If you ever have to run a wire to the back of a Cayman, you'll need to remove the Driver Side Sill Plate. I had to do so to run a wire for my Oil Pressure Gauge and I learned that unlike most cars where that plate is held down with just plastic friction pins, the sill plate on a Cayman is rock solid. It's held in with two rather substantial bolts. If you need to remove yours, you'll want to read on. 1Removal Procedure 1). There are two plastic plugs in the side of the sill plate between...
8 Comments

A clutch slave cylinder should last a long time. But there have been incidents of slave cylinders leaking in Caymans, which can leave your clutch pedal on the floor. There was a Workshop Campaign (W802) back in 2008 to replace more than 1,200 bad slave cylinders that made their ways into cars (987s and 997s). Should you find yourself in need of a new slave cylinder, this article should be of great help to you. 1Torque Values Fastener LocationDescriptionTool SizeTorque ValueClutch...
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I was getting something out of my front trunk (frunk) a couple of weeks ago, when the hood fell on its own hitting me in the head. No damage done, but I realized that it must be time to replace the gas struts. I'm not sure when they started losing their pressure, but after I installed the new ones I immediately noticed that they spontaneously raise the hood from about 60% to full open by themselves - I don't think mine had done that for some time, so if yours aren't doing it either, it's...
17 Comments

We've heard a lot of talk about Rear Main Seals leaking in Porsches, but as the Cayman Register advocate I can't say that I've seen many members who've experienced a failure. That's likely because Porsche made a major improvement to the seals in 2005 and all Caymans received that new seal. The RMS in my car didn't leak, but I decided to replace it anyway because I was replacing my IMS cover seal. My car had 80,000 miles on it, I was right there with 95% of the labor already done and the new RMS...
23 Comments

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...
6 Comments

A clutch is a wear item so it's only a matter of time before we each need to replace one. I replaced mine at 80,000 miles because I was in there to replace a leaking IMS cover seal. As it turned out, my original clutch was still in excellent condition. But there's nothing like the bite of a new clutch, and my leak repair required removal of the clutch, so replacement required nothing more than ordering parts. Because there is so much labor involved, it would have been senseless for me not to...
63 Comments

Our Caymans are equipped with a Dual Mass Flywheel which does a really good job of eliminating gear chatter and providing us with silky smooth clutch engagements. But DMFs can and do fail. When they do they can create very strange sounds and/or vibrations in our cars. If you suspect a bad flywheel in your car, or if you happen to have the transmission out for some other reason like I did, make sure you test your flywheel as shown below. 1Needed Specialty Tools Toothed Flywheel...
2 Comments

Most of these photos were created and annotated by adsalmon as he trouble shoots a delayed cold start problem on his 2006 Cayman S. Very handy reference.
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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,...
24 Comments

The IMS seems to be a real pain in the neck for us Porsche owners. Fortunately us Cayman owners are not very likely to experience an IMS bearing failure, but I have seen a number of members (including myself) develop a leak around the IMS cover. The seal is inexpensive, but the labor to reach it is significant and many specialty tools are required. I suspect that there are only a handful of members here who might attempt this repair themselves, but I thought it would be good to document...
58 Comments