Anyone here work on their own cars?

[professorman]

I consider myself a hobbyist mechanic. I do most work on my cars except internal engine work.

I have mainly had Hondas, BMWs, motorcycles and jetskis. This is my first time having a Porsche. I plan on doing most of my work myself. I do not have a garage.

How many of you work on your own Porsche for most repairs?

[CoBeerToad]

I do. Not so much for the pleasure of a job well done, but I can't afford shop prices.

I don't do internal engine work and I avoid suspension work like the plague. That is money well spent for a job I don't want anything to do with.

[BoxsterSteve]

I've done plugs, fuel filter, water pump, tstat and coolant, full front brake job, brake fluid flush, trans fluid change, cleaned the throttle body & MAF, and done several oil changes.
Things are a bit goofy to get at, seeing many of the serviceale items are reached from under the car or through one of the access hatches, but once you wrap your head around that, it's no different than working on almost anything else.

[Porsche9]

Just don't have the time and equipment to do anything more then light maintanance. When I have more time or I'm retired I will do most of the work myself as I do enjoy working on my own cars.

[particlewave]

No one touches my cars naughty bits but me.

I had Firestone mount four tires for me a couple months ago and they managed to screw that up. This is why I do all my own work.

[rick3000]

After several bad experience with various mechanics, I finally bought the equipment to do most maintenance myself. I actually enjoy it, I am able to save a good amount of money, and I know it is being done right.

The 986 is pretty easy to work on in my opinion, very few pieces that are impossible to remove once they are 'snapped' into place. Every part of the car is designed very well. Plus, there are step by step DIY guides with pictures for most regular maintenance and replacements online. That said, if I ever encounter something more complex that adding the center radiator I will probably take it to a mechanic.

[Muskoka Minute]

I'm a newbie but I'm going to try and do as much as possible.
One to save some cash and I like doing what I can.

So not much...Cabin filter, air filter.
This weekend will be new plugs and looking at my heater control.
I 1st have to figure out where the jack points are.

Cheers

[rick3000]

Originally Posted by Muskoka Minute

1st have to figure out where the jack points are.

Jack points are covered a ton of places, including the owners manual. The search feature on this forum and google are your friend. I recommend every 986 owner interested in doing anything themselves get a Bentley Manual, it covers everything. You can often find more detail, or better pictures online, but it's super useful to have on hand.

[Gforrest2]

Yes, but out of necessity. The older I get, the less I enjoy working on my cars and bikes.

[DWBOX2000]

I think you only want to jack the car up from the 4 points that are identified in the manual. I was using the rear points shown in 101 and was told not to by my mechanic. Considering he is a porsche mechanic and I am not, I will take his word for it. Maybe some of the guys in the know can chime in for further truth regarding the matter.
To get back to your original question, I do try the easier stuff, anything more involved I leave to the professionals.

[cornontherob]

I started out barely knowing what oil and coolant's purpose was in the engine, but necessity meant that I had to drop the engine out of the car, and in the process, learn quite a bit about the internals. Now I just do anything and everything myself. Nothing has warranted internal repair *yet*, so hopefully it'll stay that way. It's a hobby now

[petee_c]

I work on my own porsche. Haven't paid a pro for any labour yet, although there is a good local shop that would get the work if I needed to fork out the $$$ for something I couldn't do.

My list over the past 7 yrs.
Oil and filters
Air filter
Replaced hvac display with a part of eBay
Aux input on the stock radio for ipod
Cv joint repack, and reboot
Spark plug tubes
Pedro mount, soon going back to oem
Lightbulbs
Brake flushes
MAF, tested low voltage with multimeter, Replaced.
Passenger window door switch. Fixed loose connection that wasn't dropping the window properly when opening /closing that door.
Buffed the car with a PC random orbital buffer.
Dropped and inspected oilpan last yr, resealed with no leaks.
New head unit and small slim 10" crutchfield sub.
Removed and disassembled starter and lubed a sticky bendix(?) gear.
AOS.
windshield wipers
I top up my own windshield washer fluid.

I got a maxjax lift in my garage a few yrs ago, and it makes life much easier, although I did the 1st Cv joint and the motor mount with Jack stands.

Lots of good resources on the Web and in print form. Forums are a big help.

Still not great at reading the wiring schematics in the Bentley manual.

Dropping the tranny this spring should be interesting.


Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

[stelan]

I do most of the work on my cars and motorcycles if I have the time (with the exceptions of very specific things)

[Ian c]

Yes and no .

I have a two car garage and all kinds of tools and knowledge , but I have had a 56 non-op beetle drag car and a non-op 73 911 track car in the garage for the 3 years I've lived here ...
pretty much all I've done upto now is cut one fiberglass rear widebody arch of the 911 to put on my buddies race 74 ,and clipped on a metal arch with vice-grips !!!

I have the best intentions , but at the end of the day it's easier to pay somebody to do it as 1; I'm very lazy . And 2; I can't get anything in the garage to work on it

But with a weekend off looming , and the pss-tarret stuff still not fully removed from the Boxster , I might end up working on the driveway this weekend

[geraintthomas]

I'd love to work on the internals of an engine, but I'm far too scared of things going wrong. I'll do anything else, apart from that.

[Smallblock454]

Do everything myself now. If tasks are complex, i do them in a DIY workshop with a lift and let the shop owner recheck my work to make shure everything is OK (he has some Porsche knowledge and always good tips and tricks when it comes to mechanical work). Also i don't have too much special tools, which i can lend there. Also sometimes it's good to have some helping hands. For example when removing rear axles…

And there is a saying: 4 eyes see more than 2.

Regards, Markus

[Timco]

Anything but internal engine, and I would do chains and guides or heads. Just not the block I guess.

[Bald Eagle]

Aside from changing the cap on the coolant bottle the only work I've done on my beautiful Arctic Silver 2000 S has been to wash and wax it. I'm not proud of this but I have absolutely no mechanical skills and fewer tools and I'm smart enough to know not to mess with things I know nothing about. I don't do my own taxes or brain surgery either. Naturally I blame my lack of mechanical ability on my father whose tool box consisted of two screwdrivers, a hammer, and a pair of pliers. I'm in awe of all of you who have the interest, the time, the skills, and have invested in the tools.
Larry (the Bald Eagle)

[rem503]

I started off knowing nothing about the 2000 base Porsche Boxster we purchased in 2012. I have since, thru the Bentley manual and help on this site and others, learned a great deal and have accomplished a lot. This is such a helpful site.

First thing I did was change the oil then in no particular order...
cleaned throttle body
bled brakes
replaced headlight bulbs
replaced accesory belt
replaced fuel filter
added void to dash
replaced spark plugs and 'o' rings
replaced cigarette lighter with two power ports in dash
tightened loose steering wheel
cleaned radiators and added center radiator
flushed power steering fluid and insulated hose near exhaust
replaced two idler pulleys
upgraded to 's' oil cooler
replaced water pump
replaced AOS
replaced all the rubber coolant hoses
replaced MAF
bled clutch
replaced rear oil fill tube (ugh)
replaced ignition key switch

[DrCactus]

I switched out my occupant in passenger side from a brunette to a blonde... take about a great repair.... its doesn't complain or cause me as much headaches as the old one did.... lol