rsfeller

Always hate to see a guys first visit to this site be due to a problem and not just general education! I think I was on this site for a month before I took delivery of my used 986 just getting as much pre-info possible. I am a DIY'r but many on this board are not and it can still allow you to make confident informed decisions. Regrettably we all make the mistake of taking cars and approving work before getting opinions from other experts. You expect them to be the expert, but it's not always true. One think that is ALWAYS true is they charge ridiculous amounts and their prices for parts will be silly too. Even if you find a good indie mechanic some will allow you bring in your own discount parts or find them for you cheaper through many great suppliers. I tell all newbies on this site that plan to do some of their own wrenching to go get the Bentley Repair Manual and invest in the Durametric Software (google it) that will allow you pull error codes and reset many common CEL (check engine light) issue. These can help you with minor needs or get good information from this site before you take it to your favorite mechanic. They call them "Porsche Stealer" around here not Dealers! There are great dealers out there but for most who don't have money to burn they are not always the best choice. My local shop (MAG in Columbus Ohio) was rude the first time I walked in and the tone was set for me. I was going to matain everything on this car short of pulling the engine myself. Lastly if you get anything good from this site ( and you will) please make a donation to this site to become a contributing member to help Loren (site owner) keep it going. You will find this and few other sites a wealth of knowledge. The different sites have their strong points but this one gets my vote for best due to quick answers, no drama, good technology and plenty of good photos and documentation. I almost forgot. Let us know where you live and find the PCA chapter in your area to recommend good independent shops who have the proper tools to save you money.

I agree with Loren...this would have told you how effectively the pump is working. If these guys didn't try this first get that car out of there and tell them to stuff the bill up their butt. They are bilking or incompetent.

Fuel pump is up front and in the tank. They always have a slight whine if you are close enough to hear them but I think most of us cannot hear ours unless we try to put an error to it. They seldom make any sounds prior to failure beyound normal operation. Often when an electric motor goes bad (or has an issue) the amperage goes up and that what blows a fuse. When cars (and more common in boats due to long wire runs) get old they often suffer from what is known as voltage drop which is a decay of power quality due to old connections and such. This causes issues with amperage going up and blowing fuses to. Your Porsche is newer and small so voltage drop is not an issue but I mention it for the theory. Vw (IMHO) suffer from voltage issues due to small wire gauge, long runs and bad connectors. I am no means an electric expert and many on this board are engineers that can explain better theory. I just know from 20 years of wrenching cars and boats what common failure trends can occur for all vehicles. I don't think we see an abnormal failure trend in fuel pump fuses on the Boxster so more common troubleshoot can prevail. When fuses go bad it's either due to poor connections, poor wiring (cuts and shorts can show their head when humidity and moisture are present) and bad motors. Maybe someone on this board can read the wiring schematic for your model year and determine what else may be on that circuit to consider. A good mechanic should have isolated this concern in a couple hours.

I'll be Dr. Obvious then...has anyone though of swapping the fuel pump? I'm not electrical genius but I do know from my job that electric (AC) motors tend to start blowing fuses before they go bad. Now in defense of the mechanics I have replaced 4 fuel pumps in my Saabs in about 10 years. Not once did they ever toss a fuse before the pump go. They just tend to work one day and not the next with no warning. Just what did they rule out in 10 hours of testing/troubleshooting!??!!

You make a great point on the Bosch ones. Obviously if it was superior it would not be such a common failure trend.

So any complaints from buyers? I would guess these are the ones being sold at other discount retailers if they are all such a great price.

Shawn: Do yourself a large favor and DO NOT buy a MAF on fleabay. There are countless stories on the message boards about people selling their defective MAF's as new on the auction site. It's not worth taking the chance, IMHO. I bought one for my '97 recently from AutohausAZ for about $160, with free shipping. I think it's as good a price as you might find. Regards, Maurice. Maurice, That is a good price and worth the assurance over a cheap low quality knock off. Is there real evidence of people selling used and claiming new on this issue or just unskilled speculation? I buy many parts online new and used (ebay too) and it is pretty obvious even with electronic parts if they are used. I have yet in 10 years and 10 cars bought anything claiming to be new and received a used part but I am quite sure this happens. I only ask as if it's been an observed scam with the MAFs or just nervous speculation of those who hate buying parts on ebay. Thanks again.

Usually we leave it off - it odes not seem to fit on the 997 shifter or the B&M installs. It's just a coin/debris guard anyway. Older cars never had them to begin with. It was there on my 1997 and the great write up I mention above never covered this removal need so I scratch my head for a minute or two. I guess we all find this out the hard way when we see the right cable start smacking it right away! I didn't see it as a coin/debris cover as much as something for the stock shifter to lay on when moving front and back. maybe to keep it snagging? I looked it up (as it clearly has a number on it) hoping to see what Porsche called it, but there was no description. I suggest you not throw it away. I noted it was superseded by party number SS 98642401003 and is retails for $182.49!!! Mine now hangs in my garage to make my friends laugh when they ask if my Porsche is expensive to maintain. I point to my little green piece of plastic and ask them to guess how much!

Some is selling MAF(s) on flea-bay for about $130 and this struck me as cheap from the last write-ups I read. I just looked up the Porsche suggested retail at $500+ and was wonder why Sunset sells them for (w/o bugging them). I may pick one up for safe keeping since I have yet to experience a MAF failure or AOS (yes I'm knocking on wood) on my 1997 with 70K miles. So I am curious if anyone is been paying this low (common) for a new on with any online vendors or flea-bay.

A blue pump of smoke is common for flat this engine from time to time. Many will state they get it after the car sitting for some time but I have found no rhyme or reason for my puffs from time to time. Most likely unrelated to your alternator issues. Mike covers alternator swap here: and blue smoke here: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement covered in his 2nd paragraph: "A quick puff of smoke occasionally on startup is not at all unusual nor is it a sign of the AOS failing as long as it is only at startup. It is a characteristic of the flat-six engine and the way oil sometimes drains. You should check inside the AOS tubing where it goes into the air intake for heavy oil in the tube before removing/replacing the AOS. A light coating in that tube is normal. "

So simply correcting the leak and topping off the manual trans fluid solved your shifting concerns?

Thanks. The reason I ask is I have a "stiff" shifter that will not return to N from a left or right motion. I have to help it over to the next gear. I suspect a bad cable or something with the linkage but have not had time to get the car up on a lift to diagnosis. You may know this but cable misadjustments make for poor shifting too. Did this leak and plug really have anything to do with helping your shift pattern? Were you low on fluids that would have made shifting difficult? You can see I am very curious to what I may find for my shifting issues. No leaks for me but am a bit curious on your issues.

If my memory serves me right I think the regulator issue I had from a frayed and stretched cable was about $200-250 from our site sponsor Sunset Imports. You can always check part needs once you know the problem by a free part list from Porsche. Then cross reference the suggested retail on this site with the database Loren maintains. Then contact Sunset to get parts below retail. Sometimes at considerable discounts if they stock it. You will spend $1000 at the dealer in my oppinion by the time they are done. This is very much a DIY job. Buy the Bentley book, follow comments and procedures on this site and others and get it done yourself. About $30 worth of tools to do the job. Were you having issues prior to the failure such as the top of the window not going all the way up or clearing the channel when you pulled on the door handle? Often early signs of a common failure of the cable regulator. Since you are new to a Boxster you get my standard rant. Buy the Bentley and buy the Durametric and save yourself many headaches and dollars with the great resource of this board. If you are NOT a DIY'r or have no desire to wrench a little bit take out the check book and go to the stealer. If you insist on taking it somewhere ask members on this board for a recommended indie shop or check with our local PCA for recommendations...and Indie can save you half in many situations.

How do you define irregular shifting and more effort?

CMCK, I guess I assume the vent from the side of the car and not the dash board! The AC is technically ONLY running when the clutch is engaged, otherwise the fan is just blowing around ambient (or heated) temps. Noises due to compressor failures would come from the engine compartment behind you. Therefor the if the whining can only be the AC compressor when the AC compressor clutch is engaged and from the rear with the engine. If you hear a sound when the AC clutch is NOT engaged then sound is most likely something else. I assumed you sound was coming from behind you but now you state up front. When you said vent I though you mean the air intake on the side of the car. If you hear a sound from the vents (random in nature) it would have to be the blower fan rubbing, blower motor failing or something lessor such as the air sensor on the passenger side. If you do not know what the later is please state so and we can help, they often make random but low annoying sounds. The blower motor and/or fan are very easy to get to and covered in my write up here: http://www.carboncow.net/index.php?option=...6&Itemid=51 Shawn Please clarify where all the

Regrettably you may not get to much help as your description is a bit vague at best, but I'll try to get the ball rolling and we can narrow down some options with some more accurate facts. Have you determined first that the sound is ONLY heard when the AC button is on an the AC clutch is engaging? If you here a sound under those conditions then yes you may have a failing AC pump clutch or pump internals. I am speaking from generic AC troubleshooting and do not know the failure trend of the boxster AC units but I seldom see clutch/bearing failures on modern AC pumps. MOst have in fact failed internally from my experience. If you have not determined that it's isolated to the engagement of the AC then there are many other system components that could make noise such as the water pump, idler and tension pulleys or rarely the power steering pump. If you have a failure of the pump I would be rushing back to the guy who did the fix (replacement) of the low side hose and/or condenser. He most likely (impossible to prove) did not put oil back into the system properly and thus killed the pump prematurely. Negligence of AC system repair by tech is impossible to prove but I have experienced in my early years of AC issues. That is why I do ALL my own AC work now.

I do not doubt your reason but never noted such a difference on my Audi or BMW!?!?

We'll for some of us this concern is 4-6mph and not acceptable for quality car builders. As a matter of fact Honda Ridgelines have a class action lawsuit on the matter for the same factor we experience. "Odometer: Due to a class action suit claiming that the odometers were reading high, the company extended the mileage warranty by 5 percent. (2006)" This has been well documented as a concern on this site and other by boxster owners.

My rears (original) look amost like yours. I feel the calipers do drag a bit but wear looks fairly even from what I can see. I'm going to rebuild the calipers and get new pads/rotors next spring after getting a few other projects done. Braking is fine but you do here the scraping of rust excessively at first after sitting a week. If I took a photo mine would look just like yours.

Ryan, I did stare at the ball (with out the slider on the new one) for about 30 minutes until I understood it was not an error too! I noted some of the higher priced ones do in fact have (or reuse) the square slider. Only us buying the "el cheapo" have the issue. I agree that most do the job and move on. As you may have read I had a "stiff" left/right motion with (what I believe) my cable (or linkage). I just test drove the car 10 minutes ago and it is no better or worse. If you feel it is a bit stiffer it is due to the fact the longer lower part decreases your leverage against he resistance of the system. I believe I feel it slightly too. It is notchier for sure, but I don't think that will bother me in the long run. I did like the feel on my first ride to dinner! I had trouble understanding the need for the allen bolts as my shifter fit perfect into the bushing, no play at all. I do now understand the need and you are correct that this front/back sliding would affect the right (what is called the shift cable) adjustment. I personally do not believe that a wrong adjustment makes the force any greater, regardless of what another poster said. But such an error would obviously change the adjustment of the linkage so you are either not going far enough or too far. I actually accidently wipped off my "white out" mark on the treads/cable and had to take a good guess on the left (blue slector cable). I had it almost correct and everything worked except the R (5 speed). I only had to move the cable head up 2 threads and life feels really good. RULE 1 AFTER DOING THIS JOB: Drive around for two days with your central console out for adjustment needs. RULE 2: Be ready to modify if you want to save $200 over the "big dog" shifters. RULE 3: Bring beer...you'll need it... PS. The wife looked at me nervously as we drove to dinner tonight with the sound of the shifting and such. I think it seemed dramatic to her with the cover off. I let her throw a few shifts when we went down the road and it didn't phase here that much. But keep in mind she is used to the drag and stiffness in our blue selector cable already.

The logic is correct on the AC comment, but you'll have to drive quite a bit! If you do not own a small fan, go buy one, run an extension cord...keep your windows cracked all night and keep as much air as you can circulating through the interior. Air flow is the most important aspect of good evaporation.

If those drain holes are plugged yes you will have much water on the floor under the seat. Depending on the amount of rain it could be very bad and many here have damaged their security computer beyond repair. The front would possibly feel as wet as the back due to osmotic creep in the carpet if it got wet enough. I have some drain hole issues on a Saab that require a check and clean every couple of months as the car sits outside.

Thanks RFM, that is the type of input I was looking for. I will be inspecting the brace/linkage/connectors this weekend.

Oh my!!! You have sealed up the drain holes that remove the water from the rear window area? Don't you think those drain holes were designed by Porsche for a reason? You have actually compounded your problem by doing this. Those holes are to channel water from the rear window area out of the car. If they become clogged you will have water under your seats! They are most likely clogged to begin with and you have made it worse, or maybe I am misunderstanding your post. You need to search this wonderful website. This issue has been covered again and again and all the data is here. Go search!

I am curious if more have issues and just don't comment! I did see (you) someone post about pressing out the bolt. Mine just falls out as it was just a quality stud with two nuts...so I think we got different units. I'm leaving my apart for a week while I tweak the cables. I never touched my pivot bolt, saw no reason nor any slop in the left/right movement. Mine is tight due to (most likely) a bad cable or linkage. Not sure why you are having issues with my website, maybe give it some more time and patience (like the shifter project!). It's hosted on a home server but I just check it and the photos are there and opening acceptably. Did you have to grind, cut or modify anything? Did your ball and socket arm that came left off of the shifter go back into a plastic square slider or was it an over sized ball that fit into the white arm?