I dropped Kay off with the capable hands of Lee Nieto of
Hybrid Motors in Fairview, NJ before going out of town for a few days so he could take care of installing the final pre-emptive fixes on her.
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| German cars everywhere - Hybrid Motors - 8/22/2018 |
Although the Cayman is such an incredible platform, it has its own design quirks and known weaknesses like any other car. One of the parts that can fail and lead to a catastrophic engine failure is the air oil separator (AOS). The AOS on Porsches is basically over-engineered (read as expensive) catch cans. The OEM unit is generally adequate but not when coupled with higher grip tires and competitive use. Add to that age of the car and in turn the rubber diaphragm inside the AOS and you've got a potential ticking time bomb. Failure of the diaphragm can lead to sudden oil pressure loss and you can say goodbye to a $15k Porsche engine in a heartbeat.
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| Stock AOS (left) vs Porsche Motorsports AOS (right) |
Porsche makes a motorsports AOS for the 996 that people retrofit into various model Porsches but there is actually one specifically designed for the 987 Cayman. It is designed to fit into the tight space of the 987 engine bay and features a dual chamber to have higher capacity and give additional time for the oil to drain so it doesn't overfill under higher G-loads.
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| Porsche Motorsports 987 specific Air Oil Separator |
You also need new screws and hoses (all part of the kit if you order from places like SuncoastParts) since it relocates the ports for the AOS and the tight squeeze does make it a bit of a fiddly install.
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Porsche Motorsports AOS installed - 8/17/18
(Hoses not yet connected) |
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| New hoses routed and attached to AOS - 8/17/18 |
Another well-documented point of failure on the 987 platform is the shifter cables. More than a few have been left stranded by cables that have snapped (primarily on the transmission side). There's no damage when this happens and you can fix it after the fact but I'd rather not have to worry about that since with my luck it'll happen at the worst possible time or location. Porsche actually doesn't sell the original cables anymore. They now only sell the revised version that requires new hardware on the transmissions side as well. This part supersedes the old part so is fully legal under SCCA Street Class rules.
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| Revised shifter cable |
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| Revised shifter cable transmission side hardware |
You'd think this should be a straightforward and easy install but it actually isn't because of the need to replace the hardware on the transmission side which isn't particularly easy to get to. This job takes many hours to complete. It does away with some of the rubber bushings to provides a more direct feel and less slop as well.
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| Older hardware with rubber bushings |
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| New hardware - metal on metal |
Lee made sure to route all the cables exactly as factory and you can tell there more of a cripsness in each shift. It doesn't change the throws but just the peace of mind knowing that the new version is less likely to just fall apart like the old one is worth the extra money and effort to me.
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| New shifter cables installed - 8/20/2018 |
Finally, I wasn't sure if the power steering fluid was replaced anytime recently so I had Lee put in fresh power steering fluid, Pentosin CHF-11S (OEM spec). Dirty power steering fluid is a cause of many power steering pump failures and leaks so this is cheap insurance.
Maintenance Updates:
Mileage: 32992
- Power Steering Fluid Change - Pentosin CHF-11S
- New Porsche Motorsports Air Oil Separator
- New / Revised shifter cables
