ttocs

The window lowering/raising is a key to your issue, I believe. It's acting like the door is open, hence the window lowers and interior lights illuminate. The fact that it won't lock sometimes has got to be the same issue - the door is acting like it's open. Start looking at contacts and switches for the offending door. Contributing members have access to diagrams etc. which may assist in locating items to look at. It's a small price to pay for the vast knowledge on this forum.

I had a double din Kenwood with nav installed. Microphone placement is the issue. When the unit was first installed they put the mic just behind the steering wheel on top of the shroud. In this location the mic suffered quite a bit of wind noise. I got some fake fur from a fabric store and this pretty much cured the wind problem, however, I wasn't too keen on the look of it. I moved the mic to the stock microphone location on the left of the instrument cluster. It works pretty well, but since it's pretty tight inside the mic picks up some bump noise, vibrations transferred through the chassis into the dash. I don't take many calls while driving my toy so it works ok enough. It's definitely not as good as the 2009 and up stock systems!

Welcome! FWIW: I would love to improve the performance of my 2004 Boxster Tip, but after hundreds of hours of fun and interesting reading - both good results and bad - from folks that have done all the different mods that are possible, I take my car out for a nice top-down drive and smile. Yes, I've had much quicker cars, shifter cars - although my left knee doesn't like clutches anymore, and cars that have amazing power and only go straight as well as cars that handle pretty well, and a smattering of motorcycles. But. No previous vehicle I've owned has provided me with as much FUN, that's FUN with a SMILE, as my slightly slow and very nimble little Boxster!! When I've thought about the investment necessary to increase the power, then compare that with simply buying a later version, I decided to enjoy and appreciate what I have. I've experienced some thrills going to local PCA events and participating in some as well. Something as simple as a Porsche Driving Tour puts a smile on my face that lasts for days afterward! just a few things I thought would be interesting to share . . .

Cool! Don't need this, . . . yet, but good info if I'll need it in the future.

Wow! That battery hung in there really well, didn't it? You ran that thing long, just like Kramer and the Volvo salesman when they ran the gas tank way below E during the test drive. (Seinfeld)

I'm just wondering that since it's vacuum actuated, have you tried applying vacuum in each direction?

Found a discussion and fix for the part number you listed. https://www.2carpros.com/questions/2000-porsche-boxster-fuel-filler-vent-bleeder-valve If this is what you need then hopefully you'll be "singing songs of lu-huh-huvvvvvv" (Donovan)

I don't know anything about the Evap, but here's a link to something possibly related. Just a thought. edit: found another link that is the part you're looking at. https://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/48843-evap-system-troubleshooting

Nice write up! Simple and to the point. Nice photos too! One thing though, I've read that power flushing on a Tiptronic is not recommended. Maybe one of the better brains can confirm and explain?

hmmmm . . . , I'll have to check the condition of mine. Every once in a blue moon I get a "difference" in power that, to me, seems like a vacuum issue. I've never taken the time to inspect the vacuum lines but it's on my list of things to check over. Thanks for highlighting.

Great looking vehicle! . . . but I gotta agree with lewisweller, bigger rims. A friend bought a very low mileage and well maintained older Boxster 3 years ago and got the 4 year warranty for $2400. Over $10,000 in repairs later, he's happy! Two repairs account for most of the $10k, the radio which had a mysterious fault that resulted in just about the entire audio system being replaced by Porsche, and the transmission which was done by a independent which resulted in a lower bill to the insurance company. I'm a fan of warranties for vehicles with possible high dollar fixes. Good luck! edit: just noticed this, in the first photo it looks as though there might be something hanging below the rear axle area, kinda looks like wires maybe ?? not sure.

Welcome. Save yourself some chasing for odd codes and replace the battery before getting into any codes. Had my 11 year old, low mileage Boxster for a day and got a "flashing D4" (Tiptronic limp mode forcing a trip to dealer for reset) that was due only to a battery that wasn't up to full voltage due to age. Also, this forum is such a great resource and everyone here is very helpful, and the powers that be are very very knowledgable and experienced. It's for these reasons it's one of the few forums I support.

My 2004 Boxster base also takes a while to warm up, about 5-7 minutes to start getting warm air while the temp is set to HI. It's not a daily driver, just weekends and nights out so it gets a good workout when I "do" use it. My 2016 Dodge Caravan also takes the same amount of time to warm up, but my previous 3 cars got me warm air in only one mile, and hot air after another mile!

Thank you Loren.

Loren, is this still the recommended plug for the 03-04 2.7? I ask because after I purchased my Boxster I had some much needed service work done and they installed NGK plugs. I'm going to change out the coils (slight misfire on 2 cylinders) and I'm thinking I should install the Beru plugs instead. Am I wrong to do this? Mine is a September 2004 2.7 Tip (last month of production).

Welcome! First off, I like the way your mind works, reminds me of me. I wonder about the same kinda stuff. I hope this discussion can remain true to your intent, which is to be in a general, "rule of thumb" arena. Many great minds on this forum. I'll step back and let the more informed chime in.

I bought my 2004 Boxster Base Tip not quite a year and a half ago. It had only 30k miles, but 11 years of time on the original trans fluid. The Tip exhibited a few issues while driving, one of which I wish it would do now. First, while stopped, shifting down from 2nd to 1st would result in a variable amount of "clunk", sometimes harder than other times. Now you'd have to pay very close attention to discern that shifting down to first has occurred. Also, I can now downshift while slowing down which was an absolute no-no before the fluid change! Second, I never noticed any slipping, but sometimes when it upshifted it would "bang" into the next higher gear. Never happens anymore. Smooth while driving normal, quick when getting on it. Thirdly, almost all of the time I enjoy shifting manually . . . I like the extra control, and I prefer starting off in 1st gear. But, when I do drive away in 2nd and the torque converter locks up, at that moment I used to hear a lower register squeak and it was easy to hear even with the top up. Now I rarely hear a very faint version of the noise and usually I'd have to be trying to listen for it to be able to notice it. Lastly, the one thing I'd like the trans to do now but was "fixed" when the new fluid went in is shift from 1st to 2nd gear at 7200 rpm. From everything I've been able to look up, the trans is not supposed to shift at the true redline of 7200, it's supposed to shift at 6750. Again, this is only from 1st gear to 2nd gear. Now mine actually shifts a bit lower than 6900 (not from visual, but confirmed by logging with Durametric). Only later model Tips are programmed from the factory to shift closer to true redline. For example, when the 2005 911 press release was published, shifting at redline from first gear was listed as a new feature. Now, no matter how the car is driven it just does what it does with no complaint and no hint that there will ever be a problem. A couple months ago I attended a local PCA driving tour and we got to experience pure exhilaration, and again, the trans performed flawlessly!!

I'm in the same camp with those suggesting to service the Tip. You never know, but then . . . you never know! Frankly I'm puzzled that there aren't any issues with 18 years of usage on the original fluid, let alone the mileage. Mine had 11 years and 30k miles on the original fluid and it needed changing! After service it was happier.

Hi, and welcome! Any history on this car? like how long you've owned and driven it? previous owner history? etc.

I had read that when the Tip goes into any of the limp modes, only a PIWIS can clear it. There may be another way but I never checked since a Porsche dealer is only a couple miles from me. The battery my car had when purchased was reading just under 12 volts. I couldn't believe that the small voltage discrepancy could cause a problem, but since it was one of the things on the PPI list needing immediate attention I swapped it out. For clarity, the actual timeline for my events was: Saturday fault and limp mode (I was horrified!!), Sunday all sorts of suggested reset attempts by reading posts on this and another forum, Monday new battery and drive to Porsche. After Porsche cleared the fault, they test drove it trying to re-create the problem and couldn't. Porsche did not charge me because the PPI didn't show a problem like this occurring and they felt obligated to help. I was very appreciative. After I got home I was timid about using the manual mode so I experimented a couple times by driving around my neighborhood so I wouldn't be far from home, but the problem has not happened again. FWIW my local Porsche dealer is a sister to the Audi dealership, and while I've dealt with the Audi dealer many times as a previous customer, I've not purchased a car from Porsche yet - only service and parts. People say negative things about dealerships, but I gotta say that I've only been treated like a king every time I've been in the Porsche dealer.

I purchased my car with 30k miles on it, and it had only been driven about 100 miles in the previous year prior to my purchase. After me driving it for one day I attempted manual shifting and got the D/4 flashing lights, the Tip went into a limp mode only allowing shifting up to 3rd gear. Went to the dealer that performed the PPI and got the same diagnosis as you got, and they cleared the code, drove the car home. I did a LOT of reading on anything relating to the symptoms and diagnosis and fault. The battery was found to be low on voltage during the PPI, so on day 2 of my ownership I installed a new battery. Problem solved. I found many posts relating to weird things happening due to slightly low voltage. As Hanz and Franz used to say, "Hear me now, and believe me later!".

Is your steering wheel centered? or is it turned? Our cars don't like being parked with the wheels turned even slightly off-center. If off-center, you may need to use some effort to "relieve" the tension off of the lock to normalize things. I sound like a broken record when I hand the car over to a valet, "Make sure that the steering wheel is straight ahead before turning off the car"!

You might try screwing them into a new location maybe an inch or less away from original holes. They will still work because the velcro area is large enough. The new dots have a more aggressive sized "screw" on them, larger than my passenger originals. When I tried the passenger originals on the driver's side they didn't work so well. I didn't think the new ones would stay, but they haven't needed any adjustment since I installed them in the Porsche dealership parking lot, and the mats have been removed for cleaning many, many times. Really try to relinquish the thought of drilling into the metal. I had a problem with a car in the past that had a water wicking problem through a factory bolt in the floor making the carpet wet. A screw through a plastic dot is invariably going to wiggle from the movement of the mat.

When you say the word "hood", are you referring to the convertible top? If so, when the top, or hood, is in the down/open position the alarm motion or proximity sensor is switched off. As a check, you can depress the recessed switch that the convertible latch would normally operate when the latch is closed and locked. Just look above the rear view mirror where the latch inserts into the windshield frame. Also, there is a device you can buy that is inexpensive that will clip into the windshield frame and will close the switch. Do a search for "Boxster Red Clip" and you'll see photos and listings for sale.

Don't drill! No holes needed. The plastic carpet dots only screw into the carpet. They only cost about $3 at Porsche. edit: When I bought my car both driver's dots were missing. I too thought that screwing new dots into the used holes in the carpet wouldn't work, but there hasn't been any issues and it's been almost a year since they were replaced. The new dots are different in design than what was issued in 2004, the threads are a bit more aggressive.