Why is this car fun to tear apart?

With gained confidence from this site I decided to go for the radiator clean. Wife came out to garage and asked what the $&@$ I did to the car. Said it looked like a theft recovery. Got my little guy to help me and he said he actually enjoyed it. Glad I did it because there was a lot of garbage. Will do oil change next. Dealer says 5w40 mobil one. There $ 9 per quart and pep boys 9.99! Looking to get it cheaper if possible.

Always fun and satisfying to work on your 996 vs. taking it to the mechanic...

Well done.

Walmart carries the oil for less, if they have it in the 5qt jugs it's even cheaper. Advance Auto and a few others put it on sale sometimes for between $4-$5/qt as well. When it goes on sale, stock up. Have 10qts handy for your oil change but you will probably need between 8 and 9 Most people recommend the 0W-40 Mobil1 as per the factory IIRC. Do not let this get turned into an oil thread, do a search if you're curious first...

Man....i paid 11.99 per litre here today.

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I thought this might be about why there are so many threads describing the 993 as god's gift to Porsche enthusiasts and how the 996 is devil spawn... Always satisfying to work on my own cars. Cost less, I know it's done right, and almost always get to clean/inspect/improve something else along the way! I'm relatively new to my 996 (two months), but already upgraded the head unit, speakers, clear side markers, new front pads, rear seat delete, iPad mount, V1 hardwire, non-smoker kit, cd-tray delete, and a few other projects. That's the plus/minus of buying a Porsche on December 1 in Colorado. Less good driving days, more good wrenching days!

Careful pfbz, you will anger some with comments like these. I think its considered Porsche blasphemy. Great job, Cmanis!

Congratulations! That was my first DIY with a 996 too.

Advance Auto is having a buy one get one free sale, so two for the price of one.

Great feeling of satisfaction when doing work on these Porsches, nice that you included your son.

Thanks! Also thanks for the oil price info. I thought $9 and $10 a qt seemed high. Not to got off on an oil tangent but I did research threads and was confused. I am fine with Mobil One. Most threads say 0w30. Why did dealer say they use 5? Anything to do with cold / mixed climate here?

If you don't mind going against the Porsche purists; check out Rotella T6 5w40. It's a great oil. Good to see another person who likes to work on their own car, and local (Lansing here).

Good job, I'll have to try it, and good to too see a anther owner is MI, GR here.

Just out of curiosity, did you get more junk from between the radiator and evaporator? Or from in front of the evapotator? This was mine after three years. I vacuum in front of the radiator every time I wash the car. I was amazed that there were cig butts between the evap and rad. How did they get in there?

Great job on your DIY OP. changing the oil and transmission fluid along with a brake flush are good next steps.

Fpb111 - there was a lot more debris between the rads. Glad I saw pictures during thread research to take the screws between the two out. Seems like there might be a better way to access since the job was not hard but involved for a minor maintenance item. Saw where someone recently posted putting mesh on the intakes. I remember the Boxster having inserts available after market. Have not seen them for the 911.

I'm going to have to clean mine in the spring, no clue when the last time it was done.

Good idea to clean them. Mine both had dirt and crud in the bottom which were retaining moisture. Stopping in Okemos Auto Collection to pick up paint and filter wrench, we don't have a dealer. They have been very helpful so far.

I agree with you completely, well done! Just did this on mine as well for first time and it was like yours or a little worse... vacuumed it and then doused with simple green and lots of water... came out looking clean and free of gunk. I was amazed at how simple and quick it was to remove the lights... hats off to Porsche on that engineering!

I thought about mesh. With the amount of crud between the evap and rad I don't see where mesh is going to be much help. Plus any mesh causes some air flow blockage. IE: Diameter of wire inches .063-Width of opening inches 3 x 3- Open area percent 76.4 Means ~24% blocked http://www.hillsidewirecloth.com/specs1.html

Yes, it's a great project to do - and you feel great when the project is done! Search is your friend - there are videos on youtube (that both others and I've done) and lots of information on this forum. Nothing is impossible!

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And thanks for the time and effort that you have put into making the videos Van. Your brake rotor tutorial on the 996 is excellent. My parts are on order and I plan to tackle that in a few weeks. The videos are an immense help to visualize what the manual is showing. Please keep up the good work!

As mentioned above, Van has some excellent videos that he's taken the tie to make it easier for us. I did my front rotors and pads last year because of his videos.

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That's where I go for parts and the tech is very nice. However, the tech in GR, Brady, is the man when it comes to these cars. I highly recommend him if you need dealer work.

Funny you mentioned GR white out, I ended up going there after Lansing did not have the part. Will have to look up Brady next time. I managed to strip out the oil drain plug so I had to get a new one. Trouble is old one will not come out. Looked at threads and tried chisel and easy out with no luck. Not really due for a change so I will deal with it when it is warmer. Will try to drill out and may just remove pan. Maybe Brady might know, thanks for tip.

Oh that sucks. There is a frozen version of liquid wrench (most auto parts stores). That might help break the drain plug loose.