New fuel tank level sender came in and has an extra nipple. Do I just leave it capped or did they send the wrong part?
My shim + CA glue + JB weld + zip tie fix is holding so I can wait…. I don’t want to wait but if it’s the wrong part I will.
Well if this wasn’t the cause of my evap leak this definitely made it worse. Now how to find a replacement. Called the local Porsche dealer and left a message. I’m guessing new would be an arm and a leg.
So of course I had AI look at it. It says there are no metal indicators for IMS bearing failures. Also mine was replaced. Also no metal indicators for bore score though I’m surprised it would say that it could be true I was just assuming oil would be a good way to track bore score.
Its hypothesis is that the old owner was taking the car to a quick lube shop like Jiffy Lube for oil changes. It suggests they don’t usually carry 0w-40 but they do carry 0w-20 and that’s probably what they used. After decades of horror stories and investigative reports on how bad lube shops are I can completely believe that. As for not carrying 0w-40…. No idea but seems plausible. On top of that the previous owner was probably running the oil too long between changes. If they’re going to Jiffy Lube I believe this too. Its suggestion is to do another oil change in 2-3k miles and see if the metals go back down to normal levels. Assuming they do I’m good.
What do people here think? Honestly I’ve never done oil analysis before. It was a thing back in my BMW days but I never did it…. I should have with my v10 M6 but that crapped out before my first oil change…. I figured it was good insurance with this car and for $40 I’m going to keep doing it. Probably do it on my C8 too from now on though those don’t have known engine issues.
Ok exhaust valve is a momentary button but the exhaust valve solenoid needs 12v constant to close so the button can’t be wired up to it directly. It needs a latching relay. I got a two pack of these on Amazon for $10 I think. Black wire is ground and yellow wire is the same accessory wire I used for the radio. I just tapped off that. The two white wires go to the button and they don’t matter since it me just a momentary switch and you’re just completing the circuit. Just note the pins they’re connected to on the back of the button. Now the relay can switch AC or DC and since I’m using 12v to power the relay I’m just piggy backing off that with the red wire to the input of the switched side of the relay. The orange wire runs all the way to solenoid in the engine compartment. Carrying 12v to either open or close the exhaust valves.
I’ll post a picture of the wiring in a comment as I can mix the video and an image here but yay! It works! I don’t know how to get the LED to light though. ChatGPT says there’s an IC board inside and it couldn’t find wiring for it online. I’d love to get it working if I could but this works and is so much better than the wireless fob controls (they work just fine but in a convertible I park with the top down all the time on I don’t like easily grabable things.
Also I had to install it upside down. No room on the right side and I didn’t want to try extending the factory wires to relocate any of those buttons. So ya, not perfect but I’m extremely happy here.
Ignore the tablet radio… it’s on my list to replace (PCCM+ clone with 360 cameras!)
Sorry I only have my iPhone for this. The microphone really doesn’t do justice to how much louder it is. I will say I don’t like the sound just off idle but once the revs are up there it sounds great which is why I really tried to keep the revs up in these videos.
Closed course and private roads and all that.
Install tips:
PB blaster the night before really helped with the bolts but I should have sprayed the pipe joints too. MAP gas heating helped but in the end I had to cut one clamp off with a grinder.
Get new clamps. Worth the extra money
Get your biggest hammer (I used my one handed sledge
Flare the pipe from the muffler a tiny bit to get the new valved pipes started.
Use ratchet straps in strategic places to pull the valved pipes into position for the clamps.
Electrical and vacuum was easy.
Pretty quick shipping across the pond. I should be able to install these this weekend. If I had a garage I’d do it tonight but alas I don’t.
I don’t understand why back in this era car manufacturers thought performance car buyers wanted to be quiet. Well, easy fix.
I’ve been trying to fix a P0442 error code as well as a fuel burping issue while filling the tank. I tested various tubes and valves in the fender attached to the charcoal canister and all seemed good. Copilot suggested the next thinks to test was the evap purge valve under the manifold. I’d such a PITA to get out I just bought a new one as long as I was there. The part was only like $40.
The p0442 code hasn’t come back and the evap test seems to have completed according to my scanner. That said I see some new codes and I’m not sure if the are related. The car seems to be ruining great. There might have been a tiny bit of roughness when idling warming up but it was so subtle I’m not sure if I was just imagining it. P0300 P0304 P0305 P0171 P0174
The p030x codes I think might just have been on start right after the initial install. I forgot to connect a vacuum hose and the car hardly idled until I saw what I’d missed. That said I did re-clear the codes after that so I don’t know.
Back to copilot and it suggests this is normal given the bad startup where I left the vacuum hose disconnected. It says even though I cleared the codes the computer will relog misfires when the emissions tests finish running. The lean codes it says are just the system relearning the fuel map now that there’s no vacuum leak.
This sounds just plausible enough to be bullshit. So I ask the knowledgeable here what do you think? I really hope the next tank fill lets me fill the tank completely without burping gas back at me.
I kind of like the look of the seat covers you can find on Amazon and eBay but I’ve heard they are really hard to install correctly. Also in the end they’re still just seat covers.
Another issue is this color. The color code of the interior is B4 which according to ChatGPT is Cocoa… however Cocoa in 2004 was different than 987 cocoa which is a MUCH darker brown. 2004 cocoa is more like Savanah Beige. So ya finding a color match is proving to not be easy.
So ya has anyone tried seat covers and how do you like them? How hard were they to install? Anyone have a good pointers for finding the right paint/dye for 2004 B4?
Worst case there’s an excellent leather shop here in the PNW and I should really get a quote but I’m the kind of person that like to do it myself at least once and after watching tons of videos online I feel like I can.
Thanks.
2004 base with a manual and 90k miles. Only issue right now is the fuel system burp when filling the tank combined with a slow fuel system air leak that occasionally throws the check engine light. Im guessing they’re related and have thrown a few parts at it but haven’t gotten it to go away.
I don’t have a lift or even a garage but I do have a private driveway and a fair number of tools so as long as it can be done with jack stands in a weekend it’s in the realm of something I can do.
Already done:
- IMS bearing was already done according to imscheck.com.
- Basic fluid flushes have been done with the exception of the clutch which I will do next time I do the oil and have it on jackstands.
- Motor mount replaced but the vibration came back after a month or two so I want to check it again… when I’m back under it.
Anything can do with the top? Can I grease the gears to keep them from breaking or is that just a time thing? I basically live with the top down as long as it isn’t raining.
Suspension? I’ve actually never done anything with suspension on any of my cars.
Spark plugs? I have no indications they need to be done but I have no idea when they were last done if ever.
Other? The car doesn’t leak anywhere (something the PPI called out when I bought it as being in excellent mechanical health) so I hesitate to crack any seals if I don’t need to.
I bought the car just for fun. Something to drive around while I’m in town as I travel a lot. That said I’ve fallen in love with it more than I expected… and now I really want to keep it in top condition.
Other than these looking like they’d be 20” or larger wheels… anyone running a style like this for real world photos? I’d like to see what the wheels actually look like. AI has a hard time searching for different wheel designs and I haven’t found any.
What a beautiful morning
In the PNW the rain stopped long enough to wash the car and drop the top!
Yes it’s filthy but man it’s beautiful out!