Front under tray plastic air ducts

Hi as my 996.1 is once again completely incapable of providing any air conditioning to the cabin, I set about taking off the front bumper to inspect the condensers. Noticed when removing the screws that fix the bumper to the plastic under tray that there are broken plastic parts which appear to be wheel arch ducts Part 99650460​ Question is, should I be replacing these? They seem so brittle and easily broken on any kind of speed bump that id rather save the £60. It would be lovely to replace every plastic tray under there and have it looking new again but what's the point if they'll just break again. I've purchased new o rings to install on the condensers before I take it for a re gas. Hopefully it'll hold pressure for another year. Definitely a really slow leak somewhere but I can't be bothered searching for it. So many pipes and places it could be leaking from. Owned the car now about 11 years and I totally hate the air con system. Only ever blows cool for about 1 year.

Any decent aircon place will be able to spot the leak for you when they do the regas - then at least you know where it's coming from, even if you don't want to go to the expense/bother of fixing it! I find the aircon on these quite simple, compared to some cars I've owned The evaporator (under the nearside scuttle) also has o-rings in it - it's cheap-ish and easy to replace as well, and should come with new o-rings - I did my own when doing the condensors back at the new year.

My car is lowered and those ducts don’t stand a chance of surviving intact but my aircon is now 100% permanently icy after I replaced the 2 inlet/Outlet pipes on the drivers side & O-rings. The pipes become microscopically perforated and previously my system would lose effectiveness after about 3 months. Be very careful no5 to damage the joint by the rear wheel otherwise you need to replace the pipe over the engine which requires its removal.

That part number is incomplete?? My guess is the low pressure pipework will be perforated, as stated above. You can usually visually inspect it down the length of the car and see where it's leaking. Why Porsche didn't cover these pipes with an undertray boggles the mind. Also, for the price of around £20, make sure you replace the drier - it's only at 20 minute job to swap it over. Half the problem with the low pressure side is the pipework rotting from the inside - a new drier reduces this.

Definitely pursue 100% air con! The system in our cars is actually very good when it is truly working. When you go for a regas/air-con service insist that they use a "sniffer" to check for leaks, not just visual inspection for the dye, etc. As you say there are numerous joins, etc - the last leak tracked down on my car way by the OSR wheel. Only took moments with a sniffer and then a simple case of changing an o-ring. Never would have been picked up otherwise.

Part number for the air duct from design 911 is 99650460300 I have a new dryer to fit in the car so will be doing that and new o rings when I fit the o rings to the condensers. Never thought about the actual pipe work. Will definitely look in to replacing those too before a regas. Absolutely right when it works it's amazing and ice cold. But for me despite numerous condensers and o ring replacements at various joints over the years it only ever works for a year tops. One day I'll get it solved. The air con is always so useful also in the winter months to keep my windows dry

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I've just undone the 2 bolts on the top of the dryer bottle and gas was absolutely blasting out of there. So much so I've done it back up again. Any ideas what that could mean. If the gas is in the system and let's say it was up to pressure, why is it not feeding cold air?

You need to see if the compressor is kicking in. Start the car with the aircon on and quickly run round the engine bay. After around 5 to 10 seconds the clutch in the centre of the compressor pulley should pull in and start driving the compressor. If it does, then feel the large diameter pipe under the frunk to see if it goes cold. You can also feel the long pipe that runs down the length of the car to see if that goes cold. If you remove your battery cover, you can see the large pipe running behind above the battery. If the compressor isn't kicking in, then something is wrong, could be too low pressure, too high pressure, faulty pressure swutch, electrical fault, etc.

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Thanks will check that out first thing tomorrow. Appreciate the advice. I did the blend door fix last year going in through the frunk to install new sticky foam over the holes where the old foam had fallen off. However I am aware there is another smaller blend door which can only be taped up by removing the radio (horseshoe) section and cutting back the plastic. Wondering if maybe the fact I haven't fixed that one yet might be the issue. Not sure which blend door does what, but I thought it was the bigger one that I already did was responsible for flipping between hot and cold air.

I think you’re right, having done that job recently, that the ‘top’ blend door under the scuttle blocks / allows in, incoming flow (conditioned if it’s switched on) to be warmed by the heater matrix.

Correct - the blend door you fixed is the hot/cold door. The inside one is for air direction in the car.

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Thanks. Just checked and the clutch is definitely working correctly on the compressor. Centre wheel only spins when the air con is activated. Plan is going to be to replace the dryer and the o rings on the condensers. Then I'll take it for a re-gas and leak test later in the week. I may have a go at taping up the holes on the other blend door by going in behind the stereo but as it has nothing to do with the air con blowing cold, I may leave it for a bit.

Have you felt the pipe work if it goes cold?