ttocs

Welcome! Year, engine, and trans would help. If the IMS is original and you think the noise is in the engine, I wouldn't run it before confirming it's not the engine. You might jack up the rear, put it in neutral and rotate the wheels to check the rear bearings.

So you are one of the brave souls that ventured out into our continuation of the Winter domination! Good goin'! I heard it was well attended. The best tool I've purchased to date for our P-cars is something that makes lifting the car up to jack stands very easy and extremely safe. Go to Liftbars.com and get you a set (if I may be so grammatically improper). I have two sizes of stands, the smaller of which is for wheel work, and the larger is for as much space as I would need for anything else. BTW I'll be at the Porsches & Pastries on Saturday, unless the slim chance of me having to go out of town becomes required.

I had a bunch of work done when I bought my Boxster three years ago, new plugs and check the coils were a couple of the things that were done. They said the coils were fine. I requested that all of the old parts be returned to me, but only the IMS was handed to me, so I don’t know what plugs were in the car when I got it with 30k miles on it. The indy replaced the plugs with NGK BKR6EK. No biggy I thought, I didn’t know any difference, especially since I was unaware of what was taken out. Those plugs now have 13,000 miles on them and don’t look good to me. They are about 1.7mm longer reach into the cylinder than the Beru plugs, have two prongs vs four, and are gapped at .9mm to 1mm instead of 1.6mm. Maybe that’s how the NGKs are supposed to be gapped??? but I doubt it. The resistance of the NGK plugs is pretty consistent at 1.3k ohms plus or minus a tiny bit. Since this is way different from the 6k ohms I measured on the Berus, i would guess this is not preferred. Also, there is grease on the plug terminal nuts. Is this what I should do on the new plugs? or only on the boots that touch the porcelain? And lastly, it took so little effort (one plug only needed a little more than the weight of the ratchet to loosen) to remove the #4, #5, and #6 plugs that I used a torque wrench for the others to kinda get an idea of a measurement. On the other side of the engine it was 17 ft lbs for #1 and #2, and 19 ft lbs for #3. Any thoughts on the condition of these plugs is appreciated. edit: all the plugs were wet and smelled of gasoline. As a side note, the coils are all cracked except one. Cylinders 2-4 have major cracks while 5 and 6 have hairline cracks, cylinder 1 looks fine. I’ll get new ones on Monday from Exchange Porsche, they treat me very well - as they would with any PCA member (yes, you gotta show them your current membership card for the discounts). All of the coils measure at .7 ohms at room temperature. The spark plug connectors all measured 1.8k ohms.

You may want to check this listing. Looks like the complete assembly. edit: I deleted the link. same photos as posted.

Even perfecter! Thanks!

Loren, I want to make sure that the spark plug gap you gave is not a typo because it's almost 1mm different from Beru's web site and the Bentley Manual. They both list 1.6mm for the gap on this plug - 14FGR-6KQU. Please confirm. Thanks in advance.

Perfect! I just wanted to make sure that a 1k variance was ok. Thanks Loren!

MY2004 Boxster Base 2.7 Tiptronic I'm wondering if there should be any concern regarding differences in the resistance of a set of spark plugs? I just bought a set of Beru 14FGR-6KQU spark plugs. Measuring the resistance between the terminal nut and the center electrode, four of them are in a tight range of 5.6k to 5.8k ohms, and the other two are close to 6.8k ohms. Firstly, does the resistance matter? Is there a range of acceptable resistance for a single spark plug? Also, should a set of plugs be fairly well "matched" in terms of resistance? And lastly, I'm curious to know if the coils are expecting to see a certain resistance to the plug? and can the plugs have a resistance that is out of range for the coils to function properly or suffer a forced failure?

Actually, this brings up another question. When you were on the incline, I assume you came to a stop first?? If so, did the vehicle roll back immediately or did the HOLD (called Standstill, also known as hill-hold) function hold the vehicle briefly then let go allowing the roll back? This is a shot in the dark on this one, but is the parking brake totally and completely disengaged? If so, I would think the HOLD feature would work. When the vehicle rolls back, do any CAUTION or WARNING lights illuminate on the dash? They should if this system is operational and it senses malfunction. Maybe test on a very slight incline to verify. It would help to know your vehicle's year, and trans.

While I'm certain there's a logical way to investigate which faulty sensor might be "the one", I'm not educated enough to know this, so I would begin at the rear hatch since it is something that the fob can't control. But, I question what else might be happening, especially with the mystery clicking. Could the clicking be related to your installed push button start? Relay? Sparking? Here's a thought, I'm familiar with some of the weird things that can happen when a older Porsche has a battery that is slightly under-voltage. In other words, it works fine, seems normal, it'll start the car etc, but when tested is just a little low. When it happened to me it triggered Limp Mode on my Tiptronic so it would only shift up to 3rd gear, and a fault code was generated saying a "multifunction switch" was bad. It just so happens that my battery was tested a week prior and it was found that the voltage was low. After replacing the battery and clearing the code, nothing weird happened again, and that was 3 years ago.

cdibi, the alarm siren randomly actuating can happen due to a sensor that is failing. I had a non-VW/Porsche that sounded the alarm randomly and it was due to a failing front hood latch sensor that made the security system think the hood was open when in fact it wasn't.

The windows are supposed to drop a little upon actuating the door handles to aid in being able to open the doors without the windows catching on the convertible top. Does each window drop when opening each door?

Good idea about using the fob to operate the windows. Helps determine if it's a switch issue. You just hold the lock button for several seconds.

The first thing that pops into my head when a trans "slips" (no movement) then "bangs" into gear is old/dirty fluid and/or low fluid. Changing fluid only removes a percentage of the old, which is why I asked about if the old fluid was checked for color to see if maybe it was burnt. When that's not the case, then maybe a valve body issue, or electrical, or maybe vacuum. I echo getting a Durametric, it's very useful. I'm curious if this problem can be diagnosed with some exercises and observations . . . While the car is standing with the brakes engaged - in Park, Neutral, and Drive, at what rpm does the engine idle? Does this issue manifest when rpm -while stopped - is above or below 1000rpm? While brake is engaged can you feel the car wanting to move if you press the throttle a little? Was the car ever able to creep at idle with the original trans? If you rev the engine a little while in Neutral, then immediately upon returning to idle shift into Drive, does problem remain? or does Drive engage? While driving, when coming to a stop can it be down-shifted Manually into 1st and then operate normally? While in Drive, stopped, shift into Manual and 1st gear, does it thump?

I would take it back to get the fluid level checked asap. edit: Was anything relating to the fluid checked upon installation? Fluid/filter change, level check, even just a fluid color check?

Just a thought, maybe check the battery for proper voltage. If it's slightly low strange things can happen. The PPI of my car alerted that the battery voltage was a little low and warranted replacement. I had my MY04 986 Tiptronic in my possession for one day and everything was operating great, no slow starts, it all seemed normal. Then, driving in manual mode I came to a stop on a slight incline, shifted into first, then got the flashing D/4 alternating led gear indicators, it went into limp mode. The next day I replaced the battery, the day after that I drove it in limp mode to the Porsche dealer that did the PPI. They scanned it and it returned "multifunction switch failed", but after clearing the code and test driving there was no problem found, and that code has never returned. The only reason anyone could think of is that the slightly low voltage gave the system a conniption fit. The battery that came with the car was about 5 years old, and the car had only driven a few hundred miles in the year previous to my purchase. Just a thought.

FWIW A month after I bought my ‘04 Boxster Tip I made the appointment to get the IMS, RMS, and AOS replaced. The car only had 30k, seemed well cared for (except the paint), and the PPI didn’t come up with anything to be concerned about except for needed maintenance more for the age than mileage. I got the Retrofit. If doing the same now I would do the Solution.

I echoe the congrats and the welcome! Re the upgrades: It's a 911, . . . S, have fun! People I've spoken with that have done upgrades had to decide if they wanted to be able to drive their cars easily on the street, or mostly track. The one's that enjoy driving on the street regularly un-upgraded. Re driving: PCA Chicago kicks off the driving season a week from Sunday with a tech session, then the following weekend with Autocross School, and at the end of the month Drivers Education (DE) at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. Bleed the brakes, replace the pads, strap your helmet on and jump in! Also, do a search for Iron Gate Motor Condos. They have a free Open House once a month - get there early because it's very popular, several hundred cars show up, really nice cars. Lots of great car people. May 12th is Porsche day for Chrome and Coffee.

I put the car up on jack stands and was able to remove the broken pushrod and install the new one without removing anything else except one rear wheel. The toughest part was removing the old captive nut (push-on washer with fins).I worked on it for probably a half hour, then I finally had to resort to using a roto-hammer with a chisel bit to totally destroy that thin piece of metal, took about a minute. You may want to consider becoming a Contributing Member which gives you access to Porsche mechanical diagrams with part numbers, etc. This is how I got the part number for the pushrod. When I went to the Porsche dealer to order the part they had the same diagram on their computer, I just pointed at the parts I wanted because I was already familiar with that diagram.

Sort of, . . . it wasn't that it was difficult, it just wouldn't - do anything! There is a "cam" on the side of the Tip where the shifter cable connects to, and this pushrod. The pushrod then is attached to the electronic box that tells the car what gear it's in. My old pushrod broke, the plastic ball-socket end totally came off of the pushrod, hence nothing. I was in a parking lot and had just shifted into Manual but the dash indicator show M-2, not M-1. I found that at that moment no other shifting could be accomplished. I could go forward only. After ten minutes of tinkering, my date and I went to dinner in her car. Afterwards I had mine towed home where I confirmed my assumption of "where" the problem was, and discovered "what" was broken. After much searching I found only two posts related to this problem. I ordered the part from my pal at Porsche on Monday and installed it the next day. I can imagine that if someone has a "difficult to shift" problem that it could be that the plastic end is slightly pulled from the metal rod making it "longer". It doesn't have a very long throw to its operation, so it wouldn't take much to make it "outa wack" as My Cousin Vinny would say. In the attached photos, the first one shows the cam linkages. The larger joint on the right is where the metal rod end of the shifter cable connects to, and the middle joint is the pushrod that broke. The second photo shows my fingers holding the plastic end that pulled off the end of the pushrod. Keep in mind that this is on a 986, and I know this is off topic, but I don't know how else to answer the question of the op except for keeping this info here.

That's good to know the a discount store has "the good stuff", meaning, correct late version part! Very good indeed! As an FYI, my local Porsche dealer honors PCA members with a discount. They take care of me very well! The last part I purchased, a push rod including the pivot bolt and captive nut for Tiptronic shifting linkage (986-426-043-01), ended up costing less for all 3 parts than online sources charge for just the rod.

On the highway at non-felony speeds I get 28mpg, which I think is a couple better than EPA quoted. All other driving I get the biggest smiles per tank full !! . . . and mine is a "slow" one.

Yep. It's the offset, or total depth. Boxster rotor is 67mm deep, while the 911 rotor is 75mm deep. There's a parts supplier in the UK called Online Car Parts and they have technical drawings for each of the rotors from all of the manufacturers. It's a pretty nice resource! It's interesting to note that this seems to be the only difference. Even the parking brake shoes are the same, go figure.

Being a curious fellow I checked on some things. The front rotors are the same, but as you say, the rears don't match. Also, the calipers for each car are different part numbers. When you look at the stock wheel sizes the fronts are the same but the rears are different with the 911 wheels being 1/2" wider. This suggests that the offset might be different for the rotors. Just a guess, but it seems logical. I'm still curious what the real answer is. hmmmm

When you say "very hard to unlock", do you mean when you insert the ignition key into the lock and try to turn it? If so, it helps to know that the steering wheel lock is sensitive to being locked in other-than-straight-ahead angles. In other words, if it's not centered it's gonna be difficult to turn the key until the steering wheel is wrestled into submission. I always tell valet parking attendants about this, every time. As far as the amount of travel, it's not quite 1-1/2".