Covering air intake snorkel when washing your 996?

I haven't seen this topic discussed, but I have always covered the air intake snorkel with a Ziploc bag when I am washing the 996. I'm wondering if others do the same. Before I get a bunch of smart *** answers, yes, I do realize that the intake design must have some sort of drainage built into it so that the car can handle being in the rain, but there can be A LOT more volume of water dumped into the snorkel when you are washing the car if the hose is directly over the intake snorkel area (and water in the cylinders never ends well). I'd like to know if others cover the intake. If not, I'd like to understand how the drainage works such that it can handle the full volume of water from a hose without issue during a wash.

I never have. My car has sat in many GA rainstorms and would have gotten gallons more water than me spraying while washing.

I do not. I try to spray water across the rear deck lid and not through it. The air intake flow goes down to the bottom of the airbox and then UP through the air filter, so any water would have to be lifted up and through the air filter to get to the engine. I'm guessing there's a hole at the bottom of this box, but haven't checked.

I put a cover over the whole engine so none of it gets wet, when it rains on the car- its on its own

IMHO, it's always smart to cover the rear air vent when washing your car. And yes, the filter box has a drain, but is known to get clogged and so, not only is it smart to avoid spraying water down the vent, but also wise to check your air box periodically. Cleaning the drain is as simple as using a shop vac to remove dirt and debris.

Later air boxes have more drainage holes that the earlier models. If you are really concerned you could put one of those breathable water proof pod filter bags on the intake and zip lock it into place. I'd also not use automatic car washes as the water sprays at all sorts of strange angles.

The drains in the factory air box have been sufficient to keep the 996 from drowning. I don't think anything more is necessary. At all. Unless it is a personal challenge to fill the air box with water. I suppose a firehose would be suffucient.

Take a 1/4 inch bit and zip a few more holes in the bottom of the air box if you are genuinely worried. But you needn't be.

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No need to do this since the airbox has drains to let water out. Unless you are running the engine while washing, there should be plenty of time for water to drain out before you fire it up. When done washing, however, I do open the engine cover to dump out all the water that gets trapped in it before I start drying the car. It's a lot, like half a gallon. If I don't do this, I've sometimes had water fall out of it onto the serpentine belt and cause squealing when I first start it, and of course drip out and cause water spots on the rear bumper too.

My '02 Cab has never been garaged and I've never bothered to cover anything. I handwash it twice/wk Zero problems in 15yrs/68,500 miles.

Way to much thought going into this...Just wash and drive!

^what 808Bill said (Looking good, Wilma!)

This guy took Bill's advice.

I know this is stupid and 99.9% of the time not a problem for most. Living in Florida and getting caught in torrential rain, I've considered the problem. On my 99 there is one hole in the water channel at the bottom of the stock air filter box. Changing air filters I've found leaves stuck in the drain hole, so I drilled three other holes about the same size up the water channel and now never give it another thought. To the OP, if your are getting in there to put a bag over the snorkle, why don't you just remove it...it pulls right out, then replace after your wash?

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Thanks for all the feedback. I'll probably keep covering it just for piece of mind, but it's interesting and helpful to hear what others are doing. It only takes a couple seconds to cover it. I keep a large 2-gallon ZipLoc by the wash bucket to cover the whole snorkel and then I zip it tight under the flat platform on the snorkel to hold it in place. The bigger issue is remembering to take it off before starting the car. Ironically, I just replaced my air filter a couple of weeks ago and I didn't think to look for drain holes. I did clean the housing and didn't see any leaves or debris in there. I will be doing the motor mounts next, which I think requires air filter removal, so I will check out the drain hole(s) then. Very good tip regarding water spots. Water in the cylinders can have an extraordinarily bad outcome because water neither compresses nor combusts. It sounds like it is safe to do nothing to cover the snorkel, but I wouldn't say that it's overthinking it to ponder the question. .

I never use a hose to spray the rear deck. Have had great results using Optimum No-Rinse.

i wrap the whole motor in aluminum foil ....aside from keeping it dry it blocks those crazy radio waves around here

I used to get a lot of misfires following washing my 996, and I attributed it to water getting into the intake snorkel, but it actually turned out to be cracked coil packs that wouldn't fire off when moisture got in there. Replaced them and never had an issue again. That said, can't hurt to cover the snorkel with a bag. Just make sure to leave a note on the steering wheel or by the ignition key to remove it before starting the car!!!

Aside from being unnecessary, I think it's a good idea. For an aftermarket intake, a permanent filter sock should be used.

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Bet you haven't vaccinated your 911 either!

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No good deed goes unpunished. I can Imagine the bag melting down into the alternator and catching fire or getting sucked into the intake box. Pretty sure Porsche thought of this one when they designed it. I don't see how water could enter the engine unless it was a really huge amount. Do you folks wash the rear deck lid with it open? I don't, and I don't think it would indicate to do that in the manual. Is anyone spraying water in there? I would guess somewhere in the manual it describes how to wash that area - carefully. Those wanting to drill holes in the airbox - remember that routine maintenance would almost certainly negate the need to do this at all.

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STOP!!!!!.........using common sense! (insert wink-wink, sarcasm emoji here )

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If it's guaranteed to drain well, then it is probably a moot point, but the intake snorkel is a large funnel and the slots in the deck lid are straight above it, so it doesn't really matter if the deck lid is open -- if you hit the hose at the right angle towards the deck lid, the full stream will go into the intake. That's a lot of water for it to handle at once. Personally, I'm a lot more likely to remember to cover it before and remove it after washing than I am to make sure I never accidentally spray into that area during the process of washing it. Again, probably a moot point because it seems to drain well, but I don't trust myself to never spray in that area while washing -- that I think I will very easily forget.

Washed mine yesterday. Didn't cover anything. Went for a drive right after to dry off the rotors and pads. Car had a seizure. It's currently in ICU. Doctors say it doesn't look good, might have to pull the plug. RIP in peace 996.

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Ouch! are you serious? Surely not! Any idea what the problem might be Bill?

This thread is funny. No, I don't cover up anything when washing my car

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Unfortunately very much serious. No ideas yet, still waiting to hear back on the prognosis. They said it could be directly linked to a lack of deviated stitching (not sure what these medical terms mean).

Dear OP, Take 15 minutes. Remove airbox from the car. Inspect design and, if absolutely necessary, simulate washing activity in a sink. Observe water drain out of holes in airbox below the filter. Reach reasonable conclusion. Stop putting a *ucking sandwhich bag around your intake. Live a long & prosperous life. Regards, Your conscience

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Yea, yea, boss. It's umm... deviated stitches.. yea, yea,, that's it... gonna cost a lot to get this one back on the road!

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HEY! THOSE ARE THE GUYS! YOU KNOW THEM?

I wonder what the side effects of leaving the bag wrapped around the airbox would be vs. allowing some water to dribble out the airbox drain holes...

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A moderate power loss when the engine sucks it in through the snorkel and it gets stopped by the air filter. Followed by catastrophic engine failure after the next rainstorm since the plastic bag will block the drain hole, allow water to pool, and then tidal-wave into the engine and hydrolock it. Just kidding. The first part is true though.

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I will do this when I put in the motor mounts in the next week or two. I will do that more to judge how confident I am that the hole can't become blocked than to see how it flows under perfect conditions, but I will definitely check this out. While I appreciate your opinion, I think it could have been phrased better. It takes about 2 seconds to put the large bag (it is not a sandwich bag) securely over the entire snorkel and it's impossible to forget because I put the keys in the ziploc box at the same time. This 996 replaced a Maserati coupe. The problem with the Maserati is that the air intake is very low to the ground and the engines can hydrolock if you hit a puddle wrong. The result of hydrolocking is that the engine is toast. Fortunately, that never happened to me, but it was something I always kept in the back of my mind. The Ferrari 612 has the same issue. The 996 situation is obviously completely different, but the effects of hydrolocking are so severe that I'm willing to invest the 5 seconds it takes to add and remove the bag. YMMV.

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Wait so your keys go in the air intake too? This gets more interesting all the time...

Then again, we used to put tarps on our tanks when they were outside...bullet proof, EMP hardened tanks that could ford rivers, covered with tarps just in case they got wet. The best explanation I could get was that we used to put tarps on horses, so...

I dreamed a dream my snorkel intake would never diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie You Tube

Vying for the title "Most entertaining thread of the month"

Let's see.... 996's have been around for 20 years. Has there been even one reported case of engine failure due to washing a car without a snorkle condom?

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This is a good point. Either you are incapable of understanding English or you are intentionally twisting words to try to synthesize a statement I never made. Either way, it's sad. I get that you don't agree with my approach, and I acknowledge that it likely isn't necessary, but it literally takes 5 seconds to do, so there really is no meaningful argument against it.

Some of you need to wrap your heads in tin foil so ridiculous ideas won't seep in. I've got a heavy v8 on an engine stand in the garage, a few cranks on their sides, at least 5 different kinds of motor oil, and other more important things to not worry about.

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The problem with your statement above, and all of the non-constructive comments in this thread, is that this is an automotive forum. The entire purpose of the forum is to discuss details that non-automative enthusiasts probably wouldn't care about. If there are topics you don't care about -- and there always will be some -- then just don't ****ing post. To come into a thread and label it as "tin foil hat theory" totally kills the discussion and kicks off a snowballing stream of non-constructive comments. For your "crank" tin foil hat theory, do you know how much sag it would take for a crank to perform poorly at 7000 RPM? Almost none. People spend thousands of dollars and invest many hours of time to balance their motors because it increases horsepower and increases durability. If the crank isn't perfectly aligned, the car will not run as well as it should because there will be an imbalance that shouldn't be there and, even if you can't feel it, the engine will wear itself out much faster than it should. If you are going through all the work and expense of rebuilding an engine down to replacing the crank, don't you think you would want to know if placing the crank on its side will affect it? Even if you are personally replacing a crank and you aren't curious about the topic, that's your own decision to ignore it, but don't pollute the thread by attacking the person who clearly wants to know. Does a crank sitting on its side actually harm it? I don't know. Is it an important topic? It absolutely is if you are the person that is in the middle of that job. It's also of interest to many others who may not be replacing a crank but simply want to learn. It's also important to somebody who might be having a shop rebuild their motor. If you don't care about a topic, don't post . If you think a topic is too trivial to discuss, don't post . If you don't have something constructive to say, don't post . But don't demean other people's topics because you don't understand the implications of the question. The same applies to this topic. If you understand what happens inside the engine with hydrolock (which results in bent rods, bent valves, internal corrosion, and an engine that is basically toast), then you should automatically understand that it is reasonable to discuss the topic, even if there is only a 0.1% chance that something you could do could make that happen. If that discussion isn't of interest or concern to you, you should know what to do at this point: don't post.

I understand the implications of the question but I don't care, think it is too trivial to discuss and have nothing constructive to say, so I won't post.

Crap. I'm doing something wrong.

I read a post on here a while back where a guy covered the whole intake with a soft rubber mat. I thought it was a good idea, probably not needed but certainly couldn't hurt so I bought a rubber mat and cut it to size for when I wash. The other reason I wanted to do it is b/c I have a 996TT and the wing hydraulics I wanted to protect as much as possible, plus I just didn't like the thought of soap running in there and staying even though it isn't that big a deal. But hey I'm **** about washing/detailing lol. Only takes a second to put the mat on, and I just waterless wash the vent grill when done, works for me.

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Forgive me, in your post where you said the keys go in the ziploc BOX I read too fast an thought you said ziploc BAG. Many apologies for my sad lack of command of English. I think the "meaningful argument" against the method is that any time you start putting objects in the intake of an expensive engine there's a [very small] chance something will get sucked into the engine and do some damage. So it's something to keep in mind and balance against the [also very small] chance of water getting sucked in and destroying your engine. In fairness I think this was a successful thread. You asked whether others were putting something over their intake while washing their cars. Most said no, a couple said yes, and many explained various reasons why it is or isn't reasonable to do so. An effective poll.

I think it's safe to say we all learned something today in lieu of this post.

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I think you could have said this differently. As I due care about this topic and wish to dispel irrational fear from the neurotic masses, I will continue to poast in this thread. The reality is that the OEM airbox is well-engineered. It drains very well & keeps water on the bottom half of the intake box, while keeping airflow steady for the MAF. Aftermarket intakes can interfere with the fuel mixture and led to running lean or rich, as well as inferior water management in situations like the car wash. Put it all together and I decided to sell my expensive aftermarket intake despite nice sound gains. A Helmholtz resonator and the corresponding silicone hose are low risk and highly reliable parts that can improve the sound coming out of the OEM intake without the downstream risk to fuel mixture & operational integrity of the engine. As you say, it's an expensive engine that has a high output per litre ratio - it is to be respected and not treated like a Civic motor. A few items about the aftermarket intakes that are worth considering relate to the filters and the design. Unlike the OEM airbox, aftermarket filters rely purely on gravity to allow excess moisture to drain out of the bottom tube that connects to the filter. This strategy works and doesn't represent a critical risk from what I understand, however, aftermarket intakes do allow moisture intrusion to advance much higher in the system than the OEM airbox. In double blind field testing performed at a local carwash space station, I observed thick soapy residue approximately 8" from the throttle body, inside the intake tubes on my aftermarket unit. Following this discovery, I began draping shop towels over my aftermarket intake when washing the car. Problem solved, but it's a bit of a pain to mess around with shop towels every week at the car wash. Later on, I learned that filter socks are available for this exact porpoise. In hindsight, I probably could have continued to use the ottermaket intake while eliminating the issue with moisture intrusion. The remaining unknown of misfires following washing was initially assumed to reflect moister intrusion into the throttle body & intake system. An experience with a golden shower in the rear last winter changed that perception. After finishing a spirited highway drive, where local speed ordinances were diligently ignored, I realized there was, in fact, a large fountain of moisture coming out of the back of the car. This was immediately diagnosed as a compromised coolant system and my car was shut down immediately - prior to any dangerous rise in temperatures. Follow up by a local indy revealed cracked coil packs that needed replacement. This ended up fixing the serious misfires that followed the coolant system repair. It also demonstrated that prior issues with post-warshing misfires could have actually been coil packs that were cracked, rather than moisture intrusion from the aftermarket intake. But the remaining issue of an unsettled air/fool ratio meant that my beloved aftermarket intake was likely the culprit for at least one batch of codes. Personally, when an aftermarket part throws codes that cannot be easily addressed, I prefer to restore the OEM parts and live with whatever performance compromise might result. Luckily this case it really just impacted induction sound at WOT in higher RPMs. And beyond that, using the Hemlock resonator too allow induction sound to flow trough the OEM airbox allows some of the induction sound to pass through where previously it was muffled by the Heimlech resonator. Now you might just look at all this and think it's just a mixed bag of lollies, but there are some colonels of truth to be taken from my grand spearmint with intakes. Firstly, the OEM airbox provides superior induction moisture control relative to the aftermarket units. Secondarily, the OEM airbox provides superior air flow management that is less prone to causing lean or rich fuel mixture ratios from popping up. Lastly, the OEM airbox can be modified by deleting the Heisenberg resonator and replacing that section of the OEM airbox with a silicon hoes and a plumbing plug. These parts are not terribly expensive and can still provide good value for the dollar - especially when viewed in the context as aftermarket parts that are safe & effective for a Porsche. For all in tents and porpoises, I can only surmise that there are no material weaknesses in the stock airbox when it relates to the operational integrity of the m96 engine series.

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I agree. I legitimately did not know whether people covered it or not, so now I have a good idea and I understand that there is little or no risk in not covering it. I still don't feel like the question is completely answered, and this is the reason I will continue to cover it despite the fact that it doesn't appear to be necessary. I stated in the original post that it obviously must be designed to drain or else the car couldn't be driven in rain. The real question is not whether it will drain, but the rate at which the holes allow water to drain. In natural rainfall, the amount that goes into the intake is going to be minimal, both because the rainfall itself is very, very, very low volume (on an "inches of rainfall per hour" basis) and because the grill will also tend to block rain drops from going directly into the intake. If you've ever had a rain gauge, the gauge inlet is roughly similar to the intake snorkel and you know how slowly it fills even when there is a lot of rain. Even at the peak of Harvey, I think that the maximum rate that rain that came down was 2 inches per hour - or 0.03 inches per minute, and again the grill will block much of that. So the drainage rate that the car had to be designed to to cope with weather is minimal. When you wash the car, if you spray downwards from the roof towards the engine lid at the intake area, the full stream of water can go through the grill and directly into the intake, which would fill the entire snorkel in only a few seconds at hose output volume. Nobody would intentionally spray it in that location, but it could happen by accident. Would even a completely full intake snorkel eventually drain? I'm sure it would, but I don't know how long it would take. I also don't think it's safe to assume the drain holes could never get clogged or partially blocked to make it drain slower. I also don't know if the air cleaner would become submerged in water during the process because the drain rate is so much slower than the rate of water coming out of the hose. I don't know if the entire paper air filter element being soaked would cause it to deteriorate after it eventually dried out, causing junk to go into the engine over time. I also don't know if the water held in the paper filter element -- which is essentially a sponge that would hold a lot of water and would take a very long time to dry out even if the air filter housing drained somewhat quickly -- would be enough to cause engine damage. Given the above, I'd much rather spend 5 seconds before washing it to seal the intake than spend the entire time washing it trying to make sure I never accidentally direct the hose towards the intake. I don't expect anyone else to do what I do, but I think you have to ignore a lot to think it's reasonable to deride my conservative approach.

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... Truley and purfectly said!

Given how much time you've devoted to your post and the importance of fluidity removal rate, I expect a graph detailing each location of drainage with flow rates and duration of time. Also, I'd like to see a control between natural spring water from the store, verse rain water which has impurities which could reduce the amount of natural flow. You really could be on to something here.

OP, sorry I have not read all the long posts but let me show you how the inside of the airbox looks like so you can determine by yourself whether it's an issue. Note there are some holes close to the bottom of the airbox (however, the holes are NOT at the lowest part of the box). However, note the filter hangs at the upper portion of the box. Also keep in mind where the snorkel snaps onto the airbox is NOT water tight so water leaks out from there as well. My take is unless you aim a fire hose at the snorkel and start your engine the same time, regular water from a garden hose or even pressure washer (I use one) won't be an issue. Of course unless you're targeting the snorkel with the water jet. Photos from https://www.renntech.org/forums/topi...k-air-box-why/

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I have a tin foil hat and several beers, I will donate to alleviate your obvious stress.

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I don't understand the purpose of your post. If it is an attempt at comedy, I wouldn't give up your day job. If you don't understand the importance of input rate versus drainage rate, that says more about you than anything else. If you want to tell me that the airbox will always drain faster than a hose can fill the intake, that would be useful information and would go a long way towards answering the question. If you want to tell me that the air filter housing is designed so that it is impossible for the air filter element to get soaked no matter how much water goes down the intake, that would also be useful information. If you have nothing meaningful to say, just don't post so you don't waste my time or anybody elses. Is that a difficult or unreasonable request?

You know there have been literally millions of experiments of the design over the past 18 years and not a single report of a car going kaboom because of failing to cover the snorkel while washing it under typical car washing conditions? So, yeah, this question is idiotic. Keep pretending you have stumbled onto some issue that us hicks haven't considered, but you're just either intentionally being dense or... well, if it isn't intentional it must be something else.

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Thank you very much for your post. This helps a lot. The small holes at the lowest point, I think, very clearly could not keep up with the hose output at all, but the large number of holes on the higher section should be able to drain much more quickly and should act as a "relief valve" to minimize the chances of the filter element getting wet. When I have the air filter apart for the motor mounts, I will definitely check out the flow rates with water to get a better understanding of exactly how well it flows, but I now see exactly how the airbox design does help minimize the risk.

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Some of us are just trying to keep others from falling into your rabbit hole. With real things to check and be concerned about like IMS bearings, rear main seals, AOS's, cracked heads, camshaft end plugs, and suspension bushings, I don't want others laying awake at night afraid to wash their car. Knowing there is one of you out there is already disturbing enough.

My car is a DD, I also use the brushless car wash all the time and had this issue whenever I left the carwash with it being right at the freeway entrance, I would get a CEL upon accelerating onto the freeway, so I took a rain sock from the Harley and place it over the snorkel when I do a carwash and left it there till I return home, also no more CEL. works for me and I think you have a legit ?.

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Not difficult but highly unreasonable as this is a public forum, so I'm exercising my voice that this is quite laughable at the least. Plus, I said something meaningful, doused my C2 with water the other day during a normal wash, and now it's no longer operable and will likely have to go to the scrap yard. I find you're defensiveness of this issue to be pretty interesting as well. Like I stated, I would like to see some data to back up your fear.

OP appears to have Asperger's, yet no one is picking up on this.

It's strange that a reputed hydro-lock incident in a Maserati in Seattle would cascade into this thread, but here we are. I want to see flow diagrams. The more arrows, the better. The people need to know.

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"When I have the air filter apart for the motor mounts, I will definitely check out the flow rates with water to get a better understanding of exactly how well it flows, but I now see exactly how the airbox design does help minimize the risk" I think distilled water would be best for flow rates... but for accuracy of this experiment, stick a garden hose up your snorkel

This entire thread is moot if you just use Optimum rinseless to wash the car.* * I am not a dealer of Optimum rinseless. Promise.

I've actually used the waterless carwash products with success.

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Success (tm) or regular old success? Always skeptical of Success(tm). I believe Johnny has Success(tm)

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Tanks teacH

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I come to automotive forums for two reasons. For help on car stuff, and entertainment. I'm happy to mix both, as long as personal abuse isn't part of it. The output per litre is LESS than the Honda B18CR engine and mine lasted 9 years of motorsport "abuse" without any maintenance other than fresh oil and filters,and was still going strong when swapped out for a K20a. Doubt if any Euro motors, including Porsche, would have tolerated that 😊

Fair enough. My winter dd is a Honda

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I think most missed this statement buried in the middle of your essay. I know where you can get 15 gallons of free gas.

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Thanks for your useful post. Good to know. If you are going to label something a "rabbit hole", then you have the obligation to provide a technical explanation of exactly why it is a rabbit hole (in other words, explain exactly how the drainage is so effective that it can never be overwhelmed by water coming into the intake). Even if you had done that, it still wouldn't have been a "rabbit hole", it would simply be an answered question. Instead, the sum total of your knowledge on this subject, based upon the technical content of all of your posts in this thread, seems to be precisely zero. You have contributed absolutely northing of substance. So you are the dumbest person in the room on the technical aspects of the subject, but you have appointed yourself judge and jury as to what all of us should discuss and should not discuss in this thread. None of us need you to protect us from what we see or say, we are all adults, and we don't need to be lectured by somebody with zero specific knowledge on the subject. If you start your own thread, you can have some say in what is discussed. In my thread, or anyone else's, don't try to dictate the discussion, particularly when you have added nothing and apparently know nothing. It seems to be the norm for technical threads on RL to be derailed by stupid non-constructive comments such as yours that completely ruin the discussion simply because some posters don't personally think the question is important. If you don't think it is important, then just don't post. If the topic of a thread really is pointless, then nobody will post, so that problem will always take care of itself. Do you see how that works? Your personal intervention isn't needed. I'm surprised the moderators tolerate these types of comments since they are just a massive waste of everyone's time in addition to ruining what what would otherwise be a constructive discussion (or crickets if the topic really was pointless).

Point of order: it's typically the ridiculous technical threads that get derailed by stupid non-constructive comments. Like this one. If the owner's manual doesn't suggest covering the snorkel, you're probably good. Unless you're a u-boat commander.

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Maybe you can show me in the owners manual about servicing the IMS ?

Yes, the failure of an obscure internal component is exactly the same as "oop, we forgot to include a drain in the airbox - you'll need to double-bag that s**t forever."

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I found the Pinky Lai quote: "No, of course you don't need to wrap a trash bag around the intake charge pipe. That would be stupid."

dear lord....i just noticed something.....he is from joisey .....we normally do not see this behavior unless the house is near high voltage lines or a meth cooker

Forever single

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Maybe you can show us a single article pointing to issues with water getting in the snorkel from the factory?

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So I've never covered my snorkel... *ahem* nor have I ever put anything over my air intake when washing my 996. FWIW, I do have the knockoff 5CHN3LL edition commemorative wing in place of the standard pop-up panel that came on the car. This may affect my drainage. I also live in the Mojave desert, so I worry about water all the time, however, in a different context. It sounds to me that 996's that act up after a wash have more water and electricity issues than water getting inside of the engine issues. I've never read anyone on this forum complaining of hydrolock after a wash. So I say - we're a weird, wacky bunch. If covering your snorkel makes you feel comfort after your Maserati PTSD; then you do you, man. You do you. Dude, I mean, you called it.

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The problem with all of the stupid non-constructive comments is that they completely twist the thread to change the discussion into something it never was about. I never said it didn't have a drain. In fact, I said very clearly in the first post that it does have a drain . Yet you twist it to make it sound like a moronic question because you make the wildly inaccurate statement that I don't think it has a drain. So you are either intentionally lying to make it sound like a stupid question, or you never read or understood what I asked in the first post. My question, in the first post, was this -> How specifically does the drainage system work and how can we be sure that the volume of water coming out of the hose doesn't overwhelm the factory drainage system? That is, unambiguously, a very specific and valid technical question that has a very specific technical answer. If you don't like the question, or it is just too technical or detailed to be interesting to you, then don't post. You are just dead wrong to claim it isn't a valid question. Instead, what happens, is all the moronic non-constructive comments twist what was a valid question into something that sounds ridiculous. The result of that, of course, is that new people come to the thread who might have contributed valuable stuff, like Ahsai did to directly answer the original question, instead see the warped representation of the question your BS comments twisted it into, and instead of contributing, they pile on to the non-constructive comments to further degrade the discussion. Get a life, don't comment about things you don't care or know about, and stop twisting people's questions into something they never were. .

You people are all missing the obvious answer. Porsche said nothing about washing the car in the manual. This obviously means that we were never meant to wash them. So not only are you fools wasting time, money, and natural resources washing a car that will be dirty again 5 minutes later, but you are also clearly going against Porsche's maintenance advice. Idiots!

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It works by having journals allowing the water to pass through and not collect in and around the enclosed airbox. We can be sure because there has never been a failure. Class adjourned. PeterP, I'd like you to stay after to we can have a word or two.

Next edition of Rennlist Members...will include "The Rainman"...so many clips to choose. You Tube

Wow this guy is a moraine

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You are the dumbest person in this thread. I submit your ludicrous verbose idiotic reply as exhibit one. And for the the record, I've probably forgotten more about cars than the sum total of your knowledge about anything. I grew up in the south where people tried to be somewhat civil and it was often said there are no stupid questions.... then you entered my life. There are stupid questions, and this is one. So now I will retract the rabbit hole and go on record saying I'm trying to prevent the spread of stupidity. In the past 20 years how many 996s do you think have been in a rain storm or washed repeatedly? Yet not one incident of a hydrolocked engine has been shown. So **** off, eh?

He just might take his water hose and be the first!

This is to become an epic thread if things continue as they go! Only unfortunate a bit of acidic undertone here or there. To the OP: I would not worry too much. German engineering has a lifetime of experience with schnorkels and washing cars (interesting combination btw). If that does not put you at ease, schnorkel building at Porsche has a long heritage too so you'll be OK.

You Tube

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Lol, been there, kind of disappointing...Got water down my snorkel and almost "hydro locked"

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Does this mean I'm screwed if I buy a automatic 996? Or, does this mean that the Tipppy 996 will wash herself while parked on a slopped garage overnight? Help me out here Gnat!

Here ya go....the solution! Just plant one of these in your air filter box and no more worries!

Ok, all, no more guessing. I went out and took the airbox out. Pictures tell all, but here's a quick explanation: 1.) Tiny hole to the left and dozens of holes on the bottom. 2.) Verify blockages by taking snorkel off (no tools required) and use your phone video camera with light to record video to see if there is any debris. Bottom of '99 996.1 C2 stock airbox Remove snorkel to check for debris with phone camera and light

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If your airbox had been subject to a deluge of hydrolocking carwash doom, you definitely wouldn't have all that dust collected in the bottom.

there must be sumpin in the water.....now there is a "how deep can my po take water" thread over on the 911 forum

If I lived in a flood prone area and had a week of 24 hour news coverage telling me how bad it's going to be...I would have called a tow truck to send my baby to higher ground!

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there is a good possibility that his car never leaves the garage .....at least that was the impression i got.....ya know the type....they think their car is built by and for the gods

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The topic was over the second you hit "post"! Non issue with these cars, wash it until the paint rubs off...

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Yes, clearly I - the one who doesn't bag my intake and post questions about it online - am the one needing a life. Got it. Maybe instead of a life, I'll just get a lobotomy. This way, I'll be properly equipped to answer your future questions.

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One thing you need to bring to any forum is a thick skin and a sense of humour. Then you can enjoy the experience without it clouding your life...if you have one, of course.

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Well, he did have a Maserati Coupe prior to the 996. One of the 20,000 Maseratis produced allegedly suffered from hydrolock after a brief swim, so surely it's a relevant question for a rear engined car with an upward facing intake that includes a few dozen drain holes. 0.00005 probability isn't low enough for me, so I can see why the OP has opted not to focus on a precautionary rebuild fund & obsess over a theoretical black swan. After all, people like shiny objects. And in car world there's nothing shinier than the fabled hydrolock.

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Crap. I wash my cars a lot. Now you gave me something else to worry about.

I foam and rinse my car with a 2000psi power washer....including the vents on the rear lid. I don't take great care about the angle of incidence with the deck lid, but I don't go crazy spraying there, either. Have not had an issue.

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I'd bet his was one of the "Hydrolocked" versions.

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Thanks very much for the feedback. I think the pressure washer, or any kind of nozzle, sharply reduces the volume rate that water that can go down the snorkel during spraying because the nozzle spreads out the water distribution a lot. The worst-case for water flow concentration is probably a raw hose without any nozzle. All of the "waffle" style microfiber drying towels strongly recommend using the raw house output for the final rinse, so that could end up putting a lot of higher volume of water down the snorkel when rinsing the engine lid area as compared to any nozzle. With the pictures from murphyslaw1978 and Ahsai, it looks like drainage is probably sufficient even then.

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Thanks for the comments. Yes, I did call it. Too bad all the noise in this thread came from people who did not read or understand the first post. Awesome. Thank you very much for posting this. I can't quite tell from the end photo, but it looks like there is a lot of space in between the air box surface with the large number of holes and where the air filter element hangs above it. This was the question I had after seeing the airbox layout in Ahsai's post.

My 996 intake self-identifies as a Maserati intake.

Guys...., call the Hardy Boys..., I think this one is a wrap!

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Yes, I need to stop reading the Internet

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lol. I'd jam snow down my hood scoop on the Rex. Was like spraying nitrous. no it wasn't. Lol

Everytime I open this thread, I lose IQ points. Another 50 or so posts, eventually my IQ will be low enough to answer the OPs question in a way that even he may understand it. If not, I'm sure eventually we will have 100 more posts on why this is a complete non issue. Maybe by then my mental deficiencies will be sufficient that I can communicate on a lebel the OP can comprehend. But probably not. Yes folks, social media is making people dumber. This entire topic is proof.

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Hi Anthony! I've prepared a friendly summary for you in the hopes it eliminates some of the antipathies this thread has injected into your system. Question & Answer on behalf of the OP's conscience (that ECU located behind the wall of self-righteous cognitive dissonance): Q: Is washing my car dangerous as it relates to ingesting water via the OEM intake? A: No. Q: Does hosing down the rear spoiler area put the engine at risk of hydro-locking? A: No. Q: Would spraying the rear spoiler area directly with a high output commercial pressure washer put the engine at risk of hydro-locking via intake ingestion of water? A: No. Q: Would a sealed hookup of a fire hydrant to the intake snorkel while the car is running put the engine at risk of hydro-locking? A: Apologies, but the moderator appears to have suffered a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

If OP had simply put up his hands smiled and taken early comments in good humour I think much of the angst would not have occurred. In his defence some of the responders were a "little unkind".

But what if you drive with rear spoiler up, at top speed in reverse, against the 150MPH+ wind, and in Hurricane Harvey level rain. Do you think there is a risk of hydro-locking? I want to cover all the bases and make sure this vital topic is addressed. If you have only stupid responses, please do not bother answering. I am looking only for serious technical minds to discuss this problem.

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To make your answers easier to understand and tally, and to minimize any possible side-comments which he may find objectionable, please mark your answer below with a Number #2 pencil. Thank you.

Dimmit Cuda, I just gauged my computer screen...Do you think my computer is ruined?

I tried to be nice but the OPs indignation at my lack of concern and his claim of superior intellect pissed me off. Then it was on like DK.

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Nooooo, never reverse above walking speed in the rain, the angular velocity of the rain droplets will force them up your tailpipes where they will be ingested by the catalytic convert. Due to the high temperature of the exhaust gasses the droplets will flash-over to a steam vapor thus vapor locking the motor.

So the 996 is susceptible to vapor lock... GRATE

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What if you point a commercial grade power-washer at the exhaust pipe? Would it force water up the exhaust system, ruin the cat converters, and vapor lock the engine? When I washed my 996, I used MAGNUM XLs on each exhaust pipe to avoid the accidental vaporlock.

Its possible if a pressure washer is inserted into one pipe only, and an x-pipe has been installed the water may be diverted out the other end. If you've had your cans handled buy Fister or Gundo results may vary

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[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/icon107.gif

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Can you point out the exact post where you tried to be nice? I never claimed superior intellect. All I did was point out the irony that, in all your posts, you had not contributed one bit of relevant information on the topic, yet at the same time you demonstrated the least knowledge of anyone on this specific subject, you appointed yourself judge and jury to decide for everyone that the topic should not be discussed. Do you not see the irony in that, or what's wrong with that? You might be a unparalleled genius, but in this thread, you have contributed zero information on the topic, so you are the last person who should be deciding for everyone that a topic shouldn't be discussed. Instead of simply ignoring a discussion you didn't find interesting, like most normal people would do, you just keep posting, and the goal of every one of your posts continues to be to try to derail the discussion. Pop Quiz: Is this the behavior of: A. A helpful person or B. A total **** Fixed with edit -> And that "DTMiller" guy, he's a bad hombre.

Hey, I've been unhelpful too! Where is my credit. This is crap.

I have an '03 996 and an '03 986, which are basically the same cars. I can certainly attest that when I washed the 986 without covering things up, I had all hell to pay.

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I'll say. Most here are afraid to even whisper his name.

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1). I extended an olive branch and offered you a free tinfoil hat and beer to reduce your stress. 2). You went nuts. 3). I kindly warned you about rabbit holes; you went full retard and traded your shovel for a diesel powered Cat backhoe. 4). Then you added fuel to the fire claiming I'm the dumbest guy in this room. You have ZERO evidence to support your stupid idiotic assertion. As pointed out to you 996s have probably suffered through over 1 million washes with no recorded hydrolocking incidents. Yet you insist on making the entire universe dumber by dragging everyone down your, now industrial sized rabbit hole. And by saying I'm the dumbest person in the room (even if your 2nd dumbest which you aren't by a longshot), you did in actually claim you have a superior intellect, you self righteous twit. I'm done with your stupidity and I rescind the olive branch offers of free beer and tinfoil hats. If I find you in your stupid rabbit hole, I'm going to fill it with you in it so no one else falls in !!!! Good day happy motoring g, and I hope worrying about hydrolocking keeps you up at night.... OR..... would you rather let bygones be bygones and I can go find a crane to get you out of your rabbit hole? Ask stupid questions, win stupid prizes. As for me I pledge to no longer argue with this idiot. He will just drag me down to his level and win with experience. As for automotive knowledge, I've designed parts on vehicles on US highways right now. I actually redesigned an airbox for a client because the previous engineer was a lot like you! I started working on race cars at age 5 over 40 years ago. I've raced as an amateur myself. I've rebuilt multiple engines, transmissions, replaced clutches, differentials, diagnosed and repaired many EFI issues, etc. I was a nuclear mechanic in a previous life (many years ago since you don't understand euphemisms). I still do a lot of work on my many cars. And I sure as hell don't worry about hydrolocking unless I'm driving in a flood! So what is it going to be? Gonna keep digging? Dig rabbit, dig! If you actually had a legitimate problem deserving an actual answer, most everyone including me would've done everything they could to help. I'm trying to help you stop being a big worry wart silly ninny, but you're so scared you can't see that. Clearly you should sell your Porsche and get a Kia so you can have 99,999 miles of hydrolocking worry free driving.

Troll Thread of the year award winner?... Maybe...?

Guys I have a bigger problem. I've been pressing the spoiler button down in the footwell but my spoiler isn't moving, any ideas?

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lots of stuff seems to **** you off.

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yeah but his **** is bigger than yours.

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you need to get the fawk off your high horse.

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From the picture in your avatar I believe you are suffering from 9999X code - OEM aero kit. Please visit your local UPS outlet and ship the affected spoiler, side skirts and front bumper to me. I will ensure they are rigorously tested and brought back to normal operating condition. Free of charge, even.

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it could make the top ten but #1 ? hardly

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9999X code? Is that dangerous? How long will I be affected for? Is it contagious? PM me you address, will also need mothers maiden name, CC with CCV (for shipping, I'm not paying), and a picture of you with a shoe on your head (so I know you're not a phony).

Quotes source post: 14470411

Mr Billup, Please send a wire transfer of $10,000 to the Bank of Niger. Funds clear to provide you with shipping funds, this is how transaction must go. I am honest broker doing business here in West Africa for now 20 years. In advance I thank you for business and wish you happy 9/11 holiday. Best Regards, Honest broker from West Africa

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JFC that was almost too perfect. You had me. Until the end at least. Should have put "Regard of Bestes Friend".

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True story.