GETTING TO KNOW YOUR PORSCHE - THE OWNER'S MANUAL

By Dean Lewellen
reprinted from Going Places, official newsletter of the Arizona Region PCA

As the lines of that old song standard go--"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you..."-- this month's space is devoted to getting on more familiar and intimate terms with the favorite Porsche in your family or home. A comprehensive way this can be accomplished is to take your owner's manual and go sit in the driver's seat of your parked Porsche and point and click, and touch and feel your way through the one hundred and forty or so pages describing the operation and functionality of the various controls and systems on board. If your garage is on your home's west side like mine, this is not the best time of the year to spend an hour or two in a 100F degree cockpit, so your favorite recliner and quick trips to the driver's seat will suffice. If you do not drive your Porsche on a fairly regular basis, you should review the operation and location of the controls at least annually and for sure before a significant trip to insure maximum pleasure on the road.

After commending you for purchasing a Porsche sports car, the owner's manual writer concedes that you must be a special breed of motorist and probably are not a novice when it comes to motor cars. This great ego buildup is then followed by a page or two of warnings about misuse, alteration and unlawful operation of your Porsche, as well as the obligatory reference to NHTSA for safety and fault reporting. The first few pages also contain information about fuel quality requirements (octane rating and oxygenated fuel usage) and tire pressure requirements--very important!

A couple of "Before Driving Off" checklists are next. First, a list of operational items: tires and pressure, lug nuts/bolts torque, fluid levels and leak checks, battery charge level, doors and hoods, clear and clean windows, wipers and washers, lights, and luggage stowage. An important note here for any Porsche with electronic fuel injection is that the battery must be near full charge to crank the engine, pulse the injectors and fire the spark plugs to get things underway. This is true for other modern electronic fuel injected automobile engines as well. Infrequently driven cars should have a battery maintainer connected to minimize Sunday drive disappointments. Second, a checklist of items to be accomplished from the driver's seat: horn, seat position, mirrors, seat belts, brake operation, warning/indicator lights' functionality with the key on and the engine off, warning displays after startup and door locks. Run these checklists once or twice monthly and you will develop an intimacy with your Porsche that will provide instant recognition of any item or system not up to par for travel.

There is a section covering "Break-in" of a new car, but by the time you have purchased your car, perhaps joined PCA, and, are reading this article, it is just folksy news. Two good points here which are applicable for any new or older automobile are--never run a cold engine at high rpms, and do not let your engine labor, especially when driving uphill. The warning on the break-in of your new car's tires and brakes also applies to new replacement tires and/or new brake pads. New tires will not develop maximum traction during the first 200 miles. New brake pads will not develop maximum braking efficiency during the first 200 miles. Please drive and stop with moderation during the wear-in period for new tires or new brake pads. The engine oil consumption wording has gotten quite vague for the newer cars with Porsche stating that oil consumption may be higher when the car is new and can vary according to speed, climate, road conditions, oil quality, viscosity and oil dilution by unburned fuel. Porsche used to state that one liter per 1000 kilometers was acceptable oil consumption for the earlier air-cooled engines but that comment has been eliminated as of model year 1995.

The next seventy pages or so cover all the controls, indicators and warnings for the safe and comfortable operation of your Porsche and describes the function and control of all the on-board systems except for the audio system which comes with its own manual. A good point on the starting procedure is that temperature sensors on the engine automatically provide the correct fuel/air ratio required for start-up, therefore, it is not necessary to depress the accelerator pedal while starting a cold or a warm engine--keep your right foot on the floor. Before stopping your engine after hard or extended driving, let the engine run at increased idle for a minute or two to cool down the catalytic converter and allow the oil in the engine to return to the oil tank on the air-cooled engines.

The next twenty pages or so cover maintenance items owners can perform or at least be aware of which may require action to be taken by their local service center. First, owners should be knowledgeable about the oil level in the engine tank or sump as oil is the life blood of any Porsche engine. Be aware that the oil level gauge on the instrument panel is only an indicator at best. Reliable oil level readings for the air-cooled engines can only be obtained from the oil tank dip stick when the car is running at idle at operating temperature (190F-210F) on a level surface for at least one half minute (30 seconds). After you really get to know your car intimately, you may be able to correlate the dip stick reading with the gauge reading on the dash if all the parameters are constant--pretty iffy though. Oil viscosity range vs. outside temperature recommendations for synthetic and non-synthetic oils are covered here as well. Brake fluid recommendations, manual and Tiptronic transmission fluid checking and replenishment and more detailed information on fuel requirements are covered also. Air filter cartridge maintenance and replacement as well as windshield/headlight washer fluid checking and addition can be found in this section of the manual. There is information on the Federally mandated emission control system installed on your Porsche, a component description, how the parts work and recommendations on how to maximize component lives.

There are several pages of car care instructions covering the care and preservation of the outside as well as the interior surfaces of your Porsche. Tips on long term storage of your car are presented. There is a section dealing with emergency service requirements: Proper lifting and/or jacking of the car, inflation of the collapsible spare tire, and the proper sequence for tire/wheel removal and replacement. The replacement of fuses, bulbs and the battery are covered as well as how to properly jump start your dead Porsche from a loaner battery. There is information on how to adjust your car's headlights.

The final section covers the technical data about the engine and transmission specifications, acceleration performance numbers, fluid capacities and the geometric dimensions for your Porsche model. The horsepower, torque, acceleration curves and transmission gear/speed diagrams are provided here.

There is a separate maintenance book which provides the schedules and descriptions of time and mileage required maintenance items with log sheets for recording maintenance actions. Faithful logging of scheduled maintenance actions will provide a valuable record of your Porsche's health and history for you or a concerned future owner.

Your Porsche owner's manual truly holds the keys to the knowledge, confidence, satisfaction and enjoyment you receive from ownership as well as the understanding of the marvelous engineering, manufacturing precision and exhilarating performance crafted by the wizards of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. This manual is just as important as the key to the ignition because it provides the key to the enjoyment and the love of and for your car. Happy reading!