One of the things that’s amazing to me about the Internet is the ability for a person to find an answer to just about any problem they could possibly come across regarding their Porsche. It used to be books and magazines were the source. Or letters written to author technicians such as Bruce Anderson.

Sites like the ones below give just about everyone with a car and some desire the ability to be a weekend mechanic. Gotta love it!

Here are a few Porsche related forums that are fairly popular:

Rennlist Forums
http://forums.rennlist.com

Probably one of the largest Porsche specific forums on the Internet, Rennlist.com has posts numbering in the millions. Pretty much everything is covered, and if it isn’t, the active user base can likely step in to answer your specific question. I like the Rennlist Forums for the sheer volume of posts and questions answered. It’s a great resource.

Pelican Parts
http://forums.pelicanparts.com

Pelican Parts is best known for their Porsche parts catalog and supply business. They carry a ton of replacement parts and upgrades for your Porsche. The site is a bit on the ugly, ad heavy side, but still very useful. They have a great Tech Forums section with nearly 2 million posts for the 911 alone. I’ve found the Part Diagram feature on the catalog side to be particularly useful when you’re not 100% sure what you’re looking for.

Planet 9
http://www.planet-9.com/forums

Planet 9 is a Porsche enthusiast site covering every aspect of the Porsche brand and lifestyle. They’ve built up quite a following and consequently have a decent sized forum with posts numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Their forum is a bit more divided up than some of the others and I like the complaints and modifications threads specific to each model. It’s a great place to find quick info and potential problems with a model you’re considering purchasing.

Teamspeed
http://www.teamspeed.com/forums/teamspeed-porsche

Teamspeed is one of those sites like James’ List that I could spend the entire day on. The luxury lifestyle stuff is just fascinating, enticing, engaging, etc. to me. Although Teamspeed is focused on multiple brands, not just Porsche cars, their Porsche forums have a decent number of threads with a fairly active user base. The number of forum topics is pretty limited, but there’s some decent info in them.

German Auto Forums
http://www.germanautoforums.com/forum/

Similar to the Teamspeed forums in size, the German Auto Forums is not the biggest, but again there’s some quality info in the posts. Each Porsche model is represented and I particularly like the user submitted updates and changes by topic such as Interior, Audio/Visual Electronics, Detailing, etc. Not the biggest or the best, but a worthwhile place to look when you’re in need of technical help or some enhancement ideas.

If you have a favorite forum, add it to the comments section. The great thing about forums, both large and small, are different people hang out in each of them and can provide a different take on a problem you’re trying to solve or way to enhance your Porsche ride.

One of our PorschePerfect.com readers, Don, emailed me a couple of days ago asking what modifications he should make to his Porsche 968. Here’s what he asked:

I would like to know what updates and modifications are possible for my Porsche 968?  Examples: engine (more power), dual exhaust, exterior headlights, fenders, side air ducts, hoods, rear exhaust cut outs for dual exhaust

I thought it would be worth throwing out to the readership to give Don your thoughts on it. Add your modifications to the comments below. He’ll greatly appreciate any suggestions you’re willing to give.

[Image: CarGurus.com]

Now you may be asking, “What the heck kind of review is this?!” Fear not, I did actually try several of these products, just from the relative comfort of my garage. I’ll have more to say, I’m sure, once I have a chance to give the car the full detail treatment in another couple of months.

Here’s what Autoglym sent me:

• Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber Care
• Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing
• Autoglym Rapid Detailer
• Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner
• Autoglym Super Resin Polish
• Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner
• Autoglym High Definition Wax
• Autoglym Perfect Palm Applicator

You car nuts out there will be appalled to hear that I’ve always been a bit of a household goods type of car washer. I pretty much just fill up the mop bucket with hot water and use a little dish soap to create some suds. At least I don’t just run through the car wash (which I’ll admit I’ve also been known to do when I’m feeling particularly lazy). I always just figured soap was soap, although I know better.

Autoglym may have just singlehandedly changed my ways. The product they sent me is top quality, but not only that, there’s something for pretty much any car cleaning job you set out to do. Check out the sheer number of products they carry:

Autoglym has built their business around providing high quality products for automotive care and valeting. They were established in 1965 with a commitment to developing products to enhance the life and look of your automobile. They continue to look for ways to enhance their products and bring new technology to the products used in the automotive world.

Each of their products is designed to meet a specific cleaning or finish enhancement need on your car. One of my favorites, though, is the Instant Tyre Dressing. I’m sure I’m not alone in loving the look of shiny black tires on a clean Porsche, or any car for that matter. I’ve always had a tough time finding a product that would do the trick though. The Autoglym product worked great when sprayed on to washed tires, then left to dry, resulting in a nice glossy sheen. Love it!

Couple this with the Custom Wheel Cleaner and you’re going to be the talk of the neighborhood.

One item is especially unique and worth mentioning. The Autoglym Perfect Palm is one sweet applicator. It’s got the mold of a hand on one side, along with a foam pad on the other side providing even application of the cleaning product being used. It’s light, fits the hand perfectly and worked great with the Vinyl & Rubber Care product I used on the interior. One particularly cool feature is the ability to put the Perfect Palm on the back of your hand for those hard to reach or awkward places, like the bottom of the windshield inside the car. I love this product.

The perfect product to see how cool the Perfect Palm can be is the Autoglym High Definition Wax Kit. I’m a sucker for things with HD in the name, and evidently that applies to auto care products. I was ready to rush out into the snowy weather we had a couple of weeks ago to try this stuff out. The kit includes a pot of high definition wax, two applicators and one hi-tech finishing cloth. A far cry from old green bottle of Turtle Wax I used on my girlfriend’s Nissan Pulsar in college. I suppose that’d be akin to watching TV in black and white.

The other products are pretty self explanatory and seem to work as advertised. At least when I gave them a shot. I don’t really know what you say about cleaning products like this other than my car, especially the inside, looks great. Definitely a step up from the old ArmorAll that dad used to use on the car.

I love the results of the cleaners and would happily use these on any car, including the Porsche. You can pick up Autoglym products at Pep Boys, Canadian Tire, PartSource or WalMart. Check out other locations at the Autoglym web site: autoglym.com.

Dwight over at Carsinpedia.com (a site you should check out if you haven’t already) sent me a link to a Porsche 911 up for sale on Pelican Parts he found recently. It’s a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (964).

Here’s the thing, it’s got 521,000 miles on it!

Sure it’s had a majority of it’s mechanicals rebuilt or replaced over the years, but that is a heck of a lot of mileage for a Porsche. Helps bolster Consumer Reports putting the Porsche Boxster at the top it’s list of cars with the most longevity (Porsche Boxster Tops List of Cars That Won’t Die).

Check out the LONG list of Major Repairs:

Flywheel replaced at 41,991mi
Distributor replaced and ventilation kit installed at 82,120mi
Ignition lock replaced at 92,030mi
O2 Sensor replaced at 96,720mi
Both rear calipers upgraded with larger 4 piston 928 calipers at 96,720mi
Windshield replaced at 106,241mi
Clutch and rear main seal replaced at 135,242mi
Rear blower replaced at 141,234mi
Engine reseal at 150,194mi
Spoiler drive replaced at 159,020mi
Rebuilt transmission, replaced pressure plate and pilot bearing at 180,258mi
Replaced both rear wheel bearings at 220,242mi
Rear CV boots replaced, joints repacked at 251,341mi
A/C compressor and receiver drier at 275,676mi
Replaced both blower motors at 291,749mi
Front crank, intermediate shaft cover seal, and chain box covers replaced at 297,952mi
Right rear CV axle replaced at 315,774mi
Right rear wheel bearing and hub replaced at 322,742mi
Engine carrier and both motor mounts replaced at 324,620mi
Replaced alternator, fan hub, and fan housing at 326,540mi
Oil cooler replaced at 328,530mi
Evaporator replaced at 334,869mi
Shift rod bushings replaced at 334,879mi
Carpet replaced at 345,419mi
Front and rear calipers rebuilt at 359,947mi
Power steering pump replaced at 365,664mi
Fuel pump replaced at 395,042mi
Engine Converted to 3.8L by Andial and auxiliary oil cooler installed at 400,000mi
Rear blower motor replaced at 409,913mi
Clutch master and slave cylinders replaced at 413,368mi
Front bumper replaced at 414,560mi
Left front wheel bearing replaced at 452,326mi
Windshield replaced at 454,514
Replaced front swaybar links, front lower control arms, and ball joints at 454,514mi
Rear spoiler replaced at 460,308mi
Starter replaced at 480,772mi
Spoiler control unit replaced at 483,528mi
Updated fan and pulleys installed at 495,566mi
Clutch kit installed at 495,566mi
Engine rebuilt at 496,197mi
Driver side window motor replaced at 497,370mi
Right rear wheel bearing replaced at 510,032mi
Washer pump, idle valve, and left inner CV joint replaced at 519,540mi
Car painted and all body seals replaced at 519,540mi
Front hood struts, defrost motor, and fresh air motor replaced at 520,561mi
Engine reseal and bottom end bearings replaced at 520,561mi
A/C compressor replaced at 520,750mi
Odometer rebuilt at 520,800mi

One of the interesting things to me about this car, which will likely be tough to sell due to the mileage, is the asking price. It’s up for $16,000. Personally I wouldn’t spend that much on it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes along and snaps it up for somewhere near the asking price.

You can check out the car here: 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.

Fortunately for a guy like me, companies like Black & Decker make products designed to help out wannabebutneverwillbe “mechanics” like me. I was pleasantly surprised to find just such a product show up at my door recently. Black & Decker sent over their 500 AMP Jump-Starter with Inflator to review.

Let me just say, this is one heck of a handy product and one similar to it saved my bacon while I was out in a Ferrari 348ts last year and it kept dying.

The Black & Decker Jump Starter is just that. It’s a jump starter that doesn’t require you to have another vehicle available to start a car with a dead battery. You hook up the heavy duty jumper cables to the dead battery, give it a minute and let er rip.

A couple of other cool features about this particular model is the included inflator. Very handy for car tires, bike tires, basketballs, soccer balls, etc. They even include a little compartment with a needle and some other adapters for the inflator. It’s got a built in pressure gauge. This model also has a built in area light that is very useful if you’re trying to hook up the unit on a car at night. Last little touch is a USB charger outlet. Helpful for juicing your electronics in a pinch.

The only thing I’ve found it won’t start is a completely dead battery. My neighbor’s son was over at their house for dinner one night last year. Something happened with his Porsche Cayman battery and it was completely dead when he came out. I think he hadn’t driven the car much in a month or two and it just slowly drained. The jump starter we used on it wouldn’t give it enough power to turn it over. Course neither did jumper cables connected to another vehicle.

Overall, I can’t say enough good about the Black & Decker Jump Starter and Inflator. Personally, I think every garage should have one. Even if you have newer cars. Just comes in handy, and you never know when.

Check em out on the Black & Decker site here: Black & Decker.

Here’s a question Joe sent me today:

Check engine light came on the other day. Pulled up these codes on my Boxster: P1123 and P1125. Figured I would check with the experts at PorschePerfect if they had any idea. Some forums say sensors see a rich/lean mixture because the mass airflow sensor is sending a signal to the dme to go rich or lean.

Any help or insight anyone can provide Joe in the comments would be greatly appreciated by both him as well as me. Gotta get that Boxster in tip top shape so he can send us some more snow driving pictures like he did last year!

Thanks everyone!

Personally, I think Stanley has got to be one of the most recognized brands for home mechanics and general home maintenance tools. Everything from screwdrivers to power tools bear the Stanley name and I, for one, always seem to associate quality and durability to their products. These two items were no exception. Both were nice and solid with the usual rubber grips and durable construction you’d expect.

For starters, let’s look at the Stanley SquidBrite Work Light. This is by far my favorite of the two items and probably the one I will end up using the most. Here are some quick specs on the SquidBrite:

• 20 Ultra Bright LEDs
• Up to 6 hours of runtime
• Cordless operation with built-in rechargeable battery
• High-Medium-Flashing modes
• Flexible rubber groove stand grips around objects or uneven surfaces
• Detachable from stand with a heavy duty magnetic back and base

There’s not a lot you can write about a light, except this one is freakin sweet. The LEDs are much better to work with, especially when it’s warm and I love how much clearer they light up the area you’re working on. The stand is extremely useful with the flexible and grippy legs. Whenever I’m working on tight spots, it seems I’m always balancing a flashlight on some weird perch or trying to grip a small light in my mouth (which tends to be tough on the teeth). The combination of the magnetic back and the flexible grip legs pretty much cover any situation you could find yourself in in your garage.

I tested the SquidBrite in a couple of different scenarios in my garage as you can see from the pictures. Overall, VERY handy. One thing I should tell you though is make sure you check the unit over carefully when you buy one. After listening to something rattling around inside the light housing, I finally narrowed it down to the plastic case being cracked in a couple of spots. Unfortunately I didn’t drop the light or knock it against anything. It was shipped to me that way. The plastic parts of the housing are the only drawback I can find for this light.

Next the Stanley 500 AMP Battery Jump-Starter. Although not the thing I will use the most, it is easily the one I’ll be most glad I have when I need it. I’ve already dealt with a dead battery in one of my sports cars this year. It happened to be on a beautiful sunny day a few months ago when I wanted to hop in and take a quick ride. Unfortunately the dead battery killed the day’s drive.

The Jump-Starter is a compact unit with a rubber grip over the metal handle that’s integrated into the rest of the metal housing. There are spots for all the cables and whatnot. It’s designed well and is everything you’d expect from the unit with a couple of cool features. Here’s the highlights:

• 500 amps of Instant Starting Power – 1000 peak battery amps
• Built-in 120 volt AC charger
• 12 volt and USB power outlets
• LED battery level indicators
• 270 degree pivoting LED light

This baby does what it’s advertised to do, get you on the road when the battery is dead. Nothing more really. Sure the 12 volt and USB outlets are nice, but not necessary. The LED light is a handy little addition, especially if you’re working roadside in the dark on a dead vehicle. One handy inclusion for those who are colorblind or simply don’t understand red vs black cables, is a reverse connection warning feature that will emit audible and visual alarms when you’ve got things hooked up backwards. Very nice.

Overall, I know the Stanley 500 AMP Battery Jump-Starter will come in handy over the years. I’m glad to have it in my garage. Which leads me to an exciting bit of news.

Stanley has agreed to give one of the readers at PorschePerfect.com a Stanley 500 AMP Battery Jump-Starter. I’m going to keep things simple this time around and make it easy on you. All you need to do is make sure you’re signed up for our PorschePerfect.com newsletter. Signing up is easy, just enter your name (first name is fine) and your email address in the two fields under “Newsletter” on the top right of this post. Everyone signed up will automatically be entered.

The winner will be selected on June 16, 2010, so you need to be signed up before 11:59 PST on June 15, 2010.

That’s it! In the mean time, check out these and the other cool Stanley products available at your local retailer.

I have C2 996 mod 2001, one day the temp went high so i checked on the water level i saw oil mixed with water in the coolant like coffee cream color, the oil level in the engine is lower am wondering if is it from the head gasket or the oil cooler? please can you help me out

thanks in advance

If anyone has any tips, advice or troubleshooting help for him, throw it in the comments.

Thanks!

I’m no different. I love a clean car, but I hate washing my cars. Unfortunately for me, I also hate taking my cars through a car wash, not only because it just seems wrong taking a high end sports car like a Porsche through a car wash, but also because it just seems like a waste of money.

Enter Ionic Clean. About a month ago, they sent me one of their new Ionic Clean Washing Systems to test out and post a review of. When the thing showed up, I was a bit skeptical thinking maybe this was just my wife’s elaborate plan to get me to wash not only the cars but the windows. She claims she had nothing to do with it, so I ripped into the box with no real clue what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised to find what appeared to be a pretty solid and well-thought out system. Included was the Ionic Clean base unit containing the filter, a 20-foot hose, telescoping pole, auto/window brush with nozzle, filter-life tester and a couple of other attachment pieces. But what in the heck does the thing do that my good old fashion garden hose and spray nozzle can’t?

The Ionic Clean uses a de-ionizing technology to create purified water. The process facilitates an ionic exchange that removes minerals and impurities from the water. This creates unique cleaning qualities in the water that causes it to grab dirt particles from the surface they come in contact with and rinse them away. The result is a very clean surface free from spots. Here’s a little diagram from the Ionic Clean site:

None of this means anything though, if the thing doesn’t actually produce results. The true test of this bad boy would have been on the Giveaway Porsche. That black color was brutal, showing every water spot after washing. Never in my life have a wanted a ShamWow so badly. In the absence of a black car, I decided to try the Ionic Clean on a safer test vehicle: my white Dodge Durango. I wasn’t quite ready to risk the finish on a Porsche yet.

Hookup was drop dead simple. Connect the hose to the Ionic Clean using the included quick release adapter, turn the water on, flip the switch to Bypass on the base unit and you’re set to start washing. Everything worked exactly as expected and the setup with the brush, telescoping pole and water coming out through the brush head made for quick work of washing the Durango. The only thing I wish I’d had was the soap injector. That would have made for an IDEAL setup for washing cars.

Here’s a quick before and after shot using just the brush and water. No soap or other cleaners used.

It does a great job, but that’s to be expected from a decent brush and a bucket of water, even more so with water running through the brush. Here’s the really cool part, though, and where this thing really shines. When you flip the switch on the base unit over to the DI setting, the filter kicks in and the ionic process does it’s thing. You simply go back over the places you just scrubbed holding the brush a few inches off the surface. The water coming out of the Ionic Clean System does the rest. Check out the water line on the window and what it looks like above the line as it dries:

It was a cold day, so it was drying really slowly, but absolutely streak free. Looked really really good. The result was the same for every window as well as the rest of the car. White is very forgiving, but I have no doubt the result would be amazing on a dark colored car. Might even be able to get away without hand drying.

Overall, my impressions of the Ionic Clean were very good. I love the thing and will continue to use it to wash my cars. I’m going to look at ordering the soap attachment as that seems like a worthwhile accessory that will make washing even easier. The system delivers on it’s promise of streak and spot free windows. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

One thing to note for those of you who are EXTRA sensitive about anything touching your precious paint job. You could easily hand wash your ride, then use the Ionic Clean System to go back over the car for the rinse job. The brush would never have to touch the car and you’d have the best of both worlds. I’m too lazy for that and will happily continue just using the system for the whole washing cycle.

My only complaint is that it does such a great job on windows, I’m betting there is a good amount of house window washing in my future after all. My big mistake was calling my wife down to look at how nice the windows looked on her Durango. Her eyes lit up like the Griswald family house at Christmas time.

To find out more about the Ionic Clean, check out their site here: HomeRight.com.

Photo by Gottfried Bechtold

Normally I would add this to the Weekly Porsche Wrap, but I think this topic is worth calling out and highlighting since it’s an important one for many to consider. If you’re one of those people who treat their Porsche like a member of the family with a heated garage, only the best maintenance procedures, and never let your beauty see anything but golden sunshine, then this post is for you. You’re most likely getting ready to put your obsession to rest for the winter.

John over at PorschePurist.com has put together a follow up to his yearly post about how to winterize your Porsche. He’s done an excellent job with detailing the process and is a MUST READ for anyone considering putting their Porsche away for the winter.

Check it out here: How To Winterize Your Porsche by PorschePurist.com.

For the rest of us who drive our Porsches year round, try and take it easy on those who put their Porsches away for the winter as they tear up seeing you enjoy your ride on a sunny winter day. In fact, maybe we should all commit to giving a Porsche Hibernationist a ride in our Porsches this winter. Might be that little something extra that keeps their spirits up over the Porscheless!