Porsche 996 Second Gear Change Problems

From when I bought my Porsche 911 the gearchange wasn't as great as I remembered from my previous 2001 model and second gear in particular could be quite difficult to select, occasionally popping out of gear if you didn't get the selection quite right.

Originally I thought it was a gearbox problem and preparing myself for a massive bill for rebuilding! I then was looking at the Gbox Detent product that replaces the original part in the gearbox to help the selection of gear. 

However there was also some information I read that suggested that worn engine/motor mounts could also affect the gear change as the old mounts can sag affecting the alignment of the engine and gearbox and thus the gear change too.

As the motor mounts looked to be original and well past their best as the exhaust was also showing signs of sagging on one side - a common symptom of poor mounts - I decided to change them. 

Porsche 996 gear selection problems - original engine mounts removed

The new engine mounts I decided to use were the Uro RS spec ones from Type911 shop. These had come highly rated from other members of the 996 forums and were a useful saving on the standard ones from Porsche at only £160 for the pair.

Uro 964/993 Engine mounts 

Changing the engine mounts might seem like a daunting task but it's actually one of the easier jobs to do on the car and took less than 30 minutes. There are only 3 bolts holding each mount in, one 18mm and two 13mm nuts to remove. The only thing that delayed me was requiring a deep 18mm socket to go over the end of the original bolt but once that arrived it was easy to do.

With the new motor mounts fitted the transformation is incredible. Gear change is now slick and precise. The difficulty with selecting second gear has gone and the driving experience is vastly improved. 

Porsche 996 gear selection new engine mounts fitted

From expecting to have to pay thousands for a gearbox repair to fix the second gear pop out problems on my Porsche 996 I have a transformed car for a very reasonable price.

Porsche 996 Oil Change Frequency Interval

I've had my 911, 996 model for 15 months now. When I bought it the last oil change had been done 3 years and 2000 miles ago so although it was overdue by time interval it was well under on distance as it had done very little mileage.

Porsche 996 Oil change frequency

I changed the oil in June 2019 as well as other service items like air filter so that I have a baseline of servicing that I know has been done at specific times & mileage.

Twelve months on and I've also done little mileage. Despite a trip to Germany last year and various events it wasn't massive and has been even less so this year due to the Covid19 lockdown. The total driven was under 2000 miles but I still wanted to get the oil change completed so I know it's something that has been done annually.

Although it might be overkill to change oil in under 2000 miles there was quite a few occasions when the car was started to move it around the drive which can't be particularly good for oil longevity and the cost of oil change is cheap compared to replacement engine if the oil is substandard.

As such I plan to continue to change the oil every year to try to help maintain the engine as well as being able to get early warning of any issues by seeing any debris in the oil filter.

Porsche 996 URO 964/993 RS Engine mount replacement

The new Uro Porsche RS 964/993 Engine mounts for my Porsche 911

Uro Porsche RS 964/993 Engine mount review

The engine mounts on my 911 needed replacement as they were seriously sagging and had lost all the fluid so weren't even doing the job properly.

Porsche 996 Old worn engine mounts removed

I've done a brief video of the before and after showing the places you need to access to remove the old engine mounts 

https://youtu.be/79G_77NAV6c

The URO RS 964/993 mounts from Type911 shop as they had good reviews and were an excellent price compared to OEM ones.

To replace the mounts you'll need a deep 18mm socket to remove the nut underneath the mount that attaches to the engine and a 13mm socket to remove the two bolts that attach the mount to the body. Once you have supported the engine with a jack under the sump making sure you spread the load then you can remove and replace the mounts.

URO RS 964/993 Engine mount Porsche 996

Car with the engine mount fitted to the right hand side with air box removed shown below. There is 1 bolt to remove the airbox and just disconnet MAF and air pipe jubilee clip.

Car with the new URO RS engine mount fitted to the right hand side with air box removed

Porsche DesignTek Mild Sports Exhaust Muffler

Just picked up this pair of Design Tek mild sports exhaust Mufflers so next job is to get them fitted to my 911

Porsche 911 Fully back to standard!

I've got my 911 back after changing the bumpers back to original from the C4S bumper that a previous owner had fitted. 

From this in May 2019:

Firstly to this in August 2019 with original wheels and front bumper. The old C4S/Turbo bumper is still fitted along with the exhaust

to this in July 2020 with original front and rear bumpers and wheels!

It's now looking the same as when it left the factory - well apart from the passage of 22 years!

Porsche 996 Camshaft Solenoid Seal replacement

The cam solenoid seals were leaking on my 1998 C2 911 so this video shows how I replaced them with new parts. The cost was only £17 for the part but the labour cost at a garage would be substantial.

Porsche 997 Exhaust Tips Corroded Bolts - What Size Replacements?

The twin pipe exhaust tips on my Porsche 996 C4S were actually found to be 997 twin tailpipe tips when I removed them and checked the part number which was 997.111.352.04. These were showing a date of 7/4/2008

The video of sorting new bolts is here:  https://youtu.be/L6Fy4gxoytA

Unfortunately one of the failings of these tips is a tendency to seriously corrode the clamping bolts so that it's very hard to remove and they invariably break as happened on one of mine.

According to Porsche these bolts for he exhaust tips are not available separately but I have found that the bolts I bought from Porsche for my 944 steering UJ were exactly the right size!

By using these bolts you can re-clamp the exhaust tip back to the end of the pipe even if the captive nut has come loose as you can also replace the nut with a new one too. The part number you need is N0103357

The photo below shows the new bolt and nut fitted to the 997 exhaust tip to replace the rusted corroded one that was already on it.

The size bolt is an M8 I believe and you will need them to be 40mm long . The photo below shows the original bolt along with the captive nut that it goes in to.