Please help, any opinions!

[ I have been reading this forum for about 4 mos since the inception of my 2001 Carrera. I must say, you guys are more informative than I could have imagined. My most recent ride in the past was a 2003 EVO 8, I loved the car but finally grew up and am enjoying driving this beautiful 911. There is one question that I am trying to get a bead on that is going on with my car. I would appreciate anyone who has a similar issue or has experienced this to chime in so I can take the appropriate action. I bought my car with only 17k miles about 5 mos ago, and immediately I had to replace the clutch due to how it may have been driven. I noticed that the car was very picky about fuel requirements either being chevron or shell here in Seattle, but that the car needed a thorough warmup before driving. The problem I am having is this, sometimes when the car had a proper warm up, it accelerates smoothly and with zip from 3600 rpm till redline, other times it feels like the car drags like the clutch is not fully disengaging entirely each time. When I had the clutch installed, they said the flywheel was fine, but I could replace it if I wanted to. Does this sound like a flywheel problem or fuel related? I had a 16k mile service before I received it, but I now am at 23000 miles, and have not even done the oil change let alone any maint. Some of you talk about MAF, should I be looking here? I know my story is vague, but it is very difficult to explain the manerisms of this car and how each day it changes slightly. Any professional or other advice so I can remedy this would be much appreciated. STeve

Steve, Welcome aboard. The balance of your car maybe upset because you have not yet posted any pictures. I�m sure you will get a scolding from Tim shortly. You�re sure to get some advice from some of the more knowledgeable members soon. Since your car is still under warranty you may want to let the dealer diagnosis the issue. The only problem with that is you may need to leave the car with them for a few days. I suggest you check the throttle body for buildup and clean it with carburetor cleaner if needed. You could use an ODB2 reader to check for codes. If you have a MAF problem it should show up. Better auto parts stores will run a check for free if you don�t have the one. I would suggest you change the oil since you do redline your car from time to time. I know the manual says every 15,000 miles but many people, myself include, think that the oil should be change every 5,000 miles. Lee

Steve - Contrats on getting your P-car and Welcome to Rennlist... the best Porsche site on the 'net! Pictures?.... did Lee mention pictures???? Well, since he brought it up, (hey, Lee... how smooth was that? ) it is customary for "Newbies" to give us an overview of their car AND to post a few pics of the car. Well, you gave us some info on the car but I don't see any pics! Come on, Newbie, post 'em up! We like pics... no, we LOVE pics and we NEED pics, 'cuz we are "pic ******!" Actually, some of us are "pic *****," but that's an entirely different topic! Again, Welcome and Contrats on getting what I can only imagine (since there ain't no pics) is a very nice looking P-car! P.S. - Lee, thanks for the "set up!"

Now Tim, that's much better No threat of stalking or extorting favors from the newbies and very polite too I must say. Now don't you feel good about yourself now

Well, afterall, it IS Sunday, so I thought I should treat it as "the day of rest!"

5 or 6 year old car with only 17,000 miles sure is low miles. That car wasn't driven enough and didn't get its exercise. It always seems like the garage queens are the ones that develop the most problems. Don't worry though, you'll figure it out and hopefully you'll drive it like it was meant to be for now on.

Hey guys I appreciate your response and welcoming me to the group. I bought this car at my Lexus Dealership I work at. I don't have anyway to give you a pic, but it is a Seal Gray 2001 with aero package including rear deck spoiler. The car is a beautful looking machine and I often get compliments on it. It also has Turbo wheels on it such as 295-30-18's in the rear that stick out but look sharp. I will post a pic soon as I am able to get a digital camera. I am used to working on cars, as I mentioned I had a 2003 EVO 8 turbo with 400hp, but was a little afraid of doing anything on this car. You mentioned the throttle can be cleaned out to get the gum out of it, could this be the intermittant deal? What could be causing the slight hesitation on acceleration from a day to day? The car came from Florida originally and was a garage queen for some lady down there, then it came to Seattle where someone bought it from Microsoft. The second owner told me he drove it only 7k miles in 1 year. As you guys recommended, I am going to change the oil in the next few days and do some redline gear oil in the tranny. What about k/n filter OEM replacements, recommend them or not? Thanks for your guidance. STeve

There's nothing wrong with the OEM air filter. The after market high flow filters do nothing but expose you to the risk of fowling your MAF with oil. Have you taken the car to the dealership with your problem? IMO, it doesn't sound like a fly wheel since it is intermittent. It also doesn't sound like something a simple fluid change will cure either. Don't let it fester for long. Congratulations on joinging the Porsche community!

Change the fluids, but I would stick to nothing but Porsche recommended fluids in the tranny - unless someone else can chime in. I wouldn't get a k/n, either. If you want to change the intake, get an EVO-V intake. I would get it running perfectly at stock and make sure it's all good, then think about changing things up. Sorta like you, I had bought an 02 WRX when they first came out (excellent car btw), but it wasn't long before it became (along with the evo) a popular street racing car. I just wanted it because it was inexpensive and a solid reliable car. Anyway, I soon got rid of it for my 99 C2 because 911's have been my dream car since I was like 7. Now I feel like I got a grown-up's car. As far as that Redline tranny fluid, I don't see it mentioned much around here- but I can remember it being popular on message boards about the wrx/sti. I would stick to stock if I were you.

El Torrente, Thanks for the advice. Question for you, when do you shift in this car to stay in the power band all the time. On the evo is was like jack rabbit gears, (short). Do you drive until 5k rpm and then shift? I rarely go above the 6k rpm, as I am afraid something will break expensive. Why do these cars have the peak horsepower at 6800 rpm when we all generally shift under that. We are not getting the full power of the car when we are driving. Thanks Steve

I shift at the redline everytime I'm running thru the gears for speed. I don't know why you wouldn't want to use the full potential of the engine - it isn't "unsafe" to do so. I have 100,000 miles on my car and drive it every day multiple times a day - and I use the whole engine - without any worries. I don't burn any oil and my car runs very strong and tight. As far as normal driving, I don't need to use much higher than 5000 or so, simply because it has enough torque for most conditions. If I ever am looking to go fast, I never worry about hitting the redline. Heck, you should occasionaly anyway just to help keep carbon deposits and crap from building up on your pistons and spark plugs. Remember that Porsches are designed to run day and night at high speeds on the autobahn- reliably.

El Torrente, Thanks for your reply. I took the car to an IND, and we found that the spark plugs which were a 4 prong were not arcing right. In addition to that, the fuel fiter was aweful!!! I think the fuel filter was the main problem since I drove it home yesterday, it feels alot more willing to go over 5k rpm and easily. So, I changed the oil, fuel filter and spark plugs and $$$ later, it's fixed!!! hooray! Keep motoring, Steve

Good for you.....Money fixes everything....almost

I'm surprised no one mentioned that a car with 17K miles needed a new clutch.