phillipj

You will have to check with your dealer regarding what will void your warranty. Techically anything aftermarket on your car voids the warranty. And yes if you want more HP you are going to hemmorage cash... :o You can get added gains by changing to aftermarket headers, cats and mufflers and flashing the chip. You can get the X-51 airbox, throttle body and intake manifolds. All This is going to cost you around $10k with labor. Porsche will say your engine was not designed to be reliable with this extra HP so they will say "too bad" if your engine expires. :o You can have the "X-51power kit" installed by your dealer for about $25k. That will get you 25hp (rather sadistic i think). :P In my financial opinion you would be better off driving this one for awhile then upgrading to the 997-2 "S" which has 385 hp. or get an 07" GT3 (415hp.) Prices are getting very tempting for those right now... B) You will never catch up with the HP disease. You can get a Turbo and make as much HP as you want.

I have never seen that done before... Perhaps it works with your black centered rims. I personally would paint them to match the car but it's your baby. Beautiful car by the way!! :cheers:

Thanks. I hope so too. I checked engine prices at Sunset: 11k for a 3.4 with core - 13.5k for 3.6 with no core. Crazy. By the time you add the labor... you are over 15k. Hopefully you can just fix the one you have....

I have the opportunity to buy some really beautiful 3 piece 5 spoke 20 inch wheels (and Pirelli tires) from a friend of mine. They came off his 996 Turbo. His car was a lease and he took them off when he returned it. He now has a Ferrari so has no use for them. They looked amazing on his car. He wants to sell them and I could get them for very cheap. He spent over $5k for the wheel tire combo.... Any opinions on loss of ride quality and such with the 20's? Does anyone have 20's on their car? They look similar to this OZ wheel with a polished lip and the Porsche crest wheel caps. Any input or opinions? I don't track my car..... Thanks !

Most likely it's your spark plug tubes. Your RMS wouldn't leak there.. You may have a leak in your cam covers as well. On my 996 I had the same problem. I replaced the tubes and took the cam cover bolts out (one at a time) and re -sealed them with the Porsche sealant. You can't take off the cam cover without the special Porsche tool to hold in the cams. A lot of the time just re-sealing the bolts (one at time) will solve the problem. If you can get under the car (safely) clean all the oil off and then drive it again and look again for leaks. A lot easier to see the source of the leak on a clean surface. Not a big deal. Here is an excellent DIY if you want to do the tubes yourself. Make sure you do both sides :rolleyes: Bookmark this site. http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/Change_..._%26_Tubes.html Good luck

Lets hope it's not catastrophic. Hopfully you can fix the existing engine and not have to go the replacement route. Good Luck!!!!

Awesome car. :clapping: I can see how immaculate it is. :jump: What products do you use on the leather? The CF is awesome with the yellow. Excellent!!!!!!!! :cheers:

I just found it..Thanks again

Thanks Larez2 Where can I get it?

Replacing your water pump would be a smart move no matter what with the mileage you have. My 996 3.4 expired because of a failed water pump at 75K miles with no warning. Cheap insurance in the long run. Like Cloudsurfer said it only has to run briefly with a failed pump to "toast" your engine.

I disconnected the PSE connection in the engine bay so the the PSE would be "on" all the time. I would like to cover the connector and receptical so that debris and dirt will not get in there. What kind of material should I use that will be resilient to the heat? Certain type of plastic? Some type of cap? Would a normal platic baggie melt in that enviroment? I don't really want to use electrical tape because the adhesive will get on the connection surfaces. In the attached photo it's the connector with the orange cap. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks !

[i]I was planning - if I have to go the swap engine route - going to Roock... did't you do yours with them? [/i] Noooooooo!!! :o Run away as fast as you can. :o You will be so sorry if you get involved with him... I'm warning you and I can give you other victims names for further evedince.. Let's just say the LN Engineering refuses to do business with him because he never pays his bill. Call Jake Raby and talk to him about Roock..... Consider your self warned...

A swap can be a great thing. You can do the 3.4 or a 3.6. Just make sure you do it right. Replace the dme, instrument cluster and rewire the harness. I know that guys at Vision can do this for you. Talk to them about the pros and cons. It's not cheap but your car will be a rocket. Whatever you do.. DON'T DEAL WITH FABIAN ROOCK! :angry: If your engine is toast you may want to consider taking your losses and getting another car. You have to decide if the investment in a new engine makes sense. You wont be able to sell you car for much more with a new engine than if it had an original engine with 50k miles. Tough decision. Wait and see what your mechanic says. That smoke does not look good but you never know..

Get the "S" with Sport Chrono. :D I beg to differ that you can get the performance of the "S" in the base C2 by adding an exhaust etc., There is no way that those kind of mods are going to get you a usable 30 hp. Here in California the used "S" is about the same price as the used base C2. I agree with the other poster...If you get the base C2 and than drive an "S" in Sport mode you will hate yourself. Good luck with whatever you decide

These guys come highly recommended from a friend of mine.. Very honest and skilled. http://visionmotorsports.com/ Good luck

lol! :lol:

+ 1 on the 2004's :)

Some cars are just lemons. Sounds like you have one. Not all Porsches have this many problems. Like I said...Fix it and get rid of it. Get a newer one with a warranty.. Then you will be a happy Porsche owner again like me :D

+1.. There you go someone with no issues. :D Like he said do your homework and be very selective. There are soooo many great 996's out there

If you do search here you will find a plethora of information on this subject. Having personally experienced both sides of this issue I will try to answer your questions. 1. Random engine failures are an M96 issue. Not just 3.4's but 3.6 and 05' 3.8's as well (an the Boxster engines>) Porsche had a problem with the early 99's with porous engine cases. They replaced engines by the dozens in 99. 2. Reman engines are bettter than the originals. Porsche addressed the weaknesses (but not the design) but they are definetely NOT immune. 3. The 2002 to 2004 3.6 has random failures as well (still the same design.) 4. The IMS is usually the culprit but there are also issues with cracked heads/freeze plugs causing oil/coolant intermix (like mine did.) 5. The failures are random but there is some evidence that the cars that are drivin on a regular basis (and not babied) seem to have less issues. Some say the more frequent oil changes can lessen the chance of a failure. I had a 99 that would have ran forever. Unfortunetly I crashed it with 77k on it so I didnt get the chance to see how long it would last.. I had a 2000 that cracked a head (pancake batter in the crankcase) with no warning with 68k miles. A member here just posted that he had just hit the 125k mile mark with the original 3.4 as the third owner with never an issue. LN Engineering has a IMS retrofit that can give you some piece of mind. I would go to their website and see what Jake Raby has to say about the M96 engine. You may even want to give those guys a call. Bear in mind that they are in the business of rebuilding these engines so they may be a bit biased. It's a hard call. If you are shopping for a Carrera look out for one with a reman already in it. I would pay more for a car with a dealer installed reman over the original engine. Lastly look for one with a CPO warranty. I personally will never have another 911 without a warranty. The 09 engines have a new design and have eliminated the intermediate shaft. You are right these cars are very intoxicating. Just do your research and be patient. I hope this helps. My facts may be off a bit but I did the best I could :rolleyes: Good luck!

Geoff, Seems you need to reach out to our European brothers with this snow question. Perhaps RFM would be a good source (he lives in Belgium.) Your trip sounds like a good time to me :D It appears that the So Cal Cayenne owners don't do a lot of off roading!

Unfortunetly if it is the IMS there are no warning signs

Sorry Loren. Got carried away :D

Get rid of it before it destroys you. Fix it and trade it in on a newer one with a warranty. It wont stop. Cut your losses now. Now is a great time to make deals on cars. Take it from me...I had one that I had to shoot in the head.. :angry:

Thank you for sharing your story. You are a great father and God bless your son for serving. Like others said you will have another 911 soon. Seems kind of petty compared to the other situations in your life. But these darn cars do get under your skin. Your dream isn't over...Just postponed... If you are ever out in So Cal you are welcome to come and take a drive in mine! :cheers: