By Steve Grosekemper

When most Porsche owners obtain a new vehicle they spend an excess of time cleaning and polishing their new acquisition. After the car is so clean that the glare becomes a danger to oncoming traffic, and water beads off the owners hands, we usually see the next step in the condition, known as “new owner fildle-i-tous”.

The next level in “fiddle-I-tous” is more of a hands on phase of the condition. However, in the case of 996’s and Boxster’s, there is very little that you can actually get your hands on. The 996 engine bay is well filled and the engine lid is extremely small! The boxster is even worse with its “childproof” sealing of the engine compartment.

While a qualified Porsche technician should preform most of the service, there are some items that can be performed by an enthusiastic owner.

Particle filter replacement

The first and easiest service task is the replacement of the climate control particle filter. This is a filter that looks like an engine air filter. It filters incoming passenger compartment air of dust, dirt, and… well particles. During “normal conditions” these only need to be replaced when the car receives its normal service. However, there are several cars that are driven in “severe conditions”. (See: The real world). For these cars more frequent replacement may be required.

An indication of filter replacement would be a laboring sound from the fan motor, or decreased air volume coming from the ventilation system. An odd odor may also be present while a dirty filter is in place.

Checking of the filter is no more difficult than opening the front trunk, removing one screw and two pieces of plastic. The filter is located under the cowl next to the passenger side hood hinge. (In both the 996 and Boxster). Remove this piece of plastic by first removing the center battery cover and then unscrewing the one mounting screw and pulling up on the far right plastic piece. (The screw takes a T-25 torx bit to remove it) . Once removed try not to be shocked at what you see, it could be very ugly in there!

Particle filter with both plastic covers removed

(This filter has only been in the car for 15,000 miles – yuk)!

To remove the actual filter element you must first locate the filter-retaining clip and release it. It is to the right of the filter as you are looking at the filter (towards the center of the car).

Particle filter retaining clip released

Now lift up on the corner of the filter and pull the element out. Be careful not to let any dirt fall into the climate control system. If some does enter the system, use a shop-vac to clean the assembly thoroughly. If you do not clean it out you will get a blast of dirt thrown into you face when you turn the climate control fan on! Now take the new filter (Part # 996.571.219.01 costing $35.29) and slide it into place. Be careful, as this is not as easy as it looks, aggressive installation can result in a crushed filter element. Be sure to look at all corners of the filter to guarantee complete sealing against the housing. After the filter is perfectly seated in place you can reattach the retaining clip.

New filter with clip in place; ready for cover to be re-installed.

Replace the plastic cover and retaining screw (T-25 Torx bit) and you are all set to breathe easy again!

Engine air filter replacement – Boxster (986)

Replacing the engine air filter in a boxster is about a 5-minute proposition. Getting to that filter is another story completely!

If you consider yourself adventurous and at least reasonably adept at mechanical endeavors you should be able to complete this task. If your VCR is still flashing 12:00, and your complete tool set fits in the kitchen drawer… maybe you should leave this task to your mechanic at service time.

In order to gain access to the engine compartment and ultimately the air filter we will need to remove a few things from the car.

The top, storage shelf, insulation carpet and finally the engine cover must all be removed or relocated. The process for this is as follows:

•  Activate the top so the body cover lifts up and the front of the top lifts back about two feet.

•  Unclip the skirt of the top (both sides) where it attaches to the body.

•  Disconnect the two retaining cables at each end of the top.

•  Carefully lift the back section of the top forward until you feel a click (90 degrees of movement).

•  Carefully activate the top to the closed position; making sure the cloth does not catch anywhere.

•  Remove the storage unit by unfastening the two inside clips and the one top outer clip.

•  Remove the two remaining rear fastening clips at the rear of the carpet piece and remove.

•  Pull the locking rings of the metal engine cover up and twist counter clockwise.

•  With the cover loose carefully remove the cover and set it aside.

Warning: You are lifting a heavy cumbersome metal cover over the painted surface of your car, if you drop it…. Well just don’t drop it!

We now have access to the engine compartment and air filter. The air filter resides in a rectangular housing in the far left side of the engine compartment (drivers side).

Air filter housing looking from the passenger side of the car.

After locating the air filter housing we must remove the element. There are two retaining clips holding the door to the housing securely closed. Release each clip (one on each side) and gently wiggle and pull the top out. After the cover is out about four inches, tug a little more and the filter element will start to come out. This whole arrangement works just like a CD drawer on your computer. The only difference is there is no fancy button to push; you are the button.

Cover is out, and filter is half way out.

Pull cover top until filter is completely exposed.

After the filter is completely exposed, lift the filter and insert assembly out of the housing. When you do this there is a high likelihood that all sorts of trash, dirt, and debris will fall into the filter housing. This is because the filter element separates the top and bottom halves of the filter housing. When you remove the separator, all the matter not contained in the filter falls to the bottom half of the housing. Be sure to thoroughly clean the filter housing out before installing the new filter element. Any dirt left in the housing will be sucked directly into the engine! I hope you didn’t put that shop-vac away yet!

Cigarettes are bad for you and your car!

Be sure to get every last bit of debris out of the housing.

With the filter element insert out, discard the old filter and clean the assembly of and debris. Install the new filter into the element insert and reinstall the insert into the housing. New filter part # is 996.110.131.04 and costs $23.83.

Filter insert assembly ready for cleaning and element replacement.

To do this, push the filter all the way in, pressing on the filter element with your fingertips, not the filter cover. After the element is fully inserted into the housing push on the cover top until the retaining clips lock into place.

Notice how the filter is completely inserted before the cover is pushed all the way down.

Now that the filter replacement is complete, we can start closing the engine compartment:

•  Replace the metal engine cover and lock down the fastening tabs.

•  Replace the top carpet cover and lock down the fastening tabs.

•  Replace the storage unit attaching it at the two inside and single top tabs.

•  Open the top as was done earlier and pull the back of the top down into its original position.

•  Reattach the retaining cables at each side of the top.

•  Reattach the skirt where it fastens to the body.

•  Activate the top to the closed position.

•  Double check to see that everything is in place and nothing is binding or catching as the top operates.

Engine air filter replacement – Carrera (996)

Engine air filter replacement is much easier on 996’s. If you can’t program your VCR, you can still probably handle this operation:

•  Open the rear engine cover and locate the air filter housing.

Complete air filter assembly

•  Locate the oil filler pipe, unclip it and move it aside (do not disconnect).

Oil filler simply unclips and gets laid aside.

•  Locate the throttle body and loosen the intake boot hose clamp with a screwdriver.

•  Locate the plug at the mass air sensor.

•  Release the plug clips and remove the wiring harness from the sensor.

•  Remove the first harness clamp on the right side of the housing.

Note the clip half way down the wiring harness.

•  Loosen the single mounting bolt at the center of the filter housing. (Use a 13mm socket and extension to remove the 8mm mounting bolt).

•  Lift the entire housing up and out of the engine compartment. When the housing is half way up reach around to the right side of the housing and remove the second clip holding the remaining section of the mass air sensor wiring harness.

•  Remove the housing completely from the engine compartment and lay if aside.

•  Remove the seven screws holding the top and bottom housing pieces together.

•  Lift the top piece off and remove the filter element.

Complete air filter assembly and necessary tools for removal.

• Clean both top and bottom halves and reassemble with new filter element.

•  Reinstall air filter housing in reverse order of removal.

•  Air filter element part # is 996.110.131.52 and the cost is $25.03.

Now that’s how all filter replacements should go. Both you and your car can now breath easy!

Good Luck

Whenever I start a large project I take a look at surrounding items to see if there is anything else in the area that might need attention. In the case of 944-transaxle and/or clutch removal one of the things I look at, amongst others is the shifter and shift rod. The shift rod is a tube, approximately 5 feet long, that connects the shifter itself with the transaxle shift selector shaft. This rod can only be removed with the transaxle out of the car.

It is quite common to have an extremely worn shifter cause loose shifting in these cars. This is caused when the horizontal pivot pin in the shift handle gets worn due to galling as a result of poor lubrication. The common repair is as simple as replacing the shift handle. The catch comes in when a worn shifter has been allowed to damage the actual shift rod. In these cases the sleeve that the pivot pin rides in can be damaged as much as, if not more than, the shifter pivot pin itself. Normally, replacement of the shifter and shift rod is the only way to restore the shifting accuracy. The problem comes when paying for these parts. While the shifter itself is only $46.75, the shift rod is priced at a lofty $200.00+.

Note the excessive play in the shifter pin

Even after a new shifter is installed.

The solution to this problem is quite simple. While I would like to take full credit for this repair I cannot. I will take credit for being observant however; for the repair pieces come from a 924 with the Porsche G31 transaxle. (This is the one with reverse gear above first like pre-72 911s and all 914s) In this transaxle the shifter has two shift rods that connect just like the single 944-shift rod does. But instead of running the pivot pin metal-to-metal with the shift rod there are two plastic bushings used, Part # 999.924.002.40 @ $1.40 each

Where the old pivot pin was metal-to-metal we now have a

Plastic bushing for smooth trouble free operation

The shifter pin uses the same 10mm diameter in the 924 and 944. So in order to fit the 924 bushings the stock 944-shift rod you must first bore out the pivot pin sleeve to make room for the 924 bushings. This seems like a simple procedure until you realize how critical the tolerance for this actually is. Too small and the linkage will bind, and only 0.2mm too large and the play will be unacceptable. (Guess how I know)

After quite a bit of measuring and searching for just the right reamer for the job I came to the conclusion that it was just not readily available. So I started playing with what I had (with a used shift rod as a guinea pig) and discovered that a common high-speed drill set was all that was needed. It is critical to make smooth straight cuts when increasing the pivot sleeve size. So I started with the smallest drill bit that was larger than the worn shift rod pivot pin sleeve inside diameter.

This was a 13/32″ drill bit, and I increased the sized gradually with 27/64″ then 7/16″ and finally finished the cut with a 29/64″ drill bit. This final size equates to an inside diameter of 11.50mm. The new shifter with the new 924 bushings installed has an outside diameter of 11.40+mm. This leaves enough clearance for lubricant with no extra room for sloppy shifting.

The standard 944 shifter uses several spacer/washers to preload itself into the shift rod. Since the new bushings have shoulders there is no need for any additional spacers. In some cases the shifter may be too tight and need the shift rod sleeve width to be filed down slightly to decrease preload on the c-clip.

After all the modifications have been made it is best to make all your final adjustments with the shifter and shift rod out of the car. After you are sure of the final fit you can reinstall the shift rod, transaxle and shifter, in that order. Be sure to use good high temperature grease when reassembling the shifter to the shift rod. But you can rest securely, knowing that if your shifter ever does become sloppy, the replacement of two $1.40 bushings will be all it takes to make things like new again.

Good Luck

While Porsche has gotten along with air-cooling for their sports cars for the past 50 years or so, it has come to my attention that all Porsche models are water-cooled, and have been since 1999. The reason for this new-fangled water-cooling is that it maintains a more uniform control over cylinder head temperatures. Air-cooling was much simpler and best of all, never suffered from coolant leaks. Or always did, but that was OK as well.

For better or worse water-cooling is here to stay, so we better get used to it. Modern cooling systems are sealed and once filled should never need additional coolant.

If a cooling system does lose its fill, it is imperative for us to find the source of the loss. If the coolant was there and now is not, there can only be a few reasons for its exodus. It might have leaked out of the cooling system and escaped to the ground. (A burst cooling hose or failed water pump is the most common failure).

A less popular escape route would be a leak into the engine itself. Coolant can find its way into the engine through a crack in a cylinder head or block, or by a failed gasket. If this is the case evidence will be found in the oil pan or exiting the tail pipe.

The method of determining the source of the loss is as follows.

Top off the cooling system.

If coolant does fall out on the ground, trace it to its source and repair it.

If the coolant does not fall onto the ground in an obvious manner, you must pressurize the cooling system to simulate operating conditions. (See Figure #1)

Figure #1

(Coolant pressure tester and adapters are installed to

replicate pressure under operating conditions)

If the coolant does not escape quickly, you must leave the pressure on the system until the level drops noticeably. If the coolant leaks into the cylinder, the engine will not turn over. You then remove the spark plugs, rotate the engine, and watch to see which cylinder “Old Faithful” starts spraying out of.

If it leaks into the crankcase, the coolant will mix with the oil. After sitting for some time the oil and water will separate. Since oil is lighter than water, the water will settle on the bottom of the oil pan and pour out first when the drain plug is removed.

But what if none of these things happen? What if coolant is being added to the car slowly over time, and shows no signs of escape. This was the case for me a few months ago. While waiting for something to happen after pressurizing the system, I noticed a drip of coolant escaping the car.

But this was not a normal location for a coolant leak. The coolant was not leaking from the engine, but out of the right rear jack lifting point! Now this was a little perplexing as there are no cooling system components in the area. Then it hit me, (OK, maybe it actually dripped on me). The only thing that was even in the vicinity of the drip was the coolant reservoir mounted in the rear trunk. I looked in the trunk and started pulling carpet out to access the coolant reservoir. Under the carpet is a wooden flooring, so out it went as well.

With all the coverings and floorings removed, there it was. A green fog of coolant spray was coming from the bottom of the coolant tank. A green lake had formed on the trunk floor. As the coolant collected on the floor it found its way forward through body panels until it escaped at the jack lifting point . (See Figure#2)

Figure #2

Notice the lake of coolant on the trunk floor

and the coolant deposits on the side of the tank.

If you find that your Boxster is loosing coolant in a mysterious fashion, you can simply pull back the carpet surrounding the coolant tank. Complete removal of the carpet and flooring is only necessary when the tank is being replaced.

Coolant Tank Replacement:

At first glance this seems to be a very straightforward process. The tank and mounting bolts are right there in the trunk. There is also an oil filler pipe integrated into the tank but that doesn’t look to be a problem. The problem lies not in the trunk, but on the other side of the firewall in the engine compartment.

That is where the coolant and oil hoses connect to the engine. They are connected with a series of pressure clamps that you may have seen before on Japanese cars. You must remove these pressure clamps before removing the coolant tank. Getting to the clamps is another issue.

They cannot be accessed from the trunk or the top of the engine compartment. They must be accessed from the bottom of the car. Unless you are 10 inches tall you will also have to remove the large aluminum protection plate on the bottom of the car. This is also not as easy as it seems. The plate is sandwiched between the chassis and some aluminum braces, which all must be removed.

If after all these obstacles, you still want to tackle this project, continue reading and I will attempt to guide you through the process. A factory service manual is highly recommended for this service procedure. This is due to the fact that there are several small details that may be omitted here due space constraints.

• Remove coolant and oil filler caps.
• Remove reservoir cover and release coolant bleed valve (pull steel ring up into the locked position). Remove the top sealing ring of the reservoir.
• Safely raise car and remove the plastic engine protection cover, and aluminum protection plate from the underside of car.

• Drain the coolant at the bottom of the engine coolant housing. Reinstall the drain plug and tighten after coolant has drained.
• Remove coolant pressure clamps and hoses from tank fittings. These are located on the engine side of the trunk wall, up high between the trunk and engine. (See Figure #3)

Figure #3

Fittings are way up into this cavity

between the engine and trunk firewall.

(This is a good time to find a small-handed helper)

• Now go top the top side of the car and remove all the trunk carpeting and wooden flooring.
• Remove the electrical plug attached to the coolant level sender at the bottom of the tank.
• Now remove the three mounting nuts and bolts holding the tank to the trunk wall.
• The tank is sandwiched between itself, a gasket and the firewall.
• Remove the oil dipstick and guide tube attached to the reservoir.
• Carefully twist and juggle the tank while separating the gasket from the tank and it will come out. (The gasket should stay with the car)
• Check the bottom of the tank to verify that the tank is actually cracked and the leak is not from the coolant sending unit. (See Figure #4)

Figure #4

Hold tank up side down and look for discoloration at leak points.

• Once the tank is out use a wet/dry vacuum or other means to remove all the coolant from the trunk floor.
• Transfer the coolant level sender and the three elbow hoses from the old tank to the new one.
• Instead of reusing the pressure-style clamps replace them with screw type clamps. (This is a directive from Porsche when the pressure clamps leak, but is a good idea at replacement time as well.)
• Mount the new tank ( 996.106.147.07  = $217.76 ) to the trunk firewall.
• All earlier coolant tanks, 996.106.147 .03/.04/.06 have been superseded to this 996.106.147 .07 tank.
• From the bottom of the car, reattach the one oil hose and 3 coolant hoses to their original locations.
• From the top of the car, reinstall the oil filler cap. Release the bleed valve, leaving the bail in the upright position. Turn the heater control to Max. Heat.
• Fill the cooling system slowly with Porsche factory coolant part # 000.043.203.78. (Quarts). Mix this coolant with distilled water at a 50% mixture. It is imperative to fill the system very slowly so as many air bubbles as possible can come to the top.
• Fill the tank until the coolant meets the bottom of the filler neck. Now start the car let it idle, add coolant as necessary to maintain a level at the bottom of the filler neck. Install the reservoir cap. Raise engine speed to 2500 R.P.M.
• Rev engine quickly, several times during this process. The surging of coolant flow is needed to get all of the air pockets out of the system.
• Let the engine temperature increase to 185 degrees and then close the bleed valve bail.
• Continue revving the engine every few minutes until the coolant temperature reaches 195 degrees. After the engine temperature stabilizes, check below front radiators for hot airflow. (Cooling fan actuation)
• Let engine come down to an idle and verify that the cooling fans are cycling on and off.
• Check car for any coolant leaks.
• If all seems well and no coolant leaks are present, reinstall the two lower covers.
• After the car cools off completely the coolant level should be between the Min/Max indicator marks on the tank. If they are not, correct the coolant level.
• As an extra precaution, you may want to re-pressurize the car cold, to make sure there have been no overlooked leaks.

Good Luck

Buying a Porsche, for most people, is a huge event in their life. Most people have to save for, and then extensively research, their vehicle of choice. Whether a 356 or 996 you will be able to find more information than you can possibly digest.

The best place to start is PCA. There are so many people owning so many different models, you are bound to find an expert on just about any model. Your local bookstore and the Internet are also excellent sources.

As with many other things, opinions can differ greatly depending on experience. If you ask 10 Porsche owners the same question you are bound to get at least 7 different answers. So use your fact filter and take the law of averages into account. If 7 out of 10 people tell you 911s wear the rear tires out much faster than the fronts, you can probably believe it, but it still doesn’t make it gospel.

The first step is to decide what model or model line you are looking for and how much money you would like to spend. (This usually tends to go up as the search continues). After deciding on a model and year range, the search narrows to quirks in the car’s personality. (Some people might call these problem areas).

While some people may argue that Porsches are perfect the way they come, that is not exactly the situation in all cases.

As any new owner (or perspective owner) will soon learn, there are idiosyncrasies with every model. Knowing these along with the service history of the vehicle will help you become acquainted with your prospective purchase. The most important lesson here is to know what you are getting into!

If the service history shows the same notes over and over again, it is a good indication that the car is not getting the kind of attention that you are looking for in a used car. If you see a pattern of “car needs new widgets at the next service” and the widget gets replaced at the next service; that is the kind of car you are looking for.

You wouldn’t marry someone who couldn’t account for their last ten years; don’t start a relationship with a car that can’t account for that same kind of time frame.

Check it out!

So now you have done all of your research, and picked out the car of your dreams, your work is done, right? Not even close. After you have found the best car for your wants and needs is it time it have it checked out.

The inspection can be the most important step of the entire process. This is where you find out if it is really meant to be. Rarely will the mechanic inspecting the car say yes or no concerning the purchase. You should be given a list of things the car needs now, and will need in the future. With this information you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

Where to go for the Inspection.

The best choice for the inspecting shop is the one you will be using for normal servicing, if you indeed purchase the car. If you have an inspection done at shop A and shop B finds a huge problem one month later, you are going to have a battle on your hands!

When a car gets inspected, the person paying for the inspection owns the information. It does not matter who owns the car. Some people like to split the cost and share the information, and some like to use the information as a bargaining chip. This is, however, something that should be discussed before the appointment is made.

Cosmetic vs. Mechanical

There are many schools of thought on this debate. Since this is my column, you get my personal school of thought. Lets say you have two identical cars that each need $2000 worth of repair. Car A needs a clutch and car B needs the fender straightened and painted. Three years from now no one will be able to tell that the clutch was replaced. A reworked and repainted fender will probably be noticeable. In some cases, with certain colors, it may be painfully obvious.

Age vs. Mileage

Everyone dreams of the low mileage, perfect car sitting in a hermetically sealed bag. In reality, not only doesn’t it exist, but it isn’t what you want either. Low mileage cars are for car show junkies. If you are one of those, that’s great, have fun polishing it. If you plan on driving the car, you want a car that has been driven regularly.

If you buy a car that has been sitting for ten years, you can expect some teething problems. How would you like running a marathon after having been in a coma for ten years?

I don’t even want to run a marathon now!

Care and Feeding

After you have successfully completed the search and acquisition of your new Porsche don’t be discouraged at the fix-it list. Choose and item or two (or three!) at each oil service and within a very short time you will be driving the perfect Porsche for you… whether a 356, a 996 or something in between.

Good Luck