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YOUR RESEARCH135k road trip prep
Leading reported evidence
Replace aos, & done misc service
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Changed all fluids, replaced AOS, & done misc service.
Leading evidence: 'Replace aos, & done misc service' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check drive belt pulleys and the belt itself' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Changed all fluids, replaced AOS, & done misc service.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I know the coolant reservoir has been replaced recently, but no receipts for the water pump...
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Suggestion
Aside from what has been mentioned, I'd check all the drive belt pulleys and the belt itself.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
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0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
29 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261027T064914Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I'm in dreaming mode right now. Planning a 2025 road trip from MN > Black Hills SD > Yellowstone > Boise ID > San Fran > down PCH towards LA all the way to San Diego > Phoenix > Tucson > Grand Canyon > Million Dollar Highway in CO > Misc colorado roads back to Minneapolis.
I've owned my car for about 10k miles. Changed all fluids, replaced AOS, & done misc service.
What maintenance would you want to do before an epic road trip?
Consider this as a car with basic maintenance done to date...
Sorry, I updated the post to consider the car as one with "basic" maintenance done.
This is a 2025 trip plan so I'm just looking for a list of things to do, & why so I can start researching them prior to the trip.
If it helps, I'm SUPER handy. Can fix nearly anything & carry a full tool kit with me on trips like this.
I did a 9200 mile trip from Tn to CA up to Seattle and back across the northern US last Sep-Oct. Great trip! My wife and I built a new 4.0 motor for our 02 C4 cab just before the trip.
I'm jealous even before you start posting pictures during the trip. I also recently drove across the country in my 996. The car was fantastic. Super comfortable all day between 75 and 90. Me and the trucks in the morning. The engine seemed to run better after the trip.
Take a close look at your hoses. Some of them have plastic tees for a 3rd hose to connect. One of mine had some splits in the plastic. It looked like it would fail any day. Make sure to carry enough extra liters of 'your' oil. Get one of those jumper batteries, small airpump, and tire plugging kit. And go! If needed and timing works, I can offer a place to change your oil. I'm 30 miles outside of San Francisco.
Dan, sounds like a great road trip. Comes in handy that you are a DIY guy in prep as well as for the trip.
I would take a look at all of the maintenence items you have done including parts that you replaced and figure out what you should probably replace that could give you a problem when you are in the middle of nowhere that could create a difficult situation.
In addition to tires and brakes, examples would be headlight switch (been there with no lights), ignition switch, cooling system, power steering, sensors, belts, you get the idea. Some of these things are small and you can just throw in your frunk as a JIC, others like cooling lines, power steering lines, water pump, oil filler tube, etc probably should be fresh on the car to eliminate any pita situations. Yep, have fresh light bulbs.
You know the 3 main catastrophic failures, IMSB, Water Pump and AOS, so make sure you have a fresh OEM water pump, LN IMSB and UAOS Track on the car.
Importantly, you will be trekking thru canyons at varying elevation changes. If you are using the OEM AOS, you will most likely find that you will need to run it at a lower oil level thru the hills due to smoking which is sub optimal for lubrication and oil consumption. So you may want to consider getting the UAOS track on the car, and fill your oil up to full or above full by 1 qt.
It will pay to map out porsche dealerships along the way if you need parts quickly.
Lastly, consider getting a Durametric if you dont have one.
Enjoy the trip!
Awesome, thanks for all of the suggestions everyone! This will be a lot of planning as I don't just have to plan the route, but I have a bunch of other logistics as well.
I have a 6 year old son that I have 50/50. I will also be coordinating my girlfriend who will fly out & drive sections with me, and my son for parts of the trip.
I have clients all over the West coast so I'll be doing meet & greets with various clients as well.
Step 1 will be planning the route out. As I plan, I'll share my route so you call can offer suggestions...
Right now, working on Wyoming routes! I friggen love Wyoming!
Love to see this. Aside from what has been mentioned, I'd check all the drive belt pulleys and the belt itself. I had a stupid pulley get me stranded 3 miles from home. Since this is a 2025 road trip, I'd start putting together a list of all the things and start tackling it little by little. It sounds like you're mechanically savvy so bring along a toolbox with most common tools. It's basically one of those situations where if you bring a rain coat it won't rain and as they say "future success is dependent on prior preparation" so it sounds like you're on the right track. It would be a great idea for you to start a thread covering all the prep you did and document the trip itself. I've seen these threads pop up in the past and always love seeing the 996 getting used. They're such an amazing road trip car.
Sounds like an awesome trip! You put on your list to check if PCH is still closed or not just south of Big Sur. It�s still worth driving as much of highway 1 south as you can, and then turning around, detouring back to up to 101 and down and around to rejoin 1 around Cambria.
-Dennis
100% agreed. I always bring a more than ample tool kit with me. For years of my life, I spent some time daily reading the epic ride report sections of ADVRider.com so I love people sharing their trip stories. I think the hardest part will be the wait!
Oh seriously? It's still closed??? What is the anticipated timeline to be back open? I've driven the PCH a handful of times in the past but never in a porsche!
Coolant reservoir after 5 years...? Why on earth would you jump the gun on coolant reservoir replacement or water pump replacement prior to leaking/failure because of a road trip?
Do you replace your IMS prior to every trip to the grocery store?
Two types of parts.
(1) Those that will eventually fail and you can drive to the grocery store after they do fail and are just a PITA because they leak slowly and will need to be replaced.
and
(2) Those that will eventually fail and they end up costing you $20-40k on the drive to the grocery store.
Both are preventable. While #1 is just an inconvenient PITA when failure occurs, #2 is a major Pain In The Wallet. No reason to subject yourself to either on an extended road trip with family. Unless you really like adventure.
Unfortunately yes! There have been multiple cycles of damage and repair. The last section that is damaged is currently scheduled to re-open "late fall" so hopefully you're good for next year.
mercury news article
Spoken like someone with a real fountain of knowledge.
Just offering a little advice from a longer term 996 owner. If you ever change a coolant reservoir you will understand why it should be done as a preventive,
scheduled task rather than an emergency one!
Good luck with your Porsche ownership.
haha, good catch. I didn't give much thought to the title & now I don't know how to change it. The road trip will likely be 5-6000 miles. A lil more doable
I�m just kidding. Your subject is actually appropriately named. The great thing about these cars is that they are reliable. I took my car for a quick 600-mile trip two months ago and suffered a flat tire, but I was able to change to the donut spare in about 10 mins.
In the passenger seat (I was alone).
I was supposed to put the front tire on the rear (which was flat) and put the donut on the front, but I put the donut on the rear.
I�ve been able to fit my rear (18x10, 265/35/18) in the frunk on the two occasions it became flat.
I also put my donut on the rear, and putted around slowly. But it�s wiser to stick the donut up front, and move the front to the rear.
I tried to put my 18x10, 265/35/18 in the frunk but couldn�t close the frunk (99 C2). It was close. It does look possible, but I couldn�t figure it out.
Update on this. I'll slowly be working on maintenance & prep for this trip.
I've searched & can find threads on water pump replacement. I've found threads on
flushing the coolant
&
best water pump.
I plan to replace the water pump, thermostat & probably do my HVAC foam in the same project time. What else would be good to replace during this service?
Just watched this, super helpful! Looks like I may be tackling this job as well as my heater core foam in a few weeks.
I'll probably flush my power steering fluid also if I have time...
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