Daily driving a cheap Porsche 911 (996) - what could possibly go wrong?

May be time for a cheap Subaru with an expensive cage + SPOT tracker.

BoxheadTim wrote: Yes, the Blizzaks on the car are directional. I doubt the shop would have put them on the wrong way around, but that's an easy fix if that's the case. I'll check the tire pressures before I set off this morning. They *should* be correct, I'm generally pretty anal about that. Re the age of the tires, they're on the car for the second season but the rears are of slightly older manufacture. That said, I would expect tire rack to store them correctly and they're not giving me grief on snow. Plenty of tread left, too.

That's pretty strange, then - it's sounds like you've eliminated some of the common causes. The direction didn't make a noticeable difference on ours, but I figured a 996 might be more sensitive to that sort of thing than an Odyssey. I've seen ancient (10+ year old) tires with great tread perform really poorly in snow (on my old truck). Basically, the rubber hardens to a point where they're worthless. However, that's not the case with yours.

I'd have to think alignment or some sort of broken part (or bad bushing) that's causing real-time alignment changes, but I would think those issues would have been obvious in regular conditions, as well.

When I read the first line of your post, I thought "Oh crap, it's totaled." So, I am very thankful that's not the case. Hopefully you can get it sorted, I've been rooting for success with this car since you started the thread.

Tire pressures were/are correct, so that wasn't the issue but it tipped me off as to what the problem is.

Basically, the rear tires had somewhere between 2/3rds and 3/4 of tread left when we put them on two months ago. Since then it's chewed its way through the tread on the rear Blizzaks to the extent that I need new tires - already ordered, should have them tomorrow or Friday at the latest. The reason it wasn't obvious is that most of the wear is on the inner half of the tire, with the inside edge of the tread ripped up in a fashion I haven't seen before.

Talked to the local Porsche specialist, they're pretty certain there is something wrong with the alignment or the rear suspension. 996s do like to consume rear tires for breakfast, but not at this rate when everything's OK.

Oh, and for additional amusement, we're having problems finding snow tires for it again. The good news is that Tire Rack still has a few Blizzaks in the correct size in stock, the bad news is that they've been manufactured in 2010. Anyway, that's what the car is getting - at least they're cheap at something like 120 a pop. But if those wear out I'm a tad screwed when it comes to replacements.

Before the alignment is done, check for any worn out bushings in the rear suspension causing toe issues. You don't want to pay for an alignment only to have to replace bushings and do it all over again. Also get the rear tires replaced right before the alignment so it is done with the proper rubber on the car. Check the fronts. Since the car is AWD, you don't want the diameters to be off too much and burn up the center diff.

I think yours is the one that had all the engine work. Was an alignment done after that? They probably dropped the whole motor to work on it and might have taken the rear arms out to facilitate dropping it... (not sure, the older cars have torsion bars etc and are out of the way.)

Turns out the alignment was out - one of the rear tires had slight toe out, the other toe in. Resetting the alignment to factory specs made a difference even on dry roads. They did check over the bushings and ball joints at the same time, no detectable wear in those.

Got to drive on snow and slush for the first time last night and the car's propensity to take the drunken sailor line down a straight road is gone completely.

@PMRacing, fronts are fine (I double/triple checked), there is hardly any wear on them. Which made the rear tire wear even more surprising.

@Mad_Ratel, they did have the engine out but didn't have to touch the suspension. The misalignment issue is pretty recent, I would have noticed a nervous arse end (the car's, not mine) if it had been around since the engine work. Best idea we could come up with is that I hit exactly the right pothole exactly the wrong way - they see a lot of cars in need of alignment because of the road conditions.

Do you know why 996 likes rear tires? I mean yours trying to crab walk is obvious but when they are straight?

Any high dollar sports car EATS tires. Super wide tires with only 1* of camber will wear out the inside pretty quickly. Dad's M packaged 545i did it, His 550I M package did it as well. Even with only 8" wide wheels.

My track 350z would eat the HELL out of tires. but it had the 19x10 1/2" wheels on the rear.

Lots of traction at the rear, plus the exhaust mufflers are right behind the tyres, so the exhaust heats up the tyre surface.

Nothing worth reporting has happened recently, it's ticking along nicely and I'm driving it to work almost every day. Actually, a minor inconvenience - I have to replace the headlight washer nozzles, both broke over the winter, plus I'll have to get the auto-dimming mirror fixed. But that's improving the car, not just keeping it running.

Just in case anybody is wondering what the rear tires looked like, IIRC this was a photo of the better one:

Mad_Ratel wrote: Any high dollar sports car EATS tires. Super wide tires with only 1* of camber will wear out the inside pretty quickly. Dad's M packaged 545i did it, His 550I M package did it as well. Even with only 8" wide wheels. My track 350z would eat the HELL out of tires. but it had the 19x10 1/2" wheels on the rear.

I think geometry has a LOT to do with it. My wife's first gen TT (maybe an 8 inch wheel?) Was horrible on rear tires, while the V Wagon with 10 inch rear wheels has perfectly even wear. There's something about toe/camber change with suspension movement that's an issue.

I have had wide tire cars before and always had good service out of the tires. Never had any odd wear. Never ate through anything unless the setting on the alignment was jacked up. I wasn't gentle on them either.

I see no reason with a decent treadwear you don't get decent life.

If you are hammering them constantly yes, you will wear the tires, but these cars aren't heavy.

The worst car I ever had for tires was my Mazda5 and that was all alignment. Fixed the alignment fixed the wear.

I am thinking the toe in is too much and that is chewing them.

996s are notorious for eating tires, even with perfect alignment. Expected rear tire lifespan is somewhere between 10k-15k. Mind you, there is something about those Blizzaks that seems to accelerate wear...

I'll see how long the BFG three seasons will last, once I can actually swap over - even though it's getting warm during the day the storms are still bringing snow to where I work.

It's been resting for a few weeks now after I discovered that I was considerably over the recommended 5k oil change interval. Oops. Someone forgot to put a reminder in his smartphone .

Fortunately oil changes on these are relatively easy, although I find the car a pain in the backside to jack up. Definitely another good reason to buy a Quickjack.

Other than that, it's an easy job, especially if the car has the LN Engineering spin-on oil filter conversion that mine has. They do take a lot of oil though (and it all seems to want to dump out at the same time) so make sure you have a big enough oil pan. Plus, the filter will make a big mess as you undo it, don't ask me how I figured that out...

Almost 10 quarts of Mobil 1 0W40 Euro Spec and I should be good to go for another 5k miles.

Next job is going to be new brake pads and rotors, which shouldn't be too bad if that's all it needs. Rotors look to be about $150 a corner or less, plus about $400 in pads if I use Porterfield R4Ss. Just need to figure out first if there is anything special I need to do on account of the car having PSM.

You ever try putting a spike through the bottom of the filter to direct it's flow?

I'll try that for the next oil change. This was my first oil DIY oil change on this car and I didn't realise that there is a lot of oil sitting on top of the filter.

Only 5k out of 10 quarts of synthetic? Youch. Glad to know that your back to just regular maintenance on this thing and nothing catastrophic happening recently. I've seen some early 996's with a ton of miles pop up for less than 15k and have been very tempted to try one out.

5k is the recommendation by both LN Engineering and my local Porsche guys, official oil change interval is 10k IIRC. However according to the local Porsche specialist who refreshed the engine, the damage they saw is typical for one that's seen factory oil change intervals.

Dad did 5k miles on his 83, but special racing oils (swepco or Valvoline Vr1) and 13 quarts... (oil cooled.)

Well, after a bunch of months of hassle-free motoring, I finally celebrated mid-summer by switching over to the summer tires. Heck, I still haven't got around to taking the hardtop off...

Unfortunately this morning I was greeted by the noise that started the crater in my wallet - fired up the engine and it went 'knock knock' before settling at a nice idle. Didn't to it again after I filled up the tank, then promptly did it when I left work. Sounds like the timing chain tensioners are bleeding down again - hey, it's only the second set that's in the motor since I've had it.

I'll test it again tomorrow to make sure it's not the a/c kicking in immediately after the engine fires (had that before, it's a pretty similar noise). I'm hoping that it's "just" the a/c as I don't think I can stomach another engine-out job on this car. If I'm mildly unlucky it's just the tensioners and IIRC those can be done with the motor in situ but still...

Here's to it just being the AC

BoxheadTim wrote: Well, after a bunch of months of hassle-free motoring, I finally celebrated mid-summer by switching over to the summer tires. Heck, I still haven't got around to taking the hardtop off... Unfortunately this morning I was greeted by the noise that started the crater in my wallet - fired up the engine and it went 'knock knock' before settling at a nice idle. Didn't to it again after I filled up the tank, then promptly did it when I left work. Sounds like the timing chain tensioners are bleeding down again - hey, it's only the second set that's in the motor since I've had it. I'll test it again tomorrow to make sure it's not the a/c kicking in immediately after the engine fires (had that before, it's a pretty similar noise). I'm hoping that it's "just" the a/c as I don't think I can stomach another engine-out job on this car. If I'm mildly unlucky it's just the tensioners and IIRC those can be done with the motor in situ but still...

Can you take a video of the noise you are talking about or point me to one?

I just got a 99 C2 which had the LN IMS upgrade/clutch/RMS all done last year. When I start it in the morning there is a little bit of a rattle for the 1st second, but then it goes away. I only hear it if the car has been sitting for 12+ hours.

Flight Service wrote: Here's to it just being the AC

Thanks.

Fortunately it looks like it was the a/c. I'll know for certain tonight but it wasn't rattling with the a/c turned off.

Indeed.

Well, I did have some semi-expected expenses finally - when I bought the car, our local specialist warned me that the rear brakes were about done. They gave them another 5k miles before it would need new rotors and pads. Over 15k miles later I figured, we've got a road trip coming up so I better get them looked at. Turns out it was about time to get them changed. They probably would have survived the trip but I didn't want to worry in case they didn't.

So with the new rotors and pads installed, we took it down to Phoenix, AZ and back. Probably about 1600-1700 miles in six-ish days and it didn't miss a beat. That said, the seats are definitely inferior to the ones in my old Carrera 3.2 in the long distance comfort stakes, and it could do with a bigger tank. With the range it has, I ended up having to refuel a little too often for my liking out here, especially between Vegas and up here where you get long stretches of nothingness.