3LLS

Hello

A long childhood dream was to own a Porsche 911. My father had a black 944 and silver 89 911 silver special edition carrera so you could say that Porsche is in my blood. As a new owner I want to be sure to drive and care for the car to the best of my ability.

The Car: I found an 02 996 TT manual in Seal Grey Metallic with black interior with 27k miles.

Help Needed: Advice from owners on short and long term upkeep (things to keep in the garage etc), any issues to keep an eye out for, and general Porsche ownership advice!

My first miles with the car have been a thrill. I am excited to be a part of the Porsche family and look forward to many fun years to come. I live in Pittsburgh and would be open to share notes! Thanks all

Shadetree930

Always best to use a battery tender when car is not in daily use.

rmc1148

My best advice is to read past posts and educate yourself as there are as many opinions as facts when you come to a forum. Maintenance as with any car is the key, does your car have records? If not do all fluids and change plugs/coils. Keep on a tender= hard on batteries. Read read read.

3LLS

Thank you Shadetree and RMC. Seems like a tender is something I need and am certainly going to confirm all fluids/filters/records are up to date.

Shadetree930

On average, most 996 owners end up adding oil (1qt) every 1,000 miles.

It's normal consumption. Nothing to worry about.

JC Lacayo

There is no dipstick. Avoid that first, brief moment when you're thinking, "what the hell!?"

Last930

They're pretty great cars; those that drive them frequently seem to have fewer problems in my opinion. Drive and enjoy it!

Shadetree930

Good point. Get it out on the road and drive it regularly.

I try and get mine out once a week to get it lubed up and nice and warm (hmmm ... that sounds kind of odd when talking to a bunch of guys).

soltino

To a bunch of gals, too.

tino

DaveCarrera4

I am not sure that is average. My '02 does not use any oil. But I only put 3 or 4k miles per year and change annually.

"02996ttx50

wow really!? mine has always gone thru 1qt per 1k miles but seems to have actually diminished since i finally went 5/50.

32krazy!

slave and accumulator will fail. not if but when.
coolant lines will fail. not if but when
if you have hydraulic spoiler the rams will fail. not if but when
if you have a time when 2nd gear pops out on decel then 2nd gear popout has raised its ugly head.
carbon fiber interior tends to crack and peel over time.
boost leaks are already there you just haven't found them yet! do a proper boost leak test and replace every vacuum line and rubber hose you can get to.

other than that these cars are pretty reliable. i use single electrode copper plugs. cheap and i change them every oil change. boosted cars need good spark and copper is the best conductor. all the double triple quad tipped plutonium , titanium, mega whatever plugs are crap. if you have over 50k miles change the coils out. most likely the diff and trans oil hasn't been changed. order it from lufteknic.com and change it.

Dock

Since going to 5W50 my oil consumption has gone from ~1k miles between adding 1 qt of oil, to ~1.8k miles between adding 1qt of oil.

BUTZI996TT

32Krazy explained the highlights, another thing to watch for would be wheel bearings, strut mounts (front) and the usual wear items. If you have specific questions or if you ever need anything feel free to contact me info@butzigear.com | www.butzigear.com

Cheers and congrats on the Turbo!

David

Macster

I don't have a garage to keep anything in. I just keep a quart or two of oil in the trunk to top up the oil level if it needs topping up between 5K mile oil/filter services. Generally I have to add a quart in 5K miles.

The Turbo is just a car so you need to keep an eye out for anything, for any sign of a pending problem, that a car can develop. Leaks are probably at the top of the list, most common.

Since the car is new to you you have to keep a sharper eye on vital fluid levels until you get a bit more comfortable with the car. But even then you can't let your guard down.

Obviously you check for leak sign where you park the car.

When driving the car you look for any signs of overheating or an anomalous reading from the voltage gage or the oil pressure gage.

If you smell anti-freeze that's a sign there's leak in the cooling system and you should id the source and have it addressed pronto.

When you service the car or have it serviced always check out the underneath of the car for any leak sign. Any hose, hose fitting, hydraulic line and fitting, seal, gasket or plug or whatever is a candidate for a leak.

The biggies are the water pump, RMS, the coolant hoses/fittings at the block, the hydraulic spoiler rams, the tranny/diff seals and don't forget the front diff seals! The radiators, too, all 3 of them can spring leaks.

Learn where the body water drains are and keep them free of trash.

Keep the radiator ducts likewise free of trash. These cars are essentially vacuum cleaners with the front fans running and suck up anything that gets close to the radiator duct openings.

Uneven rear (or front) tire wear can be a sign of bad alignment. With a proper alignment and judicious use of the throttle I can get 20K+ miles from the rear tire and double that from the fronts.

If you have a garage in which to park the car a good battery maintainer might be a good thing to have and use.

Be sure you do all the vital fluid servicing when due on either time or miles. Remember plugs are due on miles or time and even on miles don't last that long.

Brake fluid flush/bleed every 2 years is a must.

I like to do a coolant replacement every 4 years or so. While Porsche states the coolant is lifetime it loses its additive package and can't fight corrosion as well as it does when fresher. While the block/heads won't "rust" through there are a number of much thinner walled coolant passages in the cooling system and one wants to minimize any degradation of these due to corrosion. Besides there is the water pump and its seals which benefit from the additives in the anti-freeze to help prolong the water pump's life.

Remember too there is a lot of coolant and oil and a lot of engine to warm up and it can take some time to warm up fully so be sure the engine is fully up to temperature before giving it the whip.

And remember to let the engine idle some before shutting the engine off. This is covered in the owners manual.