FRUNKenstein's 2002 996tt

[32wildbilly]

I just made a post over on Rennlist about maintenance costs for an X50 model, and I took the time to go back through my records. If I missed anything, it was something very minor. Figured I'd just copy and paste that post here for posterity:

I bought my '02 996tt X50, which had been tracked quite a bit by the original owner (I'm the 3rd owner) back in September 2015. I've only spent about $10,000 total on maintenance and modifications in the 8+ years that I've owned it. And that includes:
-new tires & rims, General GMax RS summer tires & Flow One Race Spec F2 rims ($1,813 mounted & balanced from TireRack)
-a set of Michelin all season tires as my winter tires for my old rims ($900)
-eRams ($1,659)
-LED taillights ($843)
-LED 3rd brake light & sidemarker lights ($180)
-interior light bulbs changed to LEDs ($50)
-replaced double-DIN head unit with newer model ($800)
-replaced a fugly tall track shift knob it came with for a used carbon fiber stock knob ($250)
-under hood liner for frunk ($209)
-new windshield tint (maybe $300)
-I change my own oil and other light maintenance, so maybe $1,000 for all of that stuff (including a $31 ignition switch)
-new 1.0 bar wastegate actuators ($482 installed)
-I buggered up one of the front calipers when I broke off a bleed nipple (that sounds painful) when bleeding the brake fluid. But, I replaced it with a used caliper for like $600.
-Hit a seam during road re-surfacing that bent both front wheels and needed alignment ($469)
-Picked up a construction screw in the sidewall of a rear tire, so had to replace it ($248)
-Replaced climate control LCD panel ($61).
-Hood struts, engine cover struts and rocker panel cover (all bad when I bought the car) ($306).

Total of all that is $10,170. The car has 71,000 miles on it, and 23,000 of that has been since I bought it 8 years ago. I know I'll have to replace the radiators at some point. But (knock on wood), overall it has been a great car that frankly has been very, very reasonably priced to maintain. Granted, I have a fantastic indy Porsche mechanic and do some wrenching on my own, but I suspect many (most) 996tt owners can say the same.

While that maintenance is a little pricey at least you didn't have to spend $20k+ for a rebuilt engine...so there is that.

[FRUNKenstein]

Well, I've been neglecting the 996tt to focus on the Macans that I've been flipping. And this week it has let me know that it's not happy. First, as mentioned in the Good Week thread, it threw a check engine light with 3 codes: P0172, P0175 and P1109. The car was running fine, so I just cleared the codes. Research indicates the cause may be a dirty throttle, dirty MAF or failing MAF. After clearing the codes, they stayed gone for about 250 miles.

I've had a "twang" in the right front suspension when going over some bumps for a couple of months. Not bad, but noticeable. Probably a bushing or strut mount. My quick troubleshooting didn't reveal any loose bits, so I set an appointment with my indy (RennsportKC) to take a look at it. That appointment was for this morning.

Yesterday, my left front blinker bulb went out. I stopped by Advance Auto and picked up a replacement bulb. Pulled the headlight unit and swapped the bulb (although the old one looked good), and . . . I couldn't get the headlight unit to go back in. Mind you, I've removed and replaced that headlight at least 10 times over the years. I finally got it in place, but it obviously didn't seat back into the plug because none of the lights worked in the headlight unit at that point. Ugh. Last night, I dug into and found some broken plastic tabs on the headlight plug on the car side, and also a broken guide pin on the headlight housing. A few years ago, I got familiar with the Gen 1 Cayenne headlight units, which are very similar, so I used to my experience with that to finally rig it up with a small piece of wood to get it to re-seat properly. So, it got a couple of hours of my time, but at least it's workable.

This morning, as I backed out of the garage, I noticed a loud squeal from the engine bay. As I turned the steering wheel, it got worse, so clearly coming from the power steering system and most likely indicating it was low on fluid. A couple of years ago, I had to add some power steering fluid to the reservoir. Last night, as I was monkeying with the headlight unit, I pulled the cowl cover up and noticed that the clutch hydraulic reservoir was wet. Loss of fluid from the power steering reservoir and overflow of the clutch fluid reservoir are classic symptoms of a failing clutch slave cylinder. So, I've got RennsportKC looking at that.

Next, still on the way to RennsportKC to drop the car off, the check engine light came back on. I assume it will show the same 3 codes. I'll probably find out later today what's going on with these 3 problems (suspension noise, low power steering fluid and check engine lights). If I'm correct on the cause of all 3 items, the damage shouldn't be too bad. Fingers crossed.

[32wildbilly]

Well, I've been neglecting the 996tt to focus on the Macans that I've been flipping. And this week it has let me know that it's not happy. First, as mentioned in the Good Week thread, it threw a check engine light with 3 codes: P0172, P0175 and P1109. The car was running fine, so I just cleared the codes. Research indicates the cause may be a dirty throttle, dirty MAF or failing MAF. After clearing the codes, they stayed gone for about 250 miles.

I've had a "twang" in the right front suspension when going over some bumps for a couple of months. Not bad, but noticeable. Probably a bushing or strut mount. My quick troubleshooting didn't reveal any loose bits, so I set an appointment with my indy (RennsportKC) to take a look at it. That appointment was for this morning.

Yesterday, my left front blinker bulb went out. I stopped by Advance Auto and picked up a replacement bulb. Pulled the headlight unit and swapped the bulb (although the old one looked good), and . . . I couldn't get the headlight unit to go back in. Mind you, I've removed and replaced that headlight at least 10 times over the years. I finally got it in place, but it obviously didn't seat back into the plug because none of the lights worked in the headlight unit at that point. Ugh. Last night, I dug into and found some broken plastic tabs on the headlight plug on the car side, and also a broken guide pin on the headlight housing. A few years ago, I got familiar with the Gen 1 Cayenne headlight units, which are very similar, so I used to my experience with that to finally rig it up with a small piece of wood to get it to re-seat properly. So, it got a couple of hours of my time, but at least it's workable.

This morning, as I backed out of the garage, I noticed a loud squeal from the engine bay. As I turned the steering wheel, it got worse, so clearly coming from the power steering system and most likely indicating it was low on fluid. A couple of years ago, I had to add some power steering fluid to the reservoir. Last night, as I was monkeying with the headlight unit, I pulled the cowl cover up and noticed that the clutch hydraulic reservoir was wet. Loss of fluid from the power steering reservoir and overflow of the clutch fluid reservoir are classic symptoms of a failing clutch slave cylinder. So, I've got RennsportKC looking at that.

Next, still on the way to RennsportKC to drop the car off, the check engine light came back on. I assume it will show the same 3 codes. I'll probably find out later today what's going on with these 3 problems (suspension noise, low power steering fluid and check engine lights). If I'm correct on the cause of all 3 items, the damage shouldn't be too bad. Fingers crossed.

When it rains it pours...
Hope the "damages" are low. If my memory serves the car has been relatively good to you since purchased.

[FRUNKenstein]

When it rains it pours...
Hope the "damages" are low. If my memory serves the car has been relatively good to you since purchased.

Well, I got the car back yesterday, and it's driving much better. The creaks & groans from the front suspension are gone. Also, the clutch take-up from a dead stop is much better.

Basically, my indy replaced the clutch slave cylinder, both front strut mounts, both front wheel bearings, the right front strut bearing and all 4 front axle boots. That clutch slave cylinder replacement is no fun - glad to pay to have that done. After reading a DIY on it, it involves things like:

"Remove the hydraulic pressure accumulator. There is no space for a regular wrench up in there so I purchased a 27mm wrench, cut it in half and ground it down to make it thinner." and

"To disconnect the high pressure feed line I had to slightly bend my 14mm flare nut wrench." and

"It is not possible to push the clutch slave and thread the bolts in with one hand so Porsche recommends removing the starter and pushing the clutch slave in with one hand from the passenger side while threading the bolts in with the other hand."

The total bill wasn't cheap ($3,280.47), but given the number of parts replaced and work done, I was happy to pay the bill. He actually gives me a significant discount off list price on parts (as opposed to up charging on top of list price like some do). My indy is the best.

[FRUNKenstein]

Switched over to the winter wheels & tires last night. I bought a couple of wheels hangers last month that you screw into the lug bolt holes. They really make it easier to get wheels back in place.

My low oil light came on, so I added about half of a quart. I have 14 months and about 3,800 miles since my last oil change, so I'll probably stretch it out until spring before changing the oil & filter.

[FRUNKenstein]

Swapped the summer wheels back on March 25th. I got an add oil message a couple of days ago. I think it’s about time for an oil change anyway.