Chuck Jones

Juni: Keep it simple and light? What's that "simple" monster speaker I see sitting in the rear that shows up in the side view mirror?

Fastboy covered just about all the OOPS sorts of things. I bought the car over a year ago...an 02 TT with 18K miles on it, and since then I've replaced a leaking rear strut, a blown right rear radiator hose, a MAF (under CPO), and that's about it. Prior to that I had a 99 996...loved the car but found myself chasing the performance stats of the turbo by dumping money into mods....and was told a number of times to just go ahead an get the TT rather than trying to make a 3.4L engine into something it's not. Most of my expense has been a self inflicted gunshot wound...custom wheels, upgraded tires, UMW tune and the other goodies that go with modding the car. In all truth, it drives extremely well without the mods, and you should drive it that way for at least six months..... but becasue it's such a well built basic platform, it lends itself well to upgrades that really dont' cost as much as you'd expect...and the rewards are spectacular. For your budget of $60K you should be able to get something really nice in an 02-04 depending upon how it's optioned and the mileage. There are a lot of folks selling them off due to the economy....when I was looking, the poor guys in real estate and some of the speculation markets were hit hard and were bailing out....and this is still going on. The base price of a previously owned TT has dropped dramatically and it's an excellent time to enter the market if you have the cash. Thereare a lot of really nice TT's out there....just take your time to look around. Too many folks jump at the first "absolutely pristine, low mileage, wonderfully optioned" cars that they run into as they just start their hunt......trust me, if you miss one, there's always another right behind it. Watch the cars that hit the market...and sit for a bit....then the price starts coming down. It's really disappointing for those of us who own them to see them drop in price, but it will stabilize out. They're one of the best values for the money. Best of luck in your quest.

Zebs suggestion may be something that might work. When I bought my 87 930 factory slant...it had sat in a hot garage covered for a year or so and the leather seats were pretty hard.....I went to a custom leather upholstery shop and the fellow showed me a headrest he took of a T-bird from a werecking yard. It was hard, cracked, and looked like it was done in. He used Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator (Tandy Leather Factory) on half of it and left the other half as is. The half with the Dr. Jackson's was restored....couldn't believe the difference unless I had seen it myself. Cracks and rough finish was gone... The process is much like Zeb describes....put it on, cover it with plastic and let it heat up and allow the leather to soak up the rejuvenator. It took me three weeks of application, cover it, wipe it off, re-apply, and the car seats are like new. Doesn't make the leather smell bad either. I now use it on all the leather in the TT, Lexus, and 930....but then you'll find that everyone has their own particular favorite. NOT FOR SUEDE OR ALCANTRA!

As you can see from most of the responses....the suggestion is to chase downt the real potential of leaks before you go blowing money, time, and effort on replacing plugs. I had similar problems after a DV install, and guess what...ford clamps on the DV's.

You should be feeling a bit froggy. Think of it...youre getting a new engine in there under CPO....and I believe the engine comes with a two year warranty on all the internals. The new engines are much more stout than the older ones becaused they've upgraded the parts that have failed so frequently through the years....obivously the intermediate shaft is all new.....the RMS will be new...you'll be putting in a clutch so that's new, the cylinders should bre sleeved....and whatever else you decided to to "while you're in there". You'll have a much better car than when you startd out....with a much more reliable engine. Were I you, I'd be in hog heaven but for the inconvenience of having it go out on you...but the CPO did a CYA. Glad to see someone covered for one of these failures. There have been quite a few not as fortunate as you insofar as being covered on the repairs.

Scientific hypothesis? Hell I can't even spell hippopatomus much less give you one. All I know is that I installed one of the DV's improperly and the ford clamp wasn't sealing off the bottom of the DV....not the part that went into the F hose, but the one that goes into the downpipe....and I eventually took it into the dealship who told me that the DV was leaking which was why it was overboosting. That's about the extent of my MIT degree in automotive engineering....guess you'd call it hearsay from the dealership. And Bill....I think I know you well enough to know that if you did flame me, it would be in the spirit of a friendly gig.

WROSS: When I installed my diverter valves, I didn't seat one of the DV's properly and reused the ford hose clamp and it leaked causing an OVERboost reading on my boost gauge. When I switched out the ford clamps for stainless screw clamps, the overboost went away.

If you are sure your car is a stock TT, then you're leaking probably thru your diverter valves. overboost like that usually means a vacuum leak. Did you recently upgrade your DV's? .9 is what you get with a stock X50

At this point, I'm just going to live with the slight "buzz" on the clutch pedal till I eventually need a clutch...and with the new UMW tune, that might be sooner than I anticipate....there have been a lot of threads on this issue...and most folks seem to say that it won't hurt anything and just drive it.....but I'm a guy who watches gauges and is constantly in touch with the sounds and feel of the car...so a vibration is something that puts me on alert...and it just shouldn't be there in a finely tuned Porsche even if the P car dealership says it's no big deal...

Perry: Interesting perspective, but I have to admit that as I was reading it, I found myself chasing my tail a bit...but then again, my specialty isn't in petroleum products. It did seem logical that if oil is geting to the right place, it might be consumed at a higher rate than that which doesn't reach the innermost recesses.....but then again, my 930 turbo had been using the Castrol GTX 20-50 and has been running just fine for over 20 years.....I think the compression ratios are about the same for the 996TT (0W-40) and the 930....so I was focused on a lubricant that would be most beneficial for the turbos which spin at an ungodly rate....hence the need to keep the oil clean and changed regularly within the established scheduled cycles. The dimension I never considered was the actual compositional makeup of the oils and the additives...which truthfully, I still don't understand very well....but this thread has been most revealing and informative for the neophye that I am.

I'm just starting to get that same little hang-up with the driver's window....you have to hit the door latch several times then lightly push on the door once or twice to make the widow clear that back part of the rubber buffer. I could force it open, but it seems to just slightly hang up until I move the door back and forth just a bit. You mentioned too much slack? In what....is there a fix for this or is it a regulator.

JP: That's interesting becasue you never had it before the replacement. I'm going to be following your comments closely becasue this vibration issue seems to be fairly common....but no one has been able to put their finger on it. The usual comment or assessment is that it's the fingers on the clutch that vibrate at a certain rpm. Do you get it at a certain rpm, or is it constant? I sure wish someone could track it down becasue there are quite a few of us who have it...and a good number who don't. When you say vibration....is it just as you depress the clutch pedal at the top of the throw? Just as you start putting pressure on it to push down the pedal? You should feel the buzzz...sort of a very high frequency vibration in the ball of your foot as you start to press the pedal. Very curious indeed...and somewhat annoying really.

Next time you clean out your radiators, re-route that "mysterious cable" from where it's lying behind the headlight to an area in the front...some guys put it on a zip tie behind the hole where the screw-in towing eye goes. That way if you ever have your front trunk get stuck shut, you can get to the cable release a lot more easily than fishing for it behind the headlight. You can actually tuck it in any number of secret places limited only by your imagination. I learned this the hard way....and had to take out the front wheel lining just to find where they had stashed the cable behind the passenger's side headlight.

OK Wild Bill: You threw down the gauntlet....since you indicated that the correct product was "lays" rather that Fritos....I would point out that since Lays is a proper noun which references a patented and specific product name, the correct way of presenting it is with a capital "L" rather than lower case....hence, it's Lays.... I rest my case, and retreat to the recesses of cyber space.

Great discussion and even greater resolution between gentlemen who respect each other's views.....and even admit an error. This should be used as a model for how to disagree and resolve in a civil manner.

The only real problem with the leaf blower (which I also use to dry the car) is that it won't get rid of the dirt and debris that accumulates between the radiator and the AC evaporator.....the crud actually gets sandwiched between those two radiator like parts and you'll be totally surprised at how much can build up in between. I used to just vacuum and blow out the front radiators and thought it was a done deal.....Loren had me take off the front bumper and I was shocked at how much STUFF was in between... You should really take off the front bumper for your mid-winter project after all the fall leaves have fallen. There are a number of pictures if you do a search showing the crud between the two. I actually had two dead sparrows on one side. Must've been mating season...they never saw it coming....so to speak.

Now that I've been led down the primrose path with a flash and upgraded wastegates, (which I said I wasn't going to do)I'm afraid that the clutch will be the next item....insofar as the light flywheel goes.....I'm really not sold on that since I dont' track and really dont need that instantaneous spoolup. The flash and wastegates along with the other upgrades I've already done will hold me over. You guys are like Fritos salesmen....becha' can't have jes' one. Ok...maybe it's not Fritos.....

There have been some posts on the forums about a high frequency vibration in the clutch pedal as you barely push on it. No one has come up with a good answer to the source of the vibration....but the consensus seems to be the fingers on the clutch mechanism will vibrate at a certain rpm...nothing to worry about. I thought it was either my clutch slave or the accumulator. Well, finally, my accumulator went out and I replaced it today...it's up inside the drivers side front of the engine and is a black cylindrical object....you can access it from underneath. I thought that perhaps that was the source of the high frequency buzz in the clutch pedal.....but it's not....so I'm back to accepting the "fingers" theory. I've spoken to a number of turbo owners as well as owners of other high end sports cars, and some report the same feeling. I've decided to adopt a "not to worry" attitude.

The release from the inside of the passenger's side door frame is a black plastic ring that is the emergency release for your locking mechanism on the gas flap....it's the gas cap accuator and only is activated when you lock your car....don't pull on it too hard or you'll break the plastic shaft that goes into the receiving hole on the underside of the gas flap. There's a DIY on replacing the actuator in Loren's DIY site. Your emergency release for the front trunk is behind the passenger's headlight....the one for the engine compartment is tucked behind the driver's rear tail light. Some folks (like me) move the cables to where they can be more easily accessed as suggested in a previous thread...

Jon: I found a US distributor in northern California and posted the info in the 996TT forum...he sells by the six-pak and is quite reasonable. Hope this helps you. I'm going to go to the 5 W 50 on my next oil change. I believe Loren said that the Mobil 1 5W 50 is one of the Porsche approved oils.

Thanks for that link.....I found it very scientific....about as scientific as a butt-boost dyno gauge. I now know that there are at least another four or five other types of plugs that guys are either trying out or are sold on, or were told that they were good....but no tests....just a lot of adjectives like..."I like these", or "these seemed to work best"...etc. etc etc. After four pages of differing opinions, I think I'm going to leave the Beru's in there and just drive the car. I take it you are a Denso fan? Do you have any specific observations about how they perform? The most logical approach seemed to be that if you're really tracking hard, you need a cooler plug....but for us guys who just run the freeways and do a periodic DE day mixed in with some spirited mountain road driving....I think I'm going to stay where I am. Besides, it's getting too dogone difficult to get up and down from under the car. Next time I'll need a scissors lift and some beer.

I did a recent plug change and used the Beru plugs based upon the Porsche recommendations and the PET number references. After the install, I was talking to one of my Porsche shop friends and he said that "almost everyone is using the Bosche plugs". In researching the issue, I went to some of the forums and also see some discussion there about the preference for using the Bosche plugs. Can you tell me what the basic difference is? In looking at the plugs as we pulled them out, they looked pretty good for 30K miles on them and I've had no performance issues that I'm aware of. The car runs strong at .9 bar with no flash. Sometimes changes are driven by a pesonal preference, but with the number of comments I've seen/heard, I'm wondering what scientific information (if any) is behind the issue?

I should have come here and read this discussion thread before I posted the same basic question on Rennlist about the difference between adjusting the wastegate shaft nuts versus purchasing the "upgraded wastegate".

Judge: In your case, with the fires and all, and if the filter is clogged, then I could possibly see the benefit. However when the air gets nasty, they all recommend you stay out of it anyway....which is something everyone can't do if you have a job or things to accomplish outside...but your comment about "makes me wonder about the car low miles and all".....has me a bit perplexed. What is it you're wondering about? It sounds like a great car to me....low miles and running strong? Perhaps there's someone on the forum who will chime in and give me a perspective on the filter I hadn't thought about.

I have a new latch and cable release that I bought before my 99 996 caught fire and was totalled....so if you need a complete setup which includes the micro switch (that' $65 by itself), I'll let the whole thing go for $75 for the whole setup of latch, micro switch, and cable release. I now have a 02TT and this is a manual release mechanism for a 99.....this will NOT WORK in the 00 or 01 models....they went to the electric releases.