New to 996 - oil filter, now with oil pressure sensor Q

BLUF: if I remove the oil filter does it dump a lot of oil or just what�s in the filter canister? longer story: My experience up until now has been with air cooled 911s� but I live in the south and the air conditioning sucks in the older cars and I wanted something a bit cheaper and more comfortable to start driving daily. To that end I bought a �02 996 with 40k miles. As far as I can tell nothing has ever been done with the IMS bearing and that is on the to do list. The oil hadn�t been changed in a while so first thing I did was change the oil and thoroughly inspect the filter for the pile of metal shavings I was halfway expecting given what I had read on various forums. It was clean but I want to start checking the filter maybe every few hundred miles or so until I figure out the IMS. What I don�t know is if I unscrew the filter canister without draining the oil if it will dump oil beyond jsut the capacity of the canister� like I said I�m new to the 996 so forgive me for such a basic question.

Just what is in the oil filter canister. Make sure you have a new filter ready to go.

If you are going to keep an eye on things by looking carefully at the filter, you may want to get the magnetic drain plug to catch anything else: Billet Stainless Steel Magnetic Drain Plug for Boxster, Cayman, 911, Panamera, & Cayenne Models (18 x 1.5) That being said you want to replace the IMS bearing before it starts failing. After it fails is too late because if bits of metal are in the filter, they are likely everywhere else as well. If the car hasn't been run in a while, like you say, you should consider replacing all the fluids. When you replace the IMS bearing, because you will have the transmission removed, you may as well put in a new clutch, flywheel and upgrade the AOS to a UAOS. A new water pump will also be on your list.

Fortunately I was able to pick up a magnetic drain plug from my local auto parts store when I changed the oil this weekend. My basic plan of attack is something like this� drive the car for a few months carefully monitoring oil and listening for anything that could indicate impending doom. During that time I�m going to be getting a better idea if I wanna do the IMS bearing (and probably clutch, RMS) myself or take it to a shop to have done. Closest to me looks like NOLASport in New Orleans. They seem to have a good rep but I�m open to any suggestions for an independent shop between Pensacola and New Orleans. As far as doing it myself I have a QuickJack that I use with my air cooled cars, this 996 is just a little more intimidating with a lot more electronics and stuff I�m not used to. Bought a Bentley manual and 101 projects book as both have been useful with older cars. Fluids are going to get changed in the next few weeks, it�s mostly a matter of figuring out what I need to buy, if it�s some special proprietary fluids or something I can pick up at the local auto parts store. Other than a trip to the gas station and some laps around the block this weekend to warm the oil up to change today is the first time I have really driven the car. I�m just sorta trying to get a feel for how things seem to be working before I start messing with anything So far so good. I looked at the water pump replacement in the 101 projects book and it seems relatively straightforward. I�m just curious what the signs of failure are. I can�t say I have ever had one go bad on any of my other vehicles. I have replaced them just because I was in there doing other things like timing belts but it was a preemptive thing. On edit� it looks like about what I would expect for a water pump issue. Unless it starts showing any issues it�s gonna be on the list to do this winter when things have cooled off a bit along with a lower temp thermostat.

Quotes source post: 20097417

+1.

Forgot earlier� the oil pressure sensor is a bit flakey. After searching and finding a few threads on the subject it looks like a relatively common and straightforward fix. I did pull the wires and wiped off the contacts which seemed to reduce the amount it was dropping out by quite a bit. Not terribly worried about driving it as 95% of the time it works and shows pressure rise and fall as expected, but will be fixing it whenever I get around to getting another order from Pelican. I guess the only real question I have is if I should get the Porsche sensor or if there is some other brand that should be considered?

A failure of the water pump on this car has the potential to destroy the engine. That's not the case with water pumps on almost any other car. There are two types of pump impellers; composite and metal. The impellers can break off and lodge inside the cooling channels in the engine and cause hot spots that can damage the engine. If the water pump bearing wears, it can allow the metal impellers to carve a slot in the engine block. If you don't know when it was replaced or what the impellers are made of, you should replace it with the water pump with one with composite impellers..

Quotes source post: 20097848

Thanks� That�s good to know, just from perusing some threads it looks like the water pumps often go around the 70k mile point so it�s gonna go on the �to do� list for this winter.

Quotes source post: 20097916

Replace every 5-7 years is a good rule. No need to get cracked heads if you can easily prevent it. Same for upgrading your IMSB to Solution or Retro, as well as AOS to UAOS. Three no brainer items that will prevent alot of headaches.

Quotes source post: 20097780

Here, I'd stick to Genuine or OEM/OES (companies that supply Porsche).

I didn't know about the UAOS when I recently got my car and did the IMS, AOS and water pump. How long should my replaced AOS be good for?

Quotes source post: 20098996

Congrats on the car. You replaced the three important failure points. These engines are very durable if you do a couple of simple upgrades. Your question is a loaded question. The factory AOS can last a number of years or a number of weeks. The problem with the factory AOS is that you have to run less oil quantity in your engine or you may have smoking issues. Especially if you park or drive on hills and take winding roads. While the smoking doesn't mean its failed, what it does mean is that the AOS "fails" to handle processing the oil in those scenarios. No need to loose sleep over it. But eventually you will either get frustrated with the smoking or it will actually fail, when it does, take a look at replacing it with the UAOS w/ Track drain. Even if you dont ever track the car. It allows you to never worry about over filling the oil, nor parking on hills or twisties. the UAOS eliminates the risk of overfilling oil, hydrolock and colant intermix. Plenty of other things it does as well. Its the Swiss army knife of aftermarket parts.

Quotes source post: 20098996

No set rules. Get a manometer and check periodically.

Quotes source post: 20099094

Spot on. Takes literally seconds to do. Keep a written log. It's just like doing regular oil analysis. You figure out a baseline and then you know there is a problem when the value changes.