ext. remote control range, anyone done this in NY/NJ?

i plan to do this while i putting in my remotetop. could anyone in NJ/NY offer some help? or team up if you need to do this too. i spent 20 minutes to put the smart top in last weekend. what a ride! http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4958

According to that post there is a TSB - does that mean this is something the dealer can/will do under warranty?

Don't know about warranty work .... never owned a Porsche new enough .... but there is a TSB, and it is available (among other sources) to contributing members of RennTech. Its a very simple, 30 minute or so job for even the most basic DIYer. Its increased my range from a few feet to 15-20 feet.

I think i'm going to try it after work today. What's this about adding extra wire for extended length? http://www.lotususa.com/Alex/LongRange/default.htm so one method would be shortening the wire and placing it outside the foam, and the other would be extending the wire???

It seams that the frequency only works with multiples of 130. The first method says trim exactly to 130 and place outside of foam, the second uses a multiple of 130, i think 1690 which is suposed to extent the range further than the 1st mod. I have yet to do this but it is on my list

got it.. thanks... seems odd to trim to 130 to only have to add more to equal 1690. Does anyone know the length stock? and is that from the black tip to the end of the white wire? Maybe I should open it up before I ask these questions..

I don't remember the stock length. As per the Renntech DiY, the part to measure is from the black sleeve to the end of the white wire. I did the mod and it didn't really increase my range (a foot at most). My range is currently about 4 feet. I trimmed to 130. I have not tried to increase the length. Perhaps that would work better.

jedier, you've done it all haven't you? how long did this take you? is it too much to add to the laundry list for saturday?

I'm far from having done it all... Compared to some on this board, I'm still a lame newbie! In any case, yes, we can try to add this to the list for Saturday. If we're done with the SSK and the muffler is still too hot to swap out, we can do this mod in the meantime.

I just read through the TSB again. As I remembered, it says nothing about increasing the length of the wire. You shorten the wire, then, depending upon what freq. you have, you remove either 100 or 130 mm of shield from your remaining wire. The TSB indicates to me that both the trimming and the moving the antenna wire away from some shielding are important aspects. It surely worked for me .... dramatically.

Kim- Did you measure from the edge of the black sleeve or from the end of the shielding? On my car, the black sleeve extends ~5mm past the shielding. I measured from the edge of the black sleeve. I didn't want to cut more (i.e., based on the end of the shielding since I didn't have the HW to re-extend if that didn't work). I'm not sure that 5mm is that significant but since mm is the unit of measure, it could be...

I followed the step in the TSB exactly. Step 5 was to "shorten the antenna lead by 100 mm, measured from the upper end". Step 6 was to "measured from the upper end of the [remaining] antenna lead" .... strip away the shielding so that 130 mm of the remaining lead was exposed (outside the shielding). Hope that helps.

dumb question, what's a TSB and where can I find it?

I was always taught that the only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask. TSB = Technical Service Bulletin - notices put out by Porsche on various mechanical and service issues on each model of car. There are hundreds so far for the 996. Some are just informational to dealer service depts, and others announce & describe mechanical fixes for various problems, etc. One can subscribe through Porsche, I believe, with the TSBs being, in effect, addenda to the factory service manual. One can also become a contributing member at RennTech.org, and have access to the whole collection, sortable by subject, number, date, etc.

so the next question, dealer won't do TSB for free, right?

Sorry, as I stated earlier in this thread, I've never owned a Porsche new enough for warranty work, so I don't know about that. As for free performance of a TSB out of warranty .... my general experience with Porsche would indicate that is rare, but not unheard of ..... depending, of course, on the specific issue at hand.

What about TSB under warranty? Surely someone knows.

TSBs are repaired under warranty if you are having a problem that a TSB resolves. Otherwise, TSBs cost money (for example, no one is going to give you the stereo upgrade for free, but there is a TSB on how to install it).

I did the remote range mod tonight, based on Izzyandsue's DIY, Here is my (short) contribution for my 2000 996. This was my first attempt at a mod of any kind, and despite the fact that it seemed pretty easy, I was still a bit nervous to start pulling my car apart, but for all you faint of heart, if I can do it and get it back together, anyone can. This part was easy. I needed a Star driver, and there was only one bolt. I really had to pull to get the first one loose. These are stubborn little clips. One of the clips stayed lodged in the frame (i.e., came off of the plasitc A-pillar cover), so I needed some pliers to retrieve it and put it back. I had to pull pretty hard to get the whole thing out, and I felt like I was gonna break something. Good thing I didn't Start from the top (i.e., farthest from the dash) and you don't have to unwrap the whole thing (which I did, of course). You only need to unwrap about a foot or so. There is only a little extra, maybe 4-5 inches to cut off. If you don't have a metric caliper, 130 mm (13 cm) is about 5.11 inches (roughly approximated to 5 1/8") [Again, measure from the black sleeve upwards] I poked a little hole in the sleeve and used a velcro tie-down to secure the whole thing. The white antenna wire is nicely placed outside the foam and towards the inside of the car. Mine wasn't very sticky. It held long enough to put the A-pillar back though. Sweet, worked!!! I added at least 20-30 feet in range. Pushes = pound in with palm of hand. Those little buggers are just as hard to get in as out. Also, I had a fit problem at the seat belt pillar (coupe). The end of the A-pillar has to tuck under the seat belt pillar. So you have to start at the front, then do the back, and save the middle for last. Took me 3 tries to get it back in place. After the rest of the project, you'll be happy to get to this part. Indeed!

Good write up! I couldn't get past the remove sun visor part. When it says it simply pulls out, did you just tug down? I thought for sure I was going to break it off so I quit while I was ahead.

ok, any one near NYC wants to help me out or do this together? i put my remote top last weekend, now i REALLY need long range remote.

The actual visor part (with the mirror in it) comes apart from the metal bracket attached to the car. So to get the visor part off of the metal holder, you have to pull it longwise parallel with the roof of the car -> not up or down. That is, make it where the visor can swivel (like when you are blocking the sun in your drivers window) and then grab the end of the visor (farthest from the swivel connector) and pull just the whole visor part off of the metal bracket by pulling the visor away from the swivel part (no up or down pulling - just pull away from the swivel connector). There is a little metal rod inserted into the visor, but that's it. It's about the size of a bic pen inserted into a hole in the visor. When you get the visor off of the metal pin, then you can proceed with the rest of it. Good luck! -td

Doh! I'm a dumbass. I tried pulling the whole visor/rod off of the pillar. Oops. Glad I stopped.

What about for an '02? I hear this TSB doesn't apply to '02s and there's another TSB that extends the antenna and relocates it for '03-'04?

I also read in another thread about this that you DON'T have to take the visor off the 996, only the Boxster? Is that one true? I really don't need extra remote range - it's not like I can close all the windows and sunroof with the remote, so what's so bad about a 5 foot range?

I called up my local Porsche dealer and it looks like the TSB does apply to '99-'02 cars. This TSB actually reroutes the antenna. This is all the info I have and the bill is $140. I wonder if this is the simple remove the sheath method?

Quotes source post: 5342871

Has to be. The "re routing" is just exposing the white wire and leaving 130MM outside of the sheath before closing it up again. An hour's labor for that? Damn~!

I remember when an hour's labor was $65 and I ain't ancient. Man, things are getting pricey. Of course, at least the government says that there's no inflation.

Quotes source post: 5344833

the gov. said except oil and food, there's no unflation. oh, they forgot milk price increase.