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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.

    1. Safely jack up the rear of the car and place on jack-stands.
    2. 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.
      careful not to place under oil panSupport the weight of the engine with the jack but do not lift the car off of the jack stands.
    3. Remove the air box.
      air box removed
    4. Loosen two bolts and swing the secondary air pump out of the way.
      SAP
    5. Start at the right mount and remove the lower nut using a deep 18mm socket and a 6 inch extension.
      lower nut
    6. Remove the two upper bolts with a 13 mm socket and remove the old mount.
      right side mount
    7. Inspect and clean the area where the mount sits in the chassis.
      mount location
    8. 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.
    9. new
    • 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 by Design

On the way to Hilton Head Island this past week, we stopped by the North Carolina Museum of Art which is hosting “Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed” through January 20, 2014. The show presents 22 Porsche automobiles going back to 1938 including the 1949 356 Gmuend Coupe (above) as well as Steve McQueen’s 356 Speedster and Janis Joplin’s art car. The collection includes 5 cars from the Porsche museum — a first for a North American exhibition — including the single ugliest Porsche Prototype we’ve ever seen.

concept

This car was presented to Ferry Porsche as a birthday present in 1989. Sort of the ugly sweater your aunt gave you, he drove it a few times and then found a safe place to “preserve” it in the museum. The coolest feature of this car was the Porsche Crest tread pattern in the tires.

cool tires

Steve McQueen’s 356 Cabriolet is still owned by his son, Chad.

356c

And the Janis Joplin car is very, er…. unique. I guess if you can’t recall the Summer of Love, you just don’t get it.

summer of love whatever

I enjoyed seeing the 917K, 962C, and IROC RSR race cars, but my favorite car of the show was the 1963 901 Prototype that started the life of the 911.

901 prototype

The full set of photos from the show is here on Flickr.

Baltimore Grand Prix

Labor Day weekend brought what is likely to be the last Indycar Baltimore Grand Prix to the streets of Baltimore. For the past 3 years it has been an enjoyable way to spend the last long weekend of the summer season. The city never really embraced the event, however, and didn’t do much to improve the racing surface. Most of the events were marked by brief periods of intense racing followed by tedious caution periods to pick up the pieces. But, it did make for an exciting photo opportunity. Many more photos here.
Race

DAS Rollbar & M030 Suspension for 996

We installed (and removed) the DAS Sport Roll hoop. Click here to see the complete installation process. Once you figure it out, installation takes less than 45 minutes, less if you have a helper. You loose the rear seats for passenger seating, but no one wants to sit back there anyway. You also get a nice bit of chassis stiffening in the process which should probably be balanced with a strut bar in the front sometime.

DAD Rollbar

We also completed a suspension refresh. Since we’re keeping the car (mostly) stock, we went with the ROW M030 Sport Suspension from Suncoast. For those of you new to the Porsche world, “ROW” means “rest of the world” as in everywhere outside of the US where they actually use their tax dollars to pave their roads so they are flat, instead of raising their suspensions (or buying SUVs) to deal with crappy road surfaces. For a car that sees occasional track duty, this is an excellent set-up that doesn’t compromise drive-ability for performance. At $1200 it’s a bargain too; $1000 net after selling some of the old bits. Great DIY write-up here (login required.) Front end is very easy, but be prepared to spend some time on the rear strut, especially where it joins the wheel carrier.

M030 Suspension

Early Spring Track Days

In between early Spring snow squalls, GeorgeCo found some time to go to the track with the local Audi club. They needed someone to instruct on the skid pad, and GeorgeCo always needs more track time. Win-win.

With temperatures in the 40s and the GeorgeCo Porsche still wearing all-season Conti tires, we weren’t out to set any lap records. This was all about shaking the cobwebs and making sure the car is running well. The track temperature was very similar to the last day at the track last November. The work to clean our the radiators resulted in lower operating temperatures by about 10 degrees. Oil pressure was consistent, and the car is handling well, even if the suspension is a bit tired.

I’m still working on the ideal camera placement. I like having the camera between the front seats like in the MINI, but in the Porsche, that’s not an option. I tried it mounted to the windshield but that’s too far forward and between the rear seats, but the lens is too wide.

On the skid pad, I attached the camera to a cone and tried putting it on the passenger window. The telematics system doesn’t know what to do with the loss of traction. The revs and the gear indicator go nuts in the video.