JFP in PA

We have many customers running them, and I have them on my personal cars as well. This design offers several advantages, most of which were discussed in a recent Excellence response to a technical inquiry on this subject. The spin on design is a "full flow" type, meaning that all the oil is filtered at all times, there is no by-pass mechanism to allow unfiltered oil to circulate, which is more important than many give it credit for. The OEM housing has a small by-pass valve in its base, which when new allows oil to go around the filter media under certain circumstances. Unfortunately, as this device ages, it can develop a tendency to allow this to occur more often than it was designed to do, which is obviously not a good thing. While some would argue that having the by-pass available at cold start up, or if the filter became plugged with debris is important; they seem to over look that fact that many modern engines do not use a filter by-pass mechanism and do just fine on cold starts, and the fact that the spin on filter is actually rated to flow more oil than the oil pump can move in a given time frame, so cold flow is not a real problem, particularly with modern full synthetic oils. As for having a by-pass to allow oil to circulate if the filter became totally clogged, if your filter reached this state, the engine would already have experienced some significant internal damage and would be a candidate for disassembly, which would only be worsened by allowing the dirty oil to continue to circulate. While the spin on filters are shorter than the OEM cartridge style filters, the two really critical measurements are the filter's total surface area and micron pore size of the filter media. The spin will sacrifice a small amount of total surface area, but depending upon the filter manufacturer, actually has a considerably finer pore diameter, which yields superior filtration characteristics when compared to the OEM units. As for 30,000 mile filter change intervals, in the real world people should be changing out their oil and filters a lot sooner than that, more like 5K or once a year at a minimum, even if they are running quality full synthetic oil.

From this picture alone, you appear to have leaking spark plug tubes, but I would agree with RFM, clean the engine bay first so you can see what is actually going on:

That being said, it is definitely not from the head gasket. I'd be hesitant to start the engine due to knocking sound and foreign stuff in cyl #4/6. Safe to say there is a leakage somewhere, could you help me to understand why a leak down test would provide useful information? Before I haul the engine to a shop and start burning some serious $$$, I'd appreciate a lot for any comments regarding how I could assess the situation better myself. I could drain coolant + oil and check for intermix. Then drop the engine and open cylinder head, at least that should tell is the engine salvageable or not. The car has never smoked, even the tailpipes are clear as a sky, same thing when this problem happened. 85k miles, original water pump (yes, new one is already coming), coolant level now below minimum(!). At least that is good that this problem happened on the front slope of my garage when I was warming up the engine and not while I was driving in the freeway. Much appreciated JFP for your comments!! I guess my driving days are over for a while, this really really sucks :unsure: If you have suffered a cylinder head crack, which is not that uncommon, you can often (but not always) catch this with a leak down test which pressurizes each cylinder while the piston is at TDC and observes percentage leakage. Quite often, cracked cylinder heads will allow the air from the test to bubble into the cooling system as well during the test, which is another confirming data point. If you suddenly find a cylinder or two that jump up over 10% leakage, they would be your suspects. You can also pressurize the cooling system (using a hand pumped cooling system pressure tester) to see if it will hold pressure, which is working from the opposite side of things: You may or may not experience an intermix with this kind of problem, but it is always worth checking the oil and coolant.

As the head gaskets on these engines are multilayer steel, and never fail, I doubt that is head gasket material. More likely, that is a build up of dried coolant from a crack area. Time to run a leak down test.

Be sure all the drains are clear of obstructions: https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/drainsdiagram

Not without checking to see that the calipers are also the same, which I would be will to wager is not the case.

Most likely what the description says, circuit open or shorted on the wheel speed sensor. Check for resistance or continuity between connector pins 4 & 5, if you don't see any, you probably have lost the sensor. Also check the wiring connectors to be sure they are tight.

The 981 S front rotors are 13.0 X 1.1 inch, rears are 11.77 X 0.80 inch, the non S fronts are 12.4 X 0.80 and the rears are the same 11.77 X 0.80 inch. As Loren noted, the carriers are the same.

Some people retain the cats, some sell them. In many states, the vehicle will not pass inspection without the cats physically being present (yes, they actually look). Selling a cat-less vehicle is problematic as well, as some states place the onus on passing inspection on the seller of the car rather than the buyer; if it won't pass inspection, the seller has to either take the car back or fix it so it passes. I guess it all depends upon where you head is at. We only have a couple of customers running the pipes, they kept the cats to put back on when they sell the car. At the end of the day, removing the cats really does not free up much power in anything short of a ten tenths prepared car (reflashed DME, full headers, etc.) regardless of what the cat bypass pipe sellers say, so taking them off a vehicle with no other mods really won't gain you much in performance, but could end up creating a lot of grief, including persistent MIL codes, inspection problems, sale problems, etc.... But it is your car, so you have to decide what you really want.

Check the market for used but serviceable cats for your car, it is probably close to the same number............... New cats are selling for north of $1600 each, a couple of used but serviceable cats for a 996 recently sold for about $750 from a salvage yard. You do the math.....................

Just because something can be done, does not necessarily mean it should be done, or even makes economic sense. With scrap yards paying money for even dead cats, why would you want to destroy a perfectly good one?

With even used cats selling for hundreds, the aftermarket pipes are the more economic way to go............

Before you start beating Hell out of your cats, I'd suggest finding out what a replacement would cost; might just change your thought train a bit................

OEM filter housing holds about 1/2 qt. of oil.

The yaw control function, its most common activity, does not typically involve any loss of grip or a slide to trigger an intervention and get the vehicle back on track, it is the difference between the car's actual changing yaw angle and the one that should be produced by the current steering inputs, hence its "stability management" title rather than traction control.

Be very careful about where you get an engine, the 2.5L engine's were prone to cylinder wall problems, as you have already discovered. You really don't want to ship one of these long distances, only to find out you bought a boat anchor when it arrives.......

Obviously depends upon the ability of the mechanic, couple hours at most.

I was referring to the bolts that hold the flex plate to the crankshaft. The easiest way to accomplish this swap is to put the two engines side by side and move all the stuff from the original engine that is not on the replacement. When the replacement is reconfigured to the original's layout, the wiring harness should plug right in. Word of advice: Do not throw out anything until the new engine is in the car and running, some of the little stuff can be the hardest to find or replace.

You will need to use the flex plate from the old engine and new bolts (they are single use items). You will also need any other Tip associated items (wiring harness, brackets, etc.) be moved to the new engine. The 2.7 engines were all egas and used a different DME and sensor layout, fuel system has changes as well, so there would be considerably more stuff to develop "work around's" to make it work.

Actually, rather than "traction control", PSM functions as "yaw control" to limit the car's ability to get completely out of shape and end up in the top of a tree somewhere. The system uses a variety of sensors (individual wheel speed, steering angle, actual angular momentum of the vehicle, etc.) to try and help keep the car going in the direction the driver intends it to. From the OEM literature: PSM, which comes as standard, is an automatic control system that stabilises the vehicle at the limits of dynamic driving performance. Sensors continuously monitor driving direction, speed, yaw velocity and lateral acceleration. Using this information, PSM computes the actual direction of motion. If this direction deviates from the desired course, PSM initiates braking interventions targeted at individual wheels in order to stabilise the vehicle. Under acceleration on wet or low-grip road surfaces, PSM improves traction using the ABD (automatic brake differential) and ASR (anti-slip regulation) functions, giving an agile response. When ‘Sport’ mode is selected on the optional Sport Chrono Packages, the PSM intervention threshold is raised to enable greater driver involvement – particularly at speeds of up to approximately 70 km/h (45 mph). The integrated ABS can further reduce the braking distance. For an even sportier drive, PSM can be deactivated. However, it is automatically reactivated for your safety if either of the front wheels (in ‘Sport’ mode, both of the front wheels) requires ABS assistance. ABD remains permanently active. PSM has been enhanced and now includes two additional functions: precharging of the brake system, and brake assist. If you suddenly release the accelerator pedal, PSM automatically readies the braking system. With the braking system having been precharged, the brake pads are already in light contact with the brake discs. Maximum braking power is therefore achieved much sooner. When sudden braking is detected, the brake assist function applies maximum brake pressure to all four wheels. So it is a lot more than just traction control.

The 2.5 manual engine is basically the same as your Tip engine. You will need to strip some stuff off your old engine to accommodate the Tip but it should not be a big deal.

Your question is a little open ended; if your compressor can reach and maintain 90 PSIG, you should be fine. Smaller compressors often take more time for the system to reach 25 inches of vacuum or better, but if they can put out the required pressure, you should be fine.

I'd have to agree with you on the front motor mount, it really is not in the way, but some people find it easier that way. The tank is a bit more annoying because of the confined space and the number of hoses connected to it with those spring clamps. Just take you time, take an occasional break from the task, and it will go smoothly. The tank replacement is actually the very first DIY repair for many owners, so there are lots of write ups on the subject.

Start by making sure you checked all the fuses and relays, checking fuses #17 (heater fans) and 39 (AC condenser fan) in the central electrical panel; then check fuse #42 (AC compressor relay) in the engine compartment relay panel. You should also check relay #R14 (AC condenser fan) in the central relay panel; as well as relay #2 in the engine compartment relay panel.

You will find the "driving experience" between the two cars to be totally different things. I would suggest getting some seat time in an early 996 before making the change.