For those of you who live in constant fear that your M96 engined 996 is about to self-destruct, you should take some comfort in these photos: This is the stock dual-row IMS bearing that came out of my old car at 105,000 miles. It still turns smoothly, and the bearing seals are intact. It was …
Ever wonder what a bad air-oil separator looks like? This is it. We sent an oil sample off to the lab just to be safe and had the car towed to TPCRacing in Jessup. They did a great job sorting it out and getting me back on the road again. It turns out I had …
At some point, a light bulb is going to burn out on your 996 instrument cluster. My money is on one of the three bulbs that back-light the mileage on the left, speed in the middle, or oil level/time on the right. In my case, it was the left one. The bulb you want is …
As we’ve shown on this site before, the front mounted radiators of the 996 collect all kinds of debris over time. We bought this kit from Rennline many months ago, but never got around to putting it on. Since we had the bumper cover off this weekend for some other work, we thought we’d try …
I had a nice long chat with Charles Navarro of LN Engineering at the SCCA Motorsports Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina last weekend. He’s half of the team behind the IMS Solution for M96 engines — the other half being Jake Raby of Flat Six Innovations. I wanted to talk to Charles about preventive measures …
Before we started carrying the Agency Power Rollbar for Porsche 996/997, I used to have a DAS Sport Rollbar in my car. Here are some tips for installing it in a 996/997 Coupe. The instructions published on the DAS Sport Website are pretty straight forward and with practice, the rollbar can be installed in about …
Ecliptech Shift I shift light installation DIY for Porsche 996. 1. Open fuse panel door and remove four screws. 2. Remove the carpeted surround to get to the third Torx screw holding the OBD-II port holder. (If you have small hands, you may be able to remove the port from the holder without dropping the …
The M96 engine has 23 known modes of failure, the most common of which is the failure of the rear intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing. Likely for cost-cutting reasons, Porsche installed a sealed bearing that is prone to failure. Many failed early in the life of the engine. Poor quality of the bearing seals may have …
Spark plugs in the M96 engine need to be replaced annually. While you’re there, you should change the spark plug tubes as well, especially if you have no record of them having been changed. You can do it without dropping the exhaust first, but it will take you twice as long, even accounting for the …
At high speed, the front end of the 996 seems a bit light. For cooling purposes, it’s a fairly efficient design: High pressure air enters the openings in the front of the bumper, passes through the AC condensors and radiators, before exiting toward the pavement ahead of the wheels. The design tends to cause the …
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