JFP in PA

You have to be very careful about the pH of the wheel cleaners you use as they can really tear up the clear coat on the wheels if you use the wrong thing. P21S has a long standing reputation for both cleaning the wheels and not damaging the clear coat.

"...and he said the discs were copies of the original Porsche ones" seems to sum it all up.....................

We do not use anything but the OEM pumps; the aftermarket units have proven to be too unreliable. Sunset should be able to set you up with a good deal on the OEM unit, ask for Jeff in parts. The lot temp thermostat is a great upgrade to do at the same time, we have use the LN Engineering version with great results.

First, let me say that listening to sound clips has proven to be the least useful way to diagnose these problems. With both the quality and volume all over the place, it becomes very hard to discern any useful information. We have had customers email us sound clips, only to find something completely different from our analysis of the sound clip when the car arrived at the shop. The best way to check out what is making the noise is to pull the cover behind the seats and remove the serpentine belt, then rotate each component looking for noise, wobble, or other signs of distress. Quite often, if the water pump is on the way out, you will find evidence of a slight leak from the vent hole under the pump as well.

Anytime; you will find that this stuff is an excellent general purpose "squeak stopper". We always keep a couple cans around the shop.

A better suggestion: DuPont spray dry teflon coating: Cost about $8 a can, sold by everyone from Amazon to Lowes. Leaves a true Teflon coating that does not attract dirt and does not bother plastic parts. We even use this stuff on sticky starter Bendix drives, works like a charm.

It is the Snap-On tool, well made and very durable, if a bit pricey (and what isn't from Snap-On):

Most of the main harness is a single unit, meaning you cannot buy just one section of it. If the wire insulation is intact, you could just rewrap the harness with electrical tape. If the wire insulation itself is gone, you may have to do some splicing with new wire to correct this.

Yes, it will work. As long as the Airlift unit is above the fluid level in the tank, there is no danger of it pulling out coolant.

P1576 is a cruise control fault code, I somehow doubt that stopped your car. Are you sure you have the correct code number?

Possible ignition switch, common problem.

You need to consider OEM oil “recommendations” with a grain of salt; quite often, the oil weights and types they select are a lot more self-serving to the OEM than designed to protect the new owner’s investment. The oil weight you see being specified is often based more on its impact on the OEM’s CAFÉ ratings; this is why you see 0W-20 oils becoming more commonplace in street cars like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Not that long ago, 10W-X weight oils were standard fare for use in arctic and near artic conditions, but suddenly now you need 0W-X oils for use in Miami, Houston, and LA. Similarly, the move away from ZDDP additives “to protect the catalytic converters” is more related to the fact that the EPA had the OEM’s on the hook to warranty the cats for 8 years or 80,000 miles.

ZDDP is an excellent anti wear additive for any type of engine. And, yes, the OEM's are pushing to have it reduced/eliminated because it can shorten the life of the cats. In reality, however, they are not doing this because they have suddenly developed a "environmentally concerned conscience", they are doing it because the EPA has the OEM on the hook to warranty the cats for 8 years or 80,000 miles, and cats are expensive. As a car owner, your tradeoff is to run a high ZDDP oil and risk the cats going sooner (which is speculative), or running low or non ZDDP oils and suffering engine wear that only shows up after the warranty is gone. You also need to remember that you can crawl under the car and replace your cats with some simple hand tools; but rebuilding your engine is going to require a bit more equipment and dollars..........

If memory serves, the plug should be swapped out at 60k miles or every four years on your model, so you are "past due". Changing plugs early also never hurts as they are a “wear item”. As for plug types, the OEM plugs are pretty good units, but we have also had excellent results from Denso Iridium’s on several cars, just be sure you get the correct heat range to match the factory plugs (Denso IK20 for your car).

Back when the actually sold these manuals, they were both huge (a full service manual set for the 986 Boxster alone was fifteen three ring binders), and expensive (the Boxster set went for $2,300, plus another $1,800 for the extra OBD II diagnostics manual). So while they never made it easy, you could get the data. Post 2005-6 model years, as Loren noted, you could only obtain access to the online electronic versions by subsription, but this was also fairly pricey as well.

In good shape, the eingine should be around 140 PSIG. You have a couple cylinders that are lower, but not unusual for that many miles. Most likely, your problem is related to a blown AOS, to I would start there. As a bad AOS fill a lot of stuff with oil, I would atleast cleant out the throttle body and be prepared for an engine that continues to throw smoke, but at a demishing rate until it cleans itself out......

Anytime, glad to be of help. The subject of oil is always a "lightning rod" topic. For many years, the "standard oil" we have used in the shop has been Castrol Syntec (now Edge with Syntec Technology) in a 10W-40 weight. This was based upon years of UOA data from customer's engines. Most recently, we have been experimenting with Joe Gibbs DT 40, a high ZDDP full synthetic 5W-40 Group 4-5 oil out of Joe Gibbs racing. While the UOA results are obviously more limited, they have been very good as well. While a bit more expensive, the DT40 appears to be worth the money.

Porsche Cars is absolutely draconian about anyone using their intellectual property. Publishing the link could cause Loren all kinds of problems, up to and including getting “401 URL not found” the next time you click on his website……….

The best way to test a battery's condition is to run a load test, some parts stores now will even do this for free in expectation of selling you a battery. The test requires a special testing tool, but only takes about 15 seconds to run and is a "go/no go" style test so there is no need for interpretation of the results.

Not easily as you would need a vacuum soruce and a low reading (less than 5 inches of water) vacuum guage to do it. Failure of the AoS will also not necessarily impact compression tests. Just can the old one.

OK, this is always a bit of a “thorny” subject, but here goes: Wayne’s bearing approach was always designed to be “the low cost alternative” to the IMS problem. To that end, he has only one style bearing; there is only a single row type that is used with spacers in a double row application. The bearing is all steel, but supposedly has an improved seal and “lifetime” grease lubrication. How long this seal will hold up is an unknown. It uses a larger center stud, a known weakness in the OEM design. The Pelican unit uses an OEM style mounting flange. The LN unit is a ceramic hybrid bearing that according to the specs is much more durable than steel. It comes in both single and double row styles (as well as a triple row version for the 2005 and later cars requiring a total tear down to install). It has no seals and is splash lubricated by engine oil. It also uses a larger and stronger center stud. The LN unit uses an updated flange that they produce. In essence, the Pelican is just a new factory bearing, with perhaps better seals and a larger center stud. It is not immune to same potential issues the OEM bearing had. I am somewhat ambivalent about the use of single row only with spacers in a factory double row engine; how this will play out long term is unknown. Wayne has stressed from the outset that he want to see these bearings replaced at a minimum every 40K miles, or whenever the clutch needs to be done (if sooner). This obviously fails to take into account the Tiptronic owners, who typically pay a bit more to have the IMS updated done due to the more complex nature of the automatic cars from a labor standpoint, and obviously do not have any expectations for pulling the unit again for maintenance reasons. The total installed base for the Pelican units is rather small, perhaps only numbering in the hundreds as it has only be available to customers since April of this year. In any case, with such a small installed base, and no information on any potential failures available, no real longevity data is discernible. The LN bearing has been sold commercially since March of 2009, and therefore has a much larger installed base; the last numbers I saw were in excess of 7,000 units. Of the units installed, only a handful (7 or 8) have encountered problems, most due to poor installation or ingestion of debris from other non IMS related engine component failures. The single bearing cage was redesigned with new material in late '10 and there have been no failures of that part reported since. The double bearing part has no reported failures. At last report, there was only one failure that could not be accounted for. Suggested maintenance intervals for the LN unit are 5 years or 50-60K miles, and this is based upon LN’s conservative view until they feel they have sufficient data to extend the intervals. Ln has a network of installers available for those who chose not to do it themselves. In my world, the largest disconnect is that for a customer that pays a shop to do the update, the price differential between using a Pelican or a LN bearing is only about $300-400 (depends upon which style bearing) more for the LN unit in a project that is probably going to cost over $2K. The Pelican approach gives you a new old bearing, no different than what you started with; and in some installations, a smaller bearing (single vs. dual row) with spacers holding it in place. Whether it will have a longer or shorter life than the OEM unit is yet to be determined, but in any case, it will have to be replaced more frequently. From what we have seen, the LN unit appears to be a more robust solution, with correctly sized bearings available for the application, and with continuous lubrication. The modest cost differential seems to be more than offset by the LN unit’s longer projected life expectancy. I would guess that it comes down to a personal decision; if you are only planning to keep the car for a short time, perhaps saving the money would be an approach to consider. If your plans are different, you may choose differently as well.

All of the tools included in the LN install kit are absolutely necessary, especially the puller and installation tool. Without it, it would be very difficult to extract the bearing, or properly install the new one. The people that developed this kit did their homework on what is required and how the install should be done; I’d strongly suggest following their instructions as most of the problems we have seen happen when people try to take short cuts or skip steps in the process……..

Jeff, I disagree with you a little. I recently read about this from Brad Penn Oil (semi synthetic oil): Thanks for using our Brad Penn® oils. The ‘shelf life’ of a product such as motor oil is dependent upon a number of factors that make each situation unique. We can, however, offer some ‘general’ guidelines and comments. Storage conditions are the key to product preservation and quality. Unopened plastic quarts of motor oil stored indoors in a cool, dry environment (preferably not in direct contact with concrete or other moisture-porous materials – i.e. stored off the floor on shelves, on pallets, on blocks, etc.), free of excess heat and humidity and not subjected to wide ambient temperature fluctuations typically remain suitable for use during an average storage period of 3 years. Sitting idle for long periods of time without agitation (like sitting static on a shelf during storage) is one of the most stressing of situations for a motor oil. Also, it is a little known fact that the plastic bottles typically used for packaging motor oil (i.e. HDPE – High Density Polyethylene) are not totally impervious to moisture infiltration from the environment. Therefore when stored in areas of high humidity like damp basements or in non-climate controlled garages or sheds in areas of the country where ambient humidity is high during long periods of time, the product quality can be jeopardized. Opened and partial containers of product are more susceptible to contamination when stored under unfavorable conditions. Obviously the ideal situation is to purchase only as much product as will be used immediately, but as we all know this is not always practical. This is where the correct storage procedures come into play. One further note….when the stored product container(s) is opened you should take careful note of the color and consistency of the oil as it flows out. Motor oil should be clear and bright and of uniform consistency. Visual indication of possible moisture contamination and/or product separation are ‘streaks’ of different, darker colored material in the pour stream or lighter ‘cream colored’ streaks due to moisture. Thank you once again for your use of our fine line of Brad Penn® products. If you have any additional questions please call our Technical Service department at (814) 368-1200. As mentioned in the original post, the HDPE bottles that motor oil is packaged in ARE NOT totally impervious to moisture infiltration, even if the bottle is sealed. Exterior moisture from the atmosphere like high humidity in damp basements or climates where humidity is high a large number of days each year, the moisture can enter between the molecules of the plastic bottle and also through the non-hermetically sealed cap and liner. The longer the exposure to such conditions (i.e. the longer the oil is stored under these conditions) the more likely the moisture contamination will infiltrate the sealed bottle. The reason it was mentioned that the bottles shouldn’t be stored in direct contact with concrete but should ideally be stored off the floor on pallets, shelves, etc. is the fact that unless properly and completely sealed, concrete will allow moisture from the dirt base underneath to penetrate and come into direct contact with the porous plastic bottle……hence the concern. As an example, have you ever tried to store a cardboard box directly on an unsealed concrete floor for any length of time……what happens? Moisture from the concrete floor causes deterioration of the cardboard lattice structure, and sometimes even mold and mildew form on the cardboard. That was the reference to the concrete issue in the earlier post. Thanks for allowing the clarification. I’m not really sure where their concern over moisture permeability in HDPE comes from, but HDPE is used to make bottles for fruit juice, milk, water, kitchen cleansing products and even furniture (It has been used in recent years for garden furniture as it resists the weather and can be cleaned very easily). Even in the form of thin film, HDPE is considered to have very low moisture or even gas permeability, which is one of the reasons it is used as a barrier film in the construction of high moisture prone areas, such as behind the plasterboard in bathroom walls to keep moisture from the shower getting into the insulation and defeating its R value. Probably even more telling is the fact that a quick look around the shop finds just about everything comes in HDPE containers, including all Castrol, Mobil 1 and Joe Gibbs oils, and most notably many brands of brake fluids, which are highly hydroscopic, meaning they attract and absorb moisture quickly, as opposed to oil which is hydrophobic and does not want to absorb water. I am unaware of any concerns about moisture absorption through the HDPE being expressed by the manufacturers of these products as long as the package’s original seal is intact, but have noted that some express concerns about high moisture environments deteriorating the adhered labels on the HDPE containers, or the secondary packaging. In fact, both the MSDS for both Castrol and Mobil1 full synthetics say nothing about moisture in their sections on product storage, and they are in HDPE. Perhaps Brad Penn has particular issue related to their semi-synthetics formula or the type of HDPE packaging they use. But in any case, in all the years I’ve been at this, I have never encountered motor oil that absorbed water, even back when most oils came in spiral wound cardboard containers with metal end caps (yes, I'm that old....).

Start the car and let it idle, try and remove the oil filler cap in the rear trunk. If the AoS is good, the cap should come off with little effort and the car should start to idle funny. If it is very difficult to get the oil cap off, the AoS is toast.

In general, it is possible to mix full synthetics from different manufacturer’s; exactly what properties you would end up with is a matter of speculation, but mix oils of the same type (e.g.: full synthetics) would cause no real harm. Stored oil will not pick up moisture; oil by nature of its composition is hydrophobic, meaning oil is not compatible or misible with water, and therefore incapable of absorbing it. A real problem, however, is that the additive packages tend to separate out from the blend if stored too long. Once separated, these additives cannot easily be re-blended. All oil carry a date of manufacture code, an internet search for a particular brand will define how the code works. That said, I would not use an oil that is more than two to three years old, depending upon the brand. Newer type oils (low ZDDP types) are worse in this respect than older synthetics. .