Jump to content

Welcome to RennTech.org Community, Guest

There are many great features available to you once you register at RennTech.org
You are free to view posts here, but you must log in to reply to existing posts, or to start your own new topic. Like most online communities, there are costs involved to maintain a site like this - so we encourage our members to donate. All donations go to the costs operating and maintaining this site. We prefer that guests take part in our community and we offer a lot in return to those willing to join our corner of the Porsche world. This site is 99 percent member supported (less than 1 percent comes from advertising) - so please consider an annual donation to keep this site running.

Here are some of the features available - once you register at RennTech.org

  • View Classified Ads
  • DIY Tutorials
  • Porsche TSB Listings (limited)
  • VIN Decoder
  • Special Offers
  • OBD II P-Codes
  • Paint Codes
  • Registry
  • Videos System
  • View Reviews
  • and get rid of this welcome message

It takes just a few minutes to register, and it's FREE

Contributing Members also get these additional benefits:
(you become a Contributing Member by donating money to the operation of this site)

  • No ads - advertisements are removed
  • Access the Contributors Only Forum
  • Contributing Members Only Downloads
  • Send attachments with PMs
  • All image/file storage limits are substantially increased for all Contributing Members
  • Option Codes Lookup
  • VIN Option Lookups (limited)

able2ski

Members
  • Posts

    45
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by able2ski

  1. During an unfortaute meeting with a deer, my car was severly damaged and ended up in a mudhole. After thoroughly photographing the car, I began to clean it up to assess the damage for the insurance company and body shop. In my use of the pressure washer (which was truly needed to clear out all the brush & mud wedged in all the nooks & cranies), I accidently damaged some of the clearcoating on the black brake calipers. While the insurance company has agreed to refurbish the wheels, i do not yet know for sure whether the calipers will be taken care of. If not, can this be done? Any recommendations? Andrew
  2. Furthermore, my 2004 F350 crewcab (4 door) truck has the same speed activated doorlock feature. Didn't need the dealer to activate that, but then again it is non-defeatable. Anyways, in the truck, a single handle pull unlocks and opens the door in one uninterupted motion. What peeves me is when i get out, and try to open the rear door to get my jacket or whatever from the backseat, and that rear door is still locked. In the truck, I wish the one door handle open undid all 4 door locks; instead i have to remember to hit the unlock button after exiting and before closing the driver door. Cool features, but neither vehicles door locking system is perfectly user-friendly for me.
  3. This feature (in any new format) does require dealer activation. I wanted it too, initially, but after getting used to just pressing the lock button for lenghty drives, it became apparent that either pressing it again to unlock, or forgetting the unlock button and having to pull twice on the doorhandle, makes it less desirable. For all those times I merely pull the car out of the garage or need to shuffle cars around in the driveway, (anything not worth locking the door for) it makes getting out such a bigger hassle. For me, the feature would only be worthwhile if it would automatically unlock the doors upon turning off the ignition, or unlocked and opened the door in one uninterupted motion. Perhaps you aren't aware you have to tug once to unlock, then again to open.
  4. I have a tire purchase due in my near future. I currently have 225/40/18 fronts & 265/35 /18 rears. Both carry N-1 ratings. It seems Bridgestone So2's get good reviews and carry the all important N-1 rating. The newer line of So-3s get mixed wear reviews and as of yet have of yet not been tested / approved by porsche for an "N" rating. Mailorder companies like tire-rack are hit-and-miss about a offering complete set of matching Porsche N-rated tires. Do I risk installing a full set of SO-3s (not yet N-rated approved)to get all matching sizes? Do I perhaps consider stepping up from a up 265 to N1-rated 275/35 rears to match new N-1 rated 225/40 fronts just to be consistent and keep N-rated SO2s on all 4 wheels? Do I dare mix N2 or N3 rated front 225s with older 265/35 N1s to maintain a 265 width for the rear? Lots of options, but based on reviews, Bridgestone seems the way to go. Are there other mail order options I should look into? At present, Tire rack seems to have the best deals going.
  5. So what you are asying is that early 1999 & very early 2000 models may have had these plates; however it does not mean that mine as a later 2000 build or subsequent models may have these plates. Thanks for clearing that up. The attached photo mirrors the setup i currently have........ok I have more faith in my dealer service now.
  6. I have a 2000 C2 cabriolet. Among some other dealer services, I asked them to examine if I was missing any rearmost plastic underbody peices. They informed me for my model year, all appropriate componenets are in place. I have little reason to distrust their findings, but a few things trouble me: When I look under the car it appears there are screw holes evident for further body panels that would attach and extend further rearward. As it is, the gearbox is entirely exposed (making fluid changes a breeze, but I recall a panel removal outlined described in the DIY FAQ posted here). The existing panels stop about 4 inches short of an aluminum lateral brace under the car. Based on this description, does this sound appropriate? Are newer model years fitted with more underbody paneling? Should I just sneek peeks under similar cars when I encounter them in parking lots? The latter might get me in trouble...... Thanks in advance- Andrew
  7. OK, I picked up my car car today and drove it straight home. I immediately noticed the clutch was far better that it had ever been..............even dating back to delivery in late December. The clutch begins to engage at 1/4 petal of actuation, not relying on a full 1/2 pedal of actuation like I thought was such a massive improvement just after performing my initial flush & bleed service I performed (repeatedly) on my own using the Moitve bleeder, fresh fluid and even old fashioned "pedal-pushing". This is far better. To date, all "sponginess" is now history. Just to confirm my findings, I put the car up on ramps and indeed found a shiny new replacement slave cylinder sitting atop the gearbox and all the surrounding work was done neatly. Now If I can just get the nearly 4 years of accumulated grime off my engine........a project for another day now that the car is serviseable again, the engine can all look bright and I can keep a more watchful eye on any suspect fluid leakages! Back the the clutch issue, this further lends credence to my theory that perhaps something was wrong with air entering or fluid previously existing the the system upon delivery, as it would take a full half pedal (or more) to activate the clutch (even after my own flush & bleed). Sometimes it would just stay flat to the floor! If it could be traced back to a previous failing bleeder screw seat, that would explain why after each of my attempted fixes, the problem returned exponentially quicker & quicker. Damaged seats don't fix themselves; they just grow worse with time. Ultimately I owe a debt of thanks to the folks at Performance Porsche for stepping up to the plate and covering a problem they adamantly felt was not their responsibility due to the fact I had performed my own troubleshooting and corrective action on the component in question. They simply blamed me for over tightening the bleeder screw, when records research indicated that at least one other Porsche mechanhic claims to logged performing that exact same flush service immediately prior to my delivery. That being true, I am not the first person to ever place an 11mm wrench on that bleeder. Who is ultimately at fault for the alleded overtightening or it is simply a design weakness, will never be determined, but that since the repair has now been made, pointing fingers is a waste of time. To date, the other work I had inspected involving the rattling softtop also appears to have been dealt with correctly. At was far quieter on the way home, and I can see evidence of new part installatons as well as an effort to correct some the old weatherstripping/ trim pieces that were coming unglued or become grossly mangled during regular use. Finally, I had an brief conversatation with the service writer to sincerely express my hopes that there will be no hard feelings over my handling this issue and future service concerns that may arise during ownership of this car; since his service manager was out to lunch, I'll make the effort phone him tomorrow to express my similar sentiments. I wish to remain on good terms with these folks if at all possible. Thank you for the handful of forumites who followed my saga and lent their support. That's what these forums are all about. I hope to be able to "give back" as my knowledge base expands. Andrew PS: I still have to re-mount my hardtop so they can diagnose & repair its share of squeaks and rattles. With any luck, all grudges are in the past and I will receive the quality of service that any Porsche owner (even a fussy one like me) is entitled to; not be "blacklisted; as my previous concerns led me to fear. I think based on my heart-to-heart conversation with the service writer upon picking up my car today, those issues are in the past. We agreed I will need to make the effort to do a better job letting them diagnose and troubleshoot future maintenance issues that I might otherwise attribute to be child's play and tackle on my own. These may be rooted in larger problems that based on my "tampering" excempt me from warranty coverage. PPS: With respect to the hardtop, any TSBs I should arrive with knowledge about? I'd like to assist them by speaking intelligently and pointing them in the right direction, and also make certain it is properly fixed the first time. PDF files and my PC seem to be incompatable, so just a simple brief worded description will do.
  8. MY 2000 C2 cabriolet..........sorry for not specifying. I'll certainly keep an eye on this I get the car back. If a further problem exists, I won't make the mistake of jeopardizing my eligibility to make a warranty claim by servicing this component again. I'm sure this repair will be well documented and throw an immediate red flag if it fails again. If it means I have to surrender my 11mm wrench and Motive bleeder, I'll never find myself in this position again. Thanks for suggesting some other aspects to be on the lookout for.
  9. If you are mechanically competent, there is no reason you can't perform the service yourself. The DIY section on this site is very informative......almost idiot-proof! If you have doubts that remain after reading that section, many here are very willing to lend a hand. The 15K service is an easy one; if I'm not mistaken its merely air / pollen filters, oil & filter, plus inspection all around. Regardless of what was alledgedly done prior to your delivery, wouldn't you feel better knowing with certainty your maintenance is totally current and done using approved components? Additionally, even using Mobil 1, I personally believe a 15K change interval is stretching things. Since you can DIY for $50 in parts + a leisurely 30 minutes of your time, I don't mind doing it more frequently to help protect my investment. Plus, I find it adds to the overall pride & enjoyment of owning a sports car like a Porsche. As for future warranty concerns, log your efforts in the maintenance book and validate by keeping receipts for your materials. Your warranty booklet states there is no reason your warranty should be jeaopardized by you performing your own routine maintenance provided you follow this process, and can demonstrate sufficient mechanical aptitude. As for those services being performed as part of the certification process, I was skeptical about it when I took delivery of my certified car @ 30K miles. Although they claimed & documented to have performed a 30K service prior to delivery, none of the filters, plugs & oil I repalaced looked as though they had they had a mere 1000 miles use when I started going through the car @ 31K miles. It doesn't matter now; I replaced everything myself, and now feel secure knowing for a fact that my car is current on its maintenance and have logbook notes & receipts for parts to prove it. However, one item has come back to haunt me........a spongy clutch, which I initially attributed to needing a brake fluid change and bleeding (another aspect of routine maintenance), evolved into a warranty claim for a damaged slave cylinder bleeder seat. In good faith, I explained my situation and the documented troubleshooting & repair work I had performed, but I am currently being held responsible for a problem that I feel existed upon delivery. It took a great deal of effort to get a dealership to cover the repair and I am still awaiting the results of the repairs they finally agreed to. Ultimately you are within your warranty rights to perform basic and routine maintenance, but admitting to such certainly made the service writer cringe and caused me great difficulty in getting a related claim covered. Depending on the complexity of the service you are performing, weighed against your mechanical ability (which may be questioned), and most importantly your dealer relationship, DIY work is something you have to make your own decision on. Good luck- Andrew
  10. You care to share any of that info? While my own troubleshooting would lead me to agree with the technicians diagnosis that the bleeder seat is damaged, it would be interesting to know if the TSB pertains to the slave cylinder componet or elsewhere in the system. While I believe the dealership will now be resolve my problem, a TSB that affects the slave cylinder might help him cover it under warranty and lessen the possibility of hard feelings towards me for making such a big deal over my situation.
  11. As a business owner myself, I'm able to consider their perspective as well. I'm sure there have been plenty of examples before me when a DIYer butchered something only to expect it to be fixed under warranty. This is surely something they face and may or may not get reimbursed from Porsche for covering under warranty. The key differences are I suspected there may be a problem dating back to delivery. Perhaps I should have taken the car in then, but what might I have gotten.....a big bill for routine fluid change and purging of air in the line? Fluid changes and adjustments are not coverered under warranty, and a ghastly overpriced service that I can do (and already planned to) just as well myself. And what would have likely occured 10-14 days later? That bleeder would have leaked again, just as it did for me. Just as I did, they may have made several attempts at simple bleeding before exploring further and discovering the seat damage they now state is the root cause of my continued problem. I feel strongly that even with initial advice offered here in the forums and similar advice by a friend who runs and independant Porsche shop to simply tighten it more, I had already gone as tight as I knew was appropriate without risking damage. Rather than do that, I finally looked into the possibilty of trash or an obstruction in the screw & seat; neither helped. It was at that point I felt I had reached the threshold of what service I could perform without crossing the line into jeapordizing my warranty eligibility. In good faith, I made an honest admission of my efforts and explained in detail what I had performed and encountered along the way. I certainly didn't expect to be penalized for honesty. I would imagine that a DIYer who knowingly butchered something would have deceptively never admitted to perfoming any work himself. That's not the ethical standard I live by. As for using the dealership again, it is solely up to them. If they honor their agreement to make the proper repairs and don't hold a grudge against me about it, I will be happy to continue bringing my business to them. I already can think of a few small parts and accessories on my wishlist, and beyond that I hope that I'm financially able to trade up from this current car within the next 2 years. This is all business I would be glad to offer them, should we both be able to put this behind us and work together "as a team" in the future. If not, I can look elsewhere for my needs; I am aware of 2 other authorized dealerships outside of the Hendrick franchise that are within reasonable service distance from me. I also have a friend running an independant Porsche shop should I choose to pay for service; his rates are far below dealership rates. I certainly would think twice before returning to either Hendrick owned dealships if I'm going to be "blacklisted". Upon my return, I will be polite, thank them for agreeing to honor my claim, and I will let their actions determine where I go for my future needs. Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm curious why this thread shows so many "views" yet so few people take the time to even offer a one-sentence response to my post. Please chime in!
  12. Absolutely do it all. You have to remove the driver side rear tire (well, all 4 actually) anyways to access its caliper; this only eases access to the clutch bleeder. Theres no point in opening a liter can of fluid and not use it all........its considered a bad practice to keep leftover fluid around indefinately, and if you do the job right, a liter can will purge all old fluid from both systems. Do it all, use it all. Unfortunately, based on my current experience, should either system have a possible pre-existing defect, doing this job yourself (and admitting to such) may cause you trouble if you need to get those underlying problems covered under warranty. My problem (detailed in another thread) arose from alleged overtightening of the clutch bleeder valve, which I was blamed for; be certain not to overtighten any of the bleeders. It will certainly come back to haunt you.
  13. Needless to say, I was so upset, I didn't get much sleep last night. First thing this morning, just as I was about to drive over and speak to them in person, the local service manager called to explain he had taken the matter up with his regional rep. and had also recieved confirmation of the previous bleeding service from the purchasing dealer (which verified I'm not the only person to ever service this component), yet all parties still felt the claim should be denied. I continued to express my disatisfaction, and he countered by stating that if not me, then the selling dealership should be held responsible, but he finally agreed to repair the car at his dealerships expense. He felt that between repeated conversations with me, his technician, the selling dealer, Porsche & the regional rep., I had taken so much of his time he simply wanted it to end. I thanked him and that was the end of the call. I'm pleased that someone was finally willing to address what I felt was a legitimate warranty claim, based on the progressing severity of the problem for me dating back to purchase, and the fact that I paid a premium for a certified car (hoping to avoid problems like this). I took considerable effort to troubleshoot and correct this problem on my own, and in good faith, admitted to such when I dropped the car off. I feel I shouldn't be penalized for my mechanical aptitude or preference to perform my own routine maintenance. I look forward to getting the car back. My only remaining concern is whether or not my persistence on this matter is going to "blacklist" me from future repair concerns. I appreciate the fact they agreed to cover the repair (regardless of their reason), and I'm certainly willing to continue business with them provided the final outcome of the repair work is acceptable and they have a similar willingness to put this unpleasantness behind them. I'll follow up when I get the car back, but I'd still appreciate hearing what other owners have to say about how they feel this whould have been handled at their dealership.
  14. At this point, I'll light a fire under their butts: Purchasing dealer: Hendrick Porsche, Charlotte, NC Servicing dealer: Performance Porsche, Chapel Hill, NC As stated before, both dealerships are in the same "family" owned by Rick Hendrick of NASCAR fame. Hendrick has multiple franchises throughout the state; there probably isnt a make of car he doesnt peddle somewhere. While Hendrick Porsche is a "stand alone" dealership site, Performance's lot offers: Chevrolet, Subaru, Porsche, BMW and Acura. I think they also sell Saturn, but don't hold me to that. I was just thinking about on previous visits they follow up several days later with a phone call survey during my busy work day to "make sure everything met my expectations". It annoys the crap out of me, but this time I would look forward to that call. Under the circumstances, I don't expect I'll be on the list for that call!
  15. I previously posted about my difficulties with my clutch bleeder leaking. To rehash the whole deal, I bought the car in December (as a certified preowned with factory extended warranty) and began catching up on various 30K maintenace items (filters, oil, plugs)........and flushing the brakes & clutch. I haven't owned a manual tranny in 12 years, but I felt and several others I let drive my new toy commented the pedal felt odd in the first part of its travel. Rather than making this a dealer problem, I simply went ahead with the brake & clutch bleeding I wanted to perform anyways. There was a tremendous improvement.........I had no idea what I was missing. All was well for about 10-14 days when the pedal hung at the floor twice during a drive. I rebled, saw minor air purge out. On a subsequent drive the pedal hung again & returned home missing the nipple cover. I rebled and pressure tested the clutch, it leaked. I have an above average mechanical aptitude, I know overtightening will damage the seat; each time I tightened it as tight as I felt appropriate, but to no avail. I removed the bleeder entirely, checked for damaged tip or trash, q-tipped the seat recess, reassembled & tested. Twice it failed. Off to the dealer.......I've done all the troubleshooting and service I feel is within my rights without adversely affecting my ability to claim warranty coverage. In good faith, I explained everything to the service writer, who cringed at the concept of a customer performing any of his own maintenance. The technician diagnosed the problem as a distorted slave cylinder seat due to overtightening and denied warrany eligibilty for the repairs. I took it to the service manager.......along with more face cringing, I get a lecture about how they have no way of knowing who besides myself may have ever serviced that bleeder, so I must be at fault. Furthermore, he says even if he did the repair as warranty work, Porsche would look at those parts and automaticly deny coverage based on the overtightening diagnosis "because Porsche techs are such professionals and would never do that", so "as much as he would like to" he can't help. However, I called the purchasing dealer who claims to have records that as part of the certification, they performed a 30K service (absurd if you saw the plugs and filters I pulled out 1000 miles later) including a hydraulic fluid flush. So somebody besides me is on record as touching the bleeder. I asked the selling dealer to have his service manager contact the local service manager to confirm that they had indeed serviced the bleeder prior to me. I have yet to hear back from the local service manager whether this holds enough weight to change his position. Porsche Customer Satisfaction was little help.......they basicly said they stand behind their service managers. If the service manager can't help me, ask him to call his regional rep. And who will he call, Porsche? What a circle jerk......... As it stands now, I said I won't pay and put the car back as I dropped it off. I'd rather try finding an aftermarket Viton tipped bleeder (if one exists), an o-ring, rubber washer, teflon tape, insert a plug in its place, weld shut the nipple passage........any of these options before coughing up nearly $400 for a problem that may have been lingering in the vehicle all along. What angers me more, is when I posed the question "What if I had just walked in claiming to know nothing more than where to put the gas in, and said there was a mysterious blue leak on my garage floor and the clutch felt funny?", this may have passed as a warranty claim. Man I'm angry...........but am I off base? I feel victimized because rather than scramble to the dealer when I suspected a problem, but addressed it myself as part of routine DIY maintenance, I'm suddenly to bear all fault for what very well may have been more underlying & pre-existing damage to the car. What's gonna happen if an ignition coil fails? Am I to be blamed based on changing my own plugs? What if the throttle body fails, did I hurt it during a air filter change? Where does it end?
  16. What I feel has happened is the car was "pushed" through the certification by merely signing the paperwork. I don't think any technician looked into much if anything. I surely didn't remove these missing items, nor have I owned the vehicle long enough for them to just "fall off" on their own. Additionally, the car is still in its original 4yr/50K warranty.......original factory or entended factory warranty, I feel this should be taken care of. As an update: they have agreed to order the parts & work on the tops, they discovered the mirror tilt had been disabled and corrected this. However, they claim there isn't a missing belly pan peice......although posts here, screw holes and other markings on the car suggest otherwise to me. I'll have to peek under another 996 to confirm this. Worst of all, they are denying my warranty coverage on a leaking clutch bleeder. Not to get too far off track, I'll start a separate thread about this.
  17. When recently I bought my 2000 C2 Cabriolet, it had a few months factory warranty left (still 1 month left)........I opted to spend the extra money to have the dealer (authorized dealership) inspect the car and "certify" it for the 2 year extended factory coverage. As it was explained, they go through the car, confirm no major problems and fix whatever smaller stuff may be required to bring it up to par. To me, that was money well spent for peice of mind......reading about RMS failures alone made it a no-brainer investment. Among other issues Ive experienced in 2 months of ownership (persistant clutch bleeder leakage, MAF sensor replacement), I have compiled a small laundry list of problems I would have assumed should have / could be fixed upon my discovery. Check the list and tell me if I'm expecting too much out of a "certified" car: -----Both tops rattle like hell: I find missing rubber tips on tabs that attach cab top to windshield frame (on both hardtop & softtop), the small "bumpers" in the softtop that get the Krylox lube are mangled on both sides and need replacement (not just lube), & another nearby rubber stripping on the softtop frame is half peeled off. -----Missing parts of the underbody: It looks like there should be one more underbody plate at the rear that would have covered the gearbox. Its much easier to work on the car without, but the car was designed to have it there. Screws are missing elsewhere on various other underbody panel pieces. -----Is it too much to ask to activate the tilt-mirror function as a courtesy? Likewise for the doorlock options? I bought the car at another dealership farther away because the local one had no preowned inventory when I was looking to buy. However, the local dealership I am going to for service is owned by the same franchise, so its still like I bought it from "their family". They have no reason to ***** about "not buying from them". I've gone a step further to inform them I consider this my "starter Porsche" and I hopefully anticipate to afford an upgrade prior to my warranty expiration. I also have spent money at their parts counter so I could DIY update all the filters, plugs, fluids, etc. & quite a few dollars in their bodyshop due to an unfortunate fender-bender. Yet, I feel like everytime I bring them a service concern, the service writer treats me like crap......"oh, thats gonna cost you".....yet the actual technician is a pretty nice guy and frequenty says "no problem". Am I asking too much? How would your dealership handle these or similar concerns?
  18. I got my hands on another can of super blue and decided to give it one more try. I removed the bleeder, cleaned & checked its condition, q-tipped the recess it sits in & pushed a 1/4 can of fluid through the open hole, all in an effort to dislodge and flush anything that might be interfering with the bleeder seal. Once reassembled, I bled it even more with another 1/4 can. It still leaked...........I did it all over again............it still leaked. All told, another liter of Super blue through the car and straight to the collection jug. Although I've been totally confident in my ability to properly tighten the bleeder (without stripping it), i took it one step further and linked a second combination wrench to my 11mm, and went just a touch tighter with the increased leverage. Still leaks.......... I give up. I had my wife follow me to the dealership to drop it off last night. Hopefully it isn't due to damage i've caused by bleeding my clutch; I consider myself above-average in mechanical competance, but who knows? In a perfect world, there would be a TSB out that suggests replacement with a different valve..........maybe something with a Viton tip. I was somewhat surprised to see these things seal metal-to-metal, no o-rings or Viton tips.
  19. I wish it were that simple........ Actually theres a fair amount of room to work with and i really feel I've gone as tight as I dare. The last thing I want is to strip somrthing. That something would more likely be the aluminum housing, not the steel nipple. I think theres a bad o ring or peice of trash in there. I still have warranty coverage and a laundry list of other items to be looked into, so I'm going to let the dealership take it from here (provided they don't give me a bunch of hassle about it). At least I can save them the time to troubleshoot the clutch failure.
  20. I re-bled the clutch using the pedal method and my wife as a helper to ensure the pedal stayed firmly to the floor. I could see some air released with the first bleed; the next two bleeds were all fluid. We went out to lunch later and I thought I felt it hang up ever so slightly one time. I was suspicious whether I was that worried about it (and imagined the problem) or it really happened. Upon returning home, I discovered fluid running down the gearbox and the nipple had spit off the rubber bleeder cap. Bad news....... To troubleshoot it further, I cleaned up all traces of leaked fluid, then hooked up the Motive bleeder and put 15psi on the reservior. I first waited about 15 minutes to verify it held pressure, which it did. I crawled back under the car and found more leakage. I wiped it off again and laid there a good 5 minutes until a I saw a drop flow through the nipple. The nipple is leaking somehow. I'm confident I have it closed plenty tight.......manhandling further might strip the threads. At least I know the source of the problem. Now the challenge is going to be explaining to the dealer that I expect them to warranty the leaking nipple regardless of the fact I had recently performed my own brake & clutch fluid service. They seem to have the mentality that owners are clueless and shouldnt perform any of their own maintenance.
  21. While working on our vehicles at home today, I realized I mispoke regarding my '04 Ford F350. It has the oil filter at the very top of the engine, an oil drain gets everything. My previous truck, an '01 F350 with the older 7.3 liter deisel had the bottom filter arrangement which held a whopping 2 quarts. Anyways, I'm still curious what practices others follow.
  22. I know a BMW owner (not to pick on BMWs) who built the same thing. First, he mocked me for ordering a Motive bleeder, but I suspect it was mostly because he is too cheap to spend 40 bucks on a simple tool. Later he confessed how he ran the resevior dry during one of his bleeds and had to do the job all over again. At least with the Motive, you don't have to continually monitor the cars reservior. Also, the more times you have to open & close that cap or pour fluid, the greater the likelihood of an accidential splash on the paint. I can't see how anybody would use another method, and $40 bucks for the tool is far cheaper than having any mechanic perform the service. My project for today will be to redo the clutch. It concerns me too that the problem appeared after several hundred miles of backroads driving. If it persists, it can become the dealers problem............although they will automaticly fault me since I did a recent bleed service. I can hear it now........."Gee Mr. Lawton, your warranty doesn't cover failures due to you performing your own maintenance". My reply wouldn't be fit for posting on this board..........
  23. No I did it all myself; helpers generally prove to be more of a distraction than a help. But as I mentioned before the petal was firmly held down by a 2x4 while I opened & closed the valve. Furthermore, I rigged up a nifty collection device for collecting my old fluid. I took an empty 2 liter soda bottle, drilled a hole in the cap, fit a tight rubber grommet and then ran my vinyl tubing into that. When conecting my collection bottle to each nipple, I'd squeeze the bottle to get air out before connecting and create a minor vacuum to reduce the likelihood of air from being drawn back into the nipple when the fluid stopped coming out and I was closing the valve. When I used it on the brakes, it was easy to see the vacuum effect still at work when my leaky Motive had losts its positive pressure, but the collection bottle with its minor vaccuum was still drawing a slight flow of fluid as I closed each nipple. I really thought I had crafted the perfect DIY proceedure, but as I admitted before, I'm human..........I do make mistakes. I'll attempt a second bleed tomorrow with what fluid can be spared before it gets down to the "min" mark. I'll also enlist a helper to do the pedal work, to eliminate the possibility my 2x4 rig allowed some pedal play. It sounds like the pedal pushing method is more commonly used / suggested, so I'll stick with that, but the Motive would be SOOOOOO much easier, unless there is some reason the clutch master /slave cylinder system isn't as tolerant to its use like the brake system is. It is the same principle and the fluid is drawn off the same resevior; in theory the Motive should be just as good for clutch bleeding as it is for brakes. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks for the help thus far- Andrew
  24. Yes, I was pumping the petal by hand several times then I wegded a cut length of 2x4 between the bottomed out pedal and drivers seat to hold it down while opening the valve to bleed. Then close the valve, pull up gently on the petal, repeat...... Tomorrow I'll give it another shot with what fluid I can spare before hitting the "min" mark on the resevior. I dont have another can of Super Blue around, nor do I know a non-mailorder source to get some immediately. I hate to introduce something substandard from the local automart to only have to flush it back out later. But, I'll inquire again: which method might be preferable.......Motive or petal pump?
  25. My 04 F350 deisel work truck (the one that pays for my 2000 Cab.) suggests a regular oil change service interval of 5K miles. I pull some significant weight, so I do oil changes much more frequently. My practice has been to change the oil (Rotella) every 2500 miles, but only change the filter every other time. The monster Ford filters arent cheap (nor is 15-17 quarts of Rotella!), but since I'm still doing better than a straight oil / filter change every 5K, I have always felt good about my maintenance practices. But I wonder........Ford or Porsche........if one were inclined to do better on one aspect of the service interval and "skimp" on the other, which would it be? Oil or filter? Although I've never measured (or even tried the practice) on either vehicle, simply changing the filter will result in some oil loss which would have to be replaced anyways.......hardly anything in the Porsche, but a full 2 quarts in the Ford! In comparison, just the oil change leaves behind an equal quantity of nasty oil in the filter system, but far less a percentage in the Porsche than the Ford.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.