Thanks for accepting me!!

[Greasegunwilly]

Thanks for letting me in !!

ex BMW and Merc forum member

Collect my first Porsche Saturday 2007 Cayman 3.4s Manual. 

I’ve read endless reports and doom and gloom about the chocolate engines. 

Realistically what should I be checking as soon as I get it home and have a good look whilst it’s still under warranty. 

100k miles with FSH. 

 Thanks in advance 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Greasegunwilly

[Buggyjam]

Hey no need to thank. We like anyone who’s interested in these little beasts. No snobbery in Cayman land, we’re a very broad church  

 

Congrats on the new mobile. I’m no expert but can tell you some little fixes I personally had. When you first get it is the time to put serious miles on whilst on warranty. Drive it loads. Real long drives plus some good exercise. 

 

I had to have new radiator pipes fitted. It’s the metal sections that corrode. Porsche opc told me stacks 7 series series cars, 987s and 997s are seeing this. They’re at that age and it’s due to dissimilar metals in the joints. So expect them to need swapping at some point in the future if not done. Not sure if you can see when it’s jacked up but you might see dry coolant residue staining around where the joint is, or in my case you could see them dripping  

 

Other than that, usual disc thickness and tyres. They like eating front discs and eating rear tyres.  Check inside wear on the tyres. I hit a pothole and knocked my alignment out. Destroyed a new tyre very quickly, it was on the inside edge and surisingly hard to see.

 

Other things. 987s tend to have corroded exhaust flange bolts. Mine needs doing at some point.

 

I needed new front suspension top mounts. Not uncommon.

 

 

Keep an eye on the oil when you first get it to see how it’s doing. If it starts dropping squares on the oil level and you’re topping up every few hundred miles then you can spot it’s using too much.

 

Really really common to see smoke on start so don’t panic if you see smoke (as you know tends to get attached to the bore score thing). A tech told me there’s something like 3 different scenarios that are totally normal that cause smoke on start that has people panicking. One is when cold and a first start of the day type thing. One is when it’s warm, you’ve just driven. You stop for say an hour and start again. Mine does that. Leave it longer and it doesn’t smoke. Weird! Can’t remember the 3rd. Prob parking it on an incline. Basically they’re coal fired  

 

Obviously excessive smoking is if it’s still billowing going down the road etc or smoking for ages. If you were looking for peace of mind on the cyclinders you can have them scoped. Costs about £180 quid though and fairly useless unless the person knows what a scored bore looks like. 

 

They're cracking cars and not a lot of faults so enjoy! Don’t be  worrying they’re not chocolate. Be sympathetic to the engine. They’re thoroughbreds so need a nice little warm up and cool down either side of the excitement to thermally stabilise all the bits and pieces. Warm it on time frame, not temp gauge before big beans. Say 20 mins summer, 30 mins winter is what I was told and try to use. I tend to cap the revs to 2500 - 3000 for the first 15 mins and then allow a bit more progressively until warmed then it’s open season and the serious fun starts  

 

 

 

 

 

[Mavrik]

Welcome!

 

Bought from a dealer?

 

Main worry is bore scoring & excessive smoke (you will get a few puffs on cold start due to the design of the boxer engine) but if you have any signs of smoke after reaching full operating temp then you have problems.

 

I would advise swapping out the transaxle oil & that mileage.

 

The stories of bore scoring etc etc are real but they aren't as prevalent as some folk make out.

 

Take it by the scruff & have a bit of fun... Any shortcomings would probably be evident...

[Daz]

Welcome onboard. Really friendly bunch of people on COC from all walks of life.

 

If you have a question there is always someone willing to help.

 

Enjoy

 

 

Darren

[Beanoir™]

Welcome to the OC!  👍

 

We'd love to see photos of the new car when you pick it up!  Bet you can't wait.  

[PhilCS]

Welcome mate, congrats on the new car!!  

 

 

[Liongolfer]

Welcome.  If they accepted me with my novice questions from half way across the globe, you'll be a shoo in.

 

Enjoy your cayman.

[Craiglm68]

Congrats and welcome, you've already received good advice in this string, so no excuse for asking more. I'm still chuckling over @Buggyjam's comment re "Coal Fired"!

[Greasegunwilly]

Thanks for the Great advice !!

looks like my petrol station will be seeing a lot of me this weekend 😂😂

[Rob66]

Welcome, I am a new member as well.  Loving the car just need to find more time to enjoy it . .

[Beanoir™]

Welcome to the OC Rob! 👍

[Stephen Auty]

Excess smoke once up and running is more likely to be the Air Oil Separator, it's a common fault and not too hard to fit a new one.

 

[GlosRich]

On 28/03/2019 at 16:37, Buggyjam said:

Hey no need to thank. We like anyone who’s interested in these little beasts. No snobbery in Cayman land, we’re a very broad church  

 

Congrats on the new mobile. I’m no expert but can tell you some little fixes I personally had. When you first get it is the time to put serious miles on whilst on warranty. Drive it loads. Real long drives plus some good exercise. 

 

I had to have new radiator pipes fitted. It’s the metal sections that corrode. Porsche opc told me stacks 7 series series cars, 987s and 997s are seeing this. They’re at that age and it’s due to dissimilar metals in the joints. So expect them to need swapping at some point in the future if not done. Not sure if you can see when it’s jacked up but you might see dry coolant residue staining around where the joint is, or in my case you could see them dripping  

 

Other than that, usual disc thickness and tyres. They like eating front discs and eating rear tyres.  Check inside wear on the tyres. I hit a pothole and knocked my alignment out. Destroyed a new tyre very quickly, it was on the inside edge and surisingly hard to see.

 

Other things. 987s tend to have corroded exhaust flange bolts. Mine needs doing at some point.

 

I needed new front suspension top mounts. Not uncommon.

 

 

Keep an eye on the oil when you first get it to see how it’s doing. If it starts dropping squares on the oil level and you’re topping up every few hundred miles then you can spot it’s using too much.

 

Really really common to see smoke on start so don’t panic if you see smoke (as you know tends to get attached to the bore score thing). A tech told me there’s something like 3 different scenarios that are totally normal that cause smoke on start that has people panicking. One is when cold and a first start of the day type thing. One is when it’s warm, you’ve just driven. You stop for say an hour and start again. Mine does that. Leave it longer and it doesn’t smoke. Weird! Can’t remember the 3rd. Prob parking it on an incline. Basically they’re coal fired  

 

Obviously excessive smoking is if it’s still billowing going down the road etc or smoking for ages. If you were looking for peace of mind on the cyclinders you can have them scoped. Costs about £180 quid though and fairly useless unless the person knows what a scored bore looks like. 

 

They're cracking cars and not a lot of faults so enjoy! Don’t be  worrying they’re not chocolate. Be sympathetic to the engine. They’re thoroughbreds so need a nice little warm up and cool down either side of the excitement to thermally stabilise all the bits and pieces. Warm it on time frame, not temp gauge before big beans. Say 20 mins summer, 30 mins winter is what I was told and try to use. I tend to cap the revs to 2500 - 3000 for the first 15 mins and then allow a bit more progressively until warmed then it’s open season and the serious fun starts  

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Buggyjam,

 

Do the front suspension top mounts cause a rattling sound over bumps?

 

Looking underneath all the other bushes look OK, like the roll bar and coffin arms etc.

 

I think mine have failed, looking in from the wheel arch they are rusty also.

 

Thanks

 

Rich

 

[phil27]

Check the air conditioning is nice and cold. Not uncommon for the condensers at the front to get damaged by stones and leak. It's a pretty easy DIY job though to replace them. 

 

Window regulators can fail so check both windows are nice and smooth when going up and down.

 

Nothing else I can add really. As others have said they are fantastic cars and if looked after should be pretty reliable. Had mine for 18 months now and it's cost considerably less to maintain than my old e89 Z4 did. Enjoy your new car!!

[Buggyjam]

On 08/04/2019 at 12:34, GlosRich said:

Hi Buggyjam,

 

Do the front suspension top mounts cause a rattling sound over bumps?

 

Looking underneath all the other bushes look OK, like the roll bar and coffin arms etc.

 

I think mine have failed, looking in from the wheel arch they are rusty also.

 

Thanks

 

Rich

 

They can do. Sometimes a clunkiness or like a knocking. The exterior corrosion on the triangular metal piece won’t be the worn bit so hard to gauge the health if them from just from that,  it’s the bearing material on the inside that wears. They actually allow a torsional movement in the bearing with the suspension so they have a lot to deal with and do eventually wear.  Just get them looked at at some poin for an opinion as a rattle might be something else quite minor. 

 

I went to an indi and got them swapped. Can’t remember how much. Wasn’t the Earth. But prices vary on who you take it it. Some indies are just as pricey as Porsche! If you’re handy with the spanner’s a few do it as a DIY job, but you have to be careful lowering the arm as the shock will arc outwards and contact the wing if allowed to drop. Make sure you get the wheels aligned after if you do change them. The 3 holes that mount the bracket to the shock tower aren’t specific in their dimensions (slightly ovalled if I recall)  so easy to get the alignment off.