Amphibious 996...

Hi! I�m a new 996 owner based in Warwickshire over in the UK. And last week I bought a flood damaged 2001 Carrera as a bit of a (very!) long term project. I�m under no illusion that it�s going to be an easy fix, but I�m quite looking forward to stripping it down and getting it running again! Long term, I�m planning on keeping it either as a road car or track toy, depending on how the restoration goes. I came across this forum after trying to locate the bonnet and engine emergency releases, so I thought you guys/girls were the right people to give me a few pointers! The car was parked (engine off) and fresh water flooded up to a level just above the seat squab and there is a bit of silt knocking around. Unfortunately, it was sitting for a month or so before I go it, so the interior was quite mouldy. Over the weekend my very willing wife and I stripped the interior out and gave everything a thorough clean. The seats, carpet, sound deadening are currently drying. All the mould has now been removed, but there is a bit of staining on the back of the seats. Since getting the car it has either had the driver�s door open in the sunshine (can�t yet get the passenger door unlocked yet) or a dehumidifier running; which seems to be doing a good job of drying things out. I�ve had a look at some other flood damaged posts and I�m pretty confident that I need a new immobiliser/ecu/key set to get the engine going. Obviously, prior to any of that, the plugs are coming out/oil changed etc. My first question is whether there any obvious water traps that I should be aware of? I�ve had a good poke around with an endoscope in any interior access points I can find and things are looking good, but others may be able to point out something I�m missing. Are there any other big things I should be looking for? I�m guessing electrical problems are going to be my biggest problems, so any advice would be greatly received! Cheers, Simon

Welcome simon. A bit of work, yes. Do you have a garage in which to do the tear down? You are using a dehimidifier and may want to consider a large fan to constantly force air into and around the vehicle; that should help to eliminate any wet spots in hidden areas. Same for the door and quarter panels. Dont forget the headliner; if it looks intact, be careful not too pull on it too much; but it will probably need to be inspected for mold. Also, treat the leather above and beyond in order to condition it back to health. And while you're at it, switch the steering wheel to the proper side. Good luck chap.

Saving a 996 is a worthy project! Good luck. I think you should may also want to be a bit concerned about any of the cables. I know they're "waterproof" but I don't know if that includes immersion. All of the electrical contacts should be cleaned (at least).

Hi Simon I am a Brit been in the USA last 20yrs and have a 1999 996 C2. Good luck with your project. The manual release to Bonnet and boot on mine are on the sill as you open the drivers side door bearing in mind that mine is a left hand drive car.There are emergancy release cables on mine inside the drivers front wing and I believe inside the rear drivers side rear light somewhere. Thats in case any of the cables might break on the manual releases. Later models (and maybe yours) have electrical releases for the bonnet and boot lids which i know nothing about. You have to go in via the fusebox in the drivers front foot well. You can read more about that in these forums if need be. If you want to drop me aline [email removed] I will do my best to answer any questions. I have done alittle, but not much, DIY work on mine since I got it a year ago. I dont envy your job Simon but good on you mate.

you lost me at squab

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ROTFLMAO Glad it wasn't only me.

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In the US, we pay to have the Porsche emblem on our seats. In the UK, they get an embossed bird instead.

Googled it. It's the bottom cushion of the seat.

Thanks guys. Apologies for the "squab" confusion - you're right, it's the bit you sit on! It's currently got a fan heater and a dehumidifier going 24/7 which seems to have made a big difference to things. The mould is now all gone, but some staining remains. My biggest question at this stage is regarding the electrics (surprise, surprise!) I think the immobiliser is pretty much shot. Unfortunately, a couple of resistors (about 1.5mm long) on the PCB have come lose. I've got one of them, but the other is nowhere to be found. By the looks of it, the fuse on the immobiliser board blew, so I was quite hopeful about it maybe functioning again, until closer examination revealed the resistor issue. It and the DME have been thoroughly dried and cleaned and I'm planning on finishing off cleaning and checking the electrics this weekend and attaching a battery, just to see where I am. Am I right in thinking that if I get hold of a matched DME, immobiliser and key head, I might be in business? Will I still need to get things coded if it is a full set? I'll keep this thread updated with pics and progress.

I would also clean what you can with a mild bleach solution to kill off any remaining mold. Was it fresh water?Much better than salt if you have a prayer to get the electronics straightened out

Good Luck with the car. I hope you only paid a few quid for the car.

Mfletch (I believe that's his name) rehabbed a fire damaged 996. Find this threads and I think you're in for some good reading.

Apologies for the lack of updates - work has got in the way. Thanks for all the advice though - great reading! Right, bit more progress today. Sort of... Finally received a matched dme/immob/key set yesterday (after being sent one without a key) from a Porsche salvage yard. The set is from a 2000 3.4 tiptronic, so I have my suspicions as to whether it will do the job or not. Quite aside from the fact that it's from a tiptronic and mine is a 2001 manual, it seems to be missing the brass connector from the immobiliser control unit. Does anyone know what this is? It looks a bit like an antenna connection. Is it vital? Undeterred, that has been installed and I put some power through the system. Driver door unlocks and various clicking and clunking noises, so things are at least beginning to show signs of life. I removed the coils and plugs (that's a fun job!) and noticed that one of the plugs seemed to be damaged, with one of the legs touching the insulator. On closer inspection, it doesn't seem to have been hit by anything (eg a cylinder!) but I've never seen a plug in that sort of shape (image attached). I've turned the engine with a bar on the crank pulley. No water came out, so that's encouraging. At this point, I thought it might be worth trying to get the engine to turn with the key. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to want to do anything. The ignition lights come on, the clunking and clicking happens (mostly from the immobiliser unit) and then nothing. First schoolboy error was not depressing the clutch, but that doesn't seem to have made any difference. I suspect the lack of coils and plugs is preventing anything working at the moment, so that will be sorted tomorrow morning, but am I missing something simple? One thing I did notice whilst I was doing the plugs it that there seem to be drain plugs on the underside of the exhaust. (images attached) I removed those and about 250ml of water trickled out. It's almost as if Porsche meant the car to be flooded...

Haha this is too funny, you must really want a 911. I can see this car being a headache for years to come. good luck!

LOL drain holes

This site might be a big help also. It is more technical then Rennlist http://www.renntech.org/forums/forum...rera-4s-targa/ If you join you can get access to some manuals and more technical info, TSBs, OBD Codes, etc

The "drain holes" on the exhaust are for O2 sensors. The plug could have been dropped by the mechanic just before he put it in. He should have checked the plug for damage after droping before he installed it. These are just guesses on my part,but wish you well on this project.

Well, see, this is what happens when you are unclear about what it means to have the first 911 with a water-cooled engine. Seriously, good luck with the project. I'm still proud I could swap my own side markers, so I'm in awe of folks like you.

Massive progress! Finally got a spare couple of days and the right ecu/immob combo and the starter solenoid started trying to work, which from what people had said meant that the immobiliser headache was over! The starter was removed and tested - dead. Liberal sprays of WD40 and a few gentle taps with a hammer and it stuttered back to life and eventually it seemed to be fully working. Once the starter was put back, the engine turned on the key! Very sluggishly at first, but on the second try, it very nearly fired. At that point, I rang my dad as he wanted to witness the first starting. He arrived, turned the key and it spluttered into life! The n/s bank of cylinders all seemed to be working (with a lot of steam from the exhaust), but the o/s didn't appear to be doing anything. After 5 minutes of idling, I prodded the throttle and it was definitely only running on 3 cylinders. 10 minutes of idling later and a prod of throttle and the o/s exhaust started steaming slightly (by this time, the n/s exhaust was completely clean). More idling and gentle revving and it is now on all six! There is still a bit of steam coming from the o/s exhaust, but that's not really surprising given what it's been through. I think another run up to full temperature (fans all kicked in, everything appeared to do what it is supposed to) will clear that side and we're in business! My only concern (well, top of the long list!) is that there appears to be a noise not unlike a coin in a washing machine coming from the o/s of the engine. It doesn't seem to be a constant noise and it might be related to the water which is still in the exhaust system, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? Bad weather has stopped play today, but as soon as it stops raining, I'll carry on. Frankly, I'm amazed (and ridiculously excited!)

Wow, that's great news for you and your previously waterlogged Porsche. Hope luck stays with you until all is good to go.

Does sound promising so far! Good Luck.

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You might check the chain tensioners. You can pull the two rear ones fairly easily. Pin the engine at TDC before you remove them. Do a search for "replacing IMS bearing" for instructions. Fig 3, 4, 5 in this thread. http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...erTech-162.htm Lot of info scattered about in here. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-cylinder.html

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Thanks fpb111, looks like that's my weekend taken care of!

[QUOTE=simon996;9430096]Massive progress! My only concern (well, top of the long list!) is that there appears to be a noise not unlike a coin in a washing machine coming from the o/s of the engine. It doesn't seem to be a constant noise and it might be related to the water which is still in the exhaust system, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? QUOTE] I have heard the baffles inside the muffler brake at the weld points and come loose...rattling inside.....my 0.02 cents...

+1. The fact that the sound isnn't rhythmic suggests something related to exhaust as a possibility (let's hope). If you decide that it's safe to run the engine again, try to isolate the noise via a stethascope, etc. As Pesuazo said, may be a muffler... or a converter - good luck & keep us posted. Interesting project.

Not to cause panic, but could the IMS bearing loose it's grease by sitting in water? Hope that's not the coin in washer sound you are hearing! Looks like a really clean car (no pun intended)! Hope it works out!

First off great project and nice that the DME/ECU was not damaged. The sound could be a number of things including the IMS impending failure which there are online videos that can be found for sound comparison. I would imagine there are shops that can repair or replace with new engineered IMS bearing if needed. Did you remove all the carpets (foam backing can hold moisture in the foam), seats etc to completely dry off?

Nice project I hope that you changed engine oils and filter before you started the engine...

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I don't think he has started it yet. He mentioned oe time that he figures he will have to change ECU and keys and such. If work on the car becomes too much work there is always stripping it down to be a track car. Selling the parts like seats and such can help fund new light weight seats and belts. Sad to see such a nice car got flooded. Have fun organizing the parts reconditioning the car.

Pac996, check post #19

Pac is still on pain pills

The engine has been run for approximately 3 hours in total now (several warm ups to normal temp). The running levelled out after about 2.5 hours and has continued to be quite lumpy and running on four or five cylinders. All the strange noises and rattles seem to have settle down too. Following a brief and very slow drive around a field (not ideal, but the car is not legal on the road and the field is as level as they come!) the CEL came on. I plugged in my trusty fault code reader and it came up with codes P0302 and P0306. A quick look on the forum showed that those codes were cylinders two and six were misfiring. I strongly suspect the coils have gone (I'm kicking myself for not changing them when I did the plugs!) so those should hopefully be done this week. The great news is that from that first run, the brakes, clutch and gearbox all seem to be operating very well indeed (well, as much as you can tell from a field!) It's getting so close now!

Coils replaced. Engine running perfectly!!

Good work, keep us posted on the progress.

Excellent, Don't give up the ship!

Wow. I gave you about a 1% chance of getting it running right. Hope things continue to go well. Nice work.

respect for the project, I would guess a track car with gutted interior will save you a lot of time. Cleaning up the interior from flooding AND 1 month of standing still sounds impossible to me. I'd suggest to remove all interior carpet and panels for a while and may be buy some used one that have not been compromised by flood, we see full interior coming up for sale for cheap on this forum. Without carpeting you have better access to all electrical things anyways

That is some cool sh*t right there.

Any updates?

Good on you Simon. Typical British Bulldog grit.. Once you get your teeth in there, theres no letting go lol.

Inquiring minds want to know!

I too would like to see updates. This is pretty cool.

It's like when they took "The Young and the Restless" of the air... Except it's "The Old and Lethargic". How's that British submarine coming?

Great job, I had a "little" bit of water splash inside my car & my wipers went crazy for a few hours, lol.....

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I left my window open all night during a rain storm and the radio changed channels on its own for a few days... Where's the OP - maybe out driving his car?

He went to the Jubille,everyone in England went.

How was the Queen?

Well, it's been nearly five months since my last post and I'm very pleased to announce that the 996 is fully back on the road! It's all MOT'd, registered, taxed and number plated. There are still a few small electrical niggles (rear de-mist and drivers' door lock are still on strike), but other than that it is absolutely fabulous. I'll do a full write up shortly, but for now, I'm off for a drive...

Well done.

Very nice. I like project threads lile yours. I'm also working on a project 996 and only days away from firing it up the first time.

Anxious to see your post rebuild drive and results ImoOOO.

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Imo000 when you get your pcar running good you can celebrate by taking your horse for a ride in the back seat. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. Simon congrats also, can you post some final pics of your car?

Wow!

The on the back of the seats stain maybe try a product by Castral called Super Clean in a purple bottle. Product is purple fluid. Sucks all ALL oil out of hands or anything else plus cleans so wear gloves using it or your skin will shed like a snake skin. Cleans baked on engine gunk better than made for engine cleaning stuff as far as I'm concerned. Tsunami warning here so hopefully 700' is high enough for me

how about some more pix of the interior now that it's up and running

Haven't caught this thread until now, outstanding work!

I have a 2001 996 that is also water damaged. Mine is not yet running either. According to the "experts", you should not have to re-code your car since you have the three key electronic pieces. I do have my car turning over but not yet starting. There are a couple of things that are helping me eliminate problems that I might suggest: 1. the Bentley M 996 manual is very helpful 2. a Durametric scan tool. www.durametric.com If you want to be able to turn over your engine with the starter, you can ground the starter relay. That relay is on the back interior shelf behind the back seat. Normally, the DME/ECU grounds the relay. You can alligator clip a wire from the grounding point of the relay to one of the rear strut attachment nuts that is just a few inches away. At that point, the engine should turn over with the starter and ignition key. According to the dealer, I have a break (either corrosion or wire damage) between the OBDII port and the immobilizer. Although I have cleaned all the wiring harness connectors, there might be corrosion on the backside of a connector that I have not yet discovered. That will be my next project. For cleaning the wiring contacts, I am using a product recommended to me by a professional. It is called DeoxIT D5. It seems to work quite well. It is interesting that when Porsche plugs in their scan tool, it cannot communicate with my car. The Durametric tool can communicate with the DME/ECU, the AC functions, the Xenon headlights, etc. However, it is not able to communicate with the Immobilizer/Alarm. That's why I believe that my problem is a wiring issue between the OBDII port and the immobilizer under the seat. The Durametric scan tool is a lot of fun! You can hold your laptop and turn off and on lights, warning buzzers, cooling fans, etc. That's not only fun, it also helps you check off wiring that is functioning. I hope this helps and I'm anxious to hear what solutions you find to get your car running. Please keep us posted.

That's interesting. After I made my post, your October 25 post showed up. Sounds like you are running a way ahead of me. Anxious to hear what you found for a solution.

Who's the U-Boat Commander?

Only a Brit would "enjoy" attacking a project like this. Years ago, I was selling some used car via a classified. A Brit showed up on a 90 degree (F) day, wearing a tweed sports jacket. I asked him about it. He replied: "only a Brit would wear a tweed jacket and stand out in the noon day sun". It's the "stiff upper lip" thing. I guess their culture one is expected to "endure" just about anything.

Nice revival. Fun read. Even better than the nitrous thread.

haven't heard from simon in a while - hope he didn't get knocked out by the waterlogged sun visor

I know this is an old thread but would love to hear the condition of this car and any residual issues from the flood, I just bought a water damaged 996 and this would be great information on possible issues to pay attention to. Anyone who has taken this challenge can chime in please keep the comments positive.