New C4S owner!

Hello fellow Porsche people! I recently bought a car that i fell in love with in high school... 996 C4S! all stock 2002 6speed w/ 86K miles. LOTS of recent maintenance was done before purchase at Smith Motorworks down in Panama City, FL (where i bought it from) and drove it flawlessly up to San Antonio TX! my plan is to aesthetically modify it as a weekend cruiser with spirited driving in mind. Since I bought it i removed the intake box resonator and swapped in AFE filter. Have a short shifter coming in and next is to go lower. Hoping to meet local P car owners and go for some cruises in Hill Country. Cheers!

Welcome to the C4S club... I got pretty much the same car (2002 C4S, Seal Gray, with a 2005 engine - LMS anyone?) about 5 months ago. LOVE the car. Excited to see how you transform it. Mine is stock though I added a 2nd set of Rims (see my WHEELS post in this forum) so I could easily swap out my All Seasons and Summer Tires - probably not something you need to deal with in TX??? Mine growls just enough AND is a total blast to drive. In 5 months it has seen ice storms, 8" of snow, 3 x Autocross, 2 trips from NYC to Maine, a new starter (if yours is lagging at all, I can give you some info), a new starter wire, a tune up, a new coolant reservoir, and a 2nd set of Rims. No repairs that were really unexpected as I get it into shape. Enjoy!

Thats great! i did notice a bit of struggle with starter a few times but always fired up. I too have 2 sets of 19s to slap on the car once i lower it (vogtland springs coming in) and i need to open up the exhaust a bit as well.

I have a 997.1 C4S, new since 2008. If you haven't replaed the IMS bearing, do it. Insurance for your mind. I would stick with the stock 18 inch wheels for better acceleration, ride, less unsprung weight (larger wheel, larger tire). The only modifications I have made are: IMS bearing fix, can't replace unless you tear down engine, replaced the turn indicator lights on the front fenders with clear lenses, easy they snap into place, and the biggest bang for the buck replacing the rear dogbones on the suspension with new dogbones with zero rubber bushings, all metal. This removes the 997 wiggly rear end, very slight, under hard acceleration. And every 40k miles I replace the front tie rods. The rubber bushings on the ends of the tie rods just get sloppy and new ones make the steering much nicer and smoother. Just my two cents. Oh and I installed a B&M short shifter. Be careful with short shifters as they can wreck syncros if not adjusted correctly. Car only has 70k miles on it. But I did drive it for the first two winters of ownership in NE Ohio with some nice high performance snow tires. They put salt on the roads here so every month I would take my car and put it on a lift, remove the panels and tires and with a soapy wash clean all the liquid brine that stuck to the underside along with salt residue. So far no rust but the brake calipers had to be rebuilt after those two winters and the brake rotor vents were full of rust. Replaced them. Point is, the C4S is the most fun in the snow. That car goes anywhere.

Automoda, if don't know, the 996 is one of the few cars that has flaws so well documented, it is the only car you can buy sight unseen because those flaws are easy to fix (although not exactly cheap). * The Intermediate shaft bearing (IMS) has a small chance of failure <10%, but if it does, the engine will need to be significantly repaired or replaced. Check to see if the IMS has been replaced by one from LN Engineering (if so, there should be a sticker on the door or under either "hood."). If you end up having to have the work done, the engine can be left in the car, but the transmission has to come out, so you may as well get a new clutch and a new rear main seal (RMS). * Coolant expansion tank is a large bit of cast plastic. It doesn't last forever. It will need to be replaced sooner or later. Failure mode is leakage. * Water pump. This is a service item. Not sure what the interval is, maybe 50K miles? The impeller is made of a composite material that won't last forever. If the impeller shreds, the bits can get stuck anywhere. Some sources say that you should not replace it with a water pump with a metal impeller because, if the bearing fails on that one, the impeller can grind itself into the engine case. If you replace the water pump, you are going to get a new serpentine belt and tensioners. I've done all this on my 2002 C2 Cabriolet AND for you Cab lovers who haven't yet experienced the failure of the cable that pulls the latches that hold the clamshell in place, that is also fairly well documented. Had to visit the dealer for that one...Ouch. Despite all of this, I am over the top happy with my 996. While I don't have a lift in my garage, any repair that can be done with a floor jack and jack stands is doable on this vehicle in your own garage.

Ditto everything Str*Razr said. Unless the prior owner can provide you with proof of water pump replacement, replace it and the various other items that go along with a change of the water pump. I look at water pumps as having a TBO of max five years. The plastic impellers go through X number of heat cycles and age as they sit in water and gylcol. My 997 was made in 2008. I have put two water pumps on it. Both timed out at five years. At five years they looked like crap. I checked the water pump impellers and they were brittle, probably would go another two years but not worth the risk. I'll be installing a new water pump Spring 2023. Also, I forgot about transmission and front transfer case fluids. Change them every 50k miles. And for piece of mind at your next oil change get an oil analysis done and interpreted by a Porsche Certified Mechanic. Oil analysis will tell you what is going on inside the engine.

Thanks for jogging my memory, JackMan. I also had the transmission fluid replaced, but would add that would apply to any 20 year old car, not just the 996. And thanks for the impeller analysis. Very helpful.

Str8Razzr and JackMan thanks for your input! all those things you guys listed have been done by the PO with paperwork and plenty more. it has older PSS on the car but have replacement Sumitomo tires waiting to go in. only other thing it would need are rear rotors. car drives smooth and im really happy with it, put on about 1500 miles in last 2 months

Automoda, One thing that gets overlooked is the front radiators. No one thinks about cleaning the radiators on a car with the engine in front because when you open the hood, the radiator is right there. For new Porsche owners, I always suggest to get on the ground with a flashlight and take a look. You'd be surprised what you might find stuck in there. On my 996, which I bought from a Porsche dealer outside Chicago, I found both sides filled with small chunks of asphalt. Filled! Pulled out a couple pounds. How the hell that got in their and how no one at the dealer spotted it, is a mystery. Don't even ask me what the dealer didn't pull out from under the seats before delivery, but one hint is that I know who the first driver was, what she liked to snack on, what eyeliner she preferred and what kind of hand weights she worked out with while driving.

+1 on the front rads. Actually it is between the A/C condenser and the cooling rad behind it. Only way to get there is to remove the bumper cover, rubbers that direct cooling air, etc. I did this on my 996 and Boxster and was stunned at the amount of sand, leaves, cigarette butts and fluff between them. Once you clean them from the front, back wash with a garden hose from the back to clean the rad a bit more. I’ll look for the pictures and post what I found in mine.