Bought 1999 996 w/o manual. Need to know oil & what this fluid is

[sfgirl]

The car: 1999 996 Carrera (Carrera Cabriolet? Dont know?). Sill plates & emblem on back of car say Carrera. It has 99K miles & needs some love.

To start:

1. WHICH CAR IS IT?

Is there a way to deduce which one of these Carreras it is? I need to get the manual, so I'll look for that on here once I've got it figured out.

2. OIL

It needs oil - it's not time for a change yet but it's low. I've been looking around for what type of oil it should take. 0W-40 is my best guess, although not sure if thats the best bet w/ 99K miles? I live in California - pretty temperate - usually 50-90 degrees. I also like to push the car a little when I drive it (so fun - cant resist), although I probably wont take it to a track. I dont know what kind of oil is in it now, so I'm not sure if I should just drain the oil and start new, or put in a quart of whatever oil is recommended for it?

3. MYSTERY FLUID

There is a fluid in the back that is below minimum, but I dont know what it is. Here is a pic of the fluid cap and a pic of where it is in the back.

And FWIW - here's some pics of Bonaduce:

Thanks in advance for your help! :cheers:

[Falcon900EX]

It's the coolant level. Shouldn't be low, it's a closed loop. You can do a search on oil and draw your only conclusion. Learn how to check the oil and keep it full. Just try to keep the oil level up. Don't go 15000 mile between changes. The site here may have your manual for down load. Drive it like you stole it. E :clapping:

You have a Carrera, Cab refers to the convertible. If you know for sure you have mobil 1 you can mix the oils. I'd go get an oil change. 0W40 has a wide temp range. I'd go Mobil 1 5W50 with 100,000 miles on the engine. Keep an eye on it. E

[sfgirl]

You have a Carrera, Cab refers to the convertible. If you know for sure you have mobil 1 you can mix the oils. I'd go get an oil change. 0W40 has a wide temp range. I'd go Mobil 1 5W50 with 100,000 miles on the engine. Keep an eye on it. E

Excellent - thank you! :D

It's the coolant level. Shouldn't be low, it's a closed loop.

I'll attach a pic here- it's below minimum level. Maybe never attended to? Although car supposedly had service at the dealership before I bought it. Also had a busted water pump? fixed right before I bought it.

Drive it like you stole it.

LOL! Best advice I've heard all day! :drive:

[Loren]

:welcome:

If the water pump was recently replaced then it is likely they didn't get all the air out of the system.

It will self bleed the air out but you should top up (to the Max mark) every few days until it stops dropping.

[jmj996]

:welcome:

If the water pump was recently replaced then it is likely they didn't get all the air out of the system.

It will self bleed the air out but you should top up (to the Max mark) every few days until it stops dropping.

Is that dealer close to you? I'd bet that the dealer who replaced the water pump will top it off for you for free - one because they swapped the pump, but two, to probably try to establish some good will and make you a customer.

Beautiful car! Good luck with it!

[whall]

I suggest that you purchase - and read :) - an owner's manual sooner rather than later. There are a lot of "features" that are not apparent and/or not covered by the salesman's post-purchase briefing.

Check out: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?a...;code=prices_us

Enter "WKD.996.021.00" for pricing information on a 2000 Carrera owner's manual....$40.25, a price that board sponsor Sunset Porsche can beat. (Entering "WKD.996.021.99" returned information that seemed incorrect.)

As a heads-up, oil brands and viscosity choices are subjects that provoke more contentiousness than religion, politics or parenting.....combined.

Congratulations,

Bill

[wross996TT]

Looks like the coolant cap may be leaking...I'd replace that as well.

[sfgirl]

I suggest that you purchase - and read smile.gif - an owner's manual sooner rather than later. There are a lot of "features" that are not apparent and/or not covered by the salesman's post-purchase briefing.

Check out: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?a...;code=prices_us

That link returns an error that says I need to be a contributing member to view the info. But I did downloaded a Carrera manual from Rennlist last night and read through almost half of it so far. Who knew an owners manual could be fun reading?

Is that dealer close to you? I'd bet that the dealer who replaced the water pump will top it off for you for free - one because they swapped the pump, but two, to probably try to establish some good will and make you a customer.

Maybe I will go by the dealer this week. They know us because I drove the car straight there when the water pump busted on my test drive (another reason I got the car at a killer price).

And I'll pick up a new cap + oil w/out getting religious :) . We have several auto stores around - I know there are at least Kragen and Auto Zone + some others. Are any of them known to be better stocked with Porsche parts? Is anyone actually stocked with Porsche parts? I know I should get to know the dealer well for most maintenance, but I do want to fix the little things (like the cap, oil changes, replacing sill plates, etc) myself.

By the way, :renntech:

[sfgirl]

According to Mobil 1, they only sell it to Walmart. I'm on hold on my 11th Walmart (9 more to call in the Bay Area), and so far none of them have it + its not avail. online. Another older post from Mobil 1 forums says they dont sell it to anyone but dealers. I bought Castrol 5w-50 today but came home and read that is a 200ºc flash point vs. Mobil 1's 228ºc

Castrol- Flash Point 200ºc Viscosity Index (179)

Mobil 1- Flash Point 228ºc Viscosity Index (184)

Now the question is - is Castrol going to be ok, what's the next best alternative. Ppl keep recommending 15w-50, although that a completely different oil if I understand correctly. Oil book at Kragen recommended 5w-50 & 0w-40.

Options?:

1. Use the Castrol 5w-50

2. go with the Mobil 1 0w-40

3. Give up and take it to the dealer for the oil changes (BUT I want to do them myself so badly) :wrench:

[iornman86]

i have stuck with the mobile 1 0-40 but will probably find a thicker oil on my next oil change. I have 125 k miles and am in Dallas so it gets warm here. I don't think brand will make such a huge difference as long as it is a full synthetic. course that is just my opinion

good luck with the convertible top it seems to be source of most of my issues, which i suppose that is better than issues that keep it stuck in the garage.

next thing you need to do is put a stereo in it!

[Mother]

According to Mobil 1, they only sell it to Walmart. I'm on hold on my 11th Walmart (9 more to call in the Bay Area), and so far none of them have it + its not avail. online. Another older post from Mobil 1 forums says they dont sell it to anyone but dealers. I bought Castrol 5w-50 today but came home and read that is a 200ºc flash point vs. Mobil 1's 228ºc

Castrol- Flash Point 200ºc Viscosity Index (179)

Mobil 1- Flash Point 228ºc Viscosity Index (184)

Now the question is - is Castrol going to be ok, what's the next best alternative. Ppl keep recommending 15w-50, although that a completely different oil if I understand correctly. Oil book at Kragen recommended 5w-50 & 0w-40.

Options?:

1. Use the Castrol 5w-50

2. go with the Mobil 1 0w-40

3. Give up and take it to the dealer for the oil changes (BUT I want to do them myself so badly) :wrench:

In the southwest, I run 15/50 mobile 1 and can be had by the 5 quart container at walmart.

[wvicary]

Just a quick word of warning, never open the cooling system if the engine is hot. It is under a lot of pressure and you could get some serious burns. As recommended I would return to the dealer and get them to correct the levels.

[sfgirl]

Thanks wvicary - that's something I had forgotten and *almost* did today...

[wross996TT]

check here for locations to purchase mobil 1

[Loren]

According to Mobil 1, they only sell it to Walmart. I'm on hold on my 11th Walmart (9 more to call in the Bay Area), and so far none of them have it + its not avail. online. Another older post from Mobil 1 forums says they dont sell it to anyone but dealers. I bought Castrol 5w-50 today but came home and read that is a 200ºc flash point vs. Mobil 1's 228ºc

Castrol- Flash Point 200ºc Viscosity Index (179)

Mobil 1- Flash Point 228ºc Viscosity Index (184)

Now the question is - is Castrol going to be ok, what's the next best alternative. Ppl keep recommending 15w-50, although that a completely different oil if I understand correctly. Oil book at Kragen recommended 5w-50 & 0w-40.

Options?:

1. Use the Castrol 5w-50

2. go with the Mobil 1 0w-40

3. Give up and take it to the dealer for the oil changes (BUT I want to do them myself so badly) :wrench:

I buy Mobil 1 0W-40 at Autozone.

Either of the two oils you mention are approved by Porsche.

Check out the next Work on Cars Day in your area - when i lived in the bay area we had 1 or 2 women each WOCD days doing everything from oil changes, to brakes, to short shifter installs. Some of them could out wrench many of the guys.

There is a an oil change DIY in the 996 DIY maintenance area - check it out here.

[geoff]

To add to the comments already...

1. WHICH CAR IS IT?

Is there a way to deduce which one of these Carreras it is? I need to get the manual, so I'll look for that on here once I've got it figured out.

Also take a look at the VIN decoder from the Documents menu at the top of each page here on RennTech to help you figure out what your car is from the VIN

2. OIL

It needs oil - it's not time for a change yet but it's low. I've been looking around for what type of oil it should take. 0W-40 is my best guess, although not sure if thats the best bet w/ 99K miles? I live in California - pretty temperate - usually 50-90 degrees. I also like to push the car a little when I drive it (so fun - cant resist), although I probably wont take it to a track. I dont know what kind of oil is in it now, so I'm not sure if I should just drain the oil and start new, or put in a quart of whatever oil is recommended for it?

From what I've read here and elsewhere, Mobil 1 0W40 isn't the same formulation it was a few years ago, and now there are supposedly better Porsche-approved oils out there. My local dealer uses Mobil 1 0W40 (which I usually bring in to save money), but am planning to try Castrol Syntec 5W40 (also on the Porsche approved list) for my next oil change. I've seen both at Autozone, Kragen and Pep Boys

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that shorter oil change intervals (e.g., 5000-7500 miles) instead of Porsche's 15K recommended interval increase the likelihood your engine will stay healthy

3. MYSTERY FLUID

There is a fluid in the back that is below minimum, but I dont know what it is. Here is a pic of the fluid cap and a pic of where it is in the back.

...

And FWIW - here's some pics of Bonaduce:

Sunset Motors in Oregon is probably the best place to order parts, including a new radiator cap. See the Porsche Parts at Dealer Cost link toward the top of each page for their contact info

Your car looks like it's in great shape! Enjoy it

[carrera3.2]

Just a comment about the coolant. You don't want to run your car with it at a low level. As another person has pointed out, it is probably low now because of air bubbles remaining in the original fill that have come out. Proper coolan t flushing of these 996 engines requires special care and the Porsche dealerships have a device to do this. My strong advice is to ask the Porsche dealer who installed the new water pump to fill the coolant reservoir up to the proper level using the Porsche brand coolant that they used. I personally would not use any other brand of coolant. Also be aware that Porsche has used two different "factory" coolants. The original one is yellow-green and the most recent version is bright pink.

There is a serious difference of opinion over whether or not these two coolants can be mixed. Some say mixing will cause gelling, others say it is OK to mix them. I chose not to put my '03 in jeopardy and had the local dealer flush the system of my yellow-green coolant and install the new pink version (the only one that is now still available, at about $30/gallon). It allows me to sleep better. :rolleyes:

[rrspikemarty]

Just a comment about the coolant. You don't want to run your car with it at a low level. As another person has pointed out, it is probably low now because of air bubbles remaining in the original fill that have come out. Proper coolan t flushing of these 996 engines requires special care and the Porsche dealerships have a device to do this. My strong advice is to ask the Porsche dealer who installed the new water pump to fill the coolant reservoir up to the proper level using the Porsche brand coolant that they used. I personally would not use any other brand of coolant. Also be aware that Porsche has used two different "factory" coolants. The original one is yellow-green and the most recent version is bright pink.

There is a serious difference of opinion over whether or not these two coolants can be mixed. Some say mixing will cause gelling, others say it is OK to mix them. I chose not to put my '03 in jeopardy and had the local dealer flush the system of my yellow-green coolant and install the new pink version (the only one that is now still available, at about $30/gallon). It allows me to sleep better. :rolleyes:

Topping off coolant with distilled water not good?

[mikes_box]

if you don't mind sharing... what did that pretty car end up costing with you having to fix the water pump?

[phillipj]

Beautiful car! :clapping:

:welcome:

[carrera3.2]

Just a comment about the coolant. You don't want to run your car with it at a low level. As another person has pointed out, it is probably low now because of air bubbles remaining in the original fill that have come out. Proper coolan t flushing of these 996 engines requires special care and the Porsche dealerships have a device to do this. My strong advice is to ask the Porsche dealer who installed the new water pump to fill the coolant reservoir up to the proper level using the Porsche brand coolant that they used. I personally would not use any other brand of coolant. Also be aware that Porsche has used two different "factory" coolants. The original one is yellow-green and the most recent version is bright pink.

There is a serious difference of opinion over whether or not these two coolants can be mixed. Some say mixing will cause gelling, others say it is OK to mix them. I chose not to put my '03 in jeopardy and had the local dealer flush the system of my yellow-green coolant and install the new pink version (the only one that is now still available, at about $30/gallon). It allows me to sleep better. :rolleyes:

Topping off coolant with distilled water not good?

Porsche recommends the 996 coolant composition be at a 1:1 ratio of water and their "antifreeze". Going away from that ratio with excess water will raise the freezing point and reduce the anti-corrosion/lubricating properties of the coolant mix.