Jinster

I have done the water pump twice myself. It wasn't too hard the first time and was really easy the second time around. Other than draining the coolant initially, the rest can be done while half sitting in the car or next to the car.

There are some posts on this forum about doing the coolant tank from within the trunk rather than underneath. I can't remember where though so you will need to do a search. I think this would make a substantial difference to the comfort and ease of doing the procedure.

I got my local mechanic to do the tank because I didn't want to approach it from below the car, and I hadn't found those tutorials on how it can approached successfully from just the trunk at that stage. The mechanic charged me $170 for labour of replacing the tank. I supplied the tank. Can't complain, I think.

H, and anyone else who might be watching this thread, the inductance multimeter I ordered on eBay from HK is apparently lost in transit. I am being refunded and have placed an order from another seller.

My current multimeter doesn't measure inductance. I figure I should wait until the new meter arrives instead of pulling out the ICV twice, since there is no particular hurry, other than the curiosity that is killing me... :-)

Would one be able to actuate the ICV using a Durametric or must it be PST2?

This could well have been posted before. But just quickly, if anyone knows this. My dash vents (two on the corners and two the middles) don't seem to shut off when I deactivate the "vent" icon on the air con control console.

Windscreen vents and under console vents are working as they should.

So, are there 3 or 4 separate motors governing the shutting/opening of the dash vents, or is it one big motor/valve somewhere?

I am thinking, if it's 3 or 4 separate ones, they can't have all failed. So the problem is with the controller or something else. If it's one big motor, maybe that's the problem.

Thanks.

I believe the base plates on which the headlights are mounted have adjustable "thumb screws", too. I would imagine this would allow you to adjust the aim of the entire headlight up or down. But I have never tried. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

The valve has arrived. Now waiting for my new multimeter that measures inductance.

Sorry, can you explain what you mean by "intermix" please?

Ahsai, indeed, the price is a bit better there for the genuine article.

But I am so intrigued now, I have just bought the Kia one for $25. :rolleyes: I am going to make this a little project of mine and compare both units in hand and see what I find.

Thanks for the warning Binger. I will make sure I test out the Kia unit with a multimeter and see what resistance values I get. It's hard to imagine that with both units looking almost identical, they would've used a completely different solenoid inside such that they require drastically different currents or PWM to operate. I will try to resist the temptation to just put it in my car without any thorough testing.

As I now understand it, with 3 pin ICVs, the middle pin should be 12V. And each end should be grounded at set a frequency/inverted frequency by PWM. That way, the solenoid is "pushed" and "pulled" at the same time to either shut or open, or being simultaneously "pulled/pushed" in one direction to keep neutral, or somewhere in between by degrees of variations of the PWM...

If only I have some sort of PWM generator to test these valves...

Aha! That's the sort of ideas I was hoping to hear.

Measuring the resistance, a good idea.

I was just going to apply 12V and see what happens to either valve, whether the movements and amount of opening are the same...

Hmmm... well spotted! Could this, then, be the only difference? And that's how Bosch legitimizes the different part numbers, different price points and prevent part substitution by "enthusiasts"? I mean, the gig would be up quickly if the two were to just fit interchangeably easily....

When I last cleaned my throttle body, I noticed there's a small crack on the plastic casing of my idle control valve. I am unsure if this has been causing any problems, but I have been wanting to replace it for a while.

eBay has Boxster idle control valves around the $300 mark. And I always thought it too expensive for such a simple part.

Then I found this:

I cannot, tell if there are any differences between this and our idle control valve. On the surface at least, they look exactly the same. Here is a Boxster one for comparison.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSCH-OEM-Fuel-Injection-Idle-Air-Control-Valve-0280140572-/111102734603?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ABoxster&hash=item19de3d310b&vxp=mtr

I wonder if the whole thing is just an exercise in profit.

In terms of what's inside: The valve is normally half open. Apply a voltage one way, it closes. Apply another way, it fully opens. So how can there be that much difference inside the Kia and Porsche idle valves inside to justify the price increase? - my thinking, there isn't any difference.

I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience on any car with "substituting" idle control valves.

There are spare bulbs installed in the dash, you can just use one of those. For example, my car doesn't have traction control but there is a bulb in that indicator.

Hi guys. I just changed the cabin air filter. With it removed, I saw what appears to be a flap door type of mechanism under where the filter goes. Logically, I thought this door is meant to shut when I switch my air con to "recirculate". But it never moved.

I have attached a photo of it. In the photo, you see the seat where the filter would normally sit, and the opening to the right with the flap door open. Am I right that this door should move to shut when recirculating cabin air? So mine is broken? Thanks.

I just did the OBD with stalk hack today. The instructions by Yoseif and Pelicanparts are great. But just thought I should post a pic, showing that you can add the stalk as an individual stalk extremely easily (just two bolts), rather than swapping over the whole indicator assembly. This meant that there is no need to remove the steering wheel and airbag; makes the swap a very easy process.

The photo shows the new stalk grafted onto the original indicator assembly. In the middle of the photo is one of the two bolts that holds the stalk to the assembly. The bracket that holds this stalk is present in all assemblies, even those without the stalk, that's why this method works.

Your picture is tiny.....

No. I think there is a wobble in my headlight socket - so the entire headlight assembly gets pushed on to it, normally the plug/socket would mate tightly, mine is wobbly. I think that's why my car "short circuits" when I turn on the headlight, occasionally.

Hi. I have been having this issue lately, was wondering if anyone can shed some light please:

1. The car is sometimes very difficult to start - key needs to be turned for 10 seconds sometimes

2. Sometimes when it starts, the idle fluctuates like a sine wave - initially between 1200rpm and 100rpm, then eventually settles down to normal idle after around 10 seconds

3. The car often stalls during this period of idle fluctuation if the rpm drops too low

4. If I artificially keep the idle up by pressing the accelerator pedal for a minute or so, the car would stall anyway after I take my foot off

5. Once the idle normalises after start-up, the car drives without any problem, no further idle problems, til next start-up

OBD2 pulls no codes.

I have already washed out the throttle body and ICV valve. ICV in particular works fine (opens and closes swiftly) when hooked up to 9V battery.

The fuel pump and filter were both replaced 6 months ago.

Where should I look at next?

For future reference, this problem turned out to be a loose headlight connector.

I have been experiencing a stranger phenomenon.

If the ignition is on, and I go to turn on the headlights, the entire dash would switch off (indicator needles fall, clock resets, current mileage resets) for a brief second, and switch itself back on.

This only happens if the ignition is already on. It can't be re-produced if:

1. this has already happened once during this particular "ignition on" period - i.e switching the headlight off and on won't reset things again if it's already happened once during this one ignition on period

2. turning the headlight to on first, and then starting the car, avoids this problem

The battery is a good brand and only 6 months old. and the ignition switch was replaced last year.

Any thoughts?

For the iPhone, I use GoPoint's GL-1 cable & GoLink app. Reads standard OBD2 data & supposedly throws up codes (haven't had any yet!). They also make CarBonga app which checks for TSB & recalls on your car.

There is an iPhone program - Dash Command, or something like that. But iPhone would only let you pair up a Wifi OBD2 reader - slightly more expensive than the bluetooth ones.

Hello All,

I have a 2000 Boxster S with Tip. Have had it from new. I followed rsfeller's instructions on how to fix the foam out of vents issue and re-doing the cold/hot air mixer flap. Thanks to rsfeller for a great writeup on that.

I did the repair about a year ago and it worked fine. As of late, however, I have foam pieces coming out of the vents again. I'm thinking it is coming from the two other flaps directing the air to window/dash/footwell. These flaps are located further into the HVAC box when accessing it from the heater core position as described by rsfeller. At the time, I did not try to get to them or to get them out but it looked, shall we say, not easy. Has anyone come up with a way to do a similar fix for those flaps?

Thanks in advance.

So that's what's been happening to my car. I just thought a piece of foam somehow made it's way into the HVAC system when I was driving. :-)

Just to bring this to some sort of conclusion. I have asked a parts dealer to look into this. And 2 months later, they haven't received any pricing details on this either as far as I can get out of them. So I think this is now officially pie in the sky.

Yeah, thanks guys. I have an old set of lights somewhere. I will plug those in one by one and see whether problem is the light or the wiring.

I have had a few drivers coming up to me at traffic lights telling me my rear running lights aren't working at night. So I have been looking at the rear lights every time I start the car. And they always work. Then one day, I looked in a reflection of my car as I was driving, and found that the rear lights turn themselves off if I depressed the brake for more than 1 sec (the brake lights work fine, btw). Very occasionally, they would come back with further brake pedal presses, most of the time, they just stayed off (not really off, just really really dim, actually) until I reset the lights by turning the light switch off and on again. And then they would go off again soon as I pressed the brakes.

Anyone know what might be going on?

Ok. I found a manufacturer's link

http://www.hwautolamp.com/product/98260.html

I have sent a message, but got no reply. They probably don't deal directly with users. Anyone know a good Porsche parts seller who might be able to send an enquiry?