New owner of 996 - few newbie questions

Got myself a new (well, '98 ) 996 a couple of weeks ago - absolutely loving it despite it stealing all my petrol money And despite the year, it had a very low genuine milage and in beautiful condition - I got a PPI which threw up a couple of minor things but nothing serious (noisy wheel bearing and a hose deterioration). Like a couple of others, I'd started reading through the horror stories the day before buying and was having major 2nd thoughts, however, I'm happy I took the plunge (as numerous other people have stated, it does happen but it's very much in the minority). So, all good apart from the stupid bi**h who reversed into it yesterday - luckily I was in it and jumped out screaming as she attempted to 'do the off', tiny scratch but I've been told £100 to repair But anyway, my one concern was regarding the oil/ignition timer - from cold this will usually run at 5 seconds but I've noticed on a couple of instances, when I've taken it on the initial leg of a short journey e.g. taken it to petrol station, jump out for fuel, go to restart and the timer will show some ludicrous amount like 7m 30s. I'm assuming it's a glitch? Likewise today, I stalled it in traffic (still getting used to heavy clutch :grin: ) - it was well warmed but showed 45s when I went to restart, which wasn't really an option! On a side note, there's a bit of a squeel for half a second on ingition, just sounds like the fan belt and I'm pressuming not an issue? Oh, and despite the PPI I also noticed that the petrol cap doesn't seem to lock along with the central locking - would that usually be checked?

The oil needs to be at a particular temperature for an automatic reading, so is normal. The 996 has a dipstick still (the 997 doesn't), so you can check via that. The noise on start up sounds like a sticky solenoid or stater motor, which is very common. Not terribly cheap to fix (about £500 IIRC) and a bit of a pig to swap out - have a search on here and you'll see a few reports on it and how to fix it. Cheers.

PS the clutch on the 996 is quite heavy, but not that bad. The PPI report should have given you a health report on the clutch, but that might be a sign it's on the way out.

+1 mine was heavy prior to an engine replacement so while it was out, I slapped in a sparkly new clutch too - much, much better now. I've now managed to do away with the leg brace that I used to use for the clutch pedal!! - free at last, free at last..!!

The "timer" is in place to allow the car to verify the oil is in the correct place for reading. If you have parked up for a while it will be almost instantaneous (5 secs). If you have run the car it will be redistributed and the car will want upto 45 mins etc for the oil to return to the sump chamber for accurate reading. A fully warmed engine (low viscosity oil) will have a quicker calculated return time. However, on filling up the oil sensors will still calculate a forced reading if the oil viscosity is not low enough for a correct reading or refuelling is too fast (ie refuelling within minutes of starting engine and little fuel filled). The forced display will "hold" for 1 minute. This is because even though it may be inaccurate, if you were seriously down on oil you would be best placed (at a petrol station) to refil. If the engine is not fully warmed (88-92 deg and <2bar pressure) it is necessary to revert to the dipstick to get a concensus reading. As suggested, most accurate reading is when engine is fully warmed. The difference between the top and bottom mark of the digital bar chart display is 1.5 litres. You really should aim to top up when no more than two bars have disappeared. Obviously if you drop below the MINIMUM graduation you can/will damage the engine. Also, I wouldn't consider 1.5 litres a "top-up". You would be doing almost 20% of an oil change The bars are 250ml each (prefacelift 3.4) The bars are 200ml each (facelift 3.6) The flat sixes are "fragile" enough, don't tempt fate with lazy lubrication. The squeal would be a loose belt. You need to check if it is old/stretched or just need jockey adjustment. The petrol flap solenoid may be broken. However, more likely is it is stuck. Spray some WD-40 down the locking bolt channel (left side of petrol flap aperture). Use the handy enxtension "straw" supplied by WD-40. Alternate WD-40 with lock/unlock of the C/L until the bolt pops out. Let the first spray dwell for while to act on any obstruction. The locking bolt channel is below/behind the rubber bung circled:

I had the same problem on my petrol filler cover not locking, the pin and mechanism needed changing, only a 30 minute job for an indy and the parts were very cheap.

Thanks all for the info (especially in-depth from Gt4). It's just had a major service, so the oil level is fine, just wanted to check whether 'ignoring' the timer would be harmful. Will try oiling the petrol mechanism, hopefully that will sort it. The squeel doesn't sound like the starter motor, more likely the fan belt just needing a slight tighten so I'll get that checked out. Oh, and the PPI was by a porsche indy - didn't mention specifics about the clutch, other than it was checked and was fine. Probably I'm just not used to the performance clutch, it is literally the first time i'd driven a car of the calibre (never mind owned one!).

The timer is not to stop you driving the car. If you know it has oil, ie you only drove/checked the level a few hours ago, just jump in a drive (obviously let it warm up etc etc) It is advisable to keep an eye on oil levels, but most cars don't have a digital one in the instrument display. On any other car that would mean pulling the dipstick, and I can't see you doing that every time you turn on the ignition.

Ref the petrol cap not locking, it could be the plunger but it could also be that the receiver into which the plunger goes has gone missing or is not correctly seated. It is the black plastic part on the inside of the flap, shown towards top right of the photo GT4 supplied. It slides into place between two metal seats but the retaining piece is a bit weak once the "springiness" goes out of it. Early on I found mine loose inside the flap having fallen out on its own, and had to bend it bit to re-seat it securely.

Filler cap locking mechanism Hi there, I am also a relatively newbie 911 owner after only having my first 996 (C4S) for the last 6 months. I had the same problem, and could hear the solenoid pushing the stem lock through when locking the car, however the filler cap cover wasn't being locked. I found the receiver for the stem had been twisted round by about 45 degrees. I simply turned this and by doing so also tightened it up. Fixed the problem and now locks every time! Hope this may fix your problem. S. :thumb:

The squeel sounds very like a bearing gone in the starter motor. If it happens after start for a sec or 2 every other start it's probably the problem. You can go with this problem for a long time but it'll eventually pack up. As far as I know you can get the starter motor reconditioned for a £100. Best of luck with the 996 ownership, cracking car :thumb: . Baz.