OK, I have officially joined the RMS Brigade

I picked up the car this evening. You may recall I had grease splattered on the inside of the right rear wheel and suspension parts. They replaced the drive shaft #996-332-024-03 and a couple of locking nuts. I also had them change out the brake fluid, which has been in the car for almost 3 years. I get into the car to drive back to the office. The hand (parking) brake lever does not rise as far as it did before. I hit the clutch and it feels "softer," not as hard to push to the floor. I'm thinking... "OK, they adjusted both the brake and the clutch." Clutch feels different but good. After I get home a take a closer look at the invoice and I see the following: Customer states check for oil leak. Rear Main Seal is leaking. Removed transmission, clutch and flywheel. Cleaned engine removed and replaced rear main seal. Cleaned transmission and reinstalled. Test drove. Shaft sealing ring 997-101-212-00 Customer states perform recall W532 Replaced air box as per PCNA air cleaner 996-110-921-51 Service advisor never mentioned that they replaced the RMS or the air box, both of which were covered under warranty. I guess the clutch was OK. I never did see any oil on the garage floor due to leaking RMS. It�s nice to have her back in the garage again, asleep for the night. BTW � the 3.6L stock muffler to PSE mod rocks!

Sounds like your Service advisor needed a new pair of shoes

Now that's service!! Did the dealer comment on your exhaust mod?

No, they didn't say anything about teh PSE mod. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they also washed the car and detailed the tires. I just went out to the garage to look at the new air box and noticed that I now have a lot of swirl marks on the car from the washing!

OOooooooo I hate it when they do that! Took me two days of polishing to get my paint back to spec last time out

What was the airbox thing you mentioned? A recall or TSB?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they also washed the car and detailed the tires. I just went out to the garage to look at the new air box and noticed that I now have a lot of swirl marks on the car from the washing! The very first item on all service orders should be the following: Customer requests no car wash.

The invoice listed it as a recall, but it is a TSB, number W532. I found it on RennTech.org. Here are the particulars: Vehicle Type: 911Carrera (996) / Carrera 4 (996) Model Year: 2004 Concern: Replacing air filter housing with filter element Information: This is to inform you of a voluntary workshop service action on a certain range of model year 2004 911Carrera (996) / Carrera 4 (996) vehicles. There is a possibility of unfiltered air may enter the intake system and thereby increase internal engine wear, particularly the piston rings and cylinders. Action Required: Replace the existing air cleaner housing with modified air cleaner housing. Affected vehicles: A total of 4,068 U.S. and 206 Canadian vehicles fall within the scope of this workshop action. Parts information: 996.110.921.51 � Air cleaner housing with air filter element 986.606.925.00 � O-ring for hot-film mass air flow meter Hope this helps.

Lesson learned Tim. I ALWAYS tell them when I drop off the car NO CAR WASH.

Yeah, I didn't even think of it at the time! Oh, and could you give the knife a 90 degree clock-wise turn and then throw a handful of salt in the wound? Maybe that will help me remember next time!

hehehe

Yep, not only will they screw your car up but they are using recycled water...uck! Ever since the car wash guys at Park Place yanked a vacume cleaner hose through a 928 that was running...crammed the shifter into reverse and ripped the door off of a pristine 928S4 with 18,000 miles NO MORE WASHING my cars!

Gota, Although pleased you got the work done and under warranty, I can only think you are pi$$ed you were not informed upfront. I, like you I'm sure, would want to have some input on the situation prior to the work. I wonder if the dealer thought you might dissuade the actions, so he did not approach you. Overall - kinda good and bad at the same time. RB

Aside from the rough car wash, I think the dealer did what had to be done, no? Interresting to see the RMS issue is still present in the later 996's as well. Wonder if the 997 seal will solve the issue?

FYI - there are 997's with RMS leaks - it's a 'feature' of this engine design. The 997 seal may be better - but the basic design problem still exists.

RB - Yes, I would have liked to be told what was GOING to happen, and/or at the very LEAST, be told what DID happen. While I would not have declined either the new RMS or the air box, I would have made certain that they examine the clutch very carefully for wear. I can only assume that they did examine the clutch and that it was not worn excessively for 33K miles.

Bingo, it's a design issue that can only be corrrected by improving the seal to offset the desgin issue. There is NO WAY to fix this issue without a redesign. Right now, we just have a kick-*** band-aid. However, with that said, we have put 65K miles on our 996CAB, it's been TOTALLY free of leaks, and have only replaced the RMS and IMS once and that was during a clutch replacement at 45K miles. IT just seems hit or miss on this issue.

Not only was the seal re-designed, a special installation tool was designed to aid in the proper installation and placement of the seal. Having read quite a few posts about the new seal, I recall that, overall, the feedback on the new seal seems to very positive. Some of this had come from those that have had both the �old� seal, and later, the �new� seal installed in their cars. While I do not recall seeing too many RMS posts on the 997 Forum, it is still an issue, but it �appears� to be some what minimized compared to the 996. I know that there are a lot more 996s on the road than 997s, but the early results (3 years worth) on the new seal seem to be favorable. My statements were made based upon general observation and recollections from the past 2 years of reading Rennlist post, so� �YMMV�� �without expressed written consent is prohibited�� �excluding tax, title, and license�� �void where prohibited�� and all the rest of that happy horse-****.

These guys do work on commission. Keep that in mind.... JB

Good point - some mechs make jack-**** unless they replace a bunch of stuff on every car that comes in. Sad way to run a business - but if you are forewarned etc etc etc....

What is the normal life on a clutch that isn't raced? Is it the same as any other sports car--or are clutches in the 996 a weak link? Seems I see a lot of clutch replacements at 30k plus.

IIRC, many get 60K to 65K + miles out of the clutch. There have been a few that replaced them at around 30K, and some have gotten 85K + from the clutch.

Funny how the clutch is always a "while you are in there" replacement due to the usual need to take the entire drivetrain out of a P-Car to fix a leak!

Tim, Rest assured that they checked not only the clutch but the flywheel as well!

When you bring a car that is under warranty to a dealer, isn't it usual procedure for that dealer to try and replace EVERYTHING he can, in order to bill Porsche and make more $$? The clutch and flywheel are wear items though, and not warranty replacements usually - right?

Correct. But you can bet your sweet bippie that every Porsche that sees a dealership service bay will receive a brief inspection; items like brake pads, rotors, and tires (also wear items), oil leaks, etc.

SAFTEY ISSUES we have been sued for not notifying customers that his tires were at 20% when he came in for a brake light bulb. every car i check tires brakes pieces falling off major leaks and horns no matter what the car is in for

I had them put my car on the no wash list after they swirled the hell out it.