I am wondering what preventive maintenance other 996TT owners that do little mileage on their cars do.

I did the 4yr Major service about 2.5 years ago at the dealer in Miami, and even though I do way less than 9k miles a year, I've been changing the oil/filter every 6 months or so just to be sure. Also replaced the air filter and cabin air filter and several other things.

I am looking at Porsche's maintenance intervals, one service there is called "Annual Maintenance", which is for cars that do less than 9k miles a yr. What does this service include?
There is also every 12 years "Four-wheel final drive: Change oil", what is this?
For cars older than 8 years, every 2 years "Mounts for assemblies and running gear: Visual inspection of all rubber mounts for signs of damage", what assemblies do they mean?

I attached the two PDF files from Porsche, I'm sure many of you will find it useful. The Annual Maintenance service is not explained.

Now for the transmission. I never drove another stick shift Porsche, but driving my BMW and then the Porsche, the shifting seems very rough on the 996TT. Especially between 1st and 2nd gear. Is this normal? This is pretty annoying when the car is cold, but it gradually shifts smoother and less "crunchy" after I drive for a while. I'm wondering if you guys feel the same or am I just paranoid.
All gears are going in smooth and not poping or anything, it's just basically the 1st to 2nd gear shift that seems more unrefined than the others.

If this is normal is there anyway I can improve the feeling of it? Different transmission oil? Upgraded bushings or mounts?

 

No one can input about the gearbox feel?

 

All the 996s I've driven have different feeling transmissions. A lot of that has to do with the hodge-podge of SSKs, motor mounts, etc that were in them, but I recall them all being notchy when cold, and smoother when warmed up. Including mine.

 

Υeah if you bought it used maybe you have an ssk fitted, have you checked this out?

 

mine also has a very notchy 1st to 2nd shift. When cold I can really feel the gears getting together. Getting new fluid in the tranny will help a bit (i will be sticking to OEM though)

Experienced the same issue on my M3 when I had it. Must be a german tranny thing

 

henry/mike, no I don't know is a have an SSK installed.

state, yeah same here, I had a 330i ZHP (6-speed getrag) before, and was also not so pleasant from 1st to 2nd. I think I'll change the tranny oil.

 

The 1-2 shift in my car improved substantially after changing the gear box oil. I believe my independent used Amsoil. The 1-2 shift is still somewhat "notchy" when cold, but it is much better than previously. I will echo the comment that these boxes are not nearly as refined as some other Porsche boxes. I would also note that I got improved precision and feel with exchanging the SSK for a GT3 shifter.

 

Thanks for sharing such useful info!

I don't have 1st and 2nd gear shifting problem, since I change my tranny oil every year regardless of mileage! The other possibility is SSK, I once have driven a friend's 996tt with B&M SSK and it has the similar symptoms as you described. You might want to check what SSK your car has!

 

I am definitely going to change the gear oil after the comments. Maybe I'll DIY it this weekend.
I read on RENNTRACK that it's not too complicated, going to get the Mobil 75W-90 synthetic gear oil.

What the different between the Mobil LS 75w-90 and the regular Mobil 75w-90 gear oil?
Anyone knows what size crush washers I will need for the drain bolts and where to get them?

Can someone refer me to a DIY for changing the diff fluid as well? The threads I found are on renntech and I can't view the threads.