rsfeller

Loren, thanks. i'm actually going to use a CD changer too that I purchased. i'm going to use a FM (inline) transmitter for connection to the system. although traditional FM sucks the inlines are not bad. still looking for a source for 12v switched to power the sirrius receiver. i'll check out the becker board again too! Shawn

Compared to most other cars and especially like cars (BMW Z3, Mercedes CLK) ect it holds about the same percentage best I can tell from my constant ebay searching. has anyone just considered the 996 is just a bit over priced and holding it's value to well? I'm amazed that the 996 is half the same car but can be almost three times the same price! (not including turbo and extreme models!) Additionally other then the 911 serires is seems to me that 944 (924), 928, 968 and now 986 can be had for resonable money at 7-10 years old. It's only the mystic of the 911 that holds it's value in the same respects as other collectable cars. Like any car if it was really a garge princess it will hold it's value. I would guess more Porsches (then not) are garage princess and thus have good resale. Supply/demand are what drive economics but fashionability aand perception are the issues at work here to. Let's face it everyone has always said the boxster was the poor man's porsche. it's the only reason I can afford a reliable one! image. image. image. Additionally entry level cars are not only meant to be driven, but are. I'm not at nervous as others about unknow history and 3rd ownership. An informed consumer can just as easy buy a good car at a great price on the used market. Now if you are just one of those rich guys with more money then brains then yea go ahead and pay 33% over average market value. Chances are you will get a better car and less headaches but... I have a buddy (weathier then me for sure) that constantly buys CPO cars (mostly european) paying 25-33% over average market and there is no question that our cars go to the repair show the same amount and mine has twice as many miles. Yes I am a bit more savey consumer and DIY'er then him cars but his CPO need just as much work on regular as mine. His last CPO lost the tranmission (BMW) 60 days out of warrenty.

putting in my sirius receiver soon. i figured i'd pick up switched 12v so when the stereo is turned on so is the Sirius unit. What have others done and who has a pin out of the back of the CDR-210. thought I had a doucment on it but cannot find it now Shawn

Yea when my girlfriend picked up the part they told her she would be back for the entire tumbler assembly. So on here say their local dealer ONLY sells the full assembly now, while my had not problem with just the switch. I wonder what makes them feel the entire tumber fails more often as evidence on this board points to 90% ignition switch only. screw dealers.

count me in on the need for link too! I need those rails to keep my skull from smashing to the roll bar and inch of lower seat would help emencely, although I'd be concerned it may push things up an inch too. Shawn

...that cannot have larger rims. what is so unique to the suspension that year that larger rims dont' work? what actually occurs with larger rims, wear issues on tires? Shawn

I figured you would say that. since you had so many other things. Have we rulled out all vacumn issues including oil filler leaks and gas cap leaks. Any error codes at all from the system? That gas fill really makes me thing a venting, vacumn or cap issue for sure. I know this weekend when working on my 986 I was amazed at how senstative these vehicles are to leaks. Simply losening the oil filler cap sent the car in to crazy land. I would also recommend 02 sensors for such odd behavior on other cars (such as Vw) but we all know you would have error codes for such behavior. If the idle is rough after prolonged sitting (over night) that makes me think leaking fuel injectors but there seems to be very little on that failure trend on the P boards. Shawn

what's the status of your plugs. I cannot speak for Porsche but my Direct Ignition Saabs do the same when the plugs have lived their life in full. One day they are fine and then all of a sudden they can be hard to start. I had a fuel pump go bad and once we got that fixed the car it still didn't start well. My buddy pulled my plugs to check on them and they were bad but not horrible. New plugs solved the issue.

Fixed my lack of heat problem (here is the procedure) you may be surprised where it's REALLY coming from. My lack of heat problem had me finally pull the heater core and there was the surprise... EDIT: Gang I've had to make some changes to my webserver that has affected the link above. Since this has been one of the more active topics on my site I have attached a PDF of the page. The photos were poor to begin with so being so small on the PDF is not as big as a disadvantage as you may think. Regardless of the photos my uber super write up is al Author rsfeller Category Boxster (986) - Common Fixes and Repairs Submitted 11/19/2006 09:06 PM Updated 07/15/2016 07:10 AM

There is more to then just "doing what Porsche" says. There is nothing magically unique aboutr Porsches that prevents from using other products as long as they are phosphate free and of high quality. Not all of us want to buy rediculous P antifreeze at $50 a gallong when MB has been making photophate free antifreeze for years (and others)...but it is a good idea to flush and not mix different brands. They simply state this to make it easy on the consumer and sell more of their expensive services. If the consumer is confused just tell them to bring it to the experts and by their magically and secret product...right...

I need to establish an acceptable baseline as I continue to figure out my lack of heat concern: New thermostat My Duremetric software states all air max flaps (including temp mix) are in working order. I pulled the foot bulkhead to visually check the temp mix motor and arm. They are in fact able to move the full range from "lock to lock". System properly bleed out Yet I still don't have heat while under way (ECTS 90C) but I can get acceptable heat if I keep the car stationary and keep the revs up (2500) I get ECTS temps of 99-102C. What I'm looking for is someone to give me a baseline temp of their OUTLET TEMP under the following conditions. run car up to temp and let idle for 5 minutes set temp on AC to HI with FAN to HI Turn off AC (*) Take PST2/Durametric readings of ECTS Temp OUTLET Temp and PM or email with your results (carboncow@gmail.com) I get ECTS 90-91C and OUTLET TEMP of 47C. I need to know if you outlet temp is higher at the given ECTS temp. UPDATED: This was resolved and it's an interested one a full write with photos will soon follow but here is the short of it: Removed heater core to test for blockage, air or foam covering it. We'l foam was involved but the opposite. You know all that foam you get out your vent sometimes? It doesn't come from the filter is comes from the air mix flap doors. They are actually full of holes and covered in foam. If all the foam has dry rotted and blown away the doors are swiss cheese and allow cool air to bleed into the heat during the winter and the opposite in the summer! Never great heat or AC at highway speeds. So I cut open the top of the AC system with a dremel to remove the flap, recover it with foam covered in electrical tape and all is well. Heat is incredible. I took some bad photos with my camera phone but those who are curious or need to know will get the drift. In all my searching and travels NOBODY has ever mentioned this missing foam or door flaps, can I really be the first? I believe this may have been troubleshot by a tech before as I had subtle signs of entry. My guess is a tech may have figured out the issue but since their solution is a $1000+ air box assembly (you cannot just buy the flap anyways) and $1000 in labor to remove the dash, evaporator and airbox...my way rocks. 3 hours, $3.00 in foam and roll of electrical tape! Lastly when I was told the foam was coming from the air filter area I was somewhat skeptical becuase the foam has to travel through the evaporator and/or heater core to come out the vent...and the chunks were just to be big to get past those two items. Therefor I'm sure the condensor still does have foam slightly blocking it as some foam is missing from the air filter, but I removed the rest to play it safe. Believe me if you have foam coming out of your vents you have the air mix (temp value) flap foam falling apart and eventually your heating capacity will deminish. As the early 986 and 996 start to get older we'll be seeing this...and remember my write up...becuase I was the first!

Thanks fo the confirmation. We are really crossing our fingers for the easy and obvious "stuck open" thermostat. I highly recommend the Durametric software for the price because the guys now have "real values" for all the ACC system. Thus you can check the Temperature Mixing Flap movement from 0-100 percent of travel to determine it's "issues". Sounds like yours is obvious w/o the software! I just wanted to make sure there was in fact NOT a fluid based valve in the system, as I would then suspect that more then a "stuck open" thermostat. Therefor Bentley is just plain wrong because you wouldn't need to start the car and turn the ACC to "high" for any reason. Moving the mixing flap from cold to hot would have no affect on the flow of the coolant for draining and thermostat replacment! Lastly it can be confusing for a DIY or newbie considering that Porsche Tech Manual, PET and Bentley all call the Temperature Control Valve Flap Servo Gizmo something different in each reference. Toss ALLDATA into that and I'm sure there is a fourth therm!

getting ready to swap my thermostat tomorrow and reviewing Bentley. COOLING SYSTEM 19-5 at the top for Cooling system, draining filling and bleeding states: With ignition ON, turn heater fully ON to open heater valve This has me perplexed. Many cars do in fact have heater "valves" but the best I can tell from the schematic on 19-2 there is no heater "valve" in the system. Flow of the heater/cool in the system is mixed by the Temperature Mixing Flap to regulate the flow. I see nothing in the Porsche Shop Tech Manual nor Bentley that says anything about a heater valve nor how it fits into the system. Can someone explain to me if and where there is a heater valve on the 986 or if this is a misprint? If there is in fact a heater valve is it electronically controlled somehow? (again there is no mention of it in the Porsche Service Manual). If there is in fact a heater valve could it be closed manual (or opened) in a way to allow flow in the heater core and thus solve my lack of heat problem that is NOT caused by a heater mix servo issue or possibly NOT the thermostat?

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not sure solutions on DIY boards include "taking to the repair shop"! I don't doubt you had it done that cheap but that is one in a million...I"m quite sure there is NOBODY in the my area that would remotely know how to pull apart a porsche without breaking clips for let alone for $30. it's a two hour job minimum not including adjustments (if needed). where do you go that they charge $30 an hour for Porsche repairs...could be worth it for a few of us to drive several hundred miles at that cost!

We'll here is what I finally figured out. There was one reference to +rivet & +window on the 996 board and I found a photo to the so called rivet/stop here: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...l=rivet++window With help from that post I determined that a 996 window "bump stop" is already installed on the front regular at the bottom to prevent window travel being stopped by bottom of door. Therefor that parts in the bag are for a Boxster. The 996 window travel is farther for some reason. (maybe someone knows why). I really didn't see the need until after the regulator was installed. Looking at my photo at the bottom. I was still able to (barely) rivet in the hardware with the regulator installed. This is looking into the drivers door at the front regulator at the very bottom. The "bump stop" is on the back side rubber side up. If you have an early model 1997 986 like me I would not re-install the blue stopper in the rail. I was going to do this and determined that the cable does rub on it and can get caught under it while installing it, if done incorrectly. This solution was obviously an upgrade to accomodate an inexpensive solution for both the 996 and 986.

ok i may have found a fit for this gimzo that doesn't match anything on my current door. it looks like it could go on the window clamp but once again with no photo, TSB or exisiting reference it could go on two differnt ways... still looking for help here!

is it really needed (the tool) to pull the thermostat out of the housing? any write-ups floating around?

thanks. interesting but there is nothing similar on my early model 97. there is a blue plastic hump on the lower front rail but it doesn't match what is in the bag. anyone got a photo? EDIT: I just added two photos of what may be the need on mine...as I don't see such a piece of plastic on the new regulator. The design is 100% differnt then what is in the bag, so I don't have a clue how it attaches! See images...

replacing window regulator. everything is going great, easy to do...i'm sure the fun will come in the post install adjustments as I had air leaks that needed tweaked anyways. the new regulator assembly came with a small bag with two part and a rivet nail (see photo). i'm hoping these are for a 996 install as i see no part on the existing regulator that corresponds nor any reference in Bentley or other writeups (such as bombaydigital). i'll finish the install in the morning so I'd appreciate any input tonight before i finish up tomorrow. shawn

I won't trash talk here, I"ll just let the facts speak for themselves. I've seen a couple fellow Porsche owners on here from the Central Ohio region. I was going to order a window regular from the wonderful Sunset Imports but they are out of stock and my local dealer has one. It broke 100% yesterday so it needs fixed ASAP. I used Loren's Retail Price List to arm myself with what I should pay for this item (approx. $198.00 Porsche retail). I called MAG in Columbus and they told me $300!!! I instantly asked why Porsche recommended it at $198.00 and without and argument he said he could let it go at that price. You have to be kidding me! (FYI Sunset was $150). Moral of the story: 1. Be an informed consumer. Donate to renntech.org so you have access to the retail price list, it will save you money the first trip to a unscrupulous dealer. 2. Be an informed consumer 3. Consider all Porsche dealers untrustworthy until proven differently These were the same guys that told me they would charge me for 3 hours labor for an ignition switch I did in 10 minutes in the parking lot across the street. Shawn Ohio

I'll be curious to see some comments. I get the samein the low 2000 range, then gone. I know I have some light suspension issues (bushing, strut bearings) and posibly a common rear motor mount issue. Maybe the later will be the solution as I seem to notice the vibration about the same time some other rear motor mount issues arrised.

My poor car. 1997 with 60,000 driven by a little old lady for 8 years. I've had it for two months and everything is starting to rattle, squeak and creek in the suspension as I give it the drive it never had. Sounds like I may have a motor mount, strut bearings and others wanting to be relaced. But now I've got some serious "creeking" when the front end moves up and down over the road. You can even here it when I get out of the car now "creeeeeek", and I only way 190lbs...so it's not my fat ***! What are common "creek" locations on the 986, what bushings are hating life and will I be able to see this once I get it on a lift or are some of the culprits imposable to see their failure.

Plenty of owner drivers out here who dont want or have money to throw away man. Not sure many would admit to that though! Chill yer boots. Which auto module do you have? I'm thinking of getting one, which is best/easiest/cheapest? ha! tell me to chill my boots and then ask me a question, good one! you know exactly the purists i'm taking about... https://www.wilhelmy-it.de/sms/shop/index.p...cts&jump=23 not cheap but it rocks. the first time i had to pull my e-brake and put up the top at a light only to have it take to long...i knew i needed this!