New owner question

[Chappie]

I had a 2001 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet follow me home and I am a very happy camper. I understand the disdain all of you Porsche (air cooled) purists have for the 996, but this is all this 73 year-old could afford.

With that said, I have a very nontechnical question. My Porsche has been basically a "Garage Queen" for a majority of the last few years. The engine exterior and the engine compartment are "dusty/dirty". What is the most effective way to clean this area without damaging vital parts?

Thank you for your help.

[jferrante]

simple green, brush and hose/water. you can cover the alternator etc but I have done it without doing the latter and have had no issues.

[zedsn]

FYI: In my opinion, there are some flaws with your motor from the factory and you might want to see if anything was done to your motor already to prevent them and if not you might want to consider doing them to prevent buying a whole new motor. There are threads on Pelican and Rennlist about the issues.

[Mark Salvetti]

Welcome Chappie! There's nothing wrong with the 996, they are great cars and an excellent value.

The main issue referred to above is related to the intermediate shaft bearing (Google "996 IMS failure"). I think there have also been issues with the coolant lines, but both of these concerns might have already been taken care of on your car by previous owners. Do you have any service records?

Have you been to the Rennlist site? Rennlist is much more of a water-cooled site, and less air-cooled. For instance, right now that are 250 users online on this forum, but only 6 on the Pelican 996 forum. Whereas over on Rennlist, there are 144 people online in their 996 forum.

Rennlist does have a paid membership option, but that mainly just gives you access to buy and sell and a couple of member only forums. You can still register and use the site for free.

Mark

[amazongreenie]

When I clean my 996 engine compartment, I disconnect the negative cable from the battery up front. Of course I have the 4-digit radio security code that is required to re-activate the radio whenever the battery is disconnected. I do this to prevent any electrical shorting in the alternator or other electricals in the engine compartment primarily to remove any possibility of that even though it may not be necessary since the engine compartment gets wet in rain or during car washings, etc..