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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Since I DE my car a lot (6 track days last year, planning 8 track days this year) 2010 is to be the year I will bleed brakes before each event. I stand today 20 days from my first event of the season at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds AL (where PSDS is held) so today was bleed brakes day. Over Christmas I had changed out the pads since they would not have passed the 3/16" minimum by the event date. While I was at it, I bought a liter of factory brake fluid (factory pads, factory fluid I'm just...
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In Part 1, I covered some of the basic functions that can be performed using the Enthusiast version of the Durametric cable. In this tutorial, I will discuss some of the more advanced uses of the cable, including some Coding functions for those who purchase or borrow the Professional cable. NOTE: Some some of these functions, particularly Activations and Coding could result in damage to your vehicle, as well as disabling some of the normal safety functions of your car. You undertake these...
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Changing a battery or suffering a dead battery is something that all of us will experience at one point or another. Our Caymans are very sophisticated. They contain many computerized control modules that may/can/will be effected by loss of battery voltage. This technical article will present the many instructions that Porsche recommends to their mechanics after loss and replacement of battery power. 1 Control Unit Memory Values and faults stored in the control units can be lost if the...
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INTRODUCTION Durametric is a small company which produces a Porsche diagnostic tool for use by independent service shops or individual enthusiasts, and is as close as one can come to owning the equivalent of the PIWIS system that dealer service departments use, for thousands of dollars less. Unfortunately, Durametric provides very little in the way of documentation or tutorials in the use of their tool, which is part of the reason I have decided to write this primer. Some of the...
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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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Properly breaking in your new brakes is essential to their continued performance and reliability, yet it's something that few people really understand. I've recently followed a very informative thread where several of our members were trading some pretty good information on this topic. I found the information was so valuable, that I thought it would be a good idea to archive it here as an article. Special thanks to all the members who contributed these really cool links: Bedding...
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After attending your first autocross or driver’s education event, it’s likely that you’ll be thinking about improving your car’s handling. During discussions with other drivers and “interested spectators” you might be advised to get a “track” alignment or find a way to get “more negative camber”. This article will explain what the alignment parameters of toe, camber, and caster mean and how changes in their settings may affect performance. Finally, I’ll discuss the benefits of having a wheel...
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The flexible brake lines that connect the calipers to the brake line hydraulic system are subject to wear and should be replaced periodically. This article provides a guide on how to replace the brake lines on a Cayman. In this article I replace the factory brake lines on my Cayman with new Braided Stainless Steel Brake Lines. Braided Stainless Steel Brake Lines are a relatively inexpensive way to improve the feel of your Cayman's brakes. The intent of braided stainless steel brake lines...
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You may have heard how much fun, and possibly addictive, our Drivers Education program can be and have decided to give it a try. I’ve recently returned to the track after an extended absence and in conversations with other students have found that a better understanding of tire pressure could be helpful. Our Drivers Ed manual addresses various brake fluids and pads but I have added some detail about specific fluids and boiling points as well as some pad choice considerations. 4 Tire...