New to 996, Q1: P030x Codes

[Innov8]

Recently purchased a 996 AE with (now) 112K miles. The PPI revealed P0300 codes and in the 4 weeks I have been driving the car, I have gotten CEL twice. The first time as 2 weeks ago with P0301, 304, 305 detected. The night before I had added Lucas injector cleaner to a full tank of gas and I assumed that it was related to that. It was also a wet morning (hold that thought).

This morning, I got the CEL again upon start-up... P0301. Not a wet morning but damp. I searching the threads, I have found a number of people replacing single packs and or individual packs and plugs to clean this... that the coil packs are proven to short in the damp or wet.

I have a photo of my coil pack on cylinder 6 which I took while replacing the oil sending unit. You can clearly see the coil pack housing is split.

Question: should I go ahead and replace all six packs and plugs or chase the codes replacing them one by one. I was always told to replace spark plugs/wires in sets... not individually but that was from a previous generation of weekend mechanics... prior to individual coil packs.

Thanks in advance for your advice. Patch

[FPB111]

Change the plugs and coils.

[Innov8]

Thx FPB111... all of them or just the ones that are showing codes? Since I have misfires on 3 cylinders and considering the mileage, I suppose that they are all near the change cycle anyway... answered my own question... ordering all 6 plugs and coils now.

Will report back after they are changed out and I have some mileage on them. Thx again.

[Montychristo128]

All together along with plugs would be the best course of action. Are you going to DIY? If you do, dropping the engine down on the mounts helps tremendously with access. Budget at least couple of hours.

[Innov8]

thanks for the advice... Yes, I am all DIY if I can. Changed the plugs and the coils... removing the mufflers was the easiest way for me to access everything. My hands and wrists are too big to fit any other way.

The engine seems smoother... the plugs were all the same condition... not oily, burned or ashy white. At cold start-up, the car is still doing a slight up and down idle around 1100 rpm and 1050 rpm for the first 2-3 min... then the idle drops down to ~700rpm and that occasionally drops down to maybe 600rpm.

The engine makes good consistent power and pulls hard under acceleration. I do notice that occasionally when pulling away from a stop if I start to release the clutch with the revs around 1200rpm to 1400rpm, the engine will hesitate for a moment before jumping back and taking off without skipping a beat. There is no discernable misfire other than the irregular idle... and that the check Engine Light is now back on with the same random misfire.

My handheld code reader lets me read and clear codes but it does not read the Porsche specific information so I'm wondering if there is another subsystem to check next?

I have read that a failing A/O separator can cause the hunting idle but would that throw the CEL misfire codes? I tried the oil fill cap on and off during idle and there is no indication that the A/O is failing.

What should i look at next? TIA for your direction.

[Innov8]

Update: waiting for my Porsche Model and Code Matrix for Durametric Version 6 to arrive by UPS.