how to keep a 996?

my friend wants me to take care of his 996 when he's away. batt. tender, of course. but how freq do i need to run it? every month? i plan to run it every month: fully warmed up, then 3 miles easy local/20miles high way/3 miles easy local/5 minutes idle. is it good enough?

It's better run it everyday....;-)

How long will your friend be gone? I've left mine for 2-3 weeks before when I was a traveling consultant, and it was fine. Of course, there's no reason for you to do that since you now have two 996s to rotate!

Your friend will have a better car when he retunes if you drive it frequently for 30 minutes or so.

I try to take the car out once every week to stretch its leg. It sat for >4weeks once with no dead battery issue. My boss' 02 996 has a dead battery if it is not driven weekly. Make sure you turn on the A/C so the A/C oil can lube the seals.

he will be gone for more than 6 month. he is debating about putting the car in storage(not running at all time), or put it in garage, and run it every month. good point about A/C. so every run, make sure the A/C is on after full warmed up. then turn the A/C to max heat/ max fan when idling at the end of run.

Where are you located? I can drive the car the right way for your friend. Is Steven Chow your friend? I would love to meet him.

My advice? Drive it like you stole it!

I would advise keeping very little fuel in the tank, and letting part of your monthly (bi-weekly probably better) drives be to the gas station to get another gallon (yes just 1 gallon) of fuel. If you start with a relatively full tank, you will be OK in the beginning, but as the fuel degrades over time it will not be good for the engine.

I would run it at least once a week. Drive it a few miles after it has warmed up to 180degrees and run it thru a few gears at least to excercise that rpm band. Don't beat on it or anything, of course, but still run it up thru the rpm range to make sure it doesn't get carbon deposits on the pistons/rings and make sure the oil is brought up to it's full temp.

Keeping a tank close to empty is a bad idea in my book. With an empty tank you have a tank that will and can build up moisture. When the tank is full it keeps moisture from building up on the tank. If you have to park and not drive, use a full tank and add a stabilizer

I stored my last car over seven winters, from the beginning of December to the end of March. If it's of any help, this is what I did: Full fuel tank. This is CRITICAL. Moisture in the fuel tank and system is really bad news. I didn't bother with stabilizer. I did wait until the gas companies had switched to their winter formulations before that final fill up, though. Tires pumped up to the maximum pressure on the sidewalls to prevent flatspotting. The car rode on Michelin Pilot SXs, and then Bridgestone SO3s, and neither ever flatspotted. Fresh oil in the crankcase. Better to store the car without contaminated oil in it. I didn't need a battery tender, but for a Porsche I'd use one for sure. Wash and wax. E-brake off. Covered it up, and that was it. I never drove it. My advice would be, don't take it out unless you're going to have a chance to get it well and truly warmed up. Otherwise, you're better off leaving it cold. I never, never had any problems with this at all, and when I sold the car the engine PPIed like new. The only note on this is that I was in an underground parking garage. If I'd stored it in a normal residential garage, I might cover the exhaust pipe to keep critters from getting in there. Hope this is useful.

I also store my car every winter for 4-5 months. Ditto everything BruceP said. I do use Stabil fuel stabilizer and inflate tires to 60lbs. I use a battery tender and a good cover. If rodents are an issue, stuff rags in exhaust also in radiator area. Keep windows cracked open to allow air circulation. For 6 months, I would keep the car bundled-up. If it was longer, then I'd say drive it every couple of weeks.

thanks for the advise, we will get a storage for the car. fresh oil/full tank of gas with stablizer/tire pumped up, etc. ZBlue996Kam, i met Chow a few times, not sure if he remembers me, prob. not.