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Porsche 996/997 Motor Mount Replacement DIY
The engine in the 996/997 hangs from the motor mounts rather than sitting on them as in most other cars. As a consequence of this design, it’s hard to tell by visual inspection when they’ve worn out. As they stretch and degrade over time the car may idle rough or one side of the exhaust may appear to hang lower than the other. Once you take the mount off of the car, you can see as in the photo above how the old one is distended compared to the new one.
The replacement procedure is very simple and can be done by any shade-tree mechanic with a good floor jack. Jack-stands for the rear of the car help, but are not required. One could just park the car on some 2x4s to get a little additional working room and easily make the swap with just the jack. We recommend using jack-stands just because it’s easier to move around under the car. Make sure the engine is cold before trying to move your hands through the exhaust-header to get to the lower nuts. As long as you only remove one mount at a time, you don’t have to worry about repositioning the engine to make it line up with the mount. You can choose to use stock mounts; solid motorsports mounts; or semi-solid. I went with stock.
Tools required: Socket wrench; torque wrench; 13mm socket; 18mm socket (deep); and a 6 inch extension. Parts needed: Two replacement mounts, Porsche Part Number 993-375-049-08-M270 (for 1999-2005 non-turbo 996.) [Yes, that is a 993 part number, and yes, it is correct.] 997 Porsche Part Number is 997-375-049-08. If you are going to Track your car, consider upgrading the motor mounts to a more solid design. You’ll get less engine movement at the price of bit more vibration at idle.
Like all of our DIYs posted here: Proceed at your own risk — no wagering. These instructions are intended to familiarize you with the process and are not a substitute for a good shop manual.
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- Safely jack up the rear of the car and place on jack-stands.
- Place the floor jack under the engine just behind the oil pan as seen in the photo. Use a block of wood (or a hockey puck) to avoid damaging the engine.
Support the weight of the engine with the jack but do not lift the car off of the jack stands. - Remove the air box.
- Loosen two bolts and swing the secondary air pump out of the way.
- Start at the right mount and remove the lower nut using a deep 18mm socket and a 6 inch extension.
- Remove the two upper bolts with a 13 mm socket and remove the old mount.
- Inspect and clean the area where the mount sits in the chassis.
- Insert the new mount. Install two upper bolts and torque to 23 ft lbs. (M10 bolts) or 17 ft lbs (M8 bolts) depending on your car.
- Install lower nut and torque to 63 ft lbs.
- Repeat procedure on the left side.
- Replace secondary air pump and air box.
- Lower car and inspect exhaust tip position.
- Drive and sag no more.
Porsche Caliper Paint DIY
One of the things that has always bothered me about my car was the condition of the brake calipers. A previous owner (or possibly the dealer) at some point tried to respray them, but didn’t do a very good job.
Three of the four blistered and pealed. The forth one was just faded. I finally had some time to do something about them this past week. I thought about changing the color to red, because everyone knows red is faster. Besides the fact that I would have to remove the calipers to change colors, I didn’t want to seem a poser: Red calipers came on turbo six-pot calipers for this generation 911. Also, I’m trying to stay stock as much as I can.
You’ll need ceramic caliper paint that can withstand braking temperatures; solvent; stencils to replace the PORSCHE script (eBay); some fine-grain sand-paper, and masking tape.
1. Safely put your car on jack stands and remove the wheels.
2. Remove brake pads and thoroughly clean the calipers.
3. Sand calipers and remove the PORSCHE script (paint or stickers).
4. Clean the calipers with paint prep solvent (I used brake caliper primer).
5. Mask off any areas you don’t want to paint including the rotor and hub.
6. Paint each caliper with several thin coats of caliper paint, waiting 10 minutes between coats, but completing all coats within 1 hour.
7. Let paint dry overnight and remove masking tape.
8. Reinstall brake pads.
9. Let paint harden 7 days.
10. Apply stencil mask.
11. Mask around stencil.
12. Apply several layers of paint to the stencil, waiting 10 minutes between coats, but completing all coats within 1 hour.
13. Wait an hour before removing stencil. Carefully remove centers of “P”, “O”, and “R” with a sharp knife and tweezers.
14. Reinstall wheels but wait 24 hours before driving.
Porsche Custom Tune Baseline
Finally finished base-lining the Porsche today. We lost a month of preparation due to the accident repairs, but finally finished all of the tasks necessary to establish a baseline and get the car out onto the track next week. We even managed to fix the broken vanity mirror on the passenger side visor. The last step in the process was completed this week when we took the car down to Behe Performance to get it on the Dyno. Since we are starting to run out of time before the next trackday, we had them finish the remaining maintenance tasks and put the car on the Dyno to see what we have to work with. They inspected the suspension (nice to get a second opinion after any repairs), flushed the brakes, changed the transmission oil, and aligned the car as well.
The initial results were a bit disappointing. The initial runs on the Dyno showed only 221 hp at the wheels and 207 ft lbs of torque; peak torque band was pretty narrow. After Behe worked his magic, however, horsepower is up to 236.9 and torque up to 217 ft lbs. More importantly, the peak torque band is wider, with more than 205 ft lbs from 4400 to 5600 RPMs as opposed to only 4700-5300 before the tune. The 2000 Carrera had 300 bhp when it left the factory. If you figure a 15% drivetrain loss, that amounted to about 255 hp at the wheels. Considering that this is a twelve year-old car with 68,000 miles that means it’s down about 8% from new. That’s probably not too bad, especially considering the nature of dyno testing where weather conditions and fuel quality can impact results.
Repairs Complete
While we wait out the Frankenstorm, here’s a picture of the Porsche fresh from the shop. (Click the photo above for the complete set.) All repairs have been completed; no suspension or sub-frame damage found. The car looks terrific and we can’t wait for the roads to clear up and take it out for a drive. We’ve been gathering parts this past month: new headlights, clear side-markers, and a new intake were installed yesterday. New serpentine belt, coil-packs, plugs, and rotors will have to wait until next weekend.
Porsche Progress Report 3
The rain finally subsided today and the 911 came out of the paint booth into the sunlight. Color match is very good and the paint application is excellent. Today they will buff the clear-coat, hang the door, and reinstall the side window. If all proceeds as planned, the car will be done on Friday. Woohoo!
It’s really amazing to see how much paint technology has changed since I helped Dan paint the FIAT 28 years ago. Computer color-matching, more environmentally friendly paints, rapid drying in heated booths — none of that existed back in the day.
Somethings haven’t changed, however, such as the fact that good prep work makes for a better finished product. I think this is turning out very well.
