Dave, I just checked with an Amports supervisor at the Port of Benicia on the Crystal Ray.
They said it's not supposed to arrive until the 29th.

 

Crystal Ray passed right by my expected port of call (San Diego, was scheduled before Benicia and due on the 24th)...

https://stenaglovis.com/app/uploads/...nsatlantic.pdf

 

you are too kind - thank you for the update - I was going from the ETA published on marine traffic.com which said it's today @ noon - but I would expect they have a booked berthing slot - so I guess the boat will hang out there until the 29th {sigh}

I appreciate the data - thanks.

 

Wow. As a former coworker of mine would say at times like this: "The Plot Sickens!" As they say, you couldn't write a script like this. Hopefully, they will have changed out the upper portion of the oil filler neck at the factory so your car won't be held up at the dealership (or worse the port) waiting for the parts and a fix. If they dropped the engine to thoroughly clean the engine and engine compartment, that would have been a good time to apply the fix as there is not much access from outside the vehicle. Please share the details of the fix. I've never thought about how and where that oil filler neck goes once it drops out of sight in the rear engine compartment. It seems like they can't just get the strongest guy in service to yank it out of there and shove the redesigned part into place.

This is bringing back memories of trips to car washes with a can of Gunk and rubber bands and Saran wrap to keep the distributor dry while steam cleaning the engine. (I am dating myself - again.) On a related note, my GT3 arrived with the oil level showing halfway between "full" and "add" and I only had about 13 miles on the odometer at delivery. (The difference top to bottom per the owner's manual is 1 liter/1.06 quart, and for track use, the manual suggests being at 75% of that range.) The service advisor said that several cars had come in with that fill level because recently, owners were getting an "oil overfill" warning on the dash, so the cars were shipped with oil below the "full' mark.

This got me thinking about how a half-quart low is in relation to the overall crankcase capacity, and I found this via Google from a Rennlist thread:
Total Engine oil quantity for Brand new engine (not oil change):
Filling capacity 8.1 Liter (Oil Change volume will be a little less - guessing 7.1L, but I will confirm this later) [Separately some have said that for oil changes, only 4.1 L is removed. Hmmmm - worth asking about.]

It is incredible how difficult this kind of info (and transmission gear and diff ratios) is to find in the manual or "Good To Know", aka "Maybe Better If You Don't Know" if it's even there to begin with. It could be that GT3s will follow with a filler neck recall, but I have an airbag reprogramming field action to take care of first. For now, I'm not allowing sneezing or coughing in the car to prevent triggering the airbag.

In the business I was in, we talked about the "sentinel event", that initial report from the field that suggested that there was something wrong with a product. You, David, might have been that sentinel event and signaled the need for a redesign that will prevent issues with future builds. I hope that you will have the car in your possession soon and can begin the seemingly endless break-in period. All the best. We're rooting for you! All the best.

 

to be 100% clear - I have no idea - this is just my creative imagination going wild - but it does seem co-incidental - so I thought I'd throw it out there…

what I do know is my car is due for the oil filler neck in addition to the normal PDI process…according to my local service manager who knows how excited I am for the vehicle - and that it's on it's way - so he pulled the to-do list for the VIN and found:

• airbag recall - not needed - which means porsche either did it in germany or it was never necessary
• bose amplifier software update - not needed - which means porsche either did it in germany or it was never necessary
• oil filler neck replacement - porsche's internal service VIN tracking indicates this is necessary on my vehicle/vin prior to customer "release" - service manger has pre-ordered the part (apparently it is in limited supply) in anticipation of my vehicle's arrival - but porsche pushed back saying they knew the vehicle was not yet "released from port" and Service Manager 'reminded them' of my 'story' and they agreed to release the part to avoid "further delays for Mr. [Last name here]"

there are no further "fixes" required beyond normal PDI -but that is also assuming no shipping damage - my buddies touring had a broken rear view mirror mount which required a new mirror and windshield - ordering 2-3 days - install +1 day and +1 day for "curing" of the windshield glue…

below is the list of "internal fixes" required prior to release of my buddies touring - this is just FYI - but is the sort of report service pulls when doing PDI on a vehicle - my buddies car had 3 items (as you can see) my RS apparenlty only has 1 item on it's list…



I appreciate everyone following my story - _IF_ my theory is correct (for which I have no way to ever find out if my theory is true) - then it is true I "took one for the team" cause it lead to this "improvement" to all affected 911's…

 

some dates:

• Manufacturing complete: 05/25
• Arrived at Leipzig for euro delivery: 06/07
• car sits "idle" and "ignored" until 08/30? (08/29??)
• "problem" discovered: 08/30
• departs for german port: 10/15'ish
• on a boat 10/21

so Porsche has been possession of a "completed" vehicle since May 25th - but their possession was "passive" until 08/29 - after 08/30 they were "working" on the vehicle - now I'm not sure what specifically was wrong with my car - Porsche so far has refused to disclose that information - and I have no belief they were working on it the entire time - but they had access to the vehicle for diagnosis and repair from 08/30 until about 10/15 - so what was done to the vehicle during that period is a mystery…but it's been out of their control since about 10/15 (shipping).

 

84 miles from my house - sitting idle…based on information provided by @Diablo Dude looks like 2 more days when it moves to the benicia berth to disgorge it's cargo which should include my vehicle - after that I'm estimating a D6x3 roll for number of days for release from port - and then another D4x2 roll for PDI @ the dealership…

we're getting close

I am historically SCUBA certified, and I think I can find my wetsuit - hmmmm - anyone wanna join me for some frogman activity to break out a GT3 RS? How hard could it be? Now that would be "fluid entering the motor compartment"…

 

This is taking way too long man, so I hired this RS recovery team. Trustworthy, you'll have your car in no time.

 

thanks!!! This was funny!

 

Crystal Ray is docked @ Benicia - according to tracking website it was about 4 am local time it was moored - ship should depart in less than 24 hours - leaving behind the RS…

then we just have to get it on a truck and released from port.

 

Very exciting - good luck - hope that it goes quickly from here..

 

FWIW: I just had my first oil change at 3,420 miles and 3.8 quarts of oil were removed.

I was also told by my service manager who has motorsport experience (during a long discussion) that the low to high range on the oil level gauge is progressive.
In other words, although the difference between low and high is 1.06 quarts, halfway is not half a quart. In any event, I've never filled my car above the 3/4 mark and have never poured in more than 8 oz at one time when adding oil via my trusty "ratio-right" from the 1970's which I used to make sure that I had the right ratio of 2-stroke oil added to my gas for my motocross bikes.

In fact, they still make them today and are pretty handy!
$6.99

 

Great to hear Dave!

My ship (Glovis Clipper) came in around 2AM and I drove out in the morning to watch them unload cars.
I was tracking it and it took 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach the dock after having lined-up in front of the Golden Gate.

The longshoreman arrived in the parking lot around 10AM and they started taking them into the ship via large passenger vans about 20 minutes later.
Cars started rolling off out the back around 10:30 AM. There is a small Southern Pacific freight yard in front of the dock and these ships make those locomotives look like "toys"

Had rain come in around 2AM but it is clearing now as I type.
All the Best!

 

Are you waiting for something too?

 

Besides waiting for Santa?
A Macan GTS.