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Dennis Nicholls
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Everything posted by Dennis Nicholls
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OK it's my fault. Cockpit error. I needed to get the old Prestone AF tester completely full for it to read correctly. It reads now to -37*C / -34* F, which corresponds to the 50%/50% mix. Invoice from the dealer for the pre-sale work says qty. 2 of 000-043-301-49 AF (3.79 L), which the Pelican site says is the right part number for a gallon of Porsche AF. Random web photo of Prestone tester. -
The dealer I bought my 986 from flushed/changed the coolant as part of prep for sale. However, I checked the concentration today with an ethylene glycol tester....reads -18 C/ 0 F. That corresponds to 1/3 AF and 2/3 water......IIUC Porsche wants 50%/50% mix. Coolant color is "red" so it should be genuine Porsche AF. What's the easiest way to add some straight AF to bring up the concentration? How much mixing takes place in that "overflow tank" in the trunk? Could I just drain some coolant and put straight AF into the tank - would it quickly mix with the existing coolant? Or do I have to drain the whole shebang and mix it up in a bucket? Algebra says my 2000 has 4.5 gallons capacity....existing mix has 1.5 gallons of AF....50%/50% mix would need 2.25 gallons....so I need to replace 1.136 gallons of existing mix with 1.136 gallons of straight AF.
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I'm not putting the ranch up.....just carefully watching. It's too cold here for me to do the work until springtime and right now I'm just learning about the car. That's why I'm being proactive at tearing the filters apart every few hundred miles. When I get some time I'll probably put it up on jackstands and pull the tranny/clutch/flywheel to see what's the story. Notice I said "most likely" as it's still not known to a certainty. I know you can't even order parts from LN unless you know which one you need.
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I did my first cut-open-filter analysis today, at only 600 miles since a dealer oil change a few miles before my purchase. Just a few non-metallic bits which broke up when squeezed between fingers. There was one canine-tooth shaped bit of non-ferrous metal that was about 2mm long and 1mm wide. Since I doubt the dealer cleaned the inside of the plastic case some of this stuff may have been around for some time. I'm doing a few oil filter changes just to get a baseline on what my engine's doing at 51K miles. Filters are cheap. In other positive news my engine serial number is M96/2265Y13700. This is "most likely" a dual row IMSB engine with that "Y" in the code, although several single row IMSBs are supposed to have gotten into that sequence.
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Really dirty air filter element
Dennis Nicholls replied to Dennis Nicholls's topic in 986 Series (Boxster, Boxster S)
My car sat on the dealer's lot for much of the past two years....maybe some clueless groundskeepers with leaf blowers blew crud into the intake. I used a Mann C2558/5 filter, which is $15 at RockAuto. Looks just like the genuine Porsche filter, perhaps Mann is OEM. Both stamped made in Austria. The Boxster air filter box is unlike any other car's that I've owned. Normally the bottom of the box is the upstream (dirty) side. On the Boxster the bottom of the box is the downstream (clean) side, and when you slide out the dirty filter any debris on top gets scraped off and falls down into the bottom of the box. -
I just changed out the air filter element on my car. I was shocked to find a layer of ground up leaves on top of it (black foam side), and after I got the old filter out and turned it over a huge amount of fine dirt was expelled. My vacuum cleaner fortunately was able to get all the stuff out of the lower (downstream) chamber. This filter was a genuine Porsche part with date code of 03-06-11 (presumably European date 3 June 2011), so the filter had been changed in the last couple of years. CarFax says air filter changed 11 July 2011, mileage 48,708. The mileage is now at 51,580. How in the heck did the filter element get so dirty/full of debris in 3K miles? Is this typical for the Boxster design, with the air intake exposed through the car body at the side?
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The problem with using a generic USB cable is length. From wiki: I can't use a cable as short as 5 meters.
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Tech from Durametric says I should be good to go with a Win 7 desktop since .NET revisions aren't an issue with Win 7. I even measured from my garage to my office and the 50' extension cable is long enough....I use a desktop in my office. Much easier updating/reliability than a laptop.
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The dealer had sent out my 2000 986 for rear window replacement. The stitching looks good but the window leaks when washing the car. I don't see any sealant applied around the stiches. Maurice suggests using Cochlan's [sic] Water Based Seam Seal around the stitching (I think it's spelled Coghlan's). https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/havingareplacementplasticwindowsewnin This stuff is available at camping stores and the like. Do you apply this to the stitching on the outside or the inside? Access to the inside on a Boxster is difficult.
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Hmm....not much selection in shops here in Boise. The dealer has already made three mistakes in servicing my car. The PPI mechanic was recommended. The local Porsche club is run out of the dealer's facility so I don't know if I'd get much unbiased references there to local independents. Sadly the real go-to guy in Boise retired last summer. The dealer cleared the codes gratis when they cut/programmed a second ignition key for me last Friday, but the airbag warning light came back a day later. I'm trying to purchase a Durametric set but their website says my PC is loaded with "too new" versions of software like .NET. I need to call them and see if an update is in progress or if I need to hit craigslist for some old XP laptop.
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My car is a 2000 986 base Boxster. My PPI turned up a couple of codes for airbag and alarm.... Only one has me baffled as it doesn't show up in any of the searches I've done. To quote the report from the PPI mechanic: "Codes for air bag system......0032 Defrost Button Right Side" I can't find any reference to code 0032 in airbag code lists. Two weeks ago when the PPI mechanic gave me the report he made some comment about the rear window defrost circuit being controlled by the airbag module. Since I don't have a hardtop (or a retrofit glass window top) the schematics only show a few components related to the rear window defrost on my car: 1) Dash "button" switch for outside mirrors and rear window defrost 2) Relay for outside mirrors and rear window defrost circuit 3) Plug behind driver's seat for connecting hardtop to defrost circuit 4) Fuse D2 in footwell fuse panel (30A checks good with ohmmeter) Anyone seen this code before?
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I spoke too soon about the trim being attached...a small flap is now loose at the right hand side next to where the leather begins. Right now I taped it back with electrical tape so that I wouldn't break it off while driving. I suppressed the urge to go all "Red Green Show" on it with duct tape. So what kind of glue would be appropriate to glue this flap of veneer back into position? Maybe some exterior grade "liquid nails"?
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I presume Huddersfield is in the UK so "hood" refers to the convertible top, not to the front "boot" which is "hood" in US speak. Two peoples separated by a common language.
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I have a 2000 base 986, which has an option X30 "dark rootwood steering wheel". It's a regular 4 spoke wheel with grey leather at the sides and dark wood trim veneer at top and bottom. The car only has 51K miles but the wood trim at the top is cracking into chunks. Right now the chunks are all still firmly attached but it's starting to be unsightly. Are there any kits for an owner to self-restore this trim? Or is this something where I have to send it out to a steering wheel shop? An alternative would be to recover the offending wood trim with leather, perhaps in a contrasting color. Another alternative would be to replace the steering wheel. People appear to replace the 4 spoke wheels with the 3 spoke wheels as an upgrade, so there are generally a few nice 4 spokes offered on eBay and the like. There's a nice grey all leather one there now for $350 with airbag - I wonder what he'd take for just the wheel. Any suggestions for me?
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CEL P0302 after maintenance
Dennis Nicholls replied to bglz42's topic in 986 Series (Boxster, Boxster S)
Please post exactly what brand and model number generic OBD-II scan tool you used. Older models had many bugs in them. I had a Innova 3100, purchased circa 1999, that could not even "connect" with my 1996 Miata. In 2012 I purchased an Innova 3030 which had no problem reading the codes and monitor status of said Miata. Unfortunately Innova "recycles" model numbers and IIUC what's being sold now as a model 3100 is different from the unit I bought a decade plus ago. So maybe also please post the YEAR in which you bought said generic reader. -
I want to thank Henry, Jeff/toolpants, Terek, the two Steves, and all for my education in Boxster maintenance today. I've owned a series of sportscars and find that working on cars is highly therapeutic, so I was glad to find out that you could work on these furglisher krautischer cars. I was sorry to find out that the Innova 3100 OBD-II scanner couldn't pull codes from Jeff's Boxster. After getting home, I now realize that I should have tried other's cars to see if this was a general problem.