Needed a break from writing today, so took a hour off to chase some mechanical niggles and do some DIY maintenance on my 2004 Porsche Cayenne S.
I’ve not been super impressed with the audio quality from the PCM 2.1 system so far. It’s hard to believe Porsche could ship such bad sounds. Radio reception is absolutely tragic, and playback from CD not much to write home about.
As a long-term car hi-fi geek, I’ve got a lot of quality audio components in the garage, so thought I’d strip a door card off and look at what the Cayenne packs into those massive enclosures. Getting the card off was easily done thanks to Renntech – membership there is the best money I’ve spent on this car so far. It seems like every Porsche tech question you could ask is covered on Renntech or the Rennlist Cayenne Forum: I would be stuffed without them.
I found the PDF for the door card removal and off it came. Look at that woofer! Should definitely sound better than it did. I checked all the connections and fixed a dislocated rubber speaker ring that was rattling. Then sat in the truck and played with some audition discs. Turning the loudness off was a big step up. It sounds a lot better now, though I may still do something with the front end and get more bass in the trunk.
As I’m not selling the PCM this week, I left it playing and did a few more bits. I had been warned me about the rear washer pipe which can become disconnected behind the driver’s A-pillar, so I had a look at that. Apparently that can pour water into the ECU – which has already been replaced on this Cayenne.
Taking the A-pillar trim off was easy thanks to Rennlist. Getting it back on was a pig but let’s gloss over that. I found the pipe and also a kink in the line – no doubt a cause of the thing popping off. I used a cable tie to stop the kink, and put it all back together.
Turning on the squirt was an experience, as it streamed down the width of the screen. I got one of the kids to work the switch and it was coming out from around the third brake light. Obviously a pipe was disconnected.
Rennlist told me how to get that light out – you split the spoiler from inside the tailgate. There’s a lot of gear underneath that roof spoiler! I reckon one of my aerials might be U/S so will have that checked out.
Anyway, I got the brake light out and shot some compressed air though the jet, put it all back together and it works, although there is still a bit coming from the light. I’m sure the connecting pipe has gone hard, so will get a new bend to replace it.
Got a few more jobs to do but am on some deadlines for tomorrow. Back to work!
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It’s the Silverstone Classic this weekend, with added Porsche content by way of the UK 911 50th Celebrations and the FIA Masters Historic Championship, featuring the Tuthill-built 3.0 Porsche RS and RSR of EB Motorsport.
Taking place from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th of July, Silverstone Classic claims to be the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival. The spectacular three-day event features the best historic racing, covering more than eight decades of motor sport.
Tickets for this year’s Silverstone Classic have only been available to buy online in advance, with no tickets sold on the gate. We’ll see how that works over the next three days: hopefully everyone who’s hoping to come got the memo.
For those who do get in the gates, the festival has something for all race fans, including Sabine Schmitz in a 962! Classic F1, Group C heroes, sportscars like the Lola T70 and classic Chevrons and a ton of car club parking to wander through.
I’m there with Mark and James from EB Motorsport. EB’s yellow Porsche 911 RSR is currently running joint second in the 2013 championship and the boys are hoping for some rain this weekend to give EB a chance of pulling points back. The forecast is not too encouraging for rain, but you never know at Silverstone!
EB cars qualify today and race tomorrow. Sunday is the Hungarian GP – a tough one to resist on Sky F1 – but also on Sunday, the Porsche Club GB will have over 1,000 911s lapping the track, in celebration of the model’s 50th birthday. Somewhere in there will be Tuthill’s Safari-winning Porsche, fresh from Goodwood, the EB Motorsport cars and who knows what else.
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I’ve been following the US class action lawsuit brought against Porsche Cars North America, for intermediate shaft (IMS) defects in the engine of the Porsche Boxster and 911 (996/997) from the 2001 to 2005 model years. According to Internet wisdom, the defective single-row bearing at the centre of this class action lawsuit has an estimated failure rate of somewhere between 8 and 10 per cent.
After months of online back-and-forth over whether this suit had settled, the lawyers involved have put out a press release announcing that the suit has been settled in favour of the plaintiffs. From the release: “Porsche owners and lessees may be reimbursed up to 100% of their out-of-pocket costs, depending upon the mileage on the vehicle at the time of repair. The reimbursement includes all out-of-pocket engine damage and replacement costs, up to ten years from the vehicle first being placed in service, regardless of whether such damage or loss occurs before or after the notice of this settlement. The Porsche owners and lessees are also entitled up to two hundred dollars in expenses for mileage and towing.”
“This settlement represents a wonderful result on behalf of current and former Porsche owners and lessees who have had to pay out-of-pocket costs related to repairing or replacing an engine which sustained damage as a result of a defective IMS,” said Class Counsel, Stephen Harris. But is it really all that wonderful?
It’s certainly not wonderful if your car falls outside the prescribed chassis numbers but still has an IMS issue. It’s also not wonderful if your Porsche was fitted with the double-row IMS bearing, which has a much lower failure rate (estimated by the Internet to be circa 1%), but your Porsche 911 or Boxster’s residual value was tarred with the bad IMS brush. It’s definitely not wonderful if you bought an IMS-affected lemon and suffered emotional trauma and financial hardship in sorting out the problem.
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Sabine Schmitz will drive a Porsche 962 at the 2013 Silverstone Classic, which runs this Friday to Sunday at our home track here in Northamptonshire.
Since first appearing on Top Gear and thrashing Clarkson around the ‘Ring in a Transit van, Sabine Schmitz has carved an unassailable niche as totty of choice for the discerning Porsche racing fan. The 1995 and 1996 Nurburgring 24-Hour winner will share a Porsche 962 with Klaus Abbelen in the Group C showdowns at Silverstone.
“The Porsche 962 is such great car for the purists – I just love driving it,” said Sabine Schmitz. “With all the downforce in the fast sections, racing the 962 is going to be a fantastic experience, if a little painful on the poor old neck muscles!”
This year’s Group C grid includes six Porsche 962s, with ex-F2 racer Herve Regout the predicted pacesetter. Others worth watching include Japanese Katsu Kubota in his Nissan R90C – a winner at the 2011 Classic winner – plus the 1989 Mercedes C11 ‘Silver Arrow’ shared by Gareth Evans and triple FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix champion, Bob Berridge.
The Group C race through dusk on Saturday was a blast last year. Here’s hoping for more of the same! When we’re not watching the action, you’ll find us in the paddock with EB Motorsport, racing in FIA Masters this weekend. Stop by and say hello if you’re passing.
Ferdinand Porsche Magazine’s Project 924 Turbo restoration was finally covered in fresh paint yesterday. I might be slightly biased, but the finished product really floats my boat.
You remember I bought the silver 924 Turbo on eBay last year from a Porsche barn up in Norfolk. I had the car delivered to best mate Robert Campbell at Racing Restorations in Pershore, Worcestershire, where Rob’s guys started picking through the mechanical work.
This included some rewiring, an alternator rebuild, steering rack overhaul and other works. I still have some bits to do before it can go to MOT, but the focus recently turned to bodywork when an unexpected slot opened up in the Racing Restorations paint schedule. While vintage sportscar specialist Rob is normally booked up six months in advance, delays on an Alfa Romeo restoration meant the 924 could claim a week and slip in.
Car guys talk lots about paint and how long it takes, but painting takes next to no time: just four hours on the 924. The preparation for paint took a full five days! Thanks to a rust-free chassis and (some) good panels, bare-metalling the 924 and getting it in primer took from Monday to Wednesday. Rob primered it on Wednesday night, and left it to bake for a day.
Flatting the primer took another day, so on Saturday this weekend, we drove it into the paint booth just vacated by a custom-painted McLaren MP12-4C, then spent a couple of hours degreasing the bodywork and wiping it off with tack rags before the painter did his thing.
The 924 Turbo now has four coats of the most expensive two-pack primer I could buy. The body has three coats of paint – Porsche code L97A – and three coats of lacquer. It looks pretty good and won’t need much polishing: a quick mop, pick out a few flecks of dust and that’s it.
I’ll start putting this back together next week – should be some fun getting it done. No doubt I’ll spend much more on new body trim bits than originally intended. Let me know if you’ve got a NOS rear bumper rubber lying around!
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