Your Porsche Is Dying In The Garage (And You're Helping It)
Eleven After Nine | A Porsche Culture Podcast
Eleven After Nine | A Porsche Culture Podcast May 19, 2026
Your Porsche Is Dying In The Garage (And You're Helping It)

Your Porsche Is Dying In The Garage (And You're Helping It)

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Your Porsche Is Dying In The Garage (And You're Helping It)
Term

fluids need to be moving

Cars rely on fluids to protect moving parts. If a car sits for a long time, those fluids can stop circulating, and that can increase the chance of wear or corrosion.

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flat spotted

Flat spotting is when tires sit in one position and the rubber gets a little “set” in that shape. After you drive and the tire warms up, it often improves.

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vehicle battery

Car batteries don’t like sitting unused for a long time. Even if you use a charger/maintainer, the battery can still slowly change over time, and it may prefer occasional charge-and-discharge rather than staying “stuck” at one level.

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battery maintainer

A battery maintainer is a charger that keeps a car battery topped up while the car is parked. The host is saying it’s not perfect—batteries may still be happier with some real cycling instead of staying at the same charge level for months.

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alternator

The alternator is what charges the battery while the car is running. The host is saying the battery likes getting recharged by the alternator, not just sitting on a maintainer.

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lead acid battery

A lead-acid battery is the typical car battery. It has liquid inside, and if the liquid level gets too low, the battery can’t work as well and may fail when you try to start the car.

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voltage drops

Voltage drop means the car’s electrical voltage dips too low, usually when you try to start it. Modern cars are sensitive to that dip, so they can throw warning codes or fail to start even if the battery looks okay at rest.

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12 volt battery

Most cars use a 12-volt battery. The important idea is that a battery can show a decent voltage when you measure it, but still not have enough power to crank the engine.

Chevrolet Volt
Car

Chevrolet Volt

The Chevrolet Volt is a car that can run on electricity from a plug, but it also has a gasoline engine to help when the battery runs low. It uses a battery and computer-controlled systems to decide when to use electric power versus the engine. Because of that, electrical warnings or codes can be part of the conversation.

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amperage

Amperage is the battery’s ability to push enough current to crank the engine. Measuring voltage alone can be misleading—what matters is whether the battery can deliver enough power under load.

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cold cranking amps

Cold cranking amps (CCA) tells you how strong a car battery is at starting the engine when it’s cold out. In winter, the battery has to work harder, so CCA is a key number for whether the car will start reliably.

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battery tender

A battery tender is a device you plug into your car to keep the battery charged while the car is parked. It helps prevent the battery from going dead during long storage periods.

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battery to recover

When you start the car, the battery works hard to crank the engine. After that, it takes some time for the car to put that energy back, so just starting and idling in the garage may not help much.

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starter

The starter is what turns the engine over when you first start the car. It uses a lot of battery power, so the battery may need time to recharge after that.

Concept

idling part

The episode argues that long warm-up idling is counterproductive because the engine and emissions systems may not reach their best operating conditions. Instead, it suggests driving long enough to bring systems up while also allowing the battery to recover after starting.

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catalytic converters

Catalytic converters are parts in the exhaust that clean up the engine’s fumes. They have to get hot enough to work well, especially right after a cold start.

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cold start

A cold start is when you start the car before the engine is fully warmed up. Because it’s cold, the car may add extra fuel at first to help the exhaust system heat up and work properly.

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oil protective layer

That oil protective layer is the thin coat of oil that helps protect the engine’s moving parts. If it’s missing—like after sitting—it can lead to extra wear when you start the engine.

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oil pan

The oil pan is the reservoir at the bottom of the engine that holds engine oil. When a car sits for months, oil can drain from the upper engine surfaces down into the oil pan, leaving less oil film on the cylinder walls at the next start-up.

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RPMs

RPMs tell you how fast the engine is spinning. Here, the host says around a certain RPM the engine changes how it opens the valves, which affects how it runs and loads.

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low lift to high lift

This means the engine changes how much the valves open. Small openings help at low speed, and bigger openings help at higher speed, and you can see the change in how the engine performs on a dyno.

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dyno chart

A dyno chart is a graph from a machine that tests the car’s engine. It shows how much power the engine makes at different RPMs, so you can spot weak spots or where it really pulls.

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oil temp gauge

The oil temp gauge tells you how hot the engine oil is. Cold oil doesn’t protect as well, so the idea is to wait until it warms up before driving harder.

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washout on the cylinder walls

“Washout” here means the cylinder walls don’t get the right lubrication during cold starts or gentle driving. That can lead to more wear because the engine isn’t operating at full temperature yet.

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lugging your engine

“Lugging” means you’re driving a hill in too high of a gear, so the engine spins too slowly. Rather than shifting down, you press the gas and the engine has to work harder to keep the RPM from dropping.

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downshifting

Downshifting means choosing a lower gear. It makes the engine rev higher so it can pull the car up the hill more easily.

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throttle

Throttle is how much you ask the engine for power by pressing the gas pedal. More throttle tells the engine to add fuel so it can speed up.

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fuel injection strategy

Your car’s computer decides how much fuel to spray into the engine. When you’re lugging on a hill, it may add extra fuel to help the engine keep RPM up and get moving again.

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bore score

Bore scoring means the inside walls of the engine cylinders get scratched or grooved. If it gets bad enough, the engine can start misfiring because the cylinders aren’t sealing or burning properly.

Porsche 997.2
Car

Porsche 997.2

The Porsche 997.2 is a later version of the 911 with updated engine tech. The key point here is that the guest still found bore scoring on 997.2 engines, even though people expected it to be fixed.

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direct fuel injection

Direct fuel injection (DFI) sprays fuel directly into the combustion chamber rather than into the intake port. The episode discusses DFI as an engine architecture change Porsche made for the 997.2, and how some people assumed it would eliminate certain failure modes.

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IMS issue

The IMS issue is a known Porsche problem tied to a bearing in the engine’s intermediate shaft area. In this episode, it’s mentioned because people thought newer engines fixed it—then bore scoring still showed up.

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MA-01 engine

“MA-01” is a code Porsche uses to label a specific engine version. The point is that the bore scoring they found was tied to that particular engine variant.

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misfire

A misfire is when one or more cylinders don’t burn fuel correctly. The guest is saying bore scoring can eventually cause misfires because the cylinder isn’t working right.

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bore scope

A bore scope is a tiny camera that lets you look inside the engine’s cylinders. In this story, it’s how they checked the cylinder walls and saw the damage.

Concept

pull the engine, fully disassemble

This means the shop removes the engine and takes it apart completely to inspect the damage closely. The guest says Porsche’s rule is that if the scoring is bad enough to feel with a fingernail, it’s considered beyond repair without major work.

Porsche 356
Car

Porsche 356

The Porsche 356 is an older Porsche sports car from the early days of the brand. People talk about it because it helped establish what Porsche cars were like—small, sporty, and built for driving. It’s also a common reference when discussing how Porsche made cars back then.

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bore scoring issue

“Bore scoring” means the inside walls of the engine cylinders are getting scratched or worn. If that’s happening, it can be a sign the engine isn’t healthy, so buyers should look for it before purchasing.

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cylinder five

“Cylinder five” means one particular cylinder inside the engine. Mentioning a specific one can hint that the problem isn’t uniform across the whole engine.

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Lickl Mali MLS2

This is an additive they put into the engine oil. The goal is to boost lubrication—especially when the car is driven hard on a track.

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AMSOIL 550

They’re talking about a specific engine oil they use for track driving. The “50” part is about how thick the oil stays when the engine gets hot.

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oil will actually shear down

Oil “shear down” means the oil’s viscosity effectively drops after being worked hard, especially at high temperatures and high load. Track driving accelerates this, so a thicker starting grade can end up closer to the manufacturer’s intended viscosity by the end of the session.

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5W50

5W50 is a type of engine oil. The first number helps it flow when it’s cold, and the second number helps it stay thick when the engine is hot.

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Porsche recommends 0W40

0W40 is the oil thickness Porsche says is ideal. It’s designed to flow well when cold and still protect the engine when it’s hot.

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molybdenum

Molybdenum is a substance added to oil to help it protect moving parts. They’re saying their additive boosts how much molybdenum is in the oil compared to normal store-bought oil.

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parts per million

Parts per million (ppm) means “how much of something is mixed in,” but measured in tiny amounts. Here, they’re talking about getting the oil additives at the right tiny concentration.

Brand

Driven

Driven is the brand of motor oil being recommended. They’re saying it’s formulated to work well and they’ve seen proof from testing and oil samples.

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5W40

5W40 is the oil’s “thickness” rating. It tells you how it flows when it’s cold and how it behaves when the engine is hot.

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DT540

DT540 is another Driven oil product the hosts mention as the formulation they believe is offered in the 5W40 line. They connect it to track use and oil-sample testing, implying it’s part of the same “additive chemistry” approach.

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DT440

DT440 is a specific type of motor oil. The hosts are saying their tests show it stays consistent and hits the right additive targets.

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baselining my cars

Baselining is like setting a baseline in science: you start with the car in a known condition. Then you can tell what changes later because you know where you started.

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spark plug holes

This is a way to look inside an engine cylinder using the opening where the spark plug goes. A small camera can check the cylinder wall for damage without taking the engine apart.

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sump

The sump is the bottom oil reservoir of the engine. It’s where engine oil sits before it’s pumped back up to lubricate everything.

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spark plugs

Spark plugs make the spark that starts combustion in each cylinder. If you’re already taking things apart, replacing them then can save future labor.

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ignition coils

Ignition coils provide the electrical power for the spark plugs. If you’re already working in that area, replacing them can prevent ignition problems later.

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wear pattern

A wear pattern is where the engine parts wear more in some spots than others. Looking at the whole cylinder helps you spot problems that might only show up at the bottom or the top.

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