Questions about my new (to me) 1999-996 C$

I recently acquired a 1999 996 C4 with 82,000 miles. The PPI from Stuttgart Autotech in Lake Oswego Oregon was clean, and I just finished waxing and polishing it up. I plan to take a few pictures tomorrow. In any case I have a several small questions and rather than send them in one by one, is it acceptable to do a batch process? The seats have electric tilt and the fore and aft manual slide works. However, both seats do not move vertically when pulling up on the lever that the manual indicates adjusts height. I suspect they are full down and have been that way for some time. Are they supposed to come up when you pull up on the lever while standing outside? Next, the lock for the fuel door does not engage the latch on the door. The locking pin moves left and right when the remote door lock is activated, but the pin does not protrude enough to seat in the socket on the flip open hatch. Has this been a common problem and is there an easy fix? Third, the leather on the drivers seat bolster next to the door won't stay tucked into the plastic back shell/cover. Short of having the seat partially re-upholstered, is there a simple fix for this? Next, the Antera wheels are missing one the stainless trim rings and a new one is $250 plus. Is there good information on grinding out curb rash and polishing wheels that I can go to and see if I want to try doing it? The previous owner said he wanted to polish and repaint the wheels and never like the stainless steel trim ring look. The wheel does appear a bit undressed with out the trim ring, but I am unsure which way to go. Since the tires are new, I don't plan on replacing the wheels or tires for a while (I hope), so they won�t be off the car � I hope.. Last item is about the spare tire and wheel, or more to the point, the lack of one. The previous owner (who got the car in 2004) tells me it was the first owner that took out the spare and put a large audio amplifier in its place. I�m not very interested in a �state of the art� stereo, and what is in the car now is not very impressive. A local audio shop recommends pulling out the aftermarket radio, tear out the amplifier, remove all the added gobs of wiring and crossovers that don�t seem to be connected to anything, and replace the blown speakers; all of which sounds good to me. The questions would be first; how often has one needed a spare, if I had a spare then I expect to use it I�d need the tool kit and jack (which are also missing), and lastly, what kind of car radio system should a Porsche have? I can reportedly get the spare and tool kit from a California dismantler for less than $600. I fear that if I get a flat, I would be at the mercy of some ill-educated (on Porsches) tow truck operator to get it fixed. I suppose a can fix instant fix-flat is not really a good idea. Thank you for your patience with me on all there questions� -Bob on Whidbey Island, Washingto

Your fuel door is controlled by an electronic actuator which locks when you activate the keyless locking mechanism...which Loren and I just completed a DIY on. If you go to RennTech and look for "Fuel door actuator" you'll see a step-by-step with pictures "how to" on that subject. There's a black plastic ring in the passenger's door frame that you can see when you open the door. You might try gently pulling on the ring to see if the actuator is stuck and might spring forward. If you have to replace the actuator...it's only a $30 item from Sunset Porsche. There's also a "rosette" which is a hat looking round rubber ring with a hole in the middle. Make sure the plastic actuator arm is protruding through the rosette into the plastic lock on the fuel door. You may be missing the plastic piece with a hole in it that accepts the actuator arm. There's a picture of it in the RennTech DIY instructions. Good luck ...Chuck

Congrats on your C$ purchase! Were you trying to type a "4", because the"$" is definetly correct! I've owned my C4 cab for all of 2-1/2 weeks now and am finding glitches here and there. Stereo woes are probably pretty common... I just had mine replaced with a Pioneer AVIC D3 navigation system by a p-car expert, Car Audio Innovations. Man did he find a messed up installation from the previous shop... So far, I love my D3. I'm thinking that my passenger seat rear motor is kuput like yours. Haven't delved into it yet...

Thanks Chuck, The DIY info was very useful. I'll need to look at the throw disatance on the unit I have now; it goes inand out when unlocking/locking, but apparently not far enough. Perhaps the actuator is rubbing on something? Also, I did see instructions for fixing curb rash in the DIY area. Thanks bonkur, I really wanted a "4" and not a "$", but it does fit. My seats apparently do not have a motor to raise and lower, just for the seat bacck tilt. I may have to take it apart to see what is going on. I plan to take the car into an upholstery shop and get the seat back bolster fixed; th material won't stay captures in the grooved seat back panel. I could try a thin strip of duct tape to "shim" it out a bit thicker, but duct tape is probably not on the approveeedd parts list. Anyone have a comment on the real need need to carry a spare? -Bob

I recently acquired a 1999 996 C4 with 82,000 miles. The PPI from Stuttgart Autotech in Lake Oswego Oregon was clean, and I just finished waxing and polishing it up. I plan to take a few pictures tomorrow. In any case I have a several small questions and rather than send them in one by one, is it acceptable to do a batch process? Batch is fine The seats have electric tilt and the fore and aft manual slide works. However, both seats do not move vertically when pulling up on the lever that the manual indicates adjusts height. I suspect they are full down and have been that way for some time. Are they supposed to come up when you pull up on the lever while standing outside? Yes, they should pop up when you release the lever Next, the lock for the fuel door does not engage the latch on the door. The locking pin moves left and right when the remote door lock is activated, but the pin does not protrude enough to seat in the socket on the flip open hatch. Has this been a common problem and is there an easy fix? I'm not sure Third, the leather on the drivers seat bolster next to the door won't stay tucked into the plastic back shell/cover. Short of having the seat partially re-upholstered, is there a simple fix for this? Not sure Next, the Antera wheels are missing one the stainless trim rings and a new one is $250 plus. Is there good information on grinding out curb rash and polishing wheels that I can go to and see if I want to try doing it? The previous owner said he wanted to polish and repaint the wheels and never like the stainless steel trim ring look. The wheel does appear a bit undressed with out the trim ring, but I am unsure which way to go. Since the tires are new, I don't plan on replacing the wheels or tires for a while (I hope), so they won�t be off the car � I hope.. I'm not familiar with those wheels, but I'd bet a wheel refinisher could repair them from your description Last item is about the spare tire and wheel, or more to the point, the lack of one. The previous owner (who got the car in 2004) tells me it was the first owner that took out the spare and put a large audio amplifier in its place. I�m not very interested in a �state of the art� stereo, and what is in the car now is not very impressive. A local audio shop recommends pulling out the aftermarket radio, tear out the amplifier, remove all the added gobs of wiring and crossovers that don�t seem to be connected to anything, and replace the blown speakers; all of which sounds good to me. The questions would be first; how often has one needed a spare, if I had a spare then I expect to use it I�d need the tool kit and jack (which are also missing), and lastly, what kind of car radio system should a Porsche have? I can reportedly get the spare and tool kit from a California dismantler for less than $600. I fear that if I get a flat, I would be at the mercy of some ill-educated (on Porsches) tow truck operator to get it fixed. I suppose a can fix instant fix-flat is not really a good idea. I'd put the spare back in. You could probably find a used kit from one of the Porsche salvage yards (like Oklahoma Foreign) for far less than buying new. However, $600 sounds pricy to me. Sorry I can't help with the stereo advice. However if you search "PSE Mod" you may want to ignore the stereo and just improve your flat-6 music. Thank you for your patience with me on all there questions� NP, Congrats on the new car