jmatta

Mike, good questions. Here are my assumumptions, with no backup evidence. I believe the secondary cats were placed for two reasons; initial cold start and EU noise compliance. The car is definately throatier without the cats, as I feel they were really intended as pre-mufflers. Only a sniffer would confirm the first and I haven't bothered to have it tested.

Though most posts were about your wheels, if you look around, you can find a set of used cat bypass pipes fairly inexpensive. I bought mine from a forum member a couple years ago (Fabspeed), slightly used, but perfect condition for under $300 shipped. They are easy to install, sound very nice, especially in the mid range and provide a crisper throttle response. Whether there is a measurable HP increase or not, the seat of pants could not tell. My '02 S has the bypass pipes, a sport muffler (ala Pedro) and an Evo Hi-flow air intake. As mentioned earlier, throttle blip lag was almost completely eliminated by this setup. No CEL and emission problems for me...

Scary stuff...one more thing to wonder about? I'm still at a loss to understand why Porsche took so many shortcuts, especially with their history of over-engineering most their applications. What did this save per car; a couple hundred dollars, at most?

Yes, It can be especially expensive to replace front cv boots.

P.K.

Yeah, I guess you have to convert it to AWD, so you can replace the CV boots.

I picked this up off another site; perhaps it will help:

There is a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) that covers this.

"After replacing the battery, check if the remote control functions. If the remote control does not function, the processor could have stopped. If this is the case, the LED of the remote control either does not light when the button is pressed or it lights continuously, i.e., longer than length of time the button is pressed. The processor must be restarted."

"2. Restarting the processor.

2.1 Remove battery as described under Step 1.2.

2.2 Inserting battery briefly with polarity reversed.

2.2.1 After a waiting time of at least 10 seconds, slide battery with the polarity of the battery reversed (positive terminal downwards) under the tab (Figure 1, arrow 2).

2.2.2 Clip battery downward into the holder.

2.2.3 After a waiting time of approx. 3 seconds, remove this incorrectly polarized battery again.

2.3 Install battery as described under Step 1.3.

2.4 Check the function of the remote control."

Very cool...I very much enjoyed looking at the internals of the mysterious M96. Only problem is I don't know what I'm looking at half the time, as I've never taken one of these apart. As far as I know, there are no rebuilding books available like there are for air cooled? I know Charles and Jake Raby hope to develop a rebuilding guide as part of their flat6 program.

"Out of curiosity, when did you buy it and how much did you pay? I'm now looking at a very clean '00 in Texas with a Carrera front-end. thanks!"

I bought over three years ago; a whole different world then. Paid $33.4 if my memory still works; very clean, like new car (it still is, as I've just broke 15k miles).

If I'm not mistaken, the '00 in Texas with the Carrera front end is a poster on 986Forum under the name of Jeph...here's a link to his ad:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/962242486.html

All good advice...it sounds like the car you were considering has been abused. Who knows what oil change intervals were and how the car was driven? Definately buyer's market; look a little further away for the right car...a road trip is always fun!

I bought my '02 S in Texas with 8k miles on the clock...flew down and drove it home to Chicago and had a blast (helluvalot cheaper than enclosed shipping).

Yeah, imagine that you would have to actually pay attention to driving while drinking your Starbucks, talking on the cell phone and applying makeup. I'm glad the domestic auto makers have that all figured out; it really shows in their profitability.

I like the three way vanity mirrors that come standard on Escalades.

Do I sound cynical?....nah!

I have a similar scanner...it will read generic codes, but will not read the Porsche specific ones. If you want to do it yourself, I would purchase the "Durametric" software: http://www.durametric.com/

Though it is not inexpensive, it may prove to save you money in the long run.

If the can is unopened, it's fine; if opened, spend $12 and get some new fluid. I use ATE Super blue in both my P-Cars; it's cheap and good insurance for expensive brakes. Oh, you'll need two cans.

+1 on JFP's advice. Buy a good maintainer (I have a Battery Tender Jr) and you will never have a problem. Funny thing is my 911 has an Optima Red Top with a battery cut switch. When I park it for the winter, the switch is "off" and I don't need to re-energize the battery come spring.

When I removed my useless cupholders, I remember the face plate simply popping off with slight pressure. It isn't glued on; I believe there were nylon type plugs that held it in place ('02 S).

Good find! My car only occasionally sees rain, but I would like to know more about the location of the drain hose, just in case.

Now I really feel stupid...

When I ordered mine, they came in the mail; I looked and thought "I just spent $35 for two little pieces of painted plastic?"

Sometimes it pays to think before you hit the order key.

Pulled this off another site...been keeping it just in case.

Aluma Look is " ALU 03 EFFECT " trim etc.

Code is 4W9 and Dupont stock code is X1070

Leave the battery in the car and put it on a float charger, such as the "Battery Tender". If you remove the battery, you will clear all the codes and programs in the DME and will need to drive the car a week or so next spring to "reprogram" the unit. There are a dozen or so "ready" codes that need to be maintained in the DME and they will be lost if the battery is disconnected. Do not start the car, as Dave mentioned in the prior post; you will do more harm than good and introduce alot of moisture to the intake and exhaust. Put a can of "Sea Foam" in with the gas, so it does not go foul over the winter and you will have a clean fuel system come next spring. I've been storing my various Porsches like this for many years and have never had any problems. BTW, did you change the oil before winter storage? Don't want the old fluid sitting in there until next spring, either.

For street use, with the standard Boxster HP, a LSD just isn't necessary. Helpful if you track the car, but again, we aren't talking a whole lot of power here.

Your car needs to be lowered. I have H&R sport springs and they make a big difference in stance and road feel. Do you do an excessive amount of night driving that headlights are a high priority? Save the money for some upgraded wheels and tires; as usual, there are many opinions on what is the best, but is really comes down to personal taste (or lack of it).

Jake, thank you for your comments, as it is always a pleasure to hear from a real professional. Going back to the earlier question on a stock, street motor; do aftermarket headers cause more problems than they are worth and do they provide any reliable HP gain for the effort (and pain)?

I'm curious because I'm assuming it's not worth the effort.

Are the factory exhaust manifolds with cats that restrictive that you are seeing material gains by going through the whole replacement process? I left my original manifolds/cats in place, but replaced the secondary cats with bypass pipes on my '02 Box S. Not only did I remove a lot of weight, but the car sounds remarkably better and certainly breathes easier. Don't know if replacing with headers is really worth the bother; anyone have reliable dyno results that show differently?

Fill the tank with good quality, non-ethanol premium and add a can of "SeaFoam" before filling; stuff works wonders and you'll have a clean fuel system next spring. A trick I learned years ago was to place several carpet squares under each tire for the car to sit on during the winter's period. They are cushy enough so the tires don't flatspot and you don't need to over-inflate. Definately use a battery maintainer instead of removing the battery. When power is disconnected, your DME is cleared of all codes and needs to re-learn everything come next spring; takes about a weeks worth of driving to complete the "ready" cycles and be back to normal.

Don't let old oil sit in there all winter. The oil is full of contaniments and all you would acheive is spreading them around again as soon as you fired it up next spring.

The power steering rack on my son's Grand Cherokee had a slight leak to it, as well. I bought a product called "Seal Lube", which a small amount is poured into the power steering fluid reserve. The product actually swells the rubber seals in the system and stops the leak. Oh yeah, it worked like a champ.

I found it on eBay, but you could probably buy it at almost any major auto parts store.