jim010

We have a Zenith Blue 1999 Carrera 4

I am just going to start a new thread to ask all my questions instead of having a new thread everytime.

First off a little about me.

I am a Mustang guy (sorry guys). I have had a few over the last several years and currently drive a 2012 GT coupe glass top and a 2005 GT convertible and had them from new. I also had 4 Mustang IIs (I get ridiculed a lot for those cars...). I love modding them and have done extensive interior modding to both of these cars. In many cases, I was the experimenter. If you are a Mustang guy like me, you can check out everything I contributed to the Mustang community over at The Mustang Source. I never considered a Porsche - not my thing.

So why a Porsche? It is my wife's dream car and has been for a long time.

I didn't know this. She always had a new SUV and would trade it in every 4 or so years to get a new one, so she had the sensible family car while I had my toy car. Little did I know she wanted one too.

Last summer I bought a new Golf GTI so I could garage my Mustang in the winter, and my wife would use it in the summer. She feel in love with driving it (it really does handle well. Made me realize how crappy my Mustang handles and 'forced' me to get stiffer springs and Koni yellows to improve my Mustang!). But this wasn't enough. So she let it slip that she would love a Porsche.

OK. So we started looking, did the research on the problems with 996s and 997s (holey crap these cars have problems!!). I got scared, but these cars are old enough that there are solutions out there. Found a car she loved, did the PPI (Porsche said it was a great example, but the front strut mounts were toast) and bought it. Then it lost half its coolant 2 days after purchase. Boy was I happy ... We towed it back to Porsche to a stunned technician. They gave me 20% off parts and labour at least.

She has come up with a list of mods she wants to do to her car already (She came up with this on her own after researching on the internet and advise from me. Never knew she was such a car girl.):

get 5 spoke Carrera II rims with all season tires
change out interior panels to leather panels
get DCTMS steering wheel with the AMG Mercedes paddles (I did this to my Mustang using Tim Stone's transmitter for his Chrylser 300 mod)
get Boxster shifter with the crest
get the Boxster silver door grab handles
get upgraded E bake with wood handle and silver trim - paint handle piano black
paint some trim in car piano black
relocate spoiler button to dash
find a use for the second blank out button on the dash - garage door using the Targa button
convert blank out buttons on centre console to USB ports
get mid cushions from a cabriolet for the rear seats

My list (even though it is her car) is preventative repairs and change out the cluster for the gen 2 cluster. Hate that gen 1 cluster. I also thought of adding ambient lighting. The 2007 - 2009 Mustangs have changeable ambient lighting that is on a separate module. I could put that in her car and use the 'footwell' light button that goes in the dash from gen 2 cars as the button for this.

jim010

Now I have already asked questions about the cluster, and am working on that now, and refurbishing a shifter ****.

My question for the day:

When I was driving the car home from purchase, there was NO heat at all from the HVAC. I forgot to ask the Porsche guys when they had it, but in I would like to start doing my own repairs on this car like I do to my Mustang anyways. Now the other day it did give me some luke warm air despite it being on the hottest setting.

Is this as warm as it gets in these cars or is it my thermostat that is toast? Or maybe a blend door?

808Bill

It might be, maybe...?

charlieaf92

I'd hold off on relocating the spoiler button. When you first get the car it seems like something you're going to use all the time - in reality you probably won't. Regarding the other blanks on the dash, take a look at the garage door opener mod some people do. The targa top button icon looks a lot like a garage door and you can wire it into your opener to have a convenient toggle on the dash to open/close the garage. Thats currently next on my list of upgrades.

charlieaf92

It should put out heat - these cars generate a ton of heat. Are your temp readings normal? Do you hear a fan running for the blower? It could be something related to the actuator that diverts air over your heater core not working properly. But, since you just had all of your coolant dump and be refilled I'm leaning towards air in the system. It sounds like it needs to be burped.

Mark I

What was the issue that caused the coolant loss?

jim010

That's not a bad idea, Charlie. I will add it to the list.

She just wants all blankouts to have a purpose.

Seems strange to me that a car when new was $80 000 but still uses blank outs like a cheap Kia. Sorry, but that bugs me.

jim010

The Air/Oil separator failed. Everything else looked good according to Porsche mechanic.

Just strut mounts and the heat now.

jim010

Temp reading are normal. Fan is definitely working, just blowing luke warm air at best. I thought of air in the line - but discounted it since Porsche said they already did this 3 times to ensure no air. I suppose it couldn't hurt for me to do it.

Yes, I thought the blend door to be a likely candidate too. Just wanted to confirm that these cars actually do produce heat for the cabin. First thing's first, then. I will have to find a way to check the blend doors.

charlieaf92

If you're going to be doing work yourself, check out Durametric. Its a diagnostic tool that plugs into the OBD2 port and gives you some really great features. I'm pretty sure you can actuate the solenoids for the blend valve with it and just 'listen' for it to move while the car isn't running.

charlieaf92

You'd think so... I haven't dealt with Porsche service departments yet, but based on my experience with other brands I've found assuming they do it right isn't always wise. If they just replaced your AOS and did a coolant fill, it may be a good idea to take it back to them. At the very least they should be able to tell you what the problem is.

jim010

I was thinking of picking up a diagnostic tool. I also may need something to be able to do coding. I'll check it out. Thanks Charlie!

jim010

It had no heat before I took it in, btw. On the phone, they thought it to be the thermostat.

fpb111

fpb111