Newest newbie with three questions
 

Hi all - I'm proud to join you all, as the new owner of a much-coddled 2002 triple-black S.

Well, enough about me. Got some questions for y'all:

My car came with but one key. Since I'm really good at losing stuff, I want another, and don't want to pay $300 the local dealer requested through a clenched-teeth grin. I don't even need all the electonics, just a key that will open the door and start the engine. Can I get one on ebay?

Second, what oil would you recommend for someone who lives in Southern California and does mostly freeway driving?

Finally, in my enthusiasm to play with the wind deflector, I broke one of the little locking hinges. Can I just replace just the locking thingie without paying an egregious amount for the whole thing?

Thanks in advance, and glad to join the group!

Welcome aboard and from "down the road!"

Quickly,

No, EBAY cannot help you here and some folks have been swindled by sellers who claim to help.

Go to your dealer and order a valet key. Should not be too much dough! If they are not selling them anymore, order the key blank for your car and take it to a locksmith for a base to be attached.

Two choices on oil. Mobil 1 0W-40 is what Porsche uses and it is excellent. To save a bit of dough, I use Shell Rotella Fully synthetic 5W-40. It is also an excellent oil and is only about $3.50 per quart at Wal Mart. They sell it in gallon jugs.

If you were in Palm Springs, I would recommend Mobil 1 15W-50 for the summer.

BTW-I recommend that you change the oil AND filter every 7500 miles. I use OEM filters and recommend them also.

Lastly, yes, you can buy that clip at your Porsche parts dept.


Best of luck!

Key - Rich, please approve the thread I put in the "parts wanted or for sale" area so this person can read about the $99 key head I found on ebay with a paper tag that may work for his car!! (BTW, I bought mine on Ebay and it worked FINE. Details are in that new thread.)

Wind Deflector - Bring it into the dealership and ask the parts guy... I think you are SOL though and you should try to fix it with some super glue. I replaced mine because if this same thing. Ebay's a decent place to find them, but inquire as to where they got it because lots of rollbar inserts and winscreens are stolen and sold on Ebay.

Randall.

I will check it out and approve.

I was in the parts dept a few weeks ago and they sold this wind deflector piece. I was surprised that you could buy it by itself.

Check it out!

I was told by a Porsche tech that there are only 6 keys made for the life of each 986/996's ignition system(per car that is) and once they are all gone you must replace the entire ignition to get new keys. ANy truth to that?

Never heard this one before. I will check!

I heard from a BMW salesman that this is true of the new BMW 7 series...

I've replaced one of the wind deflector locks on my 2000 S. That moving clip has a snap-in design, so you carefully snap the old one out, then align and snap the new one back in. The part that snaps in place is the shaft that it rotates around. It's harder to describe than it is to actually do.

One of the pieces attached to the hoops that they clip into is broken as well. There's an extremely thin piece of plastic inside it that puts pressure on the mechanism, attempting to prevent it from rattling, and that's broken off. I have a new one, but I'll have to remove the hoop pad, then drill out a rivet to replace it. One day I'll get it done, for now a bit of foam stuffed in there stops the rattle.

For a generally well-made car, Porsche really skimped on this part. It's entirely too flimsy to actually be used. Are the newer ones any better?

Jack

Thanks
 

Thanks all! I did get the little plastic locking pin for the wind deflector at the dealer, for about $3.50. Mine must have been the lowest ticket they wrote for that day!

do you really need to change the oil every 7,500? or should you change just the filter every 7,500K and just change the oil once a year or 15K which ever comes first?

This is a bone of contention among several of us (friendly disagreement!) . If it were my car AND I intended to keep it a long time, I would change the oil every 7500, esp if warranty has expired. A replacement engine is nearly 10K or more depending!

Having said that, if you are a short timer, every 15K is fine if you use quality syn oil and OEM filter.