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YOUR RESEARCH99 carrera i'm looking at
Reported or suspected cause
bellows connecting the aos
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Reported cause
I had a vaccum leak causing poor idle, turned out to be the bellows connecting the AOS to the crankcase.
Leading evidence: 'bellows connecting the aos' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'bellows connecting the aos' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check anything' (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
All MY1999 996 C2 cabrios w/manual transmissions were fitted with the G60/0 6 speeds at the factory.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I ran the French stuff in my cigarette that had two 700 hp 10 to 1 540's in it and the egts said it was fine.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
Afterwards a thorough used car check out is a must to verify every system works properly.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
its like meeting the extremely hot ex wife of a friend of yours after she used him up and moved on...
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Suggestion
Regardless of what you find, to do the above properly you should have a new filter and all new o-rings and the right amount of oil to top up the engine -- fill the housing with fresh oil after putting the new filter in it.
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Suggestion
Check that the convertible top works properly, they seem pretty complicated, I looked at one with the hard top in place like you show in the pictures, and seller suggested he was selling it as a "Coupe", he got it checked at one of the local Porsche garages and huge repair bill to sort it out (so I walked).
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hi, posted this in the wrong place originally...
am a well experienced engineer/ import car mechanic now retired. did a lot of Porsche work in the 70's and 80's but never owned one. have had an offer to buy a 1999 Carrera cabriolet at a price I think is cheap but not sure as I have no experience with this car.
first... car is not in the US and neither am I. I am retired to the carribean and the car is here. it was imported from Italy by the original owner when he retired here. the car presents as beautifully kept. both interior and exterior are 9.5 out of 10 . car has 160,000 kms on it ( 96,000 miles). have not driven it but I have seen it driving around until the owner parked it some months ago. when I looked at it today it started ( barely ) on a nearly dead battery and sounded crisp but won't idle at all. all the mechanicals look clean and dry. no leaks or any evidence of amateur maintainance. all the instruments work . interesting to me is that it has a 5 speed and I thought they were all 6 speed... if you looked at the car but didn't see the odometer you would think the car has 40,000 miles on it. so assuming the worst... lets say it needs a battery and that there is some sort of electrical drain that's causing it . lets say it needs a clutch and brake pads and a major general service... the tires are good at about 1/2 depth. the exhaust sounded a bit loud to me but it ran out of battery before I could restart it to check anything. ... he wants 10 grand but I am positive I could buy it for 9k ... its not exactly suited for the island but its a neat car and I wouldn't mind owning it. are there any major things that these cars " do" that I need to look at first and , what do you think this car is really worth ?
thx
steve
im probably wrong about the 5 speed. I haven't driven it and only glanced at the shift ****. as for someone around here... the nearest guy that knows anything about these cars is going to be in Miami somewhere . I'm probably the most qualified guy within a 1000 miles and ive never touched a water cooled Porsche before. having said that , I did do this work for 30 years or so and am certain that if I bought it I could know what I need to know in short order. what I;m trying to figure out here is whether or not 9 or 10 k if any sort of reasonable price. I have done a lot of reading since the original post and am beginning to see the potential downsides to this quite clearly.
Maybe it's karma telling you that you need a hobby! Yes, there could be plenty to work on but that in itself can be rewarding and that price is great so lots of "room" there to spend some money on it. BTW, dead batteries are common.
Why did he park it?
If its a 5-speed, then its a Tiptronic. All MY1999 996 C2 cabrios w/manual transmissions were fitted with the G60/0 6 speeds at the factory.
relinuca
PS: I would recommend running away from this one...something about the description makes me wary.
I'm not sure. I saw it parked for sale and ignored it assuming the price was going to be high. then I ran into his wife and asked her about it and she told me the price so I went and looked at it for real only yesterday and then had a brief conversation with HIM over the phone so my " factual information " is slim at this point. let me get the vin # and some real info so I can at least be accurate . the three things that got me interested were the facts that it is the original owner, that the car is perfect both interior and exterior and the price seemed cheap. ill get some info and shoot a pic and then run it by you guys and you can tell me if im being stupid or not to even consider it.
I found this useful when I was looking for my car a few months ago, gives a good list of things to check.
So early car = dual row IMS bearing (good).
Common failures not covered by this guide are ignition switch, check to see if it has weird electrical gremlins or an "extra" ie engine runs but all accessories don't fourth position, make sure remote on key fob works too, engine mounts are pretty common failures too. (Both are easy repairs though)
http://www.porscheclubgb.org/clientf..._checklist.pdf
This one allows you to decode the options list:
https://www.stuttcars.com/technical/option-codes/996/
Check that the convertible top works properly, they seem pretty complicated, I looked at one with the hard top in place like you show in the pictures, and seller suggested he was selling it as a "Coupe", he got it checked at one of the local Porsche garages and huge repair bill to sort it out (so I walked).
Inability to idle is a concern. It would be worth replacing the battery to make sure it runs well. 9-10k isn't much more than one with a blown engine do the price is right. Engine rebuild will be 10-15k I'm ball parking due to your location if you do it yourself. But it would be fun.
If there is anyway you can have a mechanic (or yourself) drop the oil pan and see if there is plastic or metal you will be able to tell a lot. If not, just changing the oil filter and inspecting it will tell you a lot. You will lose less than .5 quart doing it so need for a full oil change at that time.
'99 C2 is my favorite 911, out of any model any year. If it checks out, I think you will love it.
if I even start really considering this, ill put a charger on it and get it running and do a comprehensive inspection and test drive. I'm sure the guy will let me pull the filter and replace it and cut up the old one but I'm not sure at all he'll let me pull the pan but you never know. my feeling is that if the car is good mechanically then its a good deal but if it has a looming issue then it turns into just another retail project that I don't need or want. once I make up my mind whether to take that risk, ill charge his battery for him and get it running and driving and see what happens. the car could very well have fuel in it that's 6 or 8 months old for all I know at this point.
I would suspect a faulty (or just dirty) Idle Control Valve as the culprit for the bad idle. Replacing/cleaning it is an easy job. Also easy to test the ICV with a battery. Alternatively, a vacuum leak would not be surprising, the vacuum lines get hard and brittle and are prone to leaking.
Hopefuly the solution is inexpensive. Definitely have a compression or leak-down test done on the engine.
You need the car running well enough you can give it a thorough road test. My recommendation is a 15 mile test ride with the car driven by the seller then afterwards you switch seats and drive the car over the same route and the same way.
You must experience the car in its natural state: engine runing and being driven as you intend to drive the car.
Afterwards a thorough used car check out is a must to verify every system works properly.
Ideally then get a PPI which among other things gets the car in the air so a close inspection can be made for any leak sign.
Given your location I wonder about parts/supplies supply? How accessible will be the oil filter, the o-rings, sealing ring and possibly other things like brake hardware, plugs, coils, tires, and more should something go amiss?
Some work on these cars call for a Porsche diagnostics computer. There is a Durametric which can in some ways stand in for the Porsche diagnostics computer but not 100%.
In the right location for the right person this car could be reasonable purchase. Even given your experience/training though I wonder about the viability of owning such a car.
the volt meter only showed 10 v and it cranked slowly but started and as long as I kept it at fast idle it was smooth but even after a few mins warm up , the volt meter never came up and it died instantly when I released the throttle. I've had cars with bad alternators that wouldn't idle with ultra low voltage but I'm not jumping to any conclusions . ill wait until I get a charge on the bat and see what happens. im afraid that if I get to drive it it will suck me right in with the performance and ill lose the ability to say " no " even if I should...
Pull the oil filter and get it out in the sun to look in the pleats. If no metal in there, drain the oil through an old cotton T shirt material and look for metal there. If no metal, you're about 20 minutes away from removing the oil pan. It's an easy job and I would not spend 2000 bucks on a 996 that I couldn't see inside the pan. Once off, look for metal or parts of the chain guides.
The idling stuff and elec stuff is pennies on the dollar compared to a IMS failure, however that year has the double row bearing which are quite robust. Slow crank/no charge could be the Y cable, bad batt, bad alt, but all that stuff is childs play compared to a IMS repair.
understood and that's the plan. as for parts etc, none of that is any issue. I just fly or ship anything I need from in from Miami . critical stuff I get in 24 hr and stuff I don't care about comes ocean freight and takes a week. I see factory workshop manuals online etc. it really all comes down to what the guy says about the history when I get to sit down with him and what the results of the drive and inspection are... do you think this car is cheap at this price or do I just WANT it to be cheap ?
understood and agreed. when you say " double row " on that year... did they go to the single row in the later years ? that seems very unporsche like to go to a weaker system ...
It's a long, ugly, sordid story, and I'm not the expert. Short answer is yes, they went from a double row to a single row sometime around 2001, although if you have a car with a repl engine, even a 99 could have the single row.
What you want to check for here are catastrophic faults. The IMS bearing makes it a roller worth $6-8k.
exactly ... well... I have significantly more to do before I make that decision. cutting up the filter and maybe having the pan off after the test drive are clearly the first things. will report in when I get that far and thx all.
If you get a fully charged batt, and it's still not charging off the car system, turn off the radio, fans, lights and you can prolly get a 10-20 mile test drive on batt alone, depending on the cond of batt of course. If the ISV gets unstuck it may start to idle, or may not. Anyway, you can check clutch, trans, brakes, steering, susp, all the stuff that is $$$$ to fix. Once back on the batt charger with a full batt, take the hardtop off and watch the top go up and down. Another $$$$$ fix.
With the idle issue, is there anyone else who would buy it? And is there anyone else who could fix / maintain it? If, as I suspect, there isn't, offer the guy $5k and be patient.
If you're up for a project and you're prepared to (a) invest whatever time it might take to fix anything that goes wrong, and / or (b) to write off the purchase price in the event of anything catastrophic, I'd say go for it. These cars are awesome.
I wouldn't bother dropping the pan. (If it were my car I wouldn't allow it because of the issue of getting the thing back on leak free.)
Chances are anything you find has been there since day 1. If you can, if the owner will allow it, after the test ride/drive then remove the oil filter housing and carefully dump the contents into a clean pan.
What you see, or don't see, determines what you do next.
Regardless of what you find, to do the above properly you should have a new filter and all new o-rings and the right amount of oil to top up the engine -- fill the housing with fresh oil after putting the new filter in it.
You can gain a lot of knowledge by a thorough road test of the car.
If you can't do that and then make an informed decision on the car I wouldn't buy the car unless you are used car gambler who always comes out of a pile of you know what smelling of roses...
that's the plan. the car has to impress me in all respects after a significant drive to warrant going any further. If it runs and drives and feels like it should and everything works then i'll move on to cutting up the filter etc. back in the states I might have bought this car on spec but not here. if I buy it at all it will be to drive and enjoy. I don't need any more projects. the guy in the previous post suggested low balling the owner and waiting and there is merit in that suggestion. the market here for this car is small and , as I understand it, he has lost his garage where it was and its now sitting outside in the courtyard of a hotel on the beach which isn't going to do it any good at all with hurricane season coming. If I could steal it at 7500 I would but at 10k its going to have to prove to me that there is nothing meaningful to fix right off except maybe brake pads. I used to laugh at the local lawyer who I see driving his year old red GT3 around on an island where there are only a couple roads where you can go more than 70 mph for a few seconds but here I am about to maybe do exactly the same thing. the problem is that when I sit in it it fits me like it was made to measure... its like meeting the extremely hot ex wife of a friend of yours after she used him up and moved on... very very tempting but not the smartest road to take.
So what's the over/under on you owning a car with a dead engine(IMS metal in the pan) on an island where there's no support, and the cost to ship it anywhere to fix plus the fix is way over the price of the chassis?
If he won't let the oil pan come off that SCREAMS at me that he knows what's in there. IMNSHO - a guy with 30 years in the car repair business knows how to glue a freakin oil pan back on a car.
jus sayin'
well.. in all fairness , he doesn't know me from a hole in the wall and im not sure I would let somebody I didn't really know start rattling my car to pieces on his word that he knows what he's doing. MAYBE if it passes all the preliminary tests we negotiate the price based on the pan removal by the local audi dealer and a successful examination. at least that way he has some intrinsic faith that they know what they are doing....
It won't idle at all (i.e. stalls) or idle goes up and down or is really high?
If the latter then I'd bet on a vacuum leak.
When running remove the oil filler cap. If its easy to remove (no vacuum) then you have a leak.
If its really hard to remove, then your AOS may be out.
These cars run -ve crank case pressure. You should feel some but not loads of pressure.
I had a vaccum leak causing poor idle, turned out to be the bellows connecting the AOS to the crankcase. $10.
No go's for me would be excessive particles in the oil, and cabrio top issues which are fiddly and expensive. All the little stuff- vacuum leaks, maf, IAC, whatever- is easy.
If I could buy the car in the pictures for 9k after a thorough (non problematic) test drive, I'd be all over it.
St. Maarten? I have family in Saba myself, small world. An extended test drive there might be tough since you really can't stretch its legs on that island.
What's the fuel situation like there? It wasn't the best quality from what I remember, the fuel filter on the 99 is changable and might be a good idea to do it if you buy it.
yes. the French bring in good fuel in in big tanks . the dutch side is less good but still ok. when I got the alfa and moved the compression to 9:5 to 1, I sent some off and had it tested and the results said it was good enough. I ran the French stuff in my cigarette that had two 700 hp 10 to 1 540's in it and the egts said it was fine. "extended " was a relative term. a few miles to get some temp in it and then a run or two down to marigot to air it out and then listen very carefully to hear what there is to hear. if it gets by that , ill cut the filters and have the wheels off to look around . we'll see.
ok. drove the car and its near perfect. tight, crisp, pulls to redline without hesitation. gearbox is crisp. car runs and drives like it has no mileage at all. everything works but no way to test the top without taking the hardtop off and im not going to do that. oil is clean and smells good and the filter was immaculate. motor idles perfectly and is silent. no mechanical noise at all. the only thing I didn't like was the brakes. pedal is like standing on the floor and it doesn't have that nice "detach your retinas " so of initial bite that I would expect. car stops fine but the pedal effort is high like either whatever boosted system it has doesn't work or he has some sort of race track brake pads in it that need to be at 2200 degrees before they start to work. either way... I figure what the hell... ill buy it and see what happens. thx for all the advice and warnings. they are well appreciated. and for the record , I see what you guys mean... the car is really special and a ball to drive.
Brake vac leak. Also could have been associated with the prev poor idling. You'll need to check the vacuum system out. Glad things work out for you. Still I suggest changing the oil and draining through a cotton material to inspect for metal particles.
Enjoy! (as much as possible)
I really don't know. But hard pedal and poor idling have vac leaks in common. Hard to say, just wanted to remind that vac affects brake pressure and idle is all.
two questions please... what are the softest brake pads available for this car ( if anyone knows ) and is there a link to download a workshop manual anywhere ? and I would buy a hardcopy owners manual if anyone has one to sell.
Ever driven a Porsche before? If you go from an overassisted new car to 996 the brakes feel dead.
But get used to them and you will love them.
Check them out anyway
I was wondering about this phenomena. My Mini brakes feel sharper than the 996, particularly with normal driving.
To be fair, I haven't had the chance to actually stomp on the 996's brakes really hard yet. I imagine it is a whole new ball game.
Some years ago I had an engine lathe for sale. Couple of guys showed up who claimed to know machine tools. One guy starts the lathe and then the carriage feed then grabs the carriage hand wheel to "test" the lathe's power. Before I could stop him a bronze worm gear in the carriage drive stripped.
'course, he claimed the lathe was under powered and he and his buddy left and left me with a dead lathe. I had to disassemble the carriage remove the drive rod and take the bad gear out and turn up a blank and bore a hole through it and cut a key way then take the blank to a gear hobbing shop up in Redwood City CA to have the gear teeth cut.
You want to remove the pan on my Porsche's engine? Buy the car and you can remove anything you want. Until then? No way.
From what I recall the engine won't idle. Until or unless you can get the engine to idle so you can drive the car and give it a thorough road test I'd say this car isn't worth owning.
That the current owner hasn't attempted to get the car in good running condition so a prospective buyer could give the car a reasonable road test just says to me the owner either doesn't care or he "knows" something you don't know but should know.
Ideally you want to buy a car that to the best of your ability exhibits no issues. This car exhibits issues. Not a car I'd want to own.
My advice is to walk away and resume lopking. The car for you is out there. This ain't that car.
I looked at the ones on e bay and was unimpressed by the feedback of the sellers. I would want a hard cd and those guys seem to have a long history of selling bootleg /non working copies. the IS a guy with a set of oem manuals for not a lot of money...
yes. lots of Porsche, Ferrari, alfa bmw and any number of championship winning race cars ... so I actually know what brakes feel like at different levels. ... and for a car this good, these particular ones feel like the pads are made of glass. no initial bite at all.
somewhere a while ago I mentioned that after they charged the battery the car idles and drives fine... and it does , in fact, drive better than fine. other than the numb brakes the car is spectacular in all respects and I suspect once I get some decent soft pads in it , that problem will disappear. I'm betting the PO got talked into some whizzo ceramic pads that you could run at le mans at the last change ... its no big deal for sure.
