Polar Peter

I just had the oil changed on mine. Basically 3 hours in labor mostly due to carbon fiber component removal and getting it mounted on the lift. Price was $400 with the filter/fluids at a authorized dealer.

DMin

Peter

Did you really put 15K miles on your car already? Or are you just fanatical about maintenance on your car?

Polar Peter

I bought the car with 280 miles 8 weeks ago. It was originally commissioned in July of 2004. I have the car in for some small issues (check engine light, TC light on occasions, and the battery does not hold a charge) so I decided to get it done while it was in. It has 2,000 miles; an oil change never hurts if it is not inconvenient. But to answer your question YES I am a fanatic. Painful but true

1958 Convertible D

Peter - What did you hear regarding the "check engine light"? In early July I was finishing a track event, and in the last 20 minutes of the day I had the check engine light come on. The car went into "safe" mode, which allowed me to drive home and bring it to my dealership. They said that the sensor was triggered by some random mis-fires, and that it may have been a result of low fuel level, poor fuel, or not fuel related at all. They checked with PCNA, and were told that this has been reported before, but isolated so that they don't consider it an issue. I was back at the track last weekend, and my car ran flawlessly. I took delivery of my car in May, 2005 and have 2,300 miles on it.

Polar Peter

I dropped the car off 3 days ago, they just got it on the lift yesterday since the head technician was out until then. I have no news yet. I will advise once I have some answers but I am not too worried about it since it randomly comes on and off when it feesl like it. I did not have any driving/performance issues resulting from it. My GT3 had a similar situation.

Pyroproblem

Hey guys,Thought I may be able to clear up some questions.
I have been trained by Porsche and am certified to work on the Carrera GT. Let me start off by saying just lifting this vehicle is a real PIA...There are ramps we must set out just to get the car high enough to put on the rack. Then the lower lift point covers must be removed and special lifting blocks must be mounted to the vehicle underside. The the lift arms must be reversed so they will reach the lift points. After the lift is in position,it must be strapped to the lift before the tires come off the ground. It usually takes a bit over an hour just to get the CGT lifted up...

To change the oil,you must remove the carbon underpanels to access the drain plug. There are probably about 150 fasteners that hold the underpanels on and they all must be marked for re-installation due to being diferent lengths. If you put a long bolt where a short bolt goes,you will protrude into the carbon structure and damage it. This can be a VERY expensive mistake. Putting each fastener where it belongs cannot be stressed enough. On top of that,each fastener must be torqued to spec so you dont rip out the threaded insert and damage the carbon...

Valve adjustments are done @ 30k intervals. To adjust the valves, you must remove the engine/tranny. When working on this vehicle,absolute cleanliness and organization is a must. There are no shortcuts unlike working on some other P-cars. By shortcuts, I mean finding ways to deviate from the manual but still perform the task correctly, not being a hack because your too lazy to do it the right way...
At 60k you will need new Helper springs in the front suspension which entails almost complete disassembly of the front. It sounds very invasive, but youd be surprised how relatively easy it is to disassemble the body from the car...
After seeing this vehicle dissassembled, you realize how much of a racecar it really is. It looks like a little spaceship with the bodypanels removed... Ill see if I can find some pics,not sure if Im allowed to post them though...

Polar Peter

Hey Pyro,

Thanks for the very informative post. Would be great to see the car without skin. Having been around many prototypes in the Rolex series, I can imagine that the CGT would look just as awsome naked.

Post those pics, I won't tell on you!!

Nick

Valve adjustment at about 20,000 miles? Any idea on the cost for the service?

fayence

Here some levels of nakedness, from Leipzig recently.

Big E

Guess I'll stop complaining about removing the underbody tray on the 951.

GoFastKindaGuy

Thanks for the Leipzig posts! We were not allowed to take any factory photos except in the engine assembly area in Zuffenhausen. Sweet.

Woodster

the young german talking is the same guy that gave us the tour in march 2004. I touched the
unassembled monocoque and they just about sent the firing squad out. Very organized factory!
"eeef zeees vus your kar you vood not vant sumone taaaching eet"
I was quite embarrassed!
Marty K

pearldrum944

I wasn't sure what language that was at first.
What happens when the car is in "safe mode"?

m21sniper

"Yes it is. Apparently changing the oil is labor intensive"

Assuming a 20qt capacity(no idea what it is really), and a unique filter, parts can't be anymore than $200.00

That leaves about $800 for labor!!!!

LOL....yeah, i'd call that intensive.

Or a flat out RIP OFF taking advantadge of people just because they can afford to be ripped off without it hurting them.

I mean how many hours of labor are we talking here?

God bless you guys, i'd have an annuerism.

Edit: "I just had the oil changed on mine. Basically 3 hours in labor mostly due to carbon fiber component removal and getting it mounted on the lift. Price was $400 with the filter/fluids at a authorized dealer."

OK, that's a LOT more reasonable.

amfp

About $400 for complete oil change is less than I thought. Actually with the sophistication of this fabulous sports car it is only about twice the price of a 993. Plus is only done about once a year. Never thought changing oil and filters on a 993 was easy compared to what was described in the excellent post by Pyroproblem.