Coolant Sensor Fix and New Battery

For a while now at cold start I'd get a temporary "Failure Detected" message on the Cayman with the coolant temp gauge showing no value. Once the car warmed up, this would go away. After some research I found that this is a symptom of the coolant temp sensor going bad. Given that the car is now 19 years old, I suppose that's not completely unexpected. 

New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and reitaining clip

I ordered a new OEM sensor along with a new o-ring and retainer clip, dropped the car off with Lee at Hybrid Motors and he made quick work of replacing it and topping off the coolant. Unfortunately on my way home after picking it up, I got a nice bullseye from a rock and cracked my windshield. I used a Permatex repair kit to prevent further spreading for now but I will probably get the windshield replaced once I find a place I can trust to replace it with OEM glass. 

Cracked glass

Attempting a temporary repair using a Permatex repair kit

My Antigravity lightweight battery is also approaching 7 years old and while it's still fine, I don't want to run the risk of a battery failure when I'm out somewhere due to age so I pre-emptively bought a new 40Ah version to replace it.

New Antigravity Battery

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 56,258

- New Antigravity 40Ah battery

- New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and retainer clip

End of Season Oil Change for Kay

Unfortunately, colder days means we're at the end of the season so time to change out the oil on the Cayman to make sure it doesn't just sit in contaminated old oil all winter. I let the car drain for a whole day so it seems more oil came out of it than usual so it took a full 9 quarts to get it just under full (I've got the FVD motorsports oil pan that adds about 0.7 quarts oil capacity so it's a bit more than stock). 

oil change time

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 56,021

- 9 quarts Driven DT-40

- NAPA gold filter

Little End of Summer Autocross

Well we haven't  had many local NNJR SCCA Autocross events for a few months now since Metlife stadium has been busy getting ready for the FIFA World Cup. We finally got one today for the last one before the summer and our friends go off to Lincoln to duke it out at Nationals. 

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 8-24-2025

Weather really couldn't have been better, pretty much high 70s to low 80s all day with some cloud cover and a decent breeze. Course was fast and fun and the Cayman's feeling nice and spicy and dancing around just the way I like it. It's funny because I drive the S2000 a lot on track of course which is far more scary in terms of kicking out the rear so when the Cayman does it which feels very slow and controlled, I find it super easy to drive through. Kept the tires at 30psi all around hot and that felt pretty good so I think I'll stick with that. 

|
NNJR SCCA Autocross - 1st place XSA - 57.692

First autocross in a year

It was May 11 of last year when I last autocrossed, which was in the 944. Obviously feeling super rusty so enlisted my equally rusty friend, Rad, to codrive with me in the Cayman. We had a fun little battle where he got me on his last run but I was able to find a bit more time to take the win on my last run. Good times, great weather, loads of fun. I definitely miss this.

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 5-18-2025

The Motocompacto also made an appearance
Photo by: Autox4u

Run comparison

Pre-autocross maintenance

Not only has it been over a year since my last autocross but it's been even more than that for the Cayman. I signed up for the NNJR SCCA autocross on Sunday but since it's been over 2 years since I changed the transaxle fluid and brake fluid, I wanted to get that sorted before any kind of actual performance driving. Went to see SJF Performance to get this all sorted. First was a full flush of the brake fluid with Motul RBF600.

Fresh Motul RBF600

Fresh Motul RBF600

Next was fresh Motul Gear Oil for the transaxle. The oil fluid actually came out super clean, still the same blue color this fluid comes in from the bottle so there's definitely no excessive wear on the OSGiken diff inside it.

Motul SAE 75W150 gear oil

I also wanted to see of my Honda Motcompacto could fit in the trunk and was pleased to see that it did so I can take it to events to get around.

Motocompacto in rear trunk of the Cayman

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 54,100

- 1.5L Motul RBF600

- 3 quarts Motul SAE 75W150 gear oil

High Performance Water Pump

A common failure point on the 987/997 is the water pump. The impellers eventually wear out and disintegrate. The good news it that the impellers are plastic and don't damage the engine if it goes but it could clog somewhere and cause cooling issues. The best way to avoid this is preventative maintenance and replacing it regularly. One of the previous owners of my Cayman replaced it at 25K miles but that was many years ago now (close to 10 years) so I figured it was time for me to do the same just for peace of mind. I went and got an FVD high performance water fuel pump with a plastic composite impeller. The kit included new gaskets and a lower temperature thermostat.

FVD High Performance water pump with plastic impeller

FVD High Performance water pump with plastic impeller

Lower temp thermostat

Lee at Hybrid Motors made quick work of this and obviously changed the coolant as well. The condition of my old pump was good. No chips or missing pieces from the impeller so that's always a good sign that everything is healthy.

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 54,007 miles

- New FVD High Performance Water Pump
- Lower temp thermostat
- New belt
- New coolant

Pre-Winter Cayman Maintenance

Weather is getting colder and starting to see salt on the roads to it's time think about packing up the cars for the winter. In preparation, time to get the old oil out of the Cayman and put in the fresh stuff.

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 53,870

- 8.5 quarts Driven DT-40
- NAPA gold filter

New CV boots for the Cayman

Last year while I was changing oil I noticed a bit of greased around the brake sensor and realized it was coming from the CV boots (both sides). I don't think it was turn but rather leaking by the clamps. Either way, they were getting old and after 17 years, I think the rubber had served its purpose. I ordered a new CV boot kit from Suncoast and finally today went over to Lee's Autowerks so he could make quick work out of it. While it was there also had him change the transmission fluid since the OS Giken diff was started to get a bit whiny. 

Leaky CV boot

Fresh OEM CV boots

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 52,887

- New OEM CV boots on both axles + new clamps and grease

- 3 quarts Motul 75W140 Gear Oil

Trunk Coolant Cap

I've been hearing a bit of burping recently on the back of the Cayman if I don't drive the car often enough. The last time I heard that noise (but much louder) was when I accidentally left the cover where the oil and coolant fillers are located in the trunk open. From what I understand this is part of the natural burping process as the coolant expands, however, my understanding is that the rubber gasket on the cap can start to dry up and fail over time so I figured now would be a good time to replace it. 

New coolant trunk cap

They're cheap enough to replace and this one is now 16 years old so it's probably overdue.

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 50,850

- New oil coolant expansion cap

Cayman Oil Change

Oof, realized that while I haven't put many miles on the Cayman it's been over a year since I changed the oil. I don't sweat this too much since I use good quality oil but still, I generally don't like going beyond a year on oil regardless of mileage. 

Draining oil

I didn't really like my little Harbor Freight lift oil drain too much since I was worried that the higher flowing and higher capacity Porsches might overflow the smaller funnel so I got a new US made Lisle 8-Gallon Oil Lift Drain instead. It features a much wider mouth funnel and I also got the no splatter pad for it so that any draining oil won't just bounce right out. It works super well and I'm very happy with it. 

Lisle 8 Gallon Oil Drain (left) vs
Harbor Freight 5 Gallon Oil Drain (right)

I then put in some fresh Driven DT-40 and we're now good again.

Driven DT-40

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 50,685

- 8.5 quarts Driven DT-40

- NAPA gold filter

Back in the Saddle

After a few months of being preoccupied with other activities I was glad to finally get back in the saddle and autocross again. The course was fun and fast and despite the sunny and hot weather it was well worth it. I ran the car at 29psi all around (just noting this since I've been playing with pressures recently). 

NNJR SCCA - 8-20-2023

NNJR SCCA - 8-20-2023

I won the class but compared with XSA cars running in pro-class I was about 2 seconds off pace. 

Autocross with NNJR SCCA

It's now been 7 months since my last autocross and I've become hilariously out of sync with what I need to bring to events. I remembered to bring my helmet but forgot my magnetic numbers so I had to go full rookie mode with tape number and class letters like the good old days.

NNJR SCCA - 4-16-2023
Photo by: Autox4u

Weather was quite pleasant in the high 60s / low 70s with unusually low winds at the Meadowlands. We got to run Lot E which is a treat nowadays. The club was thankfully able to secure this lot to let people do some testing and prepare for the upcoming NJ SCCA ProSolo. While this doesn't have the most grip level of all the lots typically available to us, the bigger space means the potential for faster and more interesting courses and Simmons, the course designer, delivered.

In grid

The course was flowing, fast, and fun. All the Fs I really care most about. Since no one else was in XSA I didn't really have any competition so my goal was just to keep improving with each run, finding more time, fixing mistakes, etc. 

Sweet tape job bro
Photo by: Autox4u

Let's gooooo
Photo by: Autox4u

I ran 28psi all around but I think the car responded better when the pressures went up a bit. Looking at my old notes, I ran 29psi at Watkins Glen so maybe I need to stick with 29 or 30psi even though these RE-71RS have stiff sidewalls. It just felt a bit more planted when I let it go up to 30psi and the rear was sliding a bit more at 28. I got my time down to a 54.321 which was a fun time to end up with. Hopefully I can get some more events in before we get started with the garage project.

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 4-16-2023

Houndstooth reupholstered seats

When I installed the DSC sport controller in February of last year, I accidentally grazed the seat cushion of my GT2 carbon seats with the soldering iron and burned the alcantara a little. I had been trying to reach Heritage Upholstery who made them for me back in 2019 to see if they could fix it but was getting no responses. Eventually, I decided I wouldn't redo them in alcantara. It gets dirty pretty easily and I wanted something to give the interior a bit more pop. Going with my whole black/yellow theme, I decided to order some automotive-grade houndstooth pattern cloth from Upholstery Supply USA in yellow. Not knowing how much I'd need, I ordered 3 yards which was clearly too much but I'd rather have too much that too little. I then reached out to J&E Upholstery in South Plainfield who was recommended to me by a friend who recently had his S2000s eats redone. 

Reuphostery complete - 1-21-2023

I dropped it off before Christmas and told him to take his time since he was busy and I was going to be out of town anyway. By the time I got back he had completed the covers and it came out great. The pictures don't really do it justice. I find yellow is hard to photograph sometimes especially when it comes to color accuracy but you get the idea. I think it really adds to the richness of the interior especially combined with the few yellow accents I already had before.

Reupholstered cushions installed

Reupholstered cushions installed

Reupholstered cushions installed

Houndstooth pattern is fairly common option in Porsches for people that want something not plain but it's typically done in white and black. I really like this yellow and black version and suits my aesthetic well. Yes, I know this does remind a lot of people of S2000 CR seats but the pattern and color are quite different. That said, since I have extra material left over, I may redo the covers in Bumblestook to use this cloth over the yellow Tomcat cloth that I previously used.

Fun at The Glen with S2K Takeover - Setting a new PB

October at Watkins Glen can always be a bit of a dice roll. You know it's going to be gorgeous because upstate NY in the Fall is always a spectacular sight but the weather can either be amazing or completely terrible. Either way, I was determined not to miss the only trip up to The Glen with S2K Takeover. My original plan was to take Bumblestook but with recent issues including the leaky catch can drain line, I wasn't sure if I'd have time to fix so I started getting Kay ready. I ended up resolving all my issues with Bumblestook but I was now also curious how Kay was going to do. 

Watkins Glen International - 10-18-22
Photo by: Peter Levins

My last trip up was in the summer of 2020 which now seems like an eternity ago. Since then, I had replaced the MCS dampers with Bilstein B16 damptronic coilovers and had a GT3 brake master cylinder installed. I also fitted the DSC sport controller and 3-axis accelerometer to make the most use of the active dampers. And most recently, I had switched from 235/265 Advan A052 tires to 255/295 Bridgestone RE71RS. 

Watkins Glen International

The event was on a Monday and Tuesday so I got there on Sunday evening to get registered and inspected so it would be one less thing to take care of in the morning. The first day had a thread of rain in the forecast so it was largely overcast the whole day. It did drizzle a few minutes here and there but not enough to actual really wet the track or cause any issues. 

Watkins Glen International

I took it a bit gingerly the first two session since I had done so many changes I wasn't sure how she'd feel. I was pleasantly surprised by how awesome she felt. The dampers felt incredible in sport mode. It kept the body super controller, resisting diving under braking and soaking up curbing where I felt comfortable driving over as much of it as I wanted knowing it wouldn't upset the car at all. The brakes were predictable with incredible pedal feel and the tires were consistent lap after lap.

Watkins Glen International
Photo by: Dennis Um

Unfortunately I misconfigured my AIM SOLO2 DL data logger when I left so it wasn't reading my OBD2 port and wasn't triggering since I had configured it to only start recording after 25000rpm and a speed of greater than 15km/hr. Thankfully, Steve Jin let me borrow his laptop and I was able to reconfigure it to use the correct OBD2 setting. For reference, you need to set the ECU to OBD_II - ISO9141-2 for the 987.1 Cayman S. The other Porsche options are for later generations. Now I was able to see if I as improving my lap times but I was terribly disappointed. Despite the car feeling excellent, I was lapping a 2:23-2:24, a whole 3-4 seconds slower than my previous trip up. It didn't make sense, these were ideal conditions to set personal best times. We had cool temperatures and I had arguably a better setup this time, why was I slower?

Watkins Glen International - 10-18-22
Photo by: Peter Levins

Day two rolled in and the morning was exceptionally frigid at just 36F when we got to the track. I was extremely timid, worried that the cold was going to cause my tires to slide a lot. The Glen doesn't exactly have a ton of runoff area and I wanted to end the season on a high note, not on top of a flat bed. While it was a bit sketchy the first session, the cold turned out not to be an issue and the temperatures eventually started to rise anyway but the wind was incessant. 

Trying to get warm
Photo by: Ben Tiu

S2K Friends
Photo by: Ben Tiu

Was supposed to be the yellow S2K bay lol

I went even slower, putting down 2:25-2:206 lap times. To be fair, I had a lot on my mind with issues at work I was dealing with from my laptop track side but I still shouldn't be this slow. I went to lunch and when I came back, it had at least warmed up to the low 50s. I was having a lot of fun but I was determined to at least feel like I had put some effort in. I looked at some videos, discussed the track with friends and understood where I was losing all my time. I had a plan of action and went out for the first afternoon session and said if I didn't go faster I'd just pack up and go home. It's generally a bad idea to be on track while having your mind elsewhere so if I couldn't get my head out of my ass, I knew it was time to go before it would turn into an inevitable accident.

Watkins Glen International
Photo by: Peter Levins

I set my cold pressures to 29psi all around and took off. The two areas of focus would be turn 1, carrying more speed after the front straight, and slowing down less going into the bus stop and being more aggressive coming out of it. A few people had started to leave at this point so I had more clear track to just focus on my own driving and not worry too much about cars in front or behind me and I started to see the lap times drop. This gave me new energy and focus and ended the session finding 5 seconds from yesterday by getting into the 2:18 territory. 

Watkins Glen International
Photo by: Peter Levins

She was feeling fantastic and things finally clicked in my head. I knew the car had plenty of grip. The Cayman is such a perfectly balanced sports car, able to rotate so effortlessly at speed while being extremely stable and having the weight in the right spot to have plenty of traction when you get on the throttle. I decided to push harder on my final session. I had lap after lap of pure open track and I was able to set a fast time, and do a cool down, then do another fast lap to optimize my tire temperature. The times kept dropping and I finally ended the day with new my PB of 2:15. 

Watkins Glen - PB - 2:15

I was super happy. I had significantly improved on my previous time by 5 seconds and the car was in great shape with zero incidents. I'm confident the car had at least another 5 seconds in it. Reviewing my data, I was able to sustain almost 1.5Gs on the new tires setup and there were plenty of spots where I could've been more aggressive. That's fine though, I love having room to improve. This isn't a race for me. I go to these events to improve my own driving and to build my confidence so as long as I'm going in the right direction with each event, that keeps me excited to do more. It's too easy to go from a great day to a terrible day at The Glen so I'm satisfied making incremental improvements. As always, I had a terrific time with friends and I'm looking forward to coming back again next year. Big thanks to S2K Takeover, NorthEast Track Club and Metro Track Addicts for making this event possible. 

Final Autocross of 2022 - RE71RS Testing

This has been an interesting year for autocross for me as it marks the year where I've attended the fewest autocrosses since I started autocrossing 17 years ago. I went to a total of just 5 autocrosses this year, a far cry from many years ago where I'd see myself do 20 or more events by going to every event I could within a 3 hour driving radius. The drastic reduction in my event attendance certainly hasn't been due to my lack of love for the sport but times change and I've found myself wanting to diversify how I experience my cars. 

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 9-24-2022
Photo By: Perry Aidelbaum (autox4u)

So I find myself at the beginning of Fall, attending the last NNJR SCCA event for the season, to coincide with my own final autocross for the season. My lack of practice has really taken a toll on my speed. I was never a particularly very fast driver but over the years I did tackle a lot of things that held me back. Now I find myself back to making fairly simple mistakes that cost time on course. Things like suboptimal car placement, hesitancy on the throttle, and excessive steering inputs have crept their way back into my driving style. Funny thing is that I'm smiling and enjoying myself every run even though I know that I'm not putting down the best times the car can and I'm enjoying autocrossing more than I ever have in years. 

Bridgestone RE-71RS 265 front, 295 Rear

The course was fun, flowing, everything that's the trademark of an NNJR SCCA autocross nowadays. The temperature started off very cool but soon warmed up nicely. These were perfect conditions to test out my new RE-71RS tires. I switched to them from the Yokohama A052 because of my tire size choices. I went from a 235/265 A052 to 255/35R-18 and 295/30R-18 RE-71RS. I used to love the old RE-71 and the new version didn't disappoint. On my first run, I immediately felt how responsive they were, how good the feedback in the steering was and the grip they added to the car. I was able to place the car where I wanted, hitting the lines I wanted (even though they were probably the wrong lines). The key here is that I felt like I was in control again. Frankly the 235 front tire just wasn't enough for a car like the Cayman so the extra 20mm up front on each corner really help the front work better. They worked consistently with each run though I did notice a bit more sliding in my final run. I'm curious how these will do in hotter conditions. They definitely seem like a tire that'll need spraying and don't like overheating. 

NNJR SCCA Autocross - 9-24-2022

I had asked Jonathan Lugod about advice on tire pressures. He said to run them at around the same pressures as the A052 or maybe even higher. I started a bit higher but found myself liking them best at 27psi all around, the exact same pressures I used to run my A052. With this setup and the front sway bar softened one hole, the car was largely neutral with a bit of oversteer with aggressive throttle and the typical Porsche front end push if you come in too hot. It was all very confidence inspiring and predictable. Of course, the real reason for my testing these tires was to ensure that I'd have a balanced setup for when I take her to Watkins Glen next month with S2K Takeover. It's been a while since I took her to the track and The Glen is the perfect place to let her legs stretch a little. 

Final autocross fun for 2022

 

Moar Wide Tires and Track Prep for Kay

The three year old Advan A052 tires I've been running on Kay are getting a bit tired but I've been holding off getting new tires until I could find the tire and size I wanted. When the Bridgestone RE-71RS tire was announced, I knew I wanted to give it a try since I liked the old RE-71R before. Unfortunately they didn't offer the sizes I wanted up until a few weeks ago when I was surprised to see a lot more 18 inch options so I had to jump on them. 

Fatty Rear - RE-71RS

I knew I wanted to run a wider front tire than the 235s I'd been running until now. The 255/35R18 seemed to be perfect for the 18x8.5 wheels I have up front. At 25" in diameter, these are about 0.4" shorter than the 235/40R18 I was running before but 20mm wider. For the rear I decided to jump from a 265/35R18 A052 to a 295/30/R18 RE71RS which is probably the limit of what I'd attempt to mount onto to 10" wide wheel. These are also 25" in diameter and also 0.4" shorter than the 265/35R18 I was running before which will help with the gearing and when mounted on a tire is about a full inch wider. 

265/35R18 A052 (left) vs 295/30R18 RE-71RS (right)

The front was a bit of a pinch on a 8.5" wheel making them pretty hard to mount. Steve ended up using almost 100psi and some muscle to get them to bead right. 

Front tires mounted - 255/35R18

The sidewalls are much stiffer than the A052. This, combined with the lower profile sidewalls offer greater responsiveness. I'm also finally glad to have the little lip on the tire for rim protection. Not that I really need it since I don't generally park it next to a curb but I've never really liked how the A052 looked mounted onto nice wheels. 

These bad boys are crazy sticky new. I did a little test run and for starters, they fit perfectly, no rubbing or other fitment related issues. So far I'm liking how they feel. There's a hair more road noise with the lower profile but nothing that was bothersome. The steering response definitely feels better. I can't wait to really try these in a performance situation. 

Looking real good with the new setup

I'm heading out to my favorite track on the east coast, Watkins Glen, next month and while I had originally planned to take Bumblestook, I think I might take Kay for this instead. I made some major changes since my last track day with the Cayman including GT3 brake master cylinder, now new wider tires and of course the Bilstein B16 Damptronic with DSC sport controller. I'm curious how they handle on track but before I head out there, I definitely want some fresh brake fluid and gear oil. 

Fresh gear oil and brake fluid

I realized the last time I changed the gear oil was before I want to SCCA Solo Nationals, now almost 3 years ago and the diff has started to whine a bit more than usual so it was clear it needed a change. The gear oil actually came out fairly clean which was a nice surprise. Yes, that's blue in color because that's how Motul 75W140 comes. If you're only reading my blog post for the first time and wondering why I'm using this kind of gear oil and not the factory Porsche oil it's because I've got an OSGiken diff in there and this is one of the recommended fluids to ensure that it operates properly. 

Bye old fluid

It's also been two years since I last changed the brake fluid and considering I boiled my brakes the last time I went to The Glen, I didn't want to chance it this time around. We went through about 2.5 500ml bottles to make sure we'd thoroughly gotten the old fluid out.

Fresh Motul RBF660 brake fluid

Finally, since I'm adding an extra 10mm tire width in the rear, I decided to soften up the front sway bar one hole to maintain the balance of the car (was previously set to full stiff).

Front sway bar set to 1 hole softer than full stiff

Big thanks to Steve and Jenna for spending Saturday afternoon on Labor Day weekend to get Kay sorted. 

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 47,602

- 3 quarts Motul 75W140 Gear Oil

- 1.25L Motul RBF660 Brake fluid

- 4 new tires (265/295 Bridgestone RE-71RS)