Just brought 996 Turbo with faults
Discussion
Dear All.
I need some help and this is the place I'm sure I can find it. I have just purchased a 996 turbo and would be very grateful if someone could maybe point me in the right direction before I spend £££'s with Porsche.
The car is a 2001 996 Turbo Manual.
1, Clucth is heavy until engine started but still feels funny low down. (something going on??) I can also hear a dry cable/creeking sound when de-pressed. Will not slip when abused. like a rusty old door opening!
2, Very slight rattle from exhaust area when revved lightly. more of a tinny rattle. are they all like this?
3, No dash lights or stereo lights working apart from the lights above the lights on button. All dark but digital speedo lights up etc. no rev/speedo etc. fuses all fine.
4, Spolier works but n/s comes up slower than the other side. slightly lower once completely raised. no warning lights on dash
5, Car horn bleeps 2/3 times lightly when locked and red light stays on in the cabin to the left of the navigation screen. the lock button wont turn off ie will always stay red.
6, A/C is sort of working, but not very cold.
This is my dream car but I have no idea what I should be living with or fixing.
Thank you very much in advance for any help or advise anyone could give me.
I need some help and this is the place I'm sure I can find it. I have just purchased a 996 turbo and would be very grateful if someone could maybe point me in the right direction before I spend £££'s with Porsche.
The car is a 2001 996 Turbo Manual.
1, Clucth is heavy until engine started but still feels funny low down. (something going on??) I can also hear a dry cable/creeking sound when de-pressed. Will not slip when abused. like a rusty old door opening!
2, Very slight rattle from exhaust area when revved lightly. more of a tinny rattle. are they all like this?
3, No dash lights or stereo lights working apart from the lights above the lights on button. All dark but digital speedo lights up etc. no rev/speedo etc. fuses all fine.
4, Spolier works but n/s comes up slower than the other side. slightly lower once completely raised. no warning lights on dash
5, Car horn bleeps 2/3 times lightly when locked and red light stays on in the cabin to the left of the navigation screen. the lock button wont turn off ie will always stay red.
6, A/C is sort of working, but not very cold.
This is my dream car but I have no idea what I should be living with or fixing.
Thank you very much in advance for any help or advise anyone could give me.
996turboman said:
Dear All.
I need some help and this is the place I'm sure I can find it. I have just purchased a 996 turbo and would be very grateful if someone could maybe point me in the right direction before I spend £££'s with Porsche.
The car is a 2001 996 Turbo Manual.
1, Clucth is heavy until engine started but still feels funny low down. (something going on??) I can also hear a dry cable/creeking sound when de-pressed. Will not slip when abused. like a rusty old door opening!
2, Very slight rattle from exhaust area when revved lightly. more of a tinny rattle. are they all like this?
3, No dash lights or stereo lights working apart from the lights above the lights on button. All dark but digital speedo lights up etc. no rev/speedo etc. fuses all fine.
4, Spolier works but n/s comes up slower than the other side. slightly lower once completely raised. no warning lights on dash
5, Car horn bleeps 2/3 times lightly when locked and red light stays on in the cabin to the left of the navigation screen. the lock button wont turn off ie will always stay red.
6, A/C is sort of working, but not very cold.
This is my dream car but I have no idea what I should be living with or fixing.
Thank you very much in advance for any help or advise anyone could give me.
John, some of these will be quick wins, but others are probably going to cost I'm afraid. I presume you have brought this private otherwise you should be straight back to the garage?I need some help and this is the place I'm sure I can find it. I have just purchased a 996 turbo and would be very grateful if someone could maybe point me in the right direction before I spend £££'s with Porsche.
The car is a 2001 996 Turbo Manual.
1, Clucth is heavy until engine started but still feels funny low down. (something going on??) I can also hear a dry cable/creeking sound when de-pressed. Will not slip when abused. like a rusty old door opening!
2, Very slight rattle from exhaust area when revved lightly. more of a tinny rattle. are they all like this?
3, No dash lights or stereo lights working apart from the lights above the lights on button. All dark but digital speedo lights up etc. no rev/speedo etc. fuses all fine.
4, Spolier works but n/s comes up slower than the other side. slightly lower once completely raised. no warning lights on dash
5, Car horn bleeps 2/3 times lightly when locked and red light stays on in the cabin to the left of the navigation screen. the lock button wont turn off ie will always stay red.
6, A/C is sort of working, but not very cold.
This is my dream car but I have no idea what I should be living with or fixing.
Thank you very much in advance for any help or advise anyone could give me.
Have sent you an email to help.
Regards Ken @ nineexcellence
turbo-ww said:
Dear God, I hope you got it cheap.....
Dear god will not help me but i'm sure other people on this site could help and be slightly more positive. I am happy to spend the money if needed and yes, it was exceptional value, even if I need to spend a few grand to make it right.Are you saying these are not common problems or have never failed before on this model?? It sounds like these types of problems are very uncommon to you? Have you owned this model before?
I plan to keep the car in the garage forever so it's worth knowing what the damage is or I'm sure some of these mentioned items are common and many helpful owners maybe able to point me in the right direction.
I personally feel these items are common and am no Porsche expert/ownership god.
I forgot to mention, I'm totally new to Porsche but rate this site and the members a lot. Helpful ones anyway.
Helpful help would be more than welcomed.
1. Almost certainly your clutch accumumlator has failed. Common problem. When mine went, it was most noticeable because I had an odd vibration through the clutch pedal below 1500rpm - but also had the tell tale sign of heavy clutch with engine off. I was told Porsche recommend the slave is changed at the same time - mine was done under warranty so don't know the cost.
2. Probably heat shields. Common problem.
3. Don't know
4. I've heard of spoiler hydraulics failing, and it sounds a bit like it could be that. I've seen posts (mainly from guys in the US) who seem to have fixed it with a few parts rather than the complete system from Porsche which is not cheap at all.....
5. I guess your alarm is reporting a fault. Maybe it thinks the glove compartment isn't fully closed, or something similar?
6. Could just need a recharge - although to be honest, I've never been all that impressed by mine even after a recharge. It certainly works, is cold and does keep the temperature cool - but it's not BMW ice cold. In fact, much to my surprise - my 348 air con blows noticeably colder than my 996 turbo air con.
2. Probably heat shields. Common problem.
3. Don't know
4. I've heard of spoiler hydraulics failing, and it sounds a bit like it could be that. I've seen posts (mainly from guys in the US) who seem to have fixed it with a few parts rather than the complete system from Porsche which is not cheap at all.....
5. I guess your alarm is reporting a fault. Maybe it thinks the glove compartment isn't fully closed, or something similar?
6. Could just need a recharge - although to be honest, I've never been all that impressed by mine even after a recharge. It certainly works, is cold and does keep the temperature cool - but it's not BMW ice cold. In fact, much to my surprise - my 348 air con blows noticeably colder than my 996 turbo air con.
I think you'd be best entrusting the car to a decent specialist for them to rectify everything at once - it'll mean a big bill but should actually be the most economic way of dealing with it. If you got it cheap enough and are not planning to sell then the enjoyment you'll get from everything being properly sorted should be worth it.
However, given the list you've got I'd expect it to get longer when they inspect it (if all those jobs have been left not done it's likely there will be others that have been neglected that you won't have seen). My guess would be that you'll be spending somewhere around £5k but I have known of cars with much fewer faults that are apparent to the owner than yours that have cost a fair bit more than this to put into decent working order.
Until you've had it properly inspected and got an estimate/prognosis I would certainly keep an open mind about whether it'd be better to sell the car on and buy one that needs nothing (or very little) doing to it as it could cost you less than sorting everything out on this one.
There is a list of Porsche specialists at the top of this page.
However, given the list you've got I'd expect it to get longer when they inspect it (if all those jobs have been left not done it's likely there will be others that have been neglected that you won't have seen). My guess would be that you'll be spending somewhere around £5k but I have known of cars with much fewer faults that are apparent to the owner than yours that have cost a fair bit more than this to put into decent working order.
Until you've had it properly inspected and got an estimate/prognosis I would certainly keep an open mind about whether it'd be better to sell the car on and buy one that needs nothing (or very little) doing to it as it could cost you less than sorting everything out on this one.
There is a list of Porsche specialists at the top of this page.
turbo-ww said:
Dear God, I hope you got it cheap.....
Why the kneejerk PH reaction? All sounds fairly fixable (though I've never heard of number 3). Might be some costs involved but I think most sensible people would keep a pot to one side to stay on top of common issues.Regarding the spoiler, don't bother going to an OPC. They will charge you around a grand to replace the hydraulics. You can fix it yourself if you are mechanically minded. Just need to remove the offending ram and lubricate it - do a search on rennlist for instructions. It will probably stick again some months down the line so you just need to keep monitoring it.
I know you've used the title "Just bought", but have you actually collected it?
If not, a pre-purchase inspection would be money well spent. Even if you're happy to have everything fixed, it's always worth knowing exactly what's going on out of sight.
In fact, even if you have already bought it a full inspection would still be money well spent. Apart from the faults that are showing up right now, an inspection may reveal other, less obvious, problems that will cost now or later.
I don't think an inspection as in someone coming to the house and inspecting it would be of much use, I'm with Marcus. Find a good specialist, have a chat with them, allow then to look round the car and come up with a game plan.
I suspect the rather curt response was due to a feeling of bolting the door after the horse had bolted. Some of the issues are well known and things which anyone who had done a little homework before buying the car would know about.
There is a possibility the dash lights could be a light switch or an ignition switch. It could even be that the dimmer has been turned right down!!
Find a good specialist, let them have a look at the car and start things off from there. They will make a small charge but it will be money well spent and will stop you wandering around aimlessly. It will also give you the opportunity to make sure the car is fundamentally sound before you start throwing money at it.
Good luck,
Henry
I suspect the rather curt response was due to a feeling of bolting the door after the horse had bolted. Some of the issues are well known and things which anyone who had done a little homework before buying the car would know about.
There is a possibility the dash lights could be a light switch or an ignition switch. It could even be that the dimmer has been turned right down!!
Find a good specialist, let them have a look at the car and start things off from there. They will make a small charge but it will be money well spent and will stop you wandering around aimlessly. It will also give you the opportunity to make sure the car is fundamentally sound before you start throwing money at it.
Good luck,
Henry
Hi Turboman.....here is another good Porsch site for you if you don't already use it.....it is more model specific that Pistonheads so I am sure you will get some good feed-back from the 996 guys on there if the 993 forum is anything to go by......good luck.
http://www.911uk.com/viewforum.php?f=8
http://www.911uk.com/viewforum.php?f=8
Harris_I said:
turbo-ww said:
Dear God, I hope you got it cheap.....
Why the kneejerk PH reaction? All sounds fairly fixable (though I've never heard of number 3). Might be some costs involved but I think most sensible people would keep a pot to one side to stay on top of common issues.Regarding the spoiler, don't bother going to an OPC. They will charge you around a grand to replace the hydraulics. You can fix it yourself if you are mechanically minded. Just need to remove the offending ram and lubricate it - do a search on rennlist for instructions. It will probably stick again some months down the line so you just need to keep monitoring it.
Just checked my e-mails this morning and taken back my the level of response. Yes I have brought the car and collected it.
So all seems sort of ok apart from the dash lights. If they are all common which sounds the general case having them fixed and spending the money will hopefully tick the items off for a good few years.
Interesting that the spolier may fail again after time which is a very good point to know. thank you.
I'm still trying to get my head around just how fast this car is!!!....Its 10 yrs old and looks just as good as new supercars.
Thanks again all, I will keep you posted once I have had time to fix within the next 2 weeks. Will post my findings and costs.
What a bunch of bloody nice chaps!!!
So all seems sort of ok apart from the dash lights. If they are all common which sounds the general case having them fixed and spending the money will hopefully tick the items off for a good few years.
Interesting that the spolier may fail again after time which is a very good point to know. thank you.
I'm still trying to get my head around just how fast this car is!!!....Its 10 yrs old and looks just as good as new supercars.
Thanks again all, I will keep you posted once I have had time to fix within the next 2 weeks. Will post my findings and costs.
What a bunch of bloody nice chaps!!!
If I understand. Your post correctly I think I might be concerned that the lack of lights may be hiding warning lights which could be indicating other faults potentially......hopefully not! I would take to a specialist and get the car plugged in to the diagnostics etc which I am sure will be done when rectifying the other faults.
Good luck and for the future I should recommend that you get a vehicle checked out before parting with cash
Good luck and for the future I should recommend that you get a vehicle checked out before parting with cash
996turboman said:
turbo-ww said:
Dear God, I hope you got it cheap.....
Dear god will not help me but i'm sure other people on this site could help and be slightly more positive. I am happy to spend the money if needed and yes, it was exceptional value, even if I need to spend a few grand to make it right.Are you saying these are not common problems or have never failed before on this model?? It sounds like these types of problems are very uncommon to you? Have you owned this model before?
I plan to keep the car in the garage forever so it's worth knowing what the damage is or I'm sure some of these mentioned items are common and many helpful owners maybe able to point me in the right direction.
I personally feel these items are common and am no Porsche expert/ownership god.
I forgot to mention, I'm totally new to Porsche but rate this site and the members a lot. Helpful ones anyway.
Helpful help would be more than welcomed.
Good luck with it anyway, and don't forget the pics.
Update
I decided to have the morning off and printed off a spolier fix from the internet. Great news, the Spolier is now working with no warning lights.
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-turbo-fo...
I can't tell you how happy I am with the parts alone costing £850 to replace. Will see just how long it lasts. It was very easy to do.
The clucth part has been ordered by Porsche (about £90) He said to change this first as it's the cheaper of the two parts to change and a new light switch also. The guy at Porsche Burgess Hill was brilliant!! Asked me to check my number plate lights which were also not working. It could just be the switch affecting the dash lights?? Again fingers crossed.
Will update you once the A/C man has been Friday. Then off to the workshops to see about the other items.
I decided to have the morning off and printed off a spolier fix from the internet. Great news, the Spolier is now working with no warning lights.
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/996-turbo-fo...
I can't tell you how happy I am with the parts alone costing £850 to replace. Will see just how long it lasts. It was very easy to do.
The clucth part has been ordered by Porsche (about £90) He said to change this first as it's the cheaper of the two parts to change and a new light switch also. The guy at Porsche Burgess Hill was brilliant!! Asked me to check my number plate lights which were also not working. It could just be the switch affecting the dash lights?? Again fingers crossed.
Will update you once the A/C man has been Friday. Then off to the workshops to see about the other items.
996turboman said:
Forgot to add, all lights when key is turned on are displayed, abs psm k light etc etc
.... and hopefully go off again shortly afterwards. 
If you mean the instrumentation and dashboard backlighting, there's more than a fair chance you have an issue with your headlight switch. Known niggle. About £60 to replace.
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