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This thread will be like a blog documenting the work on my 04 CTT. I'll add updates and pictures as I progress. Hopefully you guys can help me with these issues, and down the road this will help others.
I drove it back from Nashville, TN to Jacksonville FL and it seems pretty solid.
The to do list of cosmetic things to fix (pictures to come)
1. Install clear side markers. Done 23 June. What a pain taking the fender liners out! Wish I had yellow LED bulbs on hand; I never want to do that again.
2. Rear seat belt receptacle (seems straightforward). Replaced with new.
3. Carbon fiber trim separating on the doors. I have removed the passenger front from the door and separated the plastic backing from the CF, and am in the process of curing the glue.
4. Ash tray/cigarette lighter outlet is totally hosed.
5. Center armrest top part is not spring assisted and just falls down...is this normal? It locks into place at the "full open." I think this may be normal?
6. Rear center arm rest leather is torn (will replace).
7. Handle for lifting up trunk area floor to get to the spare is broken. I used a tiny torx bit to remove this and reassemble it. It works, but isn't spring loaded. I have to figure out a way to preload the spring when assembling.
8. Cayenne turbo badge needs replacement. replaced, but now the old "Cayenne" badge looks so dull in comparison. Ultimately replaced it too; looks great now
9. Headlights are aimed too high. Self-level is activating, but they are way too high when they level out. Did the wire harness mod where you cut off the tabs, put in one new D1S bulb, and did a lot of aiming. I think the adjustment gears are degraded somehow but I got it in the ballpark.
10. annnd I just broke some fins in the center air vent. Fixed 30 June with a new Porsche unit. Getting the wiring harness out is a PITA because it's so short. The new piece was expensive, like $200 from ECS.
11. sunroof squeaks when sliding (needs lubricant?). I lubricated the tracks but no difference. It only squeaks when the glass moves independently of the inner sun shade.
12. Horn sounds like beaker from the muppets. Meep meep! Low frequency must be out. Low-frequency horn replaced 29NOV2015 while engine was out. Part was about $40
13. Interior dome light out. It's the infamous melting switch...got a t6 torx and stuck a piece of zip-tie plastic under the metal connection tab to reinforce it in place. I hit it with the soldering iron to melt it into the surrounding plastic to get it to stick. I cleaned up the contacts and bent them a bit more. The switch is stiffer now but great contact. I also installed LEDs to reduce the amount of current and heat flowing through the switch.
14. Driver's side aux high beam doesn't work. fixed with the wiring harness mod for better connection 28Sep2015.
15. The steering wheel rubs on the plastic around the steering column. It drives me CRAZY. I removed the plastic around the steering column to discover that one of the screw holes that holds the bottom piece on was stripped. I think this is causing it to hang off the column at a slight angle and rub. For the time being, I am sans steering column trim and enjoying the glorious silence. 7 August: Received a replacement shroud with better locking tabs and threads for mounting screws. Hope that fixes it. Update- it did not. I've been running shroud less for awhile and, while people gawk at it, the silence is blissful. Feb 2017: Took a dremel to the spare shroud and cut off a ton of material. Still rubs some but doesn't squeak. I am honestly stumped by this but at least there is no more squeaking and people won't gawk at it.
16. The "kick panel" above the pedals is hanging down. It looks like there was a bracket for fastening this on the throttle pedal position sensor. It is now broken. I may just remove this panel entirely and zip tie the OBDII port and footwell lamp. Bought a lower-mileage replacement throttle pedal and panel off eBay; replaced 9 Aug.
17. No compass! Apparently mine is an early enough build that it isn't enabled. Looks like I don't have the mag sensor installed?
18. Subwoofer was broken due to water submersion. 7 August: Replaced with eBay woofer that works. The difference is nice when listening to quality music, like off of a CD.
19. Broke the carbon fiber cover for the rear 12V panel on the back of the center console.
20. Nut that holds down the retaining bolt for the donut spare is missing.
21. Headliner fell down. 29NOV15, marky522 removed the headliner, peeled back the separating part (the back half), then scraped off all the foam and re-glued, being careful to stretch it on. There are a few wrinkles on the back edge, but otherwise it looks great. I hope it remains in one piece; if it does, I recommend this repair method. Update Jun 2017: Florida heat working away at the back of the headliner again. It is drooping and I doubt it will survive the summer. Thinking of taking the staple gun to it.
22. Needs new hatch struts. I was told mine were newish, but they don't lift as easily or as high as marky522's. I can actually stand under the hatch on his car (I'm a little over 6' tall), and it basically opens itself as soon as you hit the release switch.
23. Driver seatbelt slow to retract. I had installed the A-pillar covers a little high and they were rubbing the belts. Uninstalling them and putting them back on more carefully fixed the issue.
Mechanical stuff:
1. Starter is on its way out. first couple revolutions or slow and then it cranks fine. So far, it has worked every time. Replaced 30May, works great now!
2. There is a leak on some sort of small line off the bottom of what I guess is called the intake plenum? The black T-shaped piece in the middle very front of the engine bay, right before the air goes into the intake runners. It is pretty wet with oil. I just pushed this fitting back on. I think the oil was from a nearby PCV hose that was cracked. Replaced that.
3. Valve cover gaskets leaking. Replaced 29NOV2015 when engine was out.
4. Plastic tees replaced with factory (didn't have time to get the metal ones) and the ones that came out weren't leaking yet.
5. When the car comes to a stop, the engine bogs down to about 480 rpm and vibrates a bit before returning to a normal idle. Very consistently does this. Still a problem; plan on ordering engine mounts and a throttle body gasket so I can clean the TB. Throttle Body cleaned; no difference. Maybe fuel pumps? 29NOV2015 With new engine mounts, I can't feel this anymore, at all. I haven't looked at the rpms to see if it is still dipping, but seriously I cannot feel the engine running at any point. It is ridiculously smooth compared to before.
6. Under full throttle/boost, sometimes there is a bit of hesitation around the 2500-5k rpm range? I'm going to do some logging with the durametric to try and figure this out. No codes are being thrown so I'm not too worried. This was mostly solved by fixing vacuum/pcv hose leaks. Cleaning MAFs while engine was out and new engine mounts completely eliminated this.
7. The "service now" indicator is on. Gotta reset that when I do an oil change, which I plan on doing pretty much right away. [B]Reset with durametric. Tried the ODO reset trick. The text would come up, but the service message still wouldn't go away. Fixed with durametric.
8. Transmission, transfer case, and diff fluids. Recommendations on fluids? Swepco used on front and rear diff, Redline D4 on transfer case. Mobil 3309 for transmission. Had to leave it at the shop overnight to let it cool off below 40C.
9. Windshield washer reservoir is pretty broken: cap is missing and a mounting tab is broken. Fill neck replaced. Take out the driver's headlight to do this.
10. Coolant drain and flush? What about water pump? Has 122k miles now, probably on the original pump. Water pump replaced. The one that came out was in perfectly good shape and had a build date of 2009. Not original, but at most 6 years old. Coolant expansion tank cracked shortly after and was replaced as well.
11. Parking brake doesn't return when released. I guess the strut is shot. Strut replaced.
12. Driver's side secondary air pump hose connection is cracked. This apparently is not an issue; never threw any codes.
13. Intake plenum cracked. Replaced with new Porsche plenum.
14. HUGE oil leak on driver's side charge pipe. Driver's side charge pipe oring replaced. Engine bay totally dry after this o-ring and the plenum were replaced. This problem keeps returning, even with new orings. What's next, new hose / pipe/ intercooler?
15. Ball joints on front lower control arms have ripped grease boots and are starting to creak. I've replaced the driver control arm twice now I think and the boots just don't last very long at all. Maybe I need to pay big dollars for the Porsche turbo S arms.
16. No tow module. Aftermarket CURT hitch has wires spliced into the brake lights, which works just fine for my brakeless boat trailer. An interesting note is that with the curt hitch, there is no way to install a tow eye in the rear bumper! I intend to upgrade to the OEM tow kit once I save up a thousand bucks. Ebay score! Just received a Porsche hitch, tow module, and wiring harness for about $400! 7 August 2015. Installed and working, with brake controller too.
17. Weird wobbly feeling in steering wheel when going from R to D with the wheel hard over, like the center diff is fighting the car, or drivetrain lash is doing something weird. ATF replacement in the transmission seems to have fixed this, oddly? I think the problem may have been the transmission not "pumping up" hydraulic power when first shifting to D or R with the old fluid. Part of this was also the center universal joint in my original driveshaft was letting go. Colorado driveshaft and ATF solved this entirely.
18. Under hard turning (like serious corner-carving), especially when accelerating, the steering wheel shudders like the inside front wheel is skipping all over. Either a suspension bushing or drivetrain problem. Cause TBD. I need to re-test this now that I have the new driveshaft and engine mounts. I think this was actually engine mounts- possibly the mounts compressing enough so that the engine contacted the subframe under cornering and caused the shudder. This problem is gone now after the new mounts and cardan shaft.
19. Brake booster failure warning. Drove and braked fine. I didn't pull codes, but instead looked for the infamous split vacuum line near the torque strut on the passenger side. Mine was split above the checkvalve. I duct tape and hose clamped it. Parts to be ordered... Duct tape fix no longer working. Replaced with OE parts 29NOV2015.
20. The notorious driveshaft banging. Did the vertex EPS mount and it didn't help. Installed a Colorado rebuilt driveshaft and am extremely happy. The center universal joint of the old shaft hand evacuated all its grease and gotten notchy.
21. Transmission mount was collapsed. Replaced with an OE mount, but I had to use a press and grind a taper into the outer diameter of the mount to get it in. If I were to do this again, I would put the bushing in a freezer and bring it to the shop in a cooler.
22. Windshield wipers broken (18 January 2016). I believe the arms were not properly reinstalled following the windshield replacement, causing the spindles to strip after a light snow. Motor is still turning but making an awful grinding sound. I bought an entire motor/transmission/linkage assembly from DC Automotive; they already had it pulled and on the shelf, thankfully. 19 JAN 2016 Installed junkyard motor, problem solved, but now the driver side wiper is chattering badly. Time to upgrade to the new-style arms...
23. Driver's door switch is broken 15 Feb 2016.
24. Attempted to change rear differential oil seal, messed up gear lash setting, grenaded diff. Replaced diff with junkyard one with way less miles. Shoulda just done that to begin with; was way easier than the seal.
25. Oil seals for the cam actuators replaced.
26. Water pump changed again. The impeller was actually contacting the block and shaving off bits of aluminum. Tons of metal flake in the expansion tank. Replaced the pump and swapped out the coolant best I could. Highly recommend the air lift coolant fill tool.
27. Changed tie rod ends. Steering feel improved significantly.
28. Brake master cylinder replaced Jun 2017 @ 170k miles. Huge improvement in braking. Basically in low range before you had to press the pedal all the way to the floor to keep it from moving and it was difficult to get ABS to engage.
29. Auxiliary water pump changed because it was making lots of noise. I assumed it was damaged from all the metal in the coolant system. Kind of an interesting design to this pump; the impeller seemed okay and I think it would've been fine to leave. The original design features a metal mounting clamp with a thin strip of rubber, all secured with a stud and 10mm nut. The updated piece uses a large EPDM rubber mount and a weird bushing that just sits on the stud. The stud length is insufficient to thread the nut on. I think the new design is meant to provide better sound damping. Either way; the new pump is much quieter.
30. Still getting some popping under heavy loads on the suspension (hard braking, or parking with the wheel hard over). Almost sure it's strut mounts. Planning on install upper control arms and strut mounts sometime soonish.
Updates: parts ordered for water pump, etc. Marky522 is going to help me out with the starter and all that stuff.
I cleared the service now with the Durametric.
I have driven almost 2000 miles now. Good but the starter won't work if you get in and immediately crank. It works, albeit slowly, so long as I turn to "position 1" and wait a second before pressing the brake and engaging the starter.
I purchased a set of stock 18s today. They are in quite good shape. I am considering plasti-dipping them a fun color. I want some AT tires, was thinking BFGoodrich. I think 255/70/18 is too tall from what I've read, I need a 255/65 or 255/60?
Nice. Do I spy side steps? I like the "rock sliders" but not the ones with the integrated side steps. I'm 6'1"; I don't need a running board! Not a lot of rocks in FL though, so not sure I want to spend the money on it.
What's the story with the brush guard? I thought about building one that threaded into the tow hook holes for mounting a winch.
That guard does look good IMO.....on the other hand, if living in Florida (I lived in Tampa for a while) why not just slap some 22's on it with 305/35/22 tires, go that route rather than the rugged route.
Your Mechanical stuff (more important than the cosmetic stuff like clear turn signals):
7. The "service now" indicator is on. Gotta reset that when I do an oil change, which I plan on doing pretty much right away.
- you may get away with doing the steps of hold trip odometer reset while turning key to position 2 (do not start car), you will see 'Service Reset', hit the 'Reset' button on your right stalk. Supposed to work for '04 cars, mine does not.
8. Transmission, transfer case, and diff fluids. Recommendations on fluids?
Mobil 1 or Redline or any high quality fluid. I went Redline for front, rear diffs (75w90) Transfer case uses a different fluid, I used the transmission fluid (d4atf)
9. Windshield washer reservoir is pretty broken: cap is missing and a mounting tab is broken. Gonna replace that.
The reservoir is likely okay. You will only need to replace the upper filler pipe. Mine was the same. Previous owner broke the tab as well. It's cheap so pick up a new one and you'll be all set. Filler Neck and get a cap too.
11. Parking brake doesn't return when released. I guess the strut is shot.
Yep, it's the strut, 10 min. fix, $30 bucks later and the pedal will work without having to reach down and pull it back! Dampner
Thanks for the info on the filler neck! Glad I didn't buy the whole reservoir.
Did an oil change today just to get some "known" oil into it. Used castrol since it's the only local 5w40 synthetic. It does meet the Porsche spec, but I am a Motul Xcess and Joe Gibbs DT40 fanboy.
Someone may have mistaken in-lbs for ft-lbs when they torqued in the oil drain plugs. They put the "crush" in crush washer. Fortunately, no damage done. Oil coming out looked pretty good and the filter was really clean. Got the new hankooks mounted and, other than having a couple air suspension errors when it was put on the ground (despite being put into the service mode first), it eventually sorted itself out without any intervention.
I definitely have some oil leaks towards the top of the engine that have been causing havoc around the charge pipes and a/c compressor. I cleaned it up.
My plan for the driveline is to use some Swepco 75w90 that I already have for the front and rear diff, the "special" mobil (3309 or whatever it is) plus filter for the transmission, and redline synthetic for the transfer case.
I did a turkey baster freshening of the PS reservoir today with pentosin 202.
I tried the in-dash service reset. The "reset service" message came up, but upon restart the car still said "service now." I already had a durametric, which worked first try.
Hard to see, but I'm pretty sure this is a plenum crack. This would explain all the oil I've found in this area. I also have a lot of oil collecting/dripping on the driver's side down by the inter cooler. I think that is something about a charge pipe o ring?
Used the motive to do a brake bleed. Couldn't believe how high I had to jack the front to get the wheel off, even with air suspension disabled. Fluid that came out looked pretty good, but there was no record of when it was done last.
05-15-2015, 10:37 PM
'04 CTT TLC thread
