scottiemac

Thanks. Appreciate the help.

I was in Walmart looking for oil and I found they had 5W40 Mobil 1 but it said on the label that it was for turbocharged diesel engines. Is this the same as the 5W40 that is on the approved Porsche list? Thoughts and comments appreciated.

To the best of my knowledge in most jurisdictions the passenger in the other car cannot be used as a witness. A witness has to be a third party. I'd fight it.

Loren, just to close the loop on this issue, I finally had a chance to take the car in to the dealer. I related the problem to the shop foreman and he took the car into the shop, hooked it up to the computer and was back with it in about 10 minutes. They reset the fault code and tried it twice again and couldn't get it to repeat. He noted that the battery seemed to be down a bit (car not getting used as much with the cold weather) and said the problem may be related to that. He also said there could have been a momentary loss of contact in the Tiptronic shift quadrant that set the fault. The car is now in the garage with the battery tender on it.

Thanks Loren. Anybody out there in the Calgary area that has access to Durametric? Much appreciated.

Hi Guys I have a 1999 C2 Cab with Tiptronic transmission. This morning when I backed it out of the garage I noticed that the gear position indicator lights in the dash were flashing. In reverse they alternately flash between R and 4. When you put it in Drive they flash between D and 4. The transmission works OK except that it starts in 1st gear and will only shift up to 4th even at higher speeds on the highway. Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Cheers.

I have a 99 Cab and have been getting the coolant smell for a while. I was getting a slight discharge around the lip on the tank so I replaced the cap. This has cured the discharge but not the smell. The only mystery in my case is that the coolant level doesn't seem to go down. I put a small pencil line on the tank about 3-4 months ago and have checked it regularly when cold and the level never seems to change. The smell is only evident when the car is warm.I guess I need a new tank. Cheers, SM

Thanks. Will try that the next time it comes on.

I'll see if it happens again. I drained some coolant out of the car a while back and added some Porsche A/F to get the freeze protection down to a level more appropriate to my climate (Calgary - the car came from Pennsylvania). Everthing seemed to be OK since then and when this happened I was concerned that I had an airlock in a high point of the system that worked its way out at high engine speed/uphill/downhill/corners. When I got home after this episode and let it cool down the coolant level was still at the Max point. Your comments on a wonky sensor are probably correct. Thanks again. By the way Loren, this is a great site. Lots of good information. My only issue is these engine failure stories scare the crap out of me!!

Thanks Loren. The tank is full to the max line. Where is the level sensor located?

I have a 1999 C2 Cab with Tiptronic. During a recent drive in the mountains on a twisty bit of road my coolant level warning light started to flash. I had just checked the level before the drive and it was good and there was no evidence of any leaks. I shut it off and re-started it and all was OK for the rest of the drive (including more high speeds and tight corners). Has anybody experienced this? I'm not sure if the high "G" force corners somehow upset the level sensor. Thoughts and comments would be appreciated. Cheers, Scott

I have a 99 C2 Cab with 33k miles that does the same thing. Every time I back it up with the wheels turned I get the pop - mine from the passenger front of the car. I have had the car up on stands and there is no obvious play in any of the components so would love to hear from anyone who knows what this is.

OBD II, Not sure how you have determined you have a bad condenser, but if you go to a generic AC shop they will usually put dye into your system and then use a ultravilolet lite to see where the dye has leaked out t odetermine which component or connection is "bad". In the P-car system, it logically is likely that one of the condensers has a leak as they are vunerable to road debris build-up that can cause some corrosion or possibly a rock damaging the condenser coil. If you already have gone thru the dye check routine to determine the leaky condenser, then you are well on your way to avoid replacing parts that may be OK. There are often time neopreme o-rings in the threaded connections that can also go bad and are a lot cheaper to replace than the condenser or other discreet components ( dryer, etc.). Good luck with your diagnosis and repair. demosan :cheers: do Thanks At the last service in Dec 07. the Porsche dealer reported that a condenser was leaking. I have only just bought the car and the air con works very well. The only thing I saw on one condenser is that it is stained. I am surprised that the AC is still working if it has been leaking for so long. So I dont really know if there is a leak. However I want to get a warranty on the car and this necessiates a 111 point check. I would need to get anything repaired immediately at full OPC prices and am therefore trying to fix anything that they would otherwise pick up. So if I still have working air con, when I change the condenser I will loose all the refrigirent. I was going to get it regassed from a KWIK FIT. Do all shops automatically do all the vaccing out of the system or is that something I need to request? Thanks When the system is operating the refrigerant within the condensor(s) is under a fairly high pressure so I would be surprised if you actually have a leak and yet the A/C is still functional over a reasonably long period of time. I've had another look at it. The condenser has a greasy greenish stain over about half of it. Its quite 'oily'. Thought it could be coolant from the radiator but its definately not leaking coolant and there is no coolant smell. Checked the AC again and thats working fine. This might be a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" may apply. I would leave it alone if the AC is working fine and you don't have any coolant leaking either. I recently cleaned my radiator/condensor area by removing the front bumper and actually found a dead bird trapped between the condensor and radiator on one side in my C4S. Because the grills are so large, it appears it is easy for just about anything as far as road debris to get collected there, i.e. so getting a stain of some sort may mean nothing is wrong. demosan The oil you see is the lubricating oil from the AC system. If you have oil on the condenser then you have a leak. Refrigerant oil has a way of spreading far and wide. AC systems will continue to pump out cold air even if they are down on refrigerant. This can continue for quite a while then the refrigerant level drops to far and you won't get any cooling. On some syetems a low refrigerant level will cause the evaporator coil to freeze solid. If you feel like checking things yourself you can mix up a bit of dish soap and water and brush it on the connections while the system is running to see if you have any leaks at connections (eliminating the O-ring possibility). All AC shops will pull a vacuum on the system before recharging it. Good luck with this.

I've had this problem before and it seems to be caused by a bit of moisture between the pads and the rotor. If it happens to me I have resorted to getting some emery cloth taking off the wheel and cleaning the offending corrosion off the rotor. I find usually it's only one rotor that ends up corroded and you can visually check which one by looking through the wheel spokes. Scott

You don't need a kit. Just go to the link below http://www.whiteson.org/boxster/mods/drl/ and follow the directions. I did the mod on my 99 996 Cab (US spec car that is now on Calgary). It cost next to nothing, passed the RIV test and has been working fine. I couldn't find the little taps they talk about at Radio Shack as that doesn't exist in Canada anymore (The Source has eliminated the part number). I made the taps out of small strips of copper sheet (scavenged from copper plumbing pipe straps) and soldered the wires to those. It actually makes a cleaner installation than with the taps and the connectors. Good luck.

Hi and thanks for the info and website reference. Maybe I'll check at my friendly neighbourhood Benz or BMW dealer to see if they have something that might match.

I have a 99 Carrera Cab and recently picked up some touch up paint (L555SP - Mirage). I live in Calgary and instead of sand or salt they use small rocks on the road in the winter (that stay around well into the nice weather). The wheels have picked up some very small stone chips that reveal a black undercoat or primer. I asked the dealer if there was touch up paint available for the wheels and he couldn't find the wheel paint. I know Loren published a blog on fixing wheel damage which was very good but there was no mention of the paint colour number. I saw in the pictures that it was Wurth Metallic Silver. Can anybody help me out with this?

I downloaded a 996 manual from a site called tradebit for $20. It is a huge file and takes a while to download but seems to be fairly complete.

I brought a 99 C2 Cab from the US into Canada and needed to activate the DTRL feature. The local dealer wanted $600 to do it. You don't need a kit. I used the instructions on the Whiteson link and the fix cost me less than a dollar. I couldn't find the fuse taps that they reference as we don't have Radio Shack in Canada anymore. I made the taps myself out of some thin copper, soldered the wire to the taps and it works fine. I put an Amprobe on the jumper wire and there is no evidence of any overheating/overloading the jumper wire.

I would think that the maximum height for a jack stand is more a function of how high your jack can lift the car. The higher your jack can lift the car, the taller the jack stand you can use. Orient, I have a question. My 996 C2 Cab/Tip has an aluminum plate under the engine sump - looks like a skid plate. It limits access to the rear of engine jacking point. Has anyone seen one of these? I'm new to these cars so comments help would be appreciated. Yes, that is a skid plate, and should be removed before you lift on the engine. Much appreciated. Thanks.

I would think that the maximum height for a jack stand is more a function of how high your jack can lift the car. The higher your jack can lift the car, the taller the jack stand you can use. Orient, I have a question. My 996 C2 Cab/Tip has an aluminum plate under the engine sump - looks like a skid plate. It limits access to the rear of engine jacking point. Has anyone seen one of these? I'm new to these cars so comments help would be appreciated.

I guess the only differnece is the 235 - 285 tire package is a Porsche recommended tire package if you have the 18x10 rears. With the stock 17 inch wheels only being 9 inch wheels, you are more limited. Keep in mind even if you go to a 265 rear, you are only increasing the width of the tire by less than 1/2 inch. I went from 255 rears to 295 rears (just over 1 1/2 inches) and you can tell a difference, but it's not like holy cow difference. I think having the taller wheel makes a bigger difference than the wider tire. If you haven't, you might want to read the summer tire TSB. It has lots of good information. Just my 2 cents. Will Thanks for your comments guys. Much appreciated

The best question may be what are trying to accomplish? I just went through this on my 99 C2 Cab and decided to upgrade my wheels while replacing the tires. On the stock wheel (17x9) you aren't going to be able to put on a much wider tire, it will cost more and I don't think you will notice any performance benefits. The size you have is what Porsche recommends for your wheel size. If you really want a wider tire, you need to upgrade your wheels to a wider 18 inch wheel. Others may not agree, but this was the conclusion I drew from my research a few weeks ago. Hope this helps. Will Thanks Will. I guess the change is mostly for cosmetics on the rear and have heard that if you go to a larger rear it will likely increase understeer so I would also go to a larger front. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience with 235 fronts and a 275 rear on stock rims. I don't really want to go to the expense of new wheels. Scott

I recently bought a 1999 996 C2 Cabriolet (with a factory hardtop), Tiptronic, in Florida and a friend and I drove it back to Calgary in early January. Trip was 2800 plus miles over 3 and a half days. Car ran like a train with no problems. Used zero oil and the mileage was great ( 28+ miles to the gallon Canadian). We lucked out and only ran into a bit of snow - about 25 to 30 miles in Wyoming. Those P-Zero's are entertaining in the snow! Car is now safely in its bag in my garage and seemingly no worse for the wear. The rear tires did get a bit noisier as we drove but they are at the end of their life anyways.

I have a 1999 C2 Cabriolet with Tiptronic. It has stock 17" wheels and stock size tires (205 fronts and 255 rears). The rear tires are near the end of their life and I will be replacing them shortly What is the largest width tire that I can safely fit on the stock rims and within the stock bodywork. help and comments would be appreciated.