Coloradocurt

Just received mine yesterday and last evening spent :20 minutes glancing through it. Unless you're one of those who pays someone else to wash your car, even if for doing it yourself you're limited to checking the tire pressures and changing your own oil and filter, this book is well worth the money. It's a great complement to the DIY online information on RennTech, Rennlist, Planet 9, Pelican and 6Speedonline. And those resources are at least as good as (if not better than) similar enthusiast forums for the Asian performance vehicles.

Thanks. On mine (a recently acquired 2003 C4S), after driving I could smell gas after parking and getting out of the car, but there were no obvious signs (wetness underneath or drips on the floor/ground). Getting the car up in the air and removing the panels underneath, I could see where there was a slight "washing" from fuel that had run down the back side of the tank. That led me to investigate at the top where I discovered what I pictured in my initial post. Like you, I would suspect the "pipe" coming up out of the sending unit as the culprit, as it's a plastic and vulnerable to possibly cracking. I don't relish the prospect of installing a new fuel line, as the possibility of having to lower the tank may only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges we'd face all the way back to the engine compartment. Since my car is up in the air with the underside panels removed, I'll take a look today to see if that pressure fuel line appears to be able to be snaked out of there without dropping the tank. Or maybe just lowering the tank an inch or so would work and avoid all the other things involved in completely removing the tank. Anyone else have experience replacing this fuel line and care to chime in?

I'd sure be interested in knowing more (as an insight into solving my issue). As I mentioned in my initial post, when I removed the cover there was fuel that had puddled on the top of the sending unit, but I've not yet observed this area with the pump running. For GromitInWA, I'd be curious if your mechanic could actually see the fuel leaking from the "line" itself (which I would expect to see some sort of spray - given the sort of pressure it's under), from where that line connects to the 90° fitting (the one your reference with the green clasp), or from around/under that 90° fitting. My guess would be that if it's the latter, it will be difficult to determine if the fitting itself is the cause, the physical connection between the fitting and the part of the sending unit it attaches to, or that the part of the sending unit the fitting attaches to has cracked (in which case the sending unit would need to be replaced). It migh be worthwhile (surely for my benefit, as well as possibly others following this thread) if you can elicit from your mechanic more specific information regarding the question I posed (above) and post his feedback. Thanks.

Overnight it's gone from a suspect fuel sending unit to a cracked fuel line. Can you get an "absolute" confirmation on that diagnosis? Unfortunately, too often mechanics make a "best guess" at the cause of a problem, change the suspected part, and if that doesdn't fix the problem, then move on to the #2 suspected problem part.

This thread seems to focus on guys wanting to space their stock-offset wheels out to fill the wheel well a bit more. A different situation is when replacing the stock wheels with aftermarket ones with more (negative) offset than the stock ones, and spacers are needed to bring those wheels out to where the stock wheels would have been. Loren, do you know whether the factory's recommendations of those 5/17mm spacers is related to (1) the most you can move the stock wheels out before encountering fender rub, or (2) the mechanical limitations of even thicker spacers and ever-longer wheel bolts? I would imagine that extra long wheel lug bolts might have undue bending/shearing forces on them.

Anyone know if there's available some sort of "coupling" which can slice/connect two sections of this fuel hard line? I have access to a fitting that's similar to the one on my pressure line, but that fuel line is not the correct part number as my pressure fuel line. If possible, I'd like to consider grafting or splicing a replacement fitting onto the end of my line. But it can't be some sort of shade-tree deal, and with fuel under that sort of pressure, you can't risk a connection that fails.

Not one to accept defeat, I figured it out. This picture is of the side of the removed connector, and the little "tab" on the back of the connector (that the green arrow is pointing to) is a catch which holds the connector from dropping down (and out). It must be depressed with a tiny screwdriver in the direction that the arrow is pointing. Some ham-handed previous owner did a lot of shade-tree work (and using that term is being kind), and it looks like there once was another tab on the other side. Although I had the front fender liners off which facilitated getting a better look and seeing the solution, this can be accessed and removed by taking off the headlight and using a flashlight and inspection mirror to see what's back there. Inasmuch as the reason I wanted to get better access to the wires going to that connector in order to wire in my side markers to flash with my turn signals, anyone wanting to do the same thing may want to remove the front fender liners as well.

Not finding anything on this from searching, and rather than risk breaking something, has anyone input on how to release this connector? I’m guessing from other such situations I’ve run into that it’s pretty simple once you know how to do it. But help is always appreciated.

And quite brittle: that thin, crescent-shaped piece easily snapped when I picked it up between my fingers.

Although I've not been inside the M96 engine, from my recollection of many 2.4L, 2.7L and 3.0L air cooled engines, these typically used an RTV-type case sealant. These pieces are sort of trandslucent, almost what I'd expect a piece of dried shellac or varnish to look like. Is that basically the sort of case sealant being used these days? And while I haven't checked any of these to see if they have any elastic property, I'd expect a dried, RTV-type sealant to still have some elasticity.

On my way to doing the IMS retrofit on my 2003 996 C4S for precautionary/preventative reasons, I initially drained and strained the oil, dissected the filter and removed the sump cover to investigate for any signs of trouble. The only thing I found was these 4 small pieces in the sump. Any ideas of where they may have originated?

Making progress, but the deeper I dig the more issues I find. In my intentions to return the radio system to a stock configuration (the car is for enthusiastic driving; my home stereo is for musical entertainment) I've sourced a CDR23 and Bose amp (that were standard for the configuration the car was manufactured in). And I've taken the 10 wires that were cut (to the stock speakers and pictured in the 1st post), matched them up and spliced them back together. Now as I slither under the dash I'm finding more questions - including a 1" diameter (presumably a ) tweeter attached to a pair of non-stock wires loosely stuffed up above the clutch pedal. This question is addressed to guys who are familiar with aftermarket stereo upgrade installation practices: Since the person who did this mod cut the OEM speaker wires where they would have been coming out of the stock amp, installed his own amp and ran new wires to the speakers (and I've yet to determine if the stock (Bose) speakers were actually retained), is there a reasonable expectation that the speaker wires which I re-connected in the trunk are still connected to the stock (location) speakers? Or would those stock wires likely have also been cut at the speakers themselves? Any thoughts? Thanks.

Thanks for your input. Having found that my 996 C4S came with the Bose option and 6 speakers, and not having any particular desire to restore the sound system to complete originality (the bright, hideously blue lights of the Sony aftermarket stereo were just a burr under my saddle that would annoy me until I took it out anyhow), do you know (or suspect) that the CDR23 could functionally hook up to all 6 speakers, or would it take a CDR220 to do that? And if I were to decide to also add the amp such as you pictured, do the other 2 connectors shown close to the largest one in my shots also plug into that amp? And can you tell me the make/model of that amp you have? Thanks again for all the help, Curt

Thanks, PTEC. If I end up wanting to restore the original "entertainment" system, one of the challenges will be figuring out all of those wires that were cut. I have access to the OEM wiring diagrams, but that ranks right up there (or more appropriately, "down there") with a Colonoscopy without the benefit of a general anesthetic!.

Well, I've stripped out all of the liners in the trunk, and this cable goes back underneath the brake booster and the ABS componentry and then up, back and around to the top behind the brake booster. It looks as if the original source was behind the upper partof the brake booster, and I suspect that it was originally routed along that bulkhead over to the passenger side for an amp over there. What perplexes me is how someone ran this, especially that large connector in underneath the braking components. There may be room to extract it back out from there, but my hands are too big to maneuver into such tight spaces,

Thanks for the information and suggestions, guys, but I intended this to be a project car from the beginning, and these are relatively minor bumps in the road for me. A bit more digging and the door speakers are from Bose, so this leads me to believe it came with an upgrade/option radio system (CDR220???). Also this is a picture of the car's trunk as I received it- So when I compare it to this 2nd photo that I lifted from a C4S being sold on eBay, things are becoming clearer. I believe that the small, plastic ventilation panel on the passenger side of the trunk is related to an OEM amp (possibly originally mounted below there), and that the 2 small metal retaining clips next to it are for what's being shown in the 2nd photo. My guess at this point, which I'll explore more as I remove the "carpeting" in the trunk, is that the wiring bundle and connectors that I first inquired about may have been re-routed from the original location on the passenger side. Also, the carpeting covering a panel behind the rear seats is missing, so I'm guessing that's where rear speakers originally resided. At this point I've sourced a standard CDR23 radio and my intention is to return the car's dash to an original appearance with basic radio functionality. At some future point in time I may decide to restore the entertainment system to its original configuration. I realize that for many guys this would be a complete turn-off, but I'm a gearhead and all of this is more a challenge than frustration for me. It's just disappointing that the seller disclaims any knowledge or responsibility. Maybe too much to hope that he'd have some integrity. Whatever!

Thanks, guys. That's starting to make some sense. Some previous owner had installed a Sony radio and Boss Amp with something appearing close to a 2 AWG wire running directly from the battery to the amp, and then on to a ground lug. While I enjoy my tunes at home with a nice sound system, I'm intending to revert this setup back to stock and concentrate my mods on enhancing the car's performance. What I pictured is exactly as I found it and not connected at all to the aftermarket amp (which was also in the front trunk and is now removed). But in many respects this car is a bit of a horror show: In terms of neglect, it's a wonder that the clutch isn't slipping terribly. The stiffness of the clutch pedal is as I'd expect for a dump truck, and engagement doesn't begin until the pedal is more than three-quarters of the way up off the floor. And for whatever reason, some previous owner took out all of the front wheel drive components - from the cardan shaft clear up thru the front axles. Then add to that the fuel leak I posted about earlier today and a passenger side window which, when it hits it's upper stop immediately drops down a third of the way. Figure that the used car dealer in rural western Kentucky who sold me the car (long distance) would admit to knowledge of any of this? Hardly, but he is definitely starting to feel heat over the AWD issue. My legal counsel is using terms such as a Warrant of Merchantability (an implied warranty and says that a vehicle will run as it's supposed to, which this Porsche clearly cannot), Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices, False Advertising and something about the Federal Uniform Commercial Code. Not to mention that he advertised the car as having all wheel drive (which it used to have), and he had language saying “….no warranty expressed or applied.” Guess he doesn’t know the difference between applied and implied. This will be fun! Happy New Year.

Thank you, Loren. Day by day I'm learning more and more of the hidden treasures in the RennTech Forum. An absolutely invaluable resource.

I recently bought a 2003 996 C4S Coupe long-distance and had it transported cross-country. Without going into some of the "surprises" I've found as I wade into the car to correct years of neglect, yesterday I came across a minor fuel leak. It's coming from the top of the fuel pump housing, and while I have access to a factory shop manual and the OEM Parts Catalog, I've not been able to find a general overview of the fuel supply system (i.e., questions such as is it a deadhead system or a full return system, layout of the system with filter and fuel pressure regulator, check valves, etc.). Any help in pointing me to this sort of information will be greatly appreciated, but going back to my leak, the photo reveals puddling of fuel on the fop of the pump housing. Logic says that one of the two connections is the culprit, but interestingly, neither of these two connections seems particularly tight (i.e., I'm able to wiggle each slightly and move it logitudinally on its metal connector). Is that normal? And with the attached photo shot from the driver's side headlight towards the passenger side door, Which of the two connectors is under full pressure sending fuel to the engine, and what function does the other serve? Thanks, guys, and Happy New Year.

I recently bought a 2003 996 C4S Coupe long-distance and had it transported cross-country. Without going into some of the "surprises" I've found as I wade into the car to correct years of neglect, yesterday I came across a mystery in the front trunk. After removing the spare and related equipment I found a wiring harness with a couple of connectors hanging out from behind the lining on the driver's side. Besides the question of what function this was originally intended to perform, one thing that has me scratching my head is that at some point in the past some of the small-gauge wires coming off of the large connector were cut and had other wires crimp-connected onto them, and them subsequently had those wires that were added were themselves cut off. Any help clearing up this mystery is greatly appreciated.

What sort of problems/prohibitions are there when it comes to towing a 911 C4 with a dolly (i.e., two wheels of the car would be rolling on the road). Anyone know with "authority?"