possibly share a photo of this strap configuration?

What is the weight of 18" SPORTDESIGN WHEELS? These came with my 996 and am considering getting different wheels?

25-26 lbs front (18.7.5), 30 lbs rear (18x10). It's not especially precise, I just weighed myself, then weighed myself again holding each of the wheels (which do NOT currently have tires mounted on them). I don't happen to have a pic of my own wheels handy but I've attached a pic I pulled off of eBay of the exact same wheels. With tires, these feel MUCH heavier than my original 17" twists.

We went from a 99 Boxster to a 99 996 Cab, but we had both cars simultaneously for about a year and a half. I love the extra power of the 996 and the slightly nicer interior, and also that the power top is completely automatic from start to finish, but I really miss some things on the Boxster, such as:

1) the perfectly balanced feeling of the 986 - I felt more comfortable in high-speed corners with the 986 than my rear-heavy 996, and when driving the Boxster, you really feel a lot lighter and more nimble on the road.

2) the high-pitched F1-type howl of the PSE on the small displacement 986 - LOVED IT, but will never have that with a 3.4L (deeper/lower-frequency sound)

3) the stopping power of the 986 (with Pagid pads) - another benefit of the light weight

4) IMHO, the Boxster actually looks better (less hardtop), especially the rear perspective

If the status thing is a factor for you, I won't be able to convince you not to make the switch, because people really do respect the 911 a lot more than they did the Boxster. If driving satisfaction is more of a factor and you're not too much of a pure power junkie, stick with the Boxster. Some day, when I don't need the back seats anymore, I will switch back.

So I'm thinking about eventually replacing my rear spoiler on my '99 996, especially since no one can figure out why it goes up at 50 and down at 20 instead of the factory settings. Either a GT3/GT2/Turbo replica or maybe something else that looks good. Any opinions on which one looks best (and still performs well, of course) and recommendations on where to get them? Also, for those who have done it either A ) How hard is it to do or B ) How much did it cost to have someone do it for you?

Other than maybe some carbon fiber interior trim and a full clearbra for the front, that's all I have planned for the near future.

I put on a Strosek rear spoiler with the GT3 aerokit front bumper cover and side skirts. I chose the Strosek spoiler (level one only) because it has the same basic lines of the whale tails of old, but blends nicely with the 996 and has cool-looking air inlets. I just didn't like the other wings that stuck way up in the air.

No matter what you choose, this should not be difficult. Some spoilers require the complete replacement of the trunk lid - those are probably actually the easiest but more costly. Others like the Strosek replacement I performed required only the removal of the automatic wing from the trunk lid and the bolt-in of the replacement wing (original fan stays in place). Either way, it is a DIY. I paid about $1000 for the fiberglass wing, another $600 to get it prepped & painted, and I installed it myself. I'm very happy with the results.

I'm running in a DE this weekend. There is fuel available at the track up to 110 octane. I usually run premium in my 05 987S 93 octane.

Will a higher octane help my performance? I read earlier posts that say the engine will automatically adjust to the fuel. Is there a maximum level the car can use effectively?

The use of "higher" octane fuel in performance environments have been persistantly discussed by my clients as well as peers....with the ultimate, undeniable/PRACTICAL conclusion THAT.......use the "pump" premium, it's more than capable of propelling you to track euphoria!

I guess that would be a practical recommendation and one I can go along with, but to answer the question... Yes, higher octane fuel WILL increase the HP in your car, but I've never personally tried higher than 100 octane. The only 110 octane I've seen at the tracks was LEADED fuel, definitely do NOT use this.

Will you notice a difference with 100 octane versus 93? Yes, you will feel a slight difference if you really know your car. I don't have dyno results for you, but in my experience on both the street and in a few track events with 100 octane in a 99 3.4L, it will run smoother and pull a little bit better. The computer will adjust to the more highly refined fuel. For best results, empty your tank as much as possible before using the 100 octane, and disconnect the battery cable long enough to reset the computer (I've heard approximately ten minutes).

I have seen one show on Speed Channel that performed a test on a 996, comparing 87 octane versus 93. There was a 5hp difference to the rear wheels on the dyno. I guess you'd really have to push your car hard on a regular basis to notice this slight difference, but if the computer can tell a difference, then there must be something to it.

What tire would you recommend, knowing that I enjoy the occasional track outing (6x year), I have to drive in occasional FL downpours but it's never cold, and I hate, loathe, despise my current Pirellis...

The car is a 2003 on 18" (225 and 285) The P-zeros on the car are noisy, bouncy, take flat spots after sitting 1 day, I hate them with every fiber of my being like I've never hated tires before ;-) I know it's the tires because I had a boxster on 18s" before and it was nowhere near that bad !

With that in mind... I've had the Michelin PS2 on my previous car, they were OK in terms of wear but I found they went away quite fast on the track in terms of grip. I'm looking at :

-Bridgestone Re050A ($986 + shipping at tire rack), the S03 replacement I guess?

-Conti sport contact 2 ($870 + shipping) : my cousin works for continental, he says those are much better now, but I had a set of V1.0 and they sucked so I am not sure I trust V2.0

-Michelin PS rib $1120 + shipping...

****, where are the Kuhmos in my car's size ? nowhere, it seems, unfortunately !

Any other recommendation? I don't mind if they wear fast, I just want dry and wet grip, less noise, less harshness... Opinions ? I know it's subjective but it's not like you can try them for "feel" ;-)

Tire design and selection are all about compromise, and you definitely have a difficult set of opposing constraints. If you don't mind a soft shoulder, try the Goodyear F1 GS-D3's. I originally selected these because we lived in a very wet climate and I wanted the best wet-weather traction I could get. I haven't used anything else since, except for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires that I have on my track wheels. I've run the F1 tires on both our Boxster and now our 996, and love everything about them except the soft shoulder. I've only taken them through one DE event, and they were very good, but not great (I rode along with a few others that seemed to have a little more grip, though their tires were not rated well for wet weather). They are an 'ultra-performance' summer tire and have an excellent 'feel' with gradually more give when pushing their limits, but their strongest suit is wet-weather traction and anti-hydroplaning. All of my F1's have been extremely quiet - I also went from Pirelli's to the F1's on our Boxster and from Ventus (on the car when I bought it) to F1's on the 996, and the F1's were much quieter, but noticeably not as sharp with the steering wheel. These tires are incredibly 'mushy' until you get about 250 miles in them (or several good heat cycles), then they're great.

I start with 8-10 lbs under factory recommended. It depends on the track and the temp of the track. Long tracks with sweeping turns as opposed to short tracks with many turns (tires will get hotter on the latter). Track temps in the morning can be 50F or 90F. The other factor is how you drive, i.e. first DE so you are cautious and in traffic v.s. Solo group with the the other banshees. Finally the tires and how the tire wall rolls over (stiffness)

So, first time out, do 5 lbs under. When you get off the track, measure the pressure and reduce further if needed. Look at the wear marks for tire roll and see if you are getting the corners. If you are new to DE, your instructor will be a great resource to help you with that too. The more events you do with different instructors, they will all have different perspectives. So learn from all.

For comparison, Here in the Carolinas, I have run 14 lbs under when the track temp is 140F and I run CMP, lots of turns and shorter track. Falken Azenis RT tires.

John, on the wheels, I use old spare wheels for track days. Keep my nice wheels for street only. Just a suggestion so you don't hit a gator on a turn and bend a nice wheel.

Thanks Izzy. That helps clarify things a lot. The gators won't be a problem at Laguna-Seca, they're not rumble strips, they're a series of little ramps (all relatively new). At my first DE event in March, we were warned that these were new and to watch out for them. It was not a problem, people actually began USING them at times to get more traction on the outer tires. I admit I am doing the reverse of what most people do with street vs. track wheels/tires - I have 17" street tires on plain twist wheels, and 18" track tires on nicer 2-pc wheels, but that's only because the Pilot Sport Cup tires came with the 18" wheels when I bought them, so it's just temporary until I use up the Pilot Sport Cup tires, then those wheels will wear a set of street tires and become my daily drivers. I am still planning to stay in the novice group this year and probably part of next year.

Anybody use simulators as well? I have GTR-2 with the Logitech G25 wheel & pedals, and it's really amazing.

Mates,

I am having my JL Clean Sweep installed tomorrow, and hope i will be able to run the iPod through it. Am also having the speakers upgraged, and an amp installed- no fun going 90 without tunes and the top down!

Short, uninteresting history- i had a boxster, took out the factory stuff and put in Alpine and amps and new speakers. Sounds great, except for the engine whine occasionally. In my 03 911, I can't pull the head unit. I tried the Harmon/Kardon Drive+play. It whined like a bratty two year old! I only had it in one day, and then took it out.

Does the Clean Sweep match well with our systems?

Thanks!

How did it turn out? I have a 99 with the CDR-220, which contains auxiliary input connections, line-out connections and has the ability to switch between the nonlinear factory setting and linear output. I have an iPod connected to my auxiliary input and use the line out for my subwoofer. Whenever I get around to it, I'm going to hook up a high-end amp to the line out connections to drive my aftermarket MB Quart speakers. For the CDR-210/220 units, a cleansweep provides no advantage, I confirmed this with JL Audio tech support. The only thing the Cleansweep really does is convert a nonlinear factory stereo output to a linear output, and provide the ability to take input from a secondary device (like your iPod). Unfortunately with a cleansweep, you can only use two channels so you no longer have front to rear fade capability. I'm not sure what type of head unit you have, so I can't say if you had the same options as the older Becker CDR series did.

Doing a Porsche DE this weekend and wondered what people have found to be the most optimal tire pressures to run on the track. I have a 2002 996 C2 with the 18" OEM wheels and tires and have been running the recommended tire pressures for street driving.

Any and all input welcome.

Thanks.

I noticed there haven't been any responses yet. I would also like to know this. Have a DE event coming up on 9/7. I recently picked up a set of 18" Sport Classic II BBS's with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires on them. I have no idea whether I should be running higher or lower pressures than street. Generally, I've heard that higher pressures are better since we're only out there for about 20 minutes at a time and don't generally build up a lot more pressure during the run.

Sorry, my misunderstanding.

Let me make sure I understand what you want to do...

You want to put Boxster (at leaset the part number implies Boxster) sideskirts on a MY99 Carrera?

Those are not good numbers from what I can research (for either a Boxster or Carrera).

If they started with 996 they would be correct for a MY99 to MY01 Carrera.

Thanks. I didn't WANT to put Boxster side skirts on a 996, I'm just hoping to find the right sideskirts - I was told that these sideskirts are from the 996 aerokit, then found the possible part number discrepancy that I wanted to research here. I think you have confirmed that these are not what the seller claims they are.

Unfortunately, I bought them and had them painted based on the seller's description without checking the part numbers or fitment first (actually, I did put them right up next to the car, but they are only about an inch too long, so I didn't notice). It was only after I got them back from the paint shop and began to position them that I realized something didn't seem right. I got a very nice price on them and there was no shipping involved because I happened to be driving to SFO anyway and I just picked them up, but, I have paid to have them painted and now I cannot use them, so I probably will end up losing some $ on this. Since I need to sell them, I was hoping you could help me provide an accurate description of these parts. If not, I'll have to simply provide the part numbers and let potential buyers figure it out.

Those are the correct numbers from the 2000 TSB (actually they have a G2X appended to the end of the number signifying that they come unpainted).

Porsche later updated the parts (and part numbers) to 986.559.980.01.G2X and 986.559.981.01.G2X. I do not know what changed - or if it was just a vendor change.

Bottom line - they should work fine.

See TSB 3/00 6315 Installing Cup Aerokit -- dated 7-21-00

Thanks Loren - I checked the TSB, but all of the part numbers start with 996. The side skirts I'm looking at have part numbers starting with 986 - is it still possible they are for a 996?

I have come across a set of urethane side skirts. The seller swears they're from a 996 aerokit, but the part numbers don't corroborate that. I've done an Internet search on this part number trying decimals, dashes, spaces, and compressed, and came up with nothing. I've checked the part numbers on the side skirts twice, they are 986.559.980.00 and 986.559.981.00. Can someone please help me identify the original application for these parts and help me determine if they would actually fit a 1999 996? There is also a matrix on the side of the skirts with numerous years listed as rows, and letters as column headings, and some of the letters are checked for 97, 98 and 99.

Thanks,

John

Thanks a ton for the very helpful info, will get it done asap!

It may be too late to make this comment, or maybe this is already accounted for, but if the fault codes are related to something that needs to be replaced or repaired, do you have any recourse for getting them to pay for it? It just doesn't seem normal to have a CEL for something that doesn't need to be fixed.

My mechanic installed agency power mufflers in my 99 c2 excellent quality fit perfect no problems took 55 minutes for the installation $70.00 including tax also changed my fuel filter included in the $70.00. The car sound great good balance not loud not soft great sound driving away. No resonance nice little boost in power. And most important the wifes Loves!!!!!!!!!!!!! the sound. Got them on Ebay $845.00 including shipping. great deal!!!!!!!!!

I think there are quite a few of us holding out for the right exhaust sound. You could do us all a big favor if you can point us to a YouTube.com link of a video/audio track for this exhaust, or if you could take your own video file and upload it to YouTube.

Does anyone know of a somewhat central location on the web that lists the various aftermarket exhaust systems available and has a link to the sounds/videos for those exhausts? Loren, if there isn't one, would you consider some way of adding it to this site? I'll offer to start searching the web to place available links to products and audio/video clips - just let me know and I'll put this together on the side and send it in. As much as aftermarket exhausts and modded OEM exhausts keep coming up in these forums, it seems like this is one of the biggest mod categories for a lot of folks. I saw that there is a PSE exhaust DIY, with numerous aftermarket references, but I see a need for more than that.

Thanks for the response. I went to a local convertible top shop and they are gonna sew it back for about $600.(Canadian) I figured I might as well do it right. But, the guy said you can't use an aftermarket window and any clear plastic and that if i wanted a new one, I'd have to get a factory one. Does that sound right? My plastic window isn't bad, I can still see through it and i'm sure if i use a plastic polish, it will come out clearer again.

I don't believe you can use a glass window that is similar in size to the newer 996 convertible top with glass window, but there are replacement tops with smaller glass windows for the early 996's. You can use any clear or tinted plastic, but the shop may need to reuse part of the original window to sew it in securely. If you really need it, I can take pictures of the inside of my top where my tinted plastic replacement was sewn in.

Ok I'm getting ready to sell my 2000 996 with 52k mi and I feel that it will be much easier to sell with the RMS overnight drip taken care of!

My question is does anyone have or know where I can borrow or rent the proper tool for installing the RMS.

What have the DIY'ers been using?

Please let me know!

Thank You

Brian

On this topic, I have another question that's been in the back of my mind after reading all of the RMS posts. Aside from actually changing the RMS design, I read that another one of the Porsche remedies to the RMS problem was to make a change to the RMS installation tool in order to ensure that the RMS is set deep enough. I also read that some owners have had to have the RMS replaced numerous times. If I ever need to have this done (seems like an inevitability), and I have it done at the dealer, can I safely assume that the dealer would ONLY have the new version of the tool, or is it possible that the shop is unaware or cheap and hasn't replaced their original RMS installation tool? Was the entire tool replaced, or just a component of it? Is there anything I could ask to confirm that they are using the newer version of this tool? Based on the picture above, it looks like I could inspect the tool they're going to use and confirm it has part number 9699 and not one of the older part numbers.

Hello!

I'm ecstatic for finally finding so much info (and photos) about this topic.

I'm on the virge of NOT buying a 996 Coupe Turbo for the only reason that it can't transport my 3yr old and 1,5yr old kids. It's only for small trips on weekends, but it's important...

I've always known (and photos on this post prove) that a child can sit in confort and security behind the passenger seat.

The problem is that one of them is going to have to ride behing me and I'm tall. For my correct driving position the drivers seat is locked almost in the end of the rail.

Can you "see" a 2 yr old seated behind it ? Will there be space for her legs ? What childseat should I buy ?

Thanks in advance :renntech:

I don't know if there is a more suitable alternative than the Porsche Junior seat, though I'm interested in the black child seat that I saw in the back of the cabriolet in an earlier post. I can't give you a really good answer because I have a cabriolet, and I think the rear seats are a little less spacious in the cabriolet than in a coupe. In our cab, it's not even possible to put the driver or passenger seat all the way back with the junior seat in the back unless the driver's seat-back is sitting straight up. The furthest you can practically go straight back (with a minimum amount of reclining) is at most about 80% back, but no guarantees that your child won't feel a little claustrophobic. I am 6' tall and I move my seat up about 10% from my normal position to accomodate my 3-yr-old when seated behind me. You can 'delete' the lower center console to give your legs a little more room if you have to move up. I've added a few pics here (sorry for the trash on the floor and low quality, this was a quick job), which show the drivers seat moved all the way back and the seat-back positioned straight up to allow it to go back without hitting the child seat, just so you can see that it's not really practical. If you'd like more pics, let me know, but I think it would be more helpful to see pics of this seating position in coupes.