logray

Don't forget your oil has additives, some of those metals are from your oil. Here's a good thread about reading UOA: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/whatisoilanalysis.htm " Metal Tests Some of the metals tested for and usually included in analysis of an oil sample and their potential sources are: Aluminum (Al): Thrust washers, bearings and pistons are made of this metal. High readings can be from piston skirt scuffing, excessive ring groove wear, broken thrust washers, etc. Boron, Magnesium, Calcium, Barium, Phosphorous, and Zinc: These metals are normally from the lubricating oil additive package. They involve detergents, dispersants, extreme-pressure additives, etc. Chromium (CR): Normally associated with piston rings. High levels can be caused by dirt coming through the air intake or broken rings. Copper (CU), Tin: These metals are normally from bearings or bushings and valve guides. Oil coolers also can contribute to copper readings along with some oil additives. In a new engine these results will normally be high during break-in, but will decline in a few hundred hours. Iron (Fe): This can come from many places in the engine such as liners, camshafts, crankshaft, valve train, timing gears, etc. Lead (Pb): Use of regular gasoline will cause very high test results. Also associated with bearing wear, but fuel source (leaded gasoline) and sampling contamination (use of galvanized containers for sampling) are critical in interpreting this metal. Silicon (Si): High readings generally indicate dirt or fine sand contamination from a leaking air intake system. This would act as an abrasive, causing excessive wear. Silicon is also used as a anti-foam agent in some oils. more on silicon Sodium (Na): High readings of this metal normally are associated with a coolant leak, but can be from an oil additive package."

I think even I would have it flat bedded home or to a shop in this situation, assuming a simple jump or bump start and some gas wouldn't get her started. If it's sitting in a car park, especially so. Get it to a shop. Yes it could be something simple, perhaps if you have a code reader available.

Copper/mag perhaps small rod bushes and some other components, but would I be concerned at those levels? I doubt it! Main/rod bearings are steel backed. Iron in crank, camshafts, rods, but is it enough to worry about? Doubt it. For the "doubt it" quantification I give above you would need a ton of UOA. Perhaps JFP in PA will comment since I'm sure he has a significant database, but I wonder what Charles or Jake's UOA libraries look like. :P

Cool, I think I'm still on 6.1.x. Not that I plan to connect to any p-mera's but cool!

There are a several types of Peak anti freeze. Some are compatible and some are not. If you are uncertain, certainly flush and replace the system or have it done for you. This is why it's best to add distilled water to top off when the system is a little low, that way there's no question about compatibility. Of course if you are adding GALLONS of distilled water to top off and frequently that is not good. Here is a good read about compatible coolant types: http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/Coolant_Antifreeze.html Here are a couple threads on process if you're doing it yourself, in the first link below I provide many good links in post #15, but do read through the whole thing. Link #2 below has several tips on how to use the uview. http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-forum/636737-do-i-need-to-flush-all-of-the-old-coolant-and-add-the-new-one.html http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-forum/659122-performed-coolant-refill-via-vacuum-this-weekend.html

If someone doesn't respond first I'll get you some links later on.

Not #9, but #10 you mean, the check valve? Good work if that solves it.

Yep, when I went to about 90ft above sea level the readings were between 17 and 18 in HG. Thanks. Anyhow, the new injectors are due to arrive and we'll see if that clears it up. I'm starting to run out of things that could cause the fuel trim issues.

Interesting!

Have it properly diagnosed, could be something else, example crank position sensor, intake leak, fuel problem leading to rough idle and excess chain noise

I took the car to near sea level and it read between 17 and 18 in hg.

With that tool, you also need shop air of appx 5 gallon or larger compressor. But it is really the best tool for the job, pretty much a fool proof way of refilling. Draining on the other hand is a major PITA if you want to get ALL of the coolant out... ;)

If you have an early 986 or 996 (pre 2001), and you have a vacuum gauge, it would be great help to me and perhaps the community if you could take an intake vacuum gauge reading. Basically, once the engine is up to temp and idling, you pull the intake hose off of the fuel pressure regulator and then connect it to your vacuum gauge. When you take your reading, note if the needle is steady and how many inches of mercury it is reading. It would also be helpful to know what approximate elevation you took the reading at and outside temperature. Thanks in advance if you are able to help. I'm reading 16 inches of mercury at 56F outdoor temp and 2000 feet elevation. I'm not sure the exact location of the pressure regulator on a 986, but it is probably on the drivers side fuel rail towards the front of the car on top of the engine. On a 996 the hose is dead simple to access and connect to your gauge. On the right hand side of the engine bay, reach around behind the power steering lines to the regulator on top of the fuel rail. There is a small vacuum hose there, you simply pull it off the fuel pressure regulator and connect it to your gauge. Here are a few pictures of how my gauge is attached. Literally takes me just a few seconds to disconnect form the fuel pressure regulator and to my gauge. (click to enlarge)

Definately agree with Loren, clear the codes and see what comes back. However the above statements lead me to believe they are not going to go away. The poor idle, misfires and timing chain out of whack due to actuator control stuck on. Lots of good info in those links above.

Codes 1124 or 1126 could be old or directly related, if cam timing is off signifigantly fuel trims can go out of whack. Most if not all of the codes point towards a problem with a faulty actuator, especially P1531. Sorry it's not an easy fix. Have a read through these threads for details on the repair: http://www.renntech....-on-with-p1524/

I really believe 16 in HG at 680RPM hot engine idle is totally normal for an early 996. Any early 996 owners out there with a vacuum gauge and 15 minutes of time to spare? Easy to reach around to the fuel pressure regulator and pull off the small hose to connect straight into your gauge. I found a diagnostics link for lean running and DTCs P1127 and P1129 (neither of which have been reached yet) about reading intake vacuum with porsche special tool 9103/2. The manual states the reading should be between .4 and .6 bar, which works out to 11.8 in HG to 17.7 in HG. Here is the link: http://www.google.co...tSnXE-Q&cad=rja Since I'm measuring at 2000 feet, it might account for slightly lower numbers. I might take a drive to sea level and re-measure.

This sounds like a stuck variocam actuator. It is stuck in the on position, which accounts for the cam deviation, erratic idle, and smooth running above 2500 rpm.

One thing I've found invaluable is the ability to search renntech.org using google. This is either because renntech.org has a google search appliance or allows the google spiders to crawl the site. In either case, it is a very good thing for the renntech.org and the avid searcher. Instead of finding what you're looking for using the search feature on renntech.org, I find it much easier to use google instead. For starters, there is no time limit as to how many times you can search in succession. In other words, you can search every few seconds or even as fast as you can click. The only downside to this is that it's possible the search results may not contain the very latest posts, but probably only by a short amount of time. Another benefit of this method is that it puts less load on RT.org's severs, although when it is being crawled I'm sure the load is noticeable, albeit probably not for most users. Here's how to do a search (in fact with many interweb sites you can do the same thing). Open google.com in your browser and type in the following just as it is typed below: Include the quotes, exactly letter for letter in the example below. Put what you want to search for between the quotes. site:renntech.org "radio code" Google will return click-able results for your search, which in my opinion are much more "fine tunable" or at least user friendly than rt.org's own search engine (offered by IP Board and limited by rt.org's own bandwidth/resources). If you are a real geek and want your answers quickly, you will appreciate google's ability to use search modifiers which are explained here: http://support.google.com/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861 Have fun

Sorry yes 393 LH (driver US), 394 RH (psngr US)

Spent the better part of several hours with the smoke machine on the intake system. I will spend more time and smoke out the EVAP, SAI, and brake booster systems. There were two intake leaks located. I pulled the alternator to get a really good look underneath. A miniscule leak in the throttle body where the screw holds the bracket that attaches the throttle body to the power steering pump bracket Another miniscule leak from the IACV, actually from the electrical connector in the IACV, which once was plugged in the leak vanished. I'm really hoping my old injectors are tired and clear this problem up, because I doubt those two leaks would be enough to account for a 1 inch drop in intake vacuum mercury or the fuel trim issues. The only other thought that came to mind was a flat cam lobe or timing issue. I am running with 3 degrees advanced cam timing though, which I would think should theoretically increase intake vacuum. I'm wondering how flat a lobe would need to be to explain the 1 inch of mercury below normal intake vacuum. Or I'm beginning to think 15-17 inches of mercury is normal intake vacuum on the 1999 996 (16 is what I measured). It would be totally awesome if someone else out there had this car, or a 1999-2001 car and measured their intake vacuum. It's really very simple to do if you patch off the brake booster or evap purge line.

Do you mean number 7 in the diagram in the link below? http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/996-99-05/801-70.php P/N 996 504 394 01

I've flushed the coolant on my car a couple times, picked up 3 gallons of VW/audi G12 (pink), same stuff that Porsche uses but about 1/4 the cost.

Yes old codes are the same as new codes during a reflash.

When the pressure reads 0.7 bar (closer to normal) or 0.35-0.40 bar (as pictured in your second post), did you read what the oil temeperature was using an obd2 diagnostics computer? I'm not talking about what the temperature gauge says on the dash, because that gauge is not accurate. What does the ECU (DME) say it is reading from the oil temperature sensor? Other temperatures I would want to read out from the computer at the same time: Oil temperature ECTS (engine coolant temp) IATS (intake temp) Engine compartment temp Outdoor air temp Although Porsche did recommend 0w40 at one time, they now generally recommend 5w40 worldwide (although 0w40 and 5w50 are still approved). Mobil 1 5w50 would be an approved oil to use. However, in warmer climates many people will run a higher viscosity oil, for example Mobil 1 15w50, even though it is not on the approved list. I have read of Porsche dealerships in warmer parts of the USA who dispense this oil during fill ups. Of course, you could also request 5w50 oil, which is an approved oil. I have tried this oil myself and observed higher oil pressures. It might be worth an oil grade change to see if this resolves the pressure problem, however I would still take this in steps and want to see what the engine operating parameters are first (see above temperature sensors to monitor). Still though, unless it is really very very hot, 0w40 should provide pressure higher than the 0.35 to 0.40 bar in your second post, which is indicative of a problem that oil grade change might not resolve (or is just covering up).

Side cutters work well.