JFP in PA

They were not so wrong with the initial double-row (996-1) and then decided to make it worse or very wrong with the single row (996-2). Capitalizing on both of these experiences; ie, being so-so wrong (D-Row) and then very wrong (S-Row), they then decided to be not so wrong with the larger S-Row (05 to 08 997); ie, not quite there, until 09 when they got rid of the IMS. It is what made the Porsche engineers go to a S-Row from a D-Row in 2001 that really leaves me perplexed!? What were they thinking ...? Hence so far, dumb and happy with a D-Row! The switch to a single row was a result of moving to Variocam +. This necessitated a slightly longer IM shaft, hence the smaller bearing. I'm afraid that is not correct; many 2000 and 2001 cars came from the factory with single row bearings, and they are all VarioCam, not VarioCam+ cars.......................

I don't think you are going to be able to get at it with the car assembled.

As Loren noted, cycling the ABS/PSM systems is only required if you have replaced major components in the ABS or PSM system, or gotten air into them; otherwise it is not necessary. Even dealerships do not cycle these systems during a flush unless specifically needed.

Hello. My 996tt's crank pulley has gotten loose lately. It fell off and I had to DIY screw it back with the help of my nephew right on the street. We removed the tensioner pulley and screwed the bolt back with a regular wrench. The bolt got a bit damaged, so we filed it a bit to restore the grooves. I was able to drive back to my parking place, expecting to take the car to get serviced later, however yesterday I decided to replace the battery (it died afterwards) and when I started the car and drove it around the parking I heard loud squeaking. Then the 'charge' light went on, steering became heavy: the pulley was loose once again, but I was able to catch the moment: I shut the engine off and the pulley did not fall off, but the crank bolt was loose -- I could see it thru the air filter. I have already gotten a new crank pulley bolt and the cylindrical locking pin also. I am not going to service the car myself, but I have a few questions and I want to make sure the mechanic does it right. 1. What's the deal with the cylindrical pin? It's mentioned in the service manual and there is a cavity for it in the crankshaft and the pulley, but the pin is not shown on PIWIS PET page for 996 turbo engine, only for 996 GT3. Is it supposed to be there, actually? I don't know if it was there originally, since it might have just gotten lost: I haven't found it in the engine compartment. 2. The 996tt service manual does mention the pin, and it also states the bolt has to be tightened to 170 Nm. Does that mean no glue/loctite is to be used? There was no trace of glue on the old bolt. I would appreciate any comment on this, please. The pin is a locking pin that goes through the belt pulley, and it is put in before torqueing the center bolt. The OEM manual does not call for Loctite on the center bolt, but a dab of the red stuff would be a very good idea:

From the sounds of the way the shaft looks, I would not hesitate to replace it as it sounds like someone has done some "creative" repairs at some point in time, and may have modified or swapped parts from another engine. That said, you may have to shorten the shaft you have to give you clearance for the end plug, and either re-Helicoil the end, or weld it up and re-machine it to the correct size; but I would have to wager that would end up costing more than sourcing a replacement.

Thanks! that clears up one concern of mine! JFP, do you see situations where several coils fail causing BOTH near undriveable condition as well as wet plugs in all cylinders? I guess the other thing i should mention is i only drove the car maybe 200 ft before checking the plugs.....maybe it didn't run long enough and the plugs were all wet simply because it only ran for 30 seconds? Coils generally fail individually, but because of the general difficulty in getting at them on some models (like the 996 Turbo cars), owners often opt to swap them all out just because they do not want to revisit the problem next week. In your case, you may not have allowed the car to get up to temp, resulting in wet plugs.

Hopefully this isn't the case....my thought it isn't since sometimes it would run clean....but only for short periods of time. Don't expect to find a bad coil with cracks or other outwards signs of problems. We get cars in all the time with misfires that trace to the coil packs; when extracted, the coil packs look fine, they just don't work properly. Nature of the beast.....

Perhaps if the poster could explain what he is trying to do, or what problem he is trying to address, we could be of more help.....................

Like this? (click to enlarge) intermediate shaft.png Gee, that looks familiar............. :P

Correct, plus the warm fluid draining out will also carry some of the particulates that have not been trapped in the filter. Because of the way these transmissions are designed, it is the best you can do. There is an old adage in the pollution control markets; "The solution to pollution is dilution", which aptly applies here.

You don't. Without removing the transmission and converter from the car, and draining the converter (where most of the fluid sits), you cannot get all the old stuff out. Best recommendation I can give any Tip owner is to ignore the OEM service recommendations and change the fluid and filter fairly regularly so that you are constantly replacing at least some of the fluid with fresh. Several of my customers ask me to change out the pan fluid every time I change their engine oil, and replace the Tip's filter every other pan drain. While that might seem excessive, the fluid is one Hell of a lot cheaper than replacing the Tip.

Don't really know, the code normally means the trans won't go into the "manual mode" when it is selected, and shifts in the normal "automatic mode". Haven't heard anything about slipping or getting stuck in one gear.

Not sure what 50 is (cannot find a reference), but 51 is a code for a short to ground in the manual program switch. Possible areas are the transmission wiring harness, transmission control unit, or the selector lever switch.

Before I would do that, I would test the O2 sensor in question for resistance and correct voltages; if either is out of range, I would put in a new O2 sensor and try the car with the original DME in place. Just might surprise you.....

No. A very weak battery will sometimes draw all the power when you use the fuse box to try and get the trunk open. The alarm has "priority" in the electrical circuits over other stuff. All this is classical low voltage headaches which will disappear when the battery is charged and the alternator is back online.

I checked with one of my techs and found out the line we made up is a 134A line with a M14X1.5 adaptor on it to connect to the fitting on the pan. You can also buy Porsche's line, part# 000.721.950.71 Connecting hose -- US MSRP $40.05.

Everything you have described is voltage related. A bad battery and/or alternator will cause the ABS and PSM MIL's to light up, the radio indicator is a low voltage LED which will work when the battery won't turn the car over, the alarm often goes off when the battery is first reconnected, etc. Get the voltage regulator or alternator tested and replaced, recharge the battery (if it has not been permanently damaged by all this) and have it load tested, and you should be back in business. Nothing unusual.

Thanks for that information Richard. After 1996, cars in North America had to become OBD II compliant, hence the switch to two O2 sensors per bank. We recently had a fully restored 1989 Cadillac in the shop that carried a pre OBD I diagnostic system (used a system called Assembly Line Data Link or ALDL) that had one large main cat and had only one O2 sensor ahead of the cat (which happened to be acting up) for a big 5L V8 engine; my how times have changed.

Actually, it went both ways. North American cars had a single O2 sensor mounted at the cat in 1995, 1996-1998 models have two, one before and behind the main cat on both banks. ROW cars continued to use a single sensor for a longer period, but I am not sure when they switched to two sensors on each bank.

What Loren is trying to tell you is that the PST code 23 is the same as P0159, and indicates the O2 sensor behind the cat on bank 4-6 is on its way out and needs to be replaced.

First, make sure the CAN bus is not "asleep"; Porsche Cayenne's use the CAN bus for diagnostics. The CAN bus will go into sleep mode after only a few minutes if the car's engine is not running. To prevent this, you can either start the car's engine (when it's safe to do so) or turn on the hazard lights (emergency flashers) just after turning on the car's ignition. For 2003 - 2004 models, press the brake pedal to wake up the CAN bus.

If he is using the Durametric, he should be able to generate O2 sensor curves like the ones I posted above to see how the cat is doing. Take just a few seconds to collect the data. It also look like your DME is trying to richen up the mixture, which is why I suggested looking at the fuel trims.

As most of these codes look like communications errors, I would focus on the P0470 CAN bus code.

At this juncture, I'm not convinced it is a bad cat. You need to get the car scanned with a Porsche specific system (Durametric, PST II, PIWIS) looking specifically at the pre and post cat sensors while the car is running. These systems can graphically display the sensor voltages in real time, which will indicate how well the cat is doing: Good cat: Bad cat: While hooked up, you should also have the car's fuel trims checked.

2.7L is the correct fill level, you should be fine.