I got to experience what it's like to DROP A CYLINDER on a 996TT. One of the new coil packs I installed came disconnected from the electrical weatherpack. Apparently it didn't seat all the way. Soooo I got to experience the shame of a very unhappy car and a light show of "all the warning lights".

Car is on the lift. #2 on the passenger side was the culprit. I am now an EXPERT at removing and installing intercoolers, since I forgot the heatshields for the coilpacks and had to remove the intercoolers to reinstall those after I got everything else buttoned up on the fenderliners and heat shields. Fortunately I hadn't put the bumper and lights in just yet. Ugh.

 

For a moment did you think you were in a Volvo T5?

 

$h!t happens, glad it was just a loose connection.

 

Drove it today for the first time in awhile and had completely forgotten there was still a vacuum leak.

A vacuum leak in these cars makes them run/drive very rough... and really pisses me off at the moment because I seem to have the attention span of a peanut.

 

In other "fun" news, I also swapped a broken drivers door courtesy light, the coolant cap and then I attempted to swap the serpentine belt. two hours later I gave up. Did I mention I build racecars? A serpentine belt kicked my ***. Mind you, this was all after diagnosing and pulling the intercoolers/fenderliners/bumper/lights, and after putting it all back together. So I was a bit spent and tired, but a serpentine belt? It's the right part number too. I "think" it was getting hung on the bottom of the crank pulley and was sitting on the inside edge of it where I couldn't see it. The old one went on far too easy so it's def. due for changing. I'll attempt it in a day or three when I've not been working on cars for 5 days straight.

So my list for this week ended up being:
New console
New shifter
Drivers side window regulator
coil packs and plugs
coolant cap
courtesy light

I'm going to just drive it for a while. Then... Next up will be that serpentine belt, then ALL the vacuum lines in the engine compartment.

 

Hey mike, I watched this video before and during changing mine, pausing it at each step. Franny is an absolute legend! It took me around 1 hour, with dad helping me.


Hope this helps

 

Hey thanks for reminding me. I am going to send her a note. Her videos are excellent. I saw this one, watched it and it did help, but the belt is really right and one person, by myself, I just couldn't get it. I'll give it another try maybe next weekend!

 

I can't figure out how to attach pdf files here....anyway the serpentine belt instructions from ECS are most helpful, got me through it pretty easily.

 

Same thing happened to me last time I did plugs... A tiny piece of plastic was sitting in the female side of the connector preventing it from seating all the way...

But yes, it definitely up-levels your 996 Turbo skills when you have to R&R the wheels/tailigihts/wheel-liners/bumper/intercoolers/heat-shields *twice* in the same day to fix an un-seated connector.

 

Franny's video is close but the way she de-tensions the tensioner pulley is completely wrong! There's a 15mm nut built into the tensioner pulley, just above the actual tensioner that you use to move the tensioner. Use a breaker bar and it'll swing right over. Replacing the belt is all of a ten minute job.

 

Bought it a playmate...

 

Further explanation requested ...

 

I suspect he is a man of two turbos now...

 

Had some fun playing with my Hunter RF balancer. To experiment, I turned off the "Smart Weight" feature, set the balance resolution to 1 gram precision, ran a quick calibration of the balancer, and re-balanced all four wheels using the 3M Wheel Weight System. Unlike standard tape-on weights which are normally supplied in either 5g or 1/4 oz.as the smallest weight options, the 3M system uses a weight tape that can be cut to the exact balancing weight required. Say the balancer calls for 22g on the inner side of the rim? No problem, you trim the weight to 22g and apply it instead of having a balancer round the amount of weight necessary, typically in 5g or 1/4 oz. rounding amounts where in my example you end up applying a 20g weight (and being off by 2g). BTW, 1/4 oz. = just over 7g, so have your tire shop used gram-based weights if possible. The end result of an "unrounded" balance correction weight in grams being used instead of weight rounded in 5g increments is a very precise balance. I was able to zero out all rims at 1g precision, and the car feels like it's rolling on glass.

 

There are a few of us here with Turbo siblings...

It is kind of awesome... when I get back in the 996 Turbo, I remember just how awesome of a car it is, and when I swap back to the 991 Turbo, likewise!