996 coils - first post

[Nat996]

Hello, this looks a really great site. I don't like to make a first post with a 'help needed' issue, and I hope to be an asset not a burden to you all.

I bought a 2004 996 carrera 2 for my wife a month ago. The car has 69000 autobahn kms and proper main dealer history etc.

Last week, after less than 500kms, the car started to misfire, felt as if it was not on all cylinders. It threw a check engine light which after a couple of kms started to flash. I don't have a dealer in my jurisdiction, and the nearest official dealer offered me an appointment mid-October.

I put an infrared temp sensor on the exhaust manifolds / headers and discovered one exhaust was fairly cold. It was no. 1 cylinder. At a guess, and as a result of the info. I read on this site, I ordered a new coil pack. Sure enough when I took out the coil pack there was a big split in it. Car went back to normal, and check engine light went out within a day.

I have a few questions, any answers much appreciated.

1. For the [fairly] small cost of parts, is it now a good idea to replace the other coil packs ?? I bought the new one from porscheshop.com in the uk. There were significantly better seals on the new one to keep moisture out of the spark plug hole. I've thought about buying one to have just in case, but not much use to my wife [or anyone] on a dark evening on the roadside.

2. Throwing unburnt fuel into a catalytic convertor will cause heat and damage to the catalyst. If the check engine light is flashing, do you really have to stop, at what point will the catalysts be damaged, is there for example a temp sensor in the catalyst which will warn of overheating ????

3. What is the 'best' OBD 11 reader that I should buy, any personal experinece will be greatly appreciated. Will this enable me to read all error codes and cancel check engine lights if I should wish to do so manually. One of my other cars is a 2005 Hummer H3, and I would like a device that could also read error codes from this ozone friendly car, should I need to do so.

:renntech:

Mike

[D_Man]

Hello, this looks a really great site. I don't like to make a first post with a 'help needed' issue, and I hope to be an asset not a burden to you all.

I bought a 2004 996 carrera 2 for my wife a month ago. The car has 69000 autobahn kms and proper main dealer history etc.

Last week, after less than 500kms, the car started to misfire, felt as if it was not on all cylinders. It threw a check engine light which after a couple of kms started to flash. I don't have a dealer in my jurisdiction, and the nearest official dealer offered me an appointment mid-October.

I put an infrared temp sensor on the exhaust manifolds / headers and discovered one exhaust was fairly cold. It was no. 1 cylinder. At a guess, and as a result of the info. I read on this site, I ordered a new coil pack. Sure enough when I took out the coil pack there was a big split in it. Car went back to normal, and check engine light went out within a day.

I have a few questions, any answers much appreciated.

1. For the [fairly] small cost of parts, is it now a good idea to replace the other coil packs ?? I bought the new one from porscheshop.com in the uk. There were significantly better seals on the new one to keep moisture out of the spark plug hole. I've thought about buying one to have just in case, but not much use to my wife [or anyone] on a dark evening on the roadside.

2. Throwing unburnt fuel into a catalytic convertor will cause heat and damage to the catalyst. If the check engine light is flashing, do you really have to stop, at what point will the catalysts be damaged, is there for example a temp sensor in the catalyst which will warn of overheating ????

3. What is the 'best' OBD 11 reader that I should buy, any personal experinece will be greatly appreciated. Will this enable me to read all error codes and cancel check engine lights if I should wish to do so manually. One of my other cars is a 2005 Hummer H3, and I would like a device that could also read error codes from this ozone friendly car, should I need to do so.

:renntech:

Mike

Mike

(1) The 996 is susceptible to spark plug boot wear, its the long skinny tube on the end of your coil pack there are six of them to replace. This most likely is the source of your problem give the milage, the coil packs are probably OK.

Pelican parts has them for 12.99 ea, I would replace all six at one time.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopca..._BAStun_pg1.htm

(2) Dont drive the car with the Check Eng. Light flashing, that means the problem is much more sever that the solid on all the time light.

(3) The best reader for the money is the Durametric reader, www,durametric.com for $248 , but requires a laptop running XP I believe.

http://www.durametric.com/

D_Man

;)