The dreaded day arrived for me last fall. I'm writing of course about when my factory Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensors reached the end of their life. My car is a 2007, manufactured in June 2007, put into service in July 2007. I started seeing TPMS malfunctions (the readings all went blank while driving, then came back) in the summer of 2014. So I got about 7 years, 80,000 miles out of my sensors before they went kaput. This is pretty much in line with the 6-8 years that other...
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I don't know of a single Throw-Out bearing that has failed in a Cayman. I decided to replace mine because of an IMS cover leak, which required me to remove my transmission, clutch, pressure plate and flywheel. Because my car had 80,000 miles on it at the time, it seemed sensible to freshen up the clutch package, which meant a new throw-out bearing too. Once the transmission is out, changing the Throw-Out bearing is a simple operation. 1Torque Values Fastener LocationDescriptionTool...
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Changing the transmission oil in a Cayman will keep its transmission shifting nicely and will prolong its life. Porsche recommends replacing the transmission oil at 108,000 miles or at 12 years of age, and I think it goes without saying that tracked cars should see a fluid replacement sooner than recommended. The transmission doesn't have a filtration system, so this is an area where clean oil can go a long way. Check out this discussion to learn why regular gear oil changes are a good idea,...
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Shown on 5 speed 987.1. I cut a 1 3/4 inch access hole in the plate under the trans axle to easily get to the drain plug. The other thing to note is the 6 speed trans axle gets filled to the bottom of the fill port while the 5 speed transmission requires the level to be diabolically set lower than the fill port by 11 mm. The five speed drain plug requires a special 16 mm triple square anti tamper socket I got from Pelican Parts. The six speed drain plugs are more rational, using 10 mm hex...
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If you had told me back in 2007, when I took delivery of my Cayman S, that I'd some day be taking the transmission out of it I'd probably think you were crazy. I broke a lot of transmissions when I was a kid, but I've learned to respect my transmissions since then. As fate would have it, my car developed an oil leak that necessitated the removal of mine. Removing the transmission from one of these cars isn't as hard as you'd expect by I wouldn't call it easy either. There are a couple of...
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This article describes the installation of the Tarett Engineering rear strut mounts ( no affiliation ) shown below. Because this install was part of a suspension upgrade I had the struts already out of the car. There are many articles out there describing the strut removal process in a Cayman or Boxster if your struts are in place. Access to the top of the rear struts require a fair amount of interior trim removal. You will need an impact driver with 13/16 socket and a spring compressor for...
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UPDATE 2 from Vision Motorsports: Dwain replied to my question about trans axle temperature ranges to worry about: his response was, “220 is ok. 250 is getting hot. 275, I would start to be concerned.” UPDATE: I have some trans axle temp data from my recent visit to Sebring. On the drive over, 140 miles at 55 - 65 MPH, ambient air 90 F, the trans axle oil reached 150 F. The first day of the DE air temp was 80 F and I was re-learning the track the trans axle oil reached 190 F. On the...

This article discusses the installation of Torque Solutions sport trans axle mounts into my 2007 Cayman 2.7L. The sport mounts keep the trans axle from moving around as much as the stock mounts and tightens up the handling of the car. The down side is that more NVH is introduced into the cabin. I am pleased to report the increase is tolerable and no where near the NVH the sport engine mount introduced into the cabin. You sense more of what the engine is doing on deceleration and various RPMs....
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IMPORTANT NOTICE!: The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has done extensive research and found that Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) reduce highway fatalities. Federal laws/codes require all passenger vehicles of <10,000 lbs. GVWR produced on or after September 1, 2007 to include TPMS and prohibits the act of disabling it. Applying the alteration contained below to a car that is registered for street use may violate Federal and/or State Motor Vehicle Safety Laws,...
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This article describes the installation of a trans axle oil cooler onto my 2007 Cayman 5 speed. I was inspired by Al Norton's article on RENNTRACK.com where he added a water to transmission oil cooler to his 996 Turbo. It is reversible ( no drilling of the transaxle case ). The trans axle oil cooler is a longevity modification for track operation since our Cayman trans axles are bathed in heat from both the engine and exhaust system. The system consists of an air to oil cooler, oil pump,...
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