What??? A torque converter in a Porsche you say?! Well I have one of those and all the Porsche dealer service techs I've talked to claim that the ATF fluid in the tiptronic transmission is a "lifetime" fluid and the flush interval/filter change is 108K miles or 12 years whichever comes first. Now I track my cayman and I'm a bit skeptical of the lifetime quality of this fluid since oil/lubricants break down eventually owing to heat right? Also, during my online research I found that the same...
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Installing Headlight Protective Film If you take your car to the track then you may be interested in protecting your headlights from the grit, rubber marbles, and misc bits which can be thrown up by the cars in front of you. No doubt you have seen cars with blue painter's tape on the headlights. I personally went this route for a while before deciding to put clear protective film on the headlights. This saves time at the track and makes for better pictures of your car! (I also think if you...
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Removing a 987 door panel is a pretty straight forward operation that can be done with basic tools and mechanical skills. 4 The door panel is held to the door by 5 T-30 Torx screws and 9 friction clips. The screws are hidden in the following locations: To access the screws, you first need to removes a few trim panels from the door. Let's start with the mirror trim. The mirror trim is held in my two friction clips on it's bottom, and a slide connection on the tip. 4
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How to Adjust the Closed Window Height (this was on my 2003 Boxster S, I would think the 987 Cayman shared the same but not sure) Overview: The door windows drop down when you lift the door handle and automatically go backup once the door closes. This is done to relieve the cabin pressure and to make it easier to open and close the door. I recently had problems with MY closed window height being too high and catching on the roof. I learned that there is a height adjustment screw...
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I've been having an intermittent Check Engine light, and during my last visit to the dealer, Jim Ellis in Atlanta (no affiliation), reading the fault codes seemed to indicate one bad Oxygen Sensor, Bank 1 (right side), pre-cat. The Oxygen Sensor, also known as the O2 Sensor, or Lambda Sensor does just what you might guess, measure oxygen in the exhaust gases. Voltage created by the sensor is proportional to how much oxygen is present, and the computer (DME) uses this signal along with other...
43 Comments

Topeak Mega Morph Folding Floor Pump I use a floor pump in the garage to inflate car tires. Call me a Luddite, but I prefer the speed, mechanical directness, exercise and lack of noise a floor pump offers. For adjusting pressures at the track and as part of my emergency kit (see also my article on carrying a spare tire in this section) I always take a smaller version with me on the road. Recently I found this pump (PICTURE 1) which folds flatter and takes up less space than the...
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Replacing the Cabin Air Filter (also referred to as the Pollen Filter) is possibly the easiest maintenance task to perform on a Cayman. I'll demonstrate this task on my 2007 Cayman S. There are aftermarket filters available, but I like to use OE parts for my Porsche. The part number of the factory Porsche filter is 997.571.229.01. It's available at any Porsche parts department. I usually keep one on hand. Once you've obtained an OE filter or suitable replacement, you're ready to...
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Here’s my take on carrying a spare and transporting a flat in a Cayman (I'd previously posted a version of this article at www.planet-9.com). I started with the complete spare kit sold by Sunset in Oregon, Suncoast in Florida and other Porsche dealers: 996 362 020 04 Vredestein Inflatable Spare Tire & Wheel 996 722 101 00 Foam Wheel Insert to hold Jack 996 721 211 00 Scissors Jack with Handle 987 722 061 00 Cover for Spare with plastic Backing Disc & Straps MOUNTING A SPARE
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I installed my RSS harness bar this past weekend. I like the structural design of this bar because its base plates mount directly to the body under the reverse lever using the factory hardware. There is also provision for the long leg of the reverse lever to go through the base plate into the body, adding more shear strength. If you look at the first attached photo, the reverse lever 10 x 25 bolt goes through the slotted hole. The leg of the lever goes through the large round hole. The two...
7 Comments

If you track your car a lot, you may find yourself considering the use of some more aggressive brake pads. There are many good choices available. Some folks use them part time only when on the track, others use them full time for both track and street. Regardless of how you want to use them, you will run into one snag. Many of the available race pads are not compatible with Porsche's brake wear sensors, and for those that are, changing the sensors from pad to pad is a hassle that slows down an...
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