New Owner - C2 996
Discussion
Alot of love for the 996, I recently purchased a 1 owner C4s 45k miles '03 but had a long list of items to be addressed, Once the engine was out (due to rear brake pipes need replacing) the gearbox was separated and the indy garage found the IMS bearing was shot, an 03 model with full porsche history and a very mature driver - still needed doing.
Just to bear in mind all those who are looking at buying one, I went for an aftermarket roller bearing recommended by the garage, £840 when engine already out, they said Porsche offer a larger bearing but it would be a full engine rebuild!! and a lot more money. Even the garage were surprised it needed replacing but it is a known issue not a fault but issue with the 3.6 cars.
Anyway love the car, easy to use and looking forward to many more miles....
Just to bear in mind all those who are looking at buying one, I went for an aftermarket roller bearing recommended by the garage, £840 when engine already out, they said Porsche offer a larger bearing but it would be a full engine rebuild!! and a lot more money. Even the garage were surprised it needed replacing but it is a known issue not a fault but issue with the 3.6 cars.
Anyway love the car, easy to use and looking forward to many more miles....
Hi Guys, I have just been catching up on this thread as i am looking to upgrade my engine mounts on my 06 997 C2S (probably to the 9 products soft) and at the same time add the power flex gearbox mount inserts. Has anyone done both, just wondering if it will be to harsh for everyday use? Thanks Rob
I think I will fit the Powerflex inserts as part of the suspension refresh I am hoping to do. Sorry that does not help you now! I am expecting a small amount of NVH but whether it will be more than 'fast road' in noise and feel I do not know. The mount is cheap enough to try it out.
I actually emailed Powerflex today to ask them the polyutherene hardness rating of their yellow insert. It is 70A rated. I asked if they would consider making the inserts in their softer 'red' grade polyutherene (around 60A I believe) but they said they would not at this moment in time as they have just revised the design slightly already to improve NVH.
I actually emailed Powerflex today to ask them the polyutherene hardness rating of their yellow insert. It is 70A rated. I asked if they would consider making the inserts in their softer 'red' grade polyutherene (around 60A I believe) but they said they would not at this moment in time as they have just revised the design slightly already to improve NVH.
Some minor work on the 996 for it's upcoming MOT.
Late last year the brake warning light had come on on the dashboard. I took the wheel off and had a proper look at the brakes, which appeared fine, until I checked inboard of the discs and the associated pads...
New front discs and pads ordered, with new wear sensors. £170 delivered. I went for Pagid and it all fitted perfectly. Also worth noting that the discs are primed on the centres and edges to hopefully keep them looking reasonably rust free over time.
A few random images: -
Detail of wear sensors - I had not come across these before but they are very easy on these cars - plug and play!
This is the end that goes into the brake pad
This end plugs into the car wiring harness on the hub
How it sits in the pads - both pads front and rear of caliper are plugged in
The hardest part of this job for me was getting the caliper pins out that hold the pads in place - make sure you use plenty brake cleaner and have good punches of adequate length to go through the caliper. The brake disc retaining screws are also worth consideration - I used a drill driver and PH3 drill bit (big cross head). Don't use a number 2 sized screwdriver or bit as you will strip the heads!
Secondly was something I was unsure about - Powerflex gearbox insert!
This is not too difficult a DIY - I would say the hardest part is getting the undertray off the car for access. You need to remove the rear undertray, and 3/4 of the fasteners for the centre tray. If you are working from the rear of the car on ramps like I was, it gets tight for space as you move nearer the front of the car - consider having the car lifted on 4 axle stands.
This is the overview of the setup you are presented with after the undertray is off. The lower transmission carrier and upper transmission carrier end up being completely removed from the car. You need a standard trolley jack to support the gearbox whilst you unbolt everything.
You can see where you are meant to support the gearbox. Upper transmission carrier still in place, lower one removed.
Standard setup with the outer rubber 'ear' removed. You can see what the Powerflex mounts are trying to replicate now, as the black 'ears' become redundant.
When I removed the upper transmission mount, the whole stud came away from the car, rather than just the nut.
The bush on my car appeared in good condition - no tears, etc.
I packed the old bush and coated the Powerflex insert with red rubber grease
I've had it out for a brief drive. First impressions are that there seems to be little to no difference when the car is started and idling, which is good. Gearshift has improved - definitely slots into all gears more cleanly. There is slight transmission noise over certain RPM, but I will let everything bed in for a few miles and report back.
Late last year the brake warning light had come on on the dashboard. I took the wheel off and had a proper look at the brakes, which appeared fine, until I checked inboard of the discs and the associated pads...
New front discs and pads ordered, with new wear sensors. £170 delivered. I went for Pagid and it all fitted perfectly. Also worth noting that the discs are primed on the centres and edges to hopefully keep them looking reasonably rust free over time.
A few random images: -
Detail of wear sensors - I had not come across these before but they are very easy on these cars - plug and play!
This is the end that goes into the brake pad
This end plugs into the car wiring harness on the hub
How it sits in the pads - both pads front and rear of caliper are plugged in
The hardest part of this job for me was getting the caliper pins out that hold the pads in place - make sure you use plenty brake cleaner and have good punches of adequate length to go through the caliper. The brake disc retaining screws are also worth consideration - I used a drill driver and PH3 drill bit (big cross head). Don't use a number 2 sized screwdriver or bit as you will strip the heads!
Secondly was something I was unsure about - Powerflex gearbox insert!
This is not too difficult a DIY - I would say the hardest part is getting the undertray off the car for access. You need to remove the rear undertray, and 3/4 of the fasteners for the centre tray. If you are working from the rear of the car on ramps like I was, it gets tight for space as you move nearer the front of the car - consider having the car lifted on 4 axle stands.
This is the overview of the setup you are presented with after the undertray is off. The lower transmission carrier and upper transmission carrier end up being completely removed from the car. You need a standard trolley jack to support the gearbox whilst you unbolt everything.
You can see where you are meant to support the gearbox. Upper transmission carrier still in place, lower one removed.
Standard setup with the outer rubber 'ear' removed. You can see what the Powerflex mounts are trying to replicate now, as the black 'ears' become redundant.
When I removed the upper transmission mount, the whole stud came away from the car, rather than just the nut.
The bush on my car appeared in good condition - no tears, etc.
I packed the old bush and coated the Powerflex insert with red rubber grease
I've had it out for a brief drive. First impressions are that there seems to be little to no difference when the car is started and idling, which is good. Gearshift has improved - definitely slots into all gears more cleanly. There is slight transmission noise over certain RPM, but I will let everything bed in for a few miles and report back.
I did the poly bush too. It made a horrendous vibration and noise for me at 4000rpm. I took it out and drilled some holes through to soften it up which has definitely improved it but there is still a gentle vibration throughout the range. I'll make one more mod to remove a bit more of the insert to get rid of more NVH and then if that doesn't work it'll be coming out and going in the bin (what's left of it anyway!! 
)
Edit i used the revised insert - i can only imagine what the original fat one was like!!
)Edit i used the revised insert - i can only imagine what the original fat one was like!!
Edited by skinny on Monday 25th February 13:05
I was 50/50 about installing the insert because of the feedback I had read. I went heavy on the grease between the insert and OEM mount which I thought should improve things if the insert can move about a bit when in place. Powerflex also revised the design slightly from what I read on 911uk, and the new version is much better than old. I will report back once I've done some more miles.
It's been a while since update but I have installed a new headunit in the car.
My car came with factory 6 speaker upgrade (option 490?), 2 dash speakers, 2 rear speakers, 2 door subwoofers, 6x40W amplifier. When I purchased the car the factory headunit had been swapped out for Alpine unit and didn't sound great. I'm not even sure it was wired properly.
What I decided to do in an attempt to upgrade ancient kit and simplify things, was remove CD changer and boot mounted amplifier, and install new Sony MEX-GS820BT headunit with built in 4x100w amplifier, running OEM speakers.
From all I read on the internet this would likely sound rubbish, however what was clear to me even as someone who had absolutely no experience on car ICE installs was that certainly a few people seem to be running the door subwoofers as standard speakers, in line with dash or rears. Not good to run different impedance / frequency speakers on same channel from what I can gather.
Front Nokia speakers and rear are impedance 4ohms each. Door subwoofers are 2ohms each.
The car has the usual Nokia connectors for amplifier and I did a bit of digging and found out that not only Porsche used these on 993 / 996, but BMW as well. I bought a cheap Boxster 4 channel amplifier first to try and rob the connector I needed but it did not work (the connector is hard mounted to amplifier PCB). What it did teach me is the connectors were the same, and only differ by location of plastic tabs on them (they are keyed basically).
I did not want to cut the factory wiring loom so bought a Connects2 CT10BM04 wiring loom for £20 which looking at photos was only thing that had the Nokia connector I needed with wires in the back. I cut this loom in half, stuck the Nokia connector in the front boot. Halfords premium speaker wire was run the same route as the amplifier / CD cabling, through the bulkhead of the car behind the battery. Headunit is now wired direct to car speakers.
How did I turn 6 channels into a 4 channel system? Sony make these headunits with this in mind, so now I run 3 channels - 1 front channel for FL / RL speakers in series (8ohms total), 1 front channel for FR / RR in series (8 ohms total), 1 rear channel for both subwoofers in series (4 ohms total). Car wiring is unaltered and all bridging of speakers done at the Nokia connector wiring, hidden out of sight behind carpet when I get a chance to tidy up.
Once powered up I made sure to set the door subwoofers as...subwoofers and tweaked the frequency cut offs by just playing around. Sounds really good to my ears, surprisingly so actually and decent clean punch from the door speakers. I've got Harman Kardon OEM system in one of my other cars and this does not sound bad at all. Headunit matches interior too (can customise colours) and dims when car lights switched on etc.
My car came with factory 6 speaker upgrade (option 490?), 2 dash speakers, 2 rear speakers, 2 door subwoofers, 6x40W amplifier. When I purchased the car the factory headunit had been swapped out for Alpine unit and didn't sound great. I'm not even sure it was wired properly.
What I decided to do in an attempt to upgrade ancient kit and simplify things, was remove CD changer and boot mounted amplifier, and install new Sony MEX-GS820BT headunit with built in 4x100w amplifier, running OEM speakers.
From all I read on the internet this would likely sound rubbish, however what was clear to me even as someone who had absolutely no experience on car ICE installs was that certainly a few people seem to be running the door subwoofers as standard speakers, in line with dash or rears. Not good to run different impedance / frequency speakers on same channel from what I can gather.
Front Nokia speakers and rear are impedance 4ohms each. Door subwoofers are 2ohms each.
The car has the usual Nokia connectors for amplifier and I did a bit of digging and found out that not only Porsche used these on 993 / 996, but BMW as well. I bought a cheap Boxster 4 channel amplifier first to try and rob the connector I needed but it did not work (the connector is hard mounted to amplifier PCB). What it did teach me is the connectors were the same, and only differ by location of plastic tabs on them (they are keyed basically).
I did not want to cut the factory wiring loom so bought a Connects2 CT10BM04 wiring loom for £20 which looking at photos was only thing that had the Nokia connector I needed with wires in the back. I cut this loom in half, stuck the Nokia connector in the front boot. Halfords premium speaker wire was run the same route as the amplifier / CD cabling, through the bulkhead of the car behind the battery. Headunit is now wired direct to car speakers.
How did I turn 6 channels into a 4 channel system? Sony make these headunits with this in mind, so now I run 3 channels - 1 front channel for FL / RL speakers in series (8ohms total), 1 front channel for FR / RR in series (8 ohms total), 1 rear channel for both subwoofers in series (4 ohms total). Car wiring is unaltered and all bridging of speakers done at the Nokia connector wiring, hidden out of sight behind carpet when I get a chance to tidy up.
Once powered up I made sure to set the door subwoofers as...subwoofers and tweaked the frequency cut offs by just playing around. Sounds really good to my ears, surprisingly so actually and decent clean punch from the door speakers. I've got Harman Kardon OEM system in one of my other cars and this does not sound bad at all. Headunit matches interior too (can customise colours) and dims when car lights switched on etc.
This is good info as I think I have the same audio set up with a PCM1 head unit in my 2001 3.4 and I'm looking to swap it out for a single din bluetooth unit.
Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
nunpuncher said:
This is good info as I think I have the same audio set up with a PCM1 head unit in my 2001 3.4 and I'm looking to swap it out for a single din bluetooth unit.
Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
Images all work for me.Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
nunpuncher said:
This is good info as I think I have the same audio set up with a PCM1 head unit in my 2001 3.4 and I'm looking to swap it out for a single din bluetooth unit.
Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
Its not too hard to work out the wiring. There is plenty wiring diagrams for the Nokia amplifier and speaker systems. If you search for amplifier replacement you’ll get quite a bit more info as well. I liked this setup as it seemed less complex than OEM.Unfortunately electrics are my Achilles heel so I only understood about half of what you wrote and the images don't display for some reason.
This headunit setup would also be ideal for cars with just the basic 4 speaker setup - would allow you to add a small subwoofer quite easily.
Sony actual have a new model with no cd which would be even better suited. DSX-GS80. If you look on their website the instruction manual can help make things more clear regarding what is needed for install.
It's been a while since an update.
Car has had full suspension refresh - springs, dampers, top mounts, all suspension arms (coffin arms, tuning forks etc), steering tie-rods. Also all arb's and brace bars powdercoated.
Car has just under 70k miles and parts original as far as I can tell - I would say long overdue on age alone. Rubbers were all badly perished and 'off'. I pretty much had to buy all new parts when building the shocks back up - the old bump stops and bellows, top mount spring rubber seats, spacers etc were all basically rotten! Good to budget that in from Porsche if you are doing springs and shocks...
Arms are CTE, tie rods and drop links TRW, shocks Koni rebound adjustable, springs H&R (KonI Sport Kit). 7mm wheel spacers all round by 9products.
I chose the Koni and H&R as I liked the idea of option for softer ride on the Koni's. I'm running full soft and it seems well judged - I need to put more miles on and report back.
9products 7mm spacers all round - same brand as the engine mounts and equally as nice made. I wanted light as possible and same track increase front / rear to in theory keep handling balance. Subtle change to look of car overall. I got new longer wheel bolts to fit them.
New Bosch o2 sensors as car was running a bit rich and looked like original sensors! - good idea to take the cats off, smash the tops off the old sensors and use a socket and impact gun on the bench or you risk rounding the old sensors off. You can just 'just' the old ones out with the bumper in place.
Car is aligned to x74 specs - with it all being new it was easy enough to get into spec. I'm not sure if I like the full x74 setup - feels a bit twitchy in a straight line. Handles great on the right road though.
Car has had full suspension refresh - springs, dampers, top mounts, all suspension arms (coffin arms, tuning forks etc), steering tie-rods. Also all arb's and brace bars powdercoated.
Car has just under 70k miles and parts original as far as I can tell - I would say long overdue on age alone. Rubbers were all badly perished and 'off'. I pretty much had to buy all new parts when building the shocks back up - the old bump stops and bellows, top mount spring rubber seats, spacers etc were all basically rotten! Good to budget that in from Porsche if you are doing springs and shocks...
Arms are CTE, tie rods and drop links TRW, shocks Koni rebound adjustable, springs H&R (KonI Sport Kit). 7mm wheel spacers all round by 9products.
I chose the Koni and H&R as I liked the idea of option for softer ride on the Koni's. I'm running full soft and it seems well judged - I need to put more miles on and report back.
9products 7mm spacers all round - same brand as the engine mounts and equally as nice made. I wanted light as possible and same track increase front / rear to in theory keep handling balance. Subtle change to look of car overall. I got new longer wheel bolts to fit them.
New Bosch o2 sensors as car was running a bit rich and looked like original sensors! - good idea to take the cats off, smash the tops off the old sensors and use a socket and impact gun on the bench or you risk rounding the old sensors off. You can just 'just' the old ones out with the bumper in place.
Car is aligned to x74 specs - with it all being new it was easy enough to get into spec. I'm not sure if I like the full x74 setup - feels a bit twitchy in a straight line. Handles great on the right road though.
Edited by mmcd87 on Sunday 3rd July 21:31
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