Time to replace the oil seperator?

[grahamtwatson]

I'm occasionally getting clouds of whiteish smoke from the engine of my 02 996 with 36k miles on it at startup. I do mean clouds - enough to fill several bays of a parking garage. In addition to this I've got a feeling the engine is occasionally missing or loosing a little power at lower revs. Having said that, it isn't using an excessive amount of oil.

If I remove the oil filler cap at idle, there is a little vacuum and the engine stumbles for a while.

I think this is the oil seperator problem, but is there anything else I should be considering?

My 996 is a manual, would it still help to drop the gearbox, or can this realistically be done easier without doing so. I've also got some clutch judder, possibly a slightly warped flywheel - not enough to be worth fixing by itself, but if the gearbox needs to come out anyway....

[RFM]

Remove the gearbox ( manual transmission ), it works a lot easier and you can check the clutch assembly and RMS at the same time.

[raywe]

I just finished replacing my RMS, clutch release lever, release bearing, updated crankcase/IMS bolts, and I decided to also replace the oil separator while I was there. Everything was a piece of cake, with the exception of the oil separator. Getting the hoses off and on the oil separator in that tight space is quite a challenge. I did go with the screw type clamp for the bellow on the oil separator, which made the installation easier.

My clutch has never felt better and no more oil leak. By the way, putting the RMS in with the porsche tool is really slick. I did it all with jack stands and an extra pair of hands ... the only thing I regret is paying someone to do my clutch a few thousand miles ago, because it really was not a difficult job.

Good luck.

Edited November 26, 2008 by raywe

[grahamtwatson]

I just finished replacing my RMS, clutch release lever, release bearing, updated crankcase/IMS bolts, and I decided to also replace the oil separator while I was there. Everything was a piece of cake, with the exception of the oil separator. Getting the hoses off and on the oil separator in that tight space is quite a challenge. I did go with the screw type clamp for the bellow on the oil separator, which made the installation easier.

My clutch has never felt better and no more oil leak. By the way, putting the RMS in with the porsche tool is really slick. I did it all with jack stands and an extra pair of hands ... the only thing I regret is paying someone to do my clutch a few thousand miles ago, because it really was not a difficult job.

Good luck.

Thanks Ray - was there any particular manual or set of instructions you followed, or is it so blindingly obvious that you "just do it"?

G

[raywe]

G, I used a combination of the information on this site and alldatadiy.com. For something like $25 you get one year access to alldatadiy.com ... that site has torque values, and more technical instructions. Renntech has been great for giving me information about what to look for, like update release lever, etc. ... plus all of the personal experiences of the people who contribute info.

Thanks Ray - was there any particular manual or set of instructions you followed, or is it so blindingly obvious that you "just do it"?

G

[win911]

So.... the only way to replace the AOS is my removing the transmission on a 996? Is that right?

[CJ_Boxster]

I've done an AOS on afew 996's already, You dont have to drop the transmission or engine todo it but trust me, its well worth it to take to a shop for that particular service... Its a solid 8hr job. Also, if your 996 is a Tip... it'll be just as hard and cramped to remove the AOS.

996 require removal of the airbox/throttle body/driver side intake plenum, not a walk in the park... unless we're talking a park at nite in a bad neighborhood.