SERVICE INTERVALS
Finding suspension Nirvana has been somewhat time consuming, but that doesn't mean that I've been neglecting other areas of the 996’s wellbeing...
In terms of day-to-day upkeep, that responsibility lies with Auto Umbau in Bedfordshire. I like their pragmatic approach to keeping the modern, water-cooled cars on the road and always enjoy dropping in to chew the fat with Robin Mckenzie and Terry Parker and see what's on the ramps. So it was that I swung by recently for the 996's annual service, which mercifully was just a 'minor' after 2016’s nothing short of 'mega' service, which saw a full suspension component refresh, brake discs and pads all round, all fluids from oil to clutch and other miscellaneous stuff like a new ignition switch, low temp thermostat and swapping over from 18in to 17in wheels. Even with a donation of the aforementioned 18s to take the sting out of the bill, it was close to £2000 and there was still a seemingly lengthy 'to do' list. Since then and prior to this service, I've also changed the cooling rads and air con rads, plus had the system re-gassed. Oh, and I've changed all six ignition coils.
I was surprised that between the two visits, I had managed to clock up 3500miles. I know that sounds paltry, but it's nearly double on the previous year! Anyway, even a 'minor' service with Auto Umbau strikes me as a pretty comprehensive affair and I accompanied Robin on a visual troubleshooting 20-point tour of the car, plus, of course, an oil change, Auto Umbaus' tipple of choice for 996s of my car’s generation being Mobil X3000 5W/40 synthetic, which it doesn't seem to have any sort of worrying thirst for.
I'm depressingly familiar with the underneath of my car. It’s not a pretty sight, but no worse than most 996s of its age according to Robin and Terry. There are areas of what they term 'gravel rash' or light surface corrosion, which need to be attended to. The power steering rack pipes are rather corroded, too, and the engine sump gasket is leaking as is the RMS, which Robin classifies as a “stage two” leak. Stage three is when it starts to actually drip, which is when it’s time to open it up and fix it. At that stage I will change the clutch and IMS, too. Really looking forward to that, as you can imagine...
That aside it was given a relatively clean bill of health and so I got the book stamped and got out with my wallet relatively intact!
All was going well until the driver’s side electric window decided to play up. Being frameless the window automatically drops about half an inch when the door is opened, and then raises when closed. Mine was remaining in the up position, so the door wouldn't shut properly unless the glass was manually dropped via the switch. Not too much of a drama except the horrible graunching noise that accompanied the procedure and the window seemingly having a mind of its own as to its direction of travel. I deduced that clearly it was broken. I know, I'm quite bright like that!
This time it was local sports car specialist Cleverley Repaired Cars to the rescue (you will see that Dep Ed, Brett Fraser, has also had his Boxster in for some work there too in these very pages). Off came the door card and the problem was immediately apparent. The cable, which operates what is basically a scissor mechanism to lift and lower the door window was no longer under tension because one of the pulleys that it runs on had sheared off, upsetting the whole mechanism and confusing the regulator, which raises and lowers the glass a fraction.
It was an easy if somewhat fiddly fix, and one of those things that absolutely had to be done. Euro Car Parts supplied the regulator and mechanism for £156, which seemed reasonable enough and fitting took an hour at £45.00. Well, you have to keep on top of these things...