Adam D'Agosto

Ok. This is at least a good start. Now maybe someone can help me figure out which of those three items you listed have a higher rate of failure or maybe one is easier to get to or maybe one is freak'en expensive.... So, can anyone help me determine the best approach to further investigating the following parts of the SAS: changeover valve, the vacuum activated valve and the one-way valve on a 1997 Boxster. Thanks!!

question...when it it recommended to change the clutch fluid for manual transmissions (for a 1997 Boxster)? Is it the same interval as the automatics?

Hi. Yes I would very much like to diagnose this and figure out what to start with. And yes the air pump does work as expected. That was the first thing my mechanic asked... As for a leak in a hose....my thought was this. If it were a leak in a hose, the problem would always be present. But, after clearing the codes, the Check Engine light will often stay off for weeks at a time. Also, there was a case or two, where the system cleared the code on its own. So, if it were a leaky hose, I'd think that the check engine light would be a permanent fixture on my dash panel. This leads me to believe it it related to a sticky valve (or something like that). Thoughts?

Hi. I do not have a OBDII Reader (yet). I plan on getting one soon. The codes are P0410 and P1411. My mechanic says to replace everything because in his experience this is the most effective way to deal with the nagging problem for someone who does not work on cars. It makes sense for those folks to do that. The LAST thing you want to do it bring your car back to the shop to dig into the car again and replace another part in the system only to find out it's not fixed. Then do it all over again in a few months! But for those who do the work themselves and don't mind digging into the guts of the engine a few times a year to find the culprit, replacing the entire system is unreasonable. But again, if you see it from the prospective of someone running a business...just get it done the first time and NEVER have to fix it again means you're a good mechanic. Dig in multiple times and charge all that labor each time means you a mechanic rapist! Otherwise, you're just a luck mechanic if you guess right the first time. Anyway I know what the codes are, but they are not specific enough to know which is the first part in the system to replace followed by the second, followed by the third... That's why I'd like your advice on that. Based on what I've described avove, what is the likely first, second, third part to look at replacing? Thanks!!

Hi. I've got a 1997 Box. The car is in great shape with just under 40,000 miles. I'm the third owner and just got into it this past June. During this time, the Check Engine light has come on a few times and the codes alway indicate the Secondary Air System fault. My mechanic says its pretty common problem and the best course of action is the replace all the parts of the system as you really cannot diagnosis each part individually. The labor to get in there one part at a time would be nuts. So, he says it will run about $800 to fix it all up. First, I'd like to work on this myself. What do you all suggest and how I should go about doing this? I have had the codes cleared and the light does not come back on right away, so the thinking is that whatever is tripping the system fault is NOT always at fault. To me this means it is probably not a leak in a line as the fault would/should immediately return after being cleared on the next cold start. In my case, I can go weeks without it coming back on. Sometimes it goes out on its own. What do you think? Thx!!

Hello all! I'm new to the forum so please forgive me if I am posting this question in the wrong place. I have a general question about torque tolerance. For the moment, I'm not speaking of any particular bolt or nut or whatever you're torquing . But I imagine all car specifications for torque values should have (or even publish) the allowable tolerance or acceptable range the torque can be set to and it will be effective and safe. As an example, on the car I have, 1997 Boxster, the oil drain plug is stated at 39 ft./lbs. Great! That's probably the nominal value (middle of the range), but what is the range? Digging a little deeper, I'd imagine that just about every single bolt or screw has its own allowable tolerance and there is no one size fits all, but I want to stay general just for a moment longer...assuming published torque settings have a tolerance, generally speaking are we talking about a couple % either side of nominal or are torque setting tolerances measured even tighter, say a quarter of a % high and low of nominal? To continue the previous example in a bit more detail, let's say the oil drain plug wants 39 ft./lbs. +/- 3.9 ft./lbs. In this case the tolerance would be 10% of the nominal value. I'm just making up numbers now to tease out the point. Here's the deal...if I set my crappy torque wrench that has a published accuracy range of +/-4%, and I set it to 39 ft./lbs, and I use it with good technique I will hear the "click" as low as....well wait a second...we have to first understand what +/-4% actually means. 4% of what??? So here's a little more detail. If I have 3/8" TW with a published range of 10-80ft./lbs., the actual range of the tool is 70. The accuracy is +/-4% of 70. This yields an accuracy of 2.8 ft/lbs. So going back to my previous example when I heard the "click", the actual torque applied to the oil plug was as low as 36.2 ft/lbs. and as high as 41.8 ft/lbs. Considering, again from my made up numbers from above, the oil plug has an allowable tolerance of 3.9 ft/lbs. the true range of acceptability is 35.1-42.9 ft/lbs. If this were all true, my crappy torque wrench is not so crappy after all as I hit the tolerance pretty well; I'm right in there. So first, is my logic correct? Second, what is a good general rule of thumb for specified torque tolerance, 1%? 10%? Yes I know some things are more sensitive than others, but rule of thumb here... Third, are the torque settings that are published, published with a tolerance? If not, what is the rule of thumb for those? Ultimately, this conversion, and understanding the math and data can effectively help you save a TON of money on buying your next torque wrench. Do you need to pay for 2% accuracy or is 4% just fine? Thoughts please! Happy Holidays to all!! Adam