997 Owners Top Tip

Hi Guys, thought I would share a top tip for some that may be not aware needs to be undertaken on your 997 (maybe other series) to remove any chance of rust or rot forming in your bulkhead around the battery. You may or not be aware that there are 4 rubber valve grommets ( 2 on each side) inside the base of the bulkhead area. When washing the car or when in the rain the water enters into the bulkhead area around the battery and is subsequently disbursed via the grommets which are designed to release the water out, but not let the water in. The grommets fill up with dirt and leaves, obviously getting blocked and not draining out the water, hence over long term leading to potential issues in your bulkhead. The grommets are located in differing areas in both the left and right sides of the bulkhead, they can be hard to see and tight to get to particularly the rear ones so you will need a light. Remove the rubber grommets with long nose pliers by opening up putting one side over the lip between the body and the grommet and the other end through the middle. Gradually pull up leveraging against the body hole but don't yank hard more manipulate to ensure you don't tear the grommet as you pull up. Once remove they look like this and full of gunk: Clear out the muck and they should now look like this: Once cleaned they go back in very easily by hand, just pushing into the hole. Doesn't need to be done regulary, but is dependent on what sort of environment your P car sees in its life. Hope this helps! Cheers Jonathan

Yeh I blow these out with compressed air on a regular basis and check them for any debris ,,leaf litter generally in my area ,,,saw a thread years ago U,S owner parked outside in the rain for several days under tree in the street leaf litter and seeds from the tree blocked up the drains and then filed up with water he got a real shock when he went to use the car damp interior carpets in  foot wells and front trunk ,,so always been vigilant of those drains getting blocked ...

Thanks for this, was unaware, I'll check it out tomorrow.

Sorry for the HIJACK JB ,,you started a good thread here Another area that gets full of SH#t rear inner guard liner common spot for rocks and sand build up between the plastic and body work ,,,this was my car when I first got it 40000K on the dial WA Car one owner and half kg of sand and little rocks must have had a dirt driveway ...?,,simple DIY remove rear wheels remove inner guard clean and reinstall inner guard and wheel   ... right rear inner guard removed

Are these the plenum drains? If so I was told by Porsche Adelaide when they PPId my car that cleaning them is meant to be part of a service

I would think that it should be but for piece of mind I would still check them  better safe than sorry

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Not sure, but based on my experience with dealers this particular car has been 'serviced' by two different Porsche dealers and evidently has not been done for a long time, particularly based on where the car is stored and driven. personally these dealers couldn't even co ordinate a wash yet alone a proper service and maintenance of a car...

I'm with you JB on that one. Seems to get overlooked by everyone but the cars owners who are in the know.

Any time I go near a dealer they are only interested in trying to sell me a new car

Really good advice guys, I had been aware of the plenum drains and blow them out regularly but have certainly not looked behind the inner guard liner...and I do see a bit of dirt roads so worried I might have some unwanted ballast sitting in there. ? And JB can you come round to my place as I can't believe how clean your front baulkhead area is... awesome effort and makes me feel a bit negligent in my car cleaning duties ☹️

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you don't want my cleanliness issues!  Yes you can eat out of the bulkhead, next stage is the wheel arches, it's an ongoing project. If your in Melb happy to help and advise or you can drop into my car detailing and cleaning business...?

Another Area that get crap stuck.........is in between the under tray and floor pan I pull mine out once a year and it is very surprising how much  foreign material gets in there such as leaves pebbles and sand again ,,,the images below don,,t show much but when you remove the panels you generally get a face full of debris ,,,easy job to do but a pain in the back side with out a hoist ,,another one to add to the yearly maintenance regime ....