Hello All,

After around 10 years of not having a 911 I'm now back in a 2006 997 C4S which I bought around a month ago. I am loving the car and hope to own and run it for a long time to come, 911s really are my favourite cars. Anyways, I have a couple of questions which I am hoping you more experienced 997 owners can help with:

1. When I turn the key in the ignition the first position takes to the oil check gauge. There is also a bit of a noise, sounds almost as if I am 'overshooting' the turn and the starter motor is engaging for a split second. Is this noise normal or am I not doing this correctly?

2. When braking the feel is not quite 100% smooth, its almost as if there is a 'step', this is noticeable at lower speeds when coming to a standstill. I know the C4S from 2006 on has a 'pre-filling' feature which is supposed to reduce air between the pads and discs, could it be that this is what I am feeling in action?

Thanks for any replies!

 

122 views and no replies? Come on, you guys must know what happens when you turn the key in your 997s, no?

Or maybe I've not written this well and its a confusing question?

 

Point #1. That sound you hear could be the fuel pump engaging prior to ignition.

No idea about point #2.

 

#1 I think the noise you might be hearing comes from the doors. Mine does this and I can't figure out what it is but it must be something to do with safety. It's not the window going up it is something else. It sounds like the passenger door is locking. I don't ever hear my fuel pump.

#2 The brakes should be supper smooth and linear feeling. Not like my F150 that shoots you through the windshield (Windscreen) when you just touch' the brakes. You should not feel any steps in you pedal. Sometimes if I don't drive my car after washing it I get a little rust on the rotors and I feel that but when it's gone after a couple stops everything is smooth again. I think I'd have those brakes checked out.

 

#1 - I'll have to check next time I start him up. Could be windows etc... Does the car actually engage the starter? Checking the oil is just the one turn clockwise, enough to turn on the dash lights etc...

#2 - Your brakes should feel GREAT. Theses cars have fantastic brakes. It is possible that you need to have the brake fluid replaced if its not been done. I know that's next up on my maintenance for my 2006. Might be best to take it in for a check up. Lots on indi guys over your way.

 

Thanks for the replies. Seems like on point 1 there isn't really a noticeable noise. Maybe I will try and record it next time.

On the brakes the fluid was replaced by the Porsche specialist I bought the car from as part of the sale so I don't think this is it.

Well, I'll give it another couple of weeks and then maybe give the vendor a call to see what he thinks, so far he has been very reasonable so I hope he can clarify the above.

Thanks again.

 

You'd really have to not know your own strength to overshoot the key to the point you temporarily engaged the starter.

I have not been in a 997 so it may be the fuel pump you hear (though I do not hear these in either of my cars: 02 Boxster; 03 Turbo) but more likely as is my experience what I hear is the heater/AC system duct flaps being positioned.

And when I have it enabled, the seat memory being applied.

Both of my cars have auto-climate control but I never leave the A/C on when I shut off the engine. But even so there's still some automatic climate control settings/positions that get refreshed whenever I get in the car and turn on the key, after the car has sat a while since last used.

The Turbo especially makes a bit of a racket when I first turn the key on and it sounds like the noise is coming from the A/C system area.

As for the brake feel... that's doesn't sound like I would expect brakes to feel, even if the brake system had some kind of brake assist feature, something like a pre-loading of the brake system fluid pressure if the system detects a very sudden/quick release of the accelerator as could happen in an emergency braking situation.

I suspect the brake fluid flush/bleed job is not up to snuff and there is still air in the brake system.

But you probably need to get a second opinion -- and an expert/pro's opinion -- regarding the brake feel.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

I suspect what you are hearing when you first turn the key is the airbags charging.

 

After I had my brakes bleed at 25k I could not believe how much better they felt!

 

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. I drove the car again today and was VERY careful when turning the key, the noise was still there but lower than I remembered, it certainly could be the windows, airbag etc. Either way it still seems to me that the ignition barrel is very sensitive.

In terms of the braking again, I need to keep an 'eye' on this as its not consistent, however, from the responses above I take it that anything but non smooth operation isn't normal, so if I can consistently recreate it will take it to have a look at.

 

#1 Mine does this with screeching sound. I think its the fuel pump priming. I dont think its affecting performance so I dont pay much worry on it.

#2 Do a thorough brake fluid purge/bleed (specially if you dont have any recent records that it has been done in the last 2 years) on four calipers. as Zeus993 mentioned above you will never find a car that has as solid feel as Porsche brakes. There's not even a slight play on mine. Feels solid right from the top.

 

I hear a lot of stuff when I turn my key. There's a click that I believe is the disengagement of the steering wheel lock. Then there is a whirr or two. I figured 1 was the fuel pump. There's another that sounds like it's coming from the console... maybe the blower motor for the ventilation system. Maybe a fan in the computer for the PCM? I've never really paid much attention to it. Nothing sounds out-of-the-ordinary to me.

As for the brake issue... I got nothin' for ya, there. I sometimes think my brakes feel a bit grabby right before coming to a stop when they are cold, but nothing like a step-function. I just attributed it to a more aggressive compound than I have in my Accord and my general laziness for not attempting to be smoother.