Glyn

Shihman, If the repair on the oil tube is sound why bother replacing it - leave it as it is and concentrate on the AOS. The AOS is the job you really need to do. The wheel bolts - some numpty obviously overtightened them, Just use a torque wrench or a nice long handled bar to add a bit of torque to the normal bolts. The wheel locking bolt is unlikely to be damaged but the key could be, If this one has been overtightened then either a impact air gun or a large T bar is needed to get it to turn. Again dont worry too much at this moment in time about removing the wheel - the AOS can be changed without removing the wheel (all the wheel removal will do is add more light. Prioritise - AOS Get under the car once the car is up on domestic car ramps (The cheap drive up ones for home use) stick a bit of carpet on the floor underneath the engine and have a good look at the job, get the old AOS off and fit the new - then worry about the J tube and Oil tube. The J tube will be easy, the repaired oil tube - just keep it, assemble the whole lot then at your leisure take it to a garage for an air gun bolt removal or if you have a breakdown service they will come out and they will get the bolts off. Take a deep breath - and a beer - you are putting yourself under pressure - There is nothing that cant be fixed its just a car and slow methodical work will see you through this job. Glyn

Replace the motor with a 2.5 unless you want to spend a great deal more with all the ancillary bits to make it go - You will also have a modified car which will up the insurrance. You will need to upgrade the brakes too. A 2.5 will drop straight in and should be no less reliable than any other engine. Have you had it confirmed the IMS has failed as your mail says RMS - which is only a seal therefore i think you mean IMS (intermediate shaft - which totaly fooks the engine

I too have two keys with one dead, both worked when i bought the car, i locked one in the safe at home, when put away it worked - battery did not die, however some months later the remote locking did not respond to the key. I know about the 256 and 1024 presses thing - can anyone clarify - If i have unlocked the car with one key over 1024 times does that automatically mean the spare key will now be out of sync and therefore not work. Dont mind getting a replacement as a spare but if i simply put it away for 12 months and then when needed its out of sync then what is the point in having a spare remote?

Shihman, just use vaseline to lubricate the parts - it wont cause any issues and you dont want to be purchasing special rubber grease (Blue grease as known in the UK) it is very expensive and for one job its a waste of money. If you do keep your car, then in the future at some point get yourself the Durametric software - its a brilliant piece of kit and can do most of what the Porsche testers do - sure, It can't code keys for obvious reasons but the software is updated what seems monthly and a free download - you just purchase the hardware and thats it for life. Your profile doesnt say whereabouts you are from, Im right in the middle of the UK, If you add the area you are from other members on the forum may be very close by - a sort of mutual aid. Have a great time fitting the AOS - the job is fiddly but you can use car ramps to raise the rear to get underneath. Glyn

Well done Shihman - from your rather apprehensive start you had the balls to get on with the job, The oil and gunge around your throttle housing confirm the AOS has had its day so get that changed. Tape the split over for the time being and start up the car - your tickover should now be steady and once you change the AOS no more oil will get to the throttle body so it will be years before the deposits build up again. Maurice has certainly provided you with excellent advice, schematics and photos - plus the additional support and encouragement - this is what these forums are about, and despite whatever we all like to think we know about the Boxster there is always someone with more experience in a particular area - in short we all seek help or ideas from time to time. enjoy the car (hope you keep it) and give yourself a big pat on the back for getting stuck in.

Nice diagrams from 1schoir there to help you Shihman. Just dont be afraid of doing the work, I like the tip about using the digital camera too so you have a refference if you get stuck - to be honest the job sounds daunting - but if you have a basic tool kit and are able to fit a plug on an appliance then you can do this job. Have a good long look at the area of work and take those photos, work cleanly and methodically - think about everything you are doing, it is a fiddly job because of access - leaning under the clamshell etc but a couple of bed sheets over the rear wings (think you call the wings something different over there - the panels with the rear lights in it, had to return to edit it as its the fender! _ Im learning) to prevent any scratching of the paintwork as you move about. Now when the job is done start her up and be impressed with your work - no more fluctuating idle, have a beer and reflect in your new skills - you have two hands like all of us so you can do the job - and also be impressed at how much you have saved from not taking it into the dealer - you will find many jobs can be done at home and this makes ownership costs very affordable. You will aslo find many enthusiasts on this forum will come to the rescue should anything go wrong or is genuinly beyond your confidence levels if they are fairly close to where you live. This forum is a terrific forum but also check out Boxa.net - which is well supported and also has some very knowledgable enthusiasts - though you do need to be a little thick skinned due to the humour. All the best in getting the job done and let us know when youve done it

It could be either - the sensor could be "Tired" but then again it could be perfect and is reporting what it finds, I suspect the sensor is fine as the problems you describe do indicate a weak mixture. Not sure which tester was used to get the fault codes - I have the Durametric and it reports an oxygen sensor that is slow to respond (as it gets older) as "Tired" some time later it reports a fault code - which sort of indicates the sensor has finaly had it. Take all the air trunking pipework from the air cleaner to the throttle body out - check it for splits - check the rubber seals and clips, make sure there can be no air entering the throttle body that has bypassed the MAF (MAF is next to air filter) Whilst the air trunking is out of the car clean the throttle body - and pay attention to the butterfly flap where it meets the throttle stop position - gum in this are can leave the throttle butterfly open just a little - the gum also is sticky so the throttle closes- the e-gas system maintains the revs but needs to open the butterly to do this - if its sticky the throttle opens more than it needs to as it breaks away from the stickyness - the revs rise too far then the throttle closes itself again - and so it repeats. Dont worry about throttle cleaner or propriety stuff - you will find the body will clean perfectly well with brake fluid - but dont spill any on paintwork - it will lift the paint. You have a nice days work ahead - enjoy it and the satisfaction when you have done the job will be as exhillarating as driving the car. Let us know how you get on

The Maf is well away from the AOS tube so the AOS cannot interfere with it so i would discount that, I also think you mean your revs are 900 to 2000. Not sure on your model year if you have the e-gas or cable operated throttle If e-gas check all the rubber pipework and clips that feed the air from the filter to the throttle body - if there is a leak this will cause the erratic revs at idle on a cold start - but dissapears once warm (This makes a weak mixture and the oxygen sensors detect this then richen the mixture then back off again as the MAF should be doing some of this work and if air is getting in upstream of the maf it wont be able to account for the volume of air or indeed estimate the mixture requirement) If cable opperated throttle then clean the throttle body and the idle speed control valve - this should settle the revs down Do let us know how you get on - and remind us all just what a pig of a job fitting the AOS is (very fiddly)

Ah ha - You have now explained a little further, It doesnt matter how long you park you still get the smoke - I guess it could be the AOS as oil accumulated in the J/Y tube could be being sucked in on start up. Is it smoking everytime you start - and if so is it smoking all the time whilst its running - I just dont understand how the AOS could not smoke during normal running then dump oil in the Y/J tube once switched off. My original post regarding the incline - It is typical of people to think they have an issue when they get a cloud of smoke on start up if they are not aware of the characteristic of the engine design. You have now confirmed you park on a flat surface and always have done so the incline theory would not apply. If the car is running fine in all other aspects then I would agree the AOS is the faulty part, sorry if my first post caused concerns - i read your problem and from the information available I didnt want you to panic or spend money having something fixed that didnt need it - all too often people go on holiday (Vacation in your terms) in their car - get this smoke problem and assume this is a fault when all it is is the incline issue

I think the problem remains- I dont believe that moisture in the tank is causing this as it would also be apparent when the car is warmed up. You have a problem with a misfire and that problem will cost you dearly if you ignore it and hey presto magic bottles of formula will not sort the problem out, get the fault codes read. If your problem was normal and magic bottles corrected it then we would all need the bottle too - and we dont

I dont think the problem you describe is your AOS. The AOS allows air and oil/combustion fumes to be fed to the throttle body intake to be burned and shoved out via the exhaust- You describe first starting - AOS will not produce the smoke from a cold start, a failed AOS is most significant once the engine is up to operating temperature as the oil mist in the engine increases with temperature the AOS goes about its work in seperating the oil mist from by passed combustion gasses - On a cold start there is no mist and the AOS cannot feed oil directly from the sump - like a pump. Had you parked your car in a different position from your normal parking? _ I say this because the horizontally opposed engine is suseptable to oil getting into the cylinders after it has been parked on an incline (side to side - not front to back) Three cylinders point to the left and three to the right, when you park on a side to side incline the oil as it returns from high in the engine drips back to the sump but some drips into the cylinder bores behind the piston, once the engine cools the pistons return to their normal slightly oval shape - this oval shape allows accumulated oil to seep past the oil control scavenge ring and the piston rings - which in turn burns on cold start up. The reason for the oval shape of a piston is to allow for expansion of the alloy when it is heated - pistons are attached to the connecting rod by the small end - the forces exerted on the piston at these points are considerable so more metal is needed to do the job,(more metal=more expansion) much more metal than around the sides of the piston - hence the ovalness - once hot the piston expands to a round shape which provides a good seal

The current draw of the orientation lights could not flatten the battery on their own in 6 months, however they do stay on for hours after use of the car, never quite pinned mine down to a time but it is certainly around 2 to 3 hours after getting out of the car. Get a DC clamp meter check to confirm the draw from the battery- this should not exceed 40 milliamps, if its greater than this then start pulling fuses to determine which circuit is drawing current, If its below 40 then the problem is your battery

Despite what you read these cars are pretty bullet proof. They do have their own little issues but you need to be very unlucky to get a lemon. If you drive the car always fearing what could happen you will never enjoy the car - just go out there drive it and have fun, If a problem develops most of the issues can be answered here or other similar forums as there are some very experienced people that log on to these forums- most will try to help and despite fears that the Porsche is not a DIY car remember it is just a car and most jobs are within the capacity of a reasonable home DIYr or mechanic. OPCs will always tell you to leave it to them and they will put the fear of God into you if you tell them you have done something yourself - but its just a car, brakes and disks are as easy as any other car, so is a service - a doddle. Get yourself a Durametric as this will provide you with any fault codes the onboard computer has detected - then post the codes here to have someone tell you what the code means. You will hear of MAF issues - this is simply two screws and an electrical connector to swap it out for a new part. Dont worry about potential issues - wait to see if they become real. I am now on my second Boxster - the first one a 97 2.5 i had for 5 years and never ever let me down, no dramatics - only needed to change a MAF - once The second and current car a 2002 3.2 - had to swap a rear bearing - that was DIY and an easy job, a few niggly little faults and the air oil seperator decided to let go when i went to Germany to take it on the Nurburgring, so i didnt get on the track and had to leave it in Germany with Porsch for repair - however if the car was at home the AOS is a easy DIY. I think you are worrying far too much

Your locks are locking and unlocking if it works from the inside. This is likely to be the mechanical link from the door handle to the lock assembly and all you need to do to confirm this is remove the door cards - so you can have a peek inside. The door handle inside has a metal rod which engages with the locking mechanism - this rod has what looks like a thread on it - this is not for something to screw up but is the way it engages with the lock. The lock has a plastic sleeve - this sleeve is like a tube but it is cut down the middle to form a "C" shape in which the metal rod simply pushes, there is a plastic sliding sleeve over the C shaped part that simply slides towards the door handle to lock the shaft. Over time this sliding sleeve can move and it allows the metal shaft to seperate from the locking mechanism - it can also be achieved by pulling the door handle very quickly. Removing the door card and peering to the area between the door lock and the door handle you will see these two parts - clearly yours have seperated, once you have reconnected this once you will be able to do it next time without looking - just feeling for the parts is all that is needed. The fact the inside handles opperate the doors proves the locks are OK, your problem is without doubt this linkage

Yes it is a problem and its not normal for a misfire - You need the fault code, however an air leak in the induction will give a very lean mixture and this can cause a misfire, a fault MAF will do the same as this measures air temperature and flow rate to calculate the mixture. There is also an engine temperature sensor which sends a signal to the management system to assist the calculation of mixture ratio. I believe the misfire to be a weak mixture but damp and other factors could be the cause - you really need the code

Why use a ball joint press. Loosen the nut, take it off to clean the threads (or untill you can turn the nut by hand) then screw on by hand, use a wooden or metal bar to apply pressure away from the joint then a quick hit with the hammer on the arm that holds the joint - It wil snap apart without any damage. Ive never used a ball joint press -------ever and ive not damaged threads or lubrication boots either - just a bit of care

The car idling without a driver is also illegal in UK - called "Quitting" However no one is interested in this law and i see very regularly in cold weather those that stop at a shop to get a paper in the morning get out of their car and leave it idling whilst they make their purchase - must say if i was into car theft this is the way i would do it, even those with expensive motors do this

Blue2000s has hit the nail on the head - All manufactures reccommend start and drive without the need to warm up as this improves MPG and controlls emissions, however from the perspective of what is good for the engine and wear it is best to warm the engine a little to get the oil around everywhere before load is put on the engine. Emissions are big business and we are all told about the impending doom of global warming - Personally I think we need to increse the emissions so we can speed up global warming - then we wont have to worry about cold starts and i can have the roof down everyday

Sounds very much like the Air Oil seperator. Does the squeel go away on opening the throttle, returns when allowed to idle. I agree with the belt removed you have eliminated the pullys, one other thing to check - spark plugs are tight, It has been known for a loose plug to emmit a squeel as compression gasses squeeze by the loose plug

Before you do anything - stop panicking. This could be either the battery or the alternator - battery is cheapest so thats the first thing to test. Any tyre/battery dealer will have a heavy duty discharge tester for the battery - this will identify if the battery has issues - dead cells etc. The alternator is a well known issue and can flatten a good battery - but a simple volymeter over the battery terminals will prove if charge is being delivered to the battery - with a few revs a meter should read about 14 to 16 volts. Both jobs are easy to do and neither is going to cost an arm and a leg

Common problem for this is the air bag spring unit, All power and earth cables are routed via the spring unit, internally this fails and bingo - the horn stops once the ignition is on, turn off the ignition and the earthing routes another way to complete the circuit. You could try simply disconnecting the cables inside the wheel hub to check for a poor earth and the two multi conectors under the shroud- This rectified my fault- however 6 months later the fault appeared again and at the same time i got the airbag fault- replaced the spring unit and all is now fault free

Almost certainly a weak mixture, all the symptoms you describe fit the bill. Engine temperature sensor fault? MAF is possible as intake air temperature is monitored by MAF Poor sealing gasket - have you had the throttle body off to clean out?

The car struggles to freely rev until over 3000rpm A slight popping? I would suspect that a few miles of hard driving would clear any residual oil, once over 3000rpm the car runs fine - so this excludes plugs being fowled and the new AOS will be preventing more oil contamination. The popping sound - suspect this will be on the overrun and indicative of a weak mixture- mixture is controlled by MAF. The time taken to remove the electrical plug from the MAF and test the car is substantially lower than the removal of the throttle body - its a simple test, sure - if the disconnection makes no difference then go for the throttle body Well thats the logic of my thinking

The new problem you describe sounds very much like the MAF, Try disconnecting the electrical plug on the MAF, then go for a run. The engine management system will revert to its limited operation strategy (It will guess the air/fuel ratio) The engine management system "Guess" will be better than the faulty reading from a knackered MAF - therefore the car will run better - If this is the case then simply replace the MAF

If its the AOS and it certainly sounds like it then there will be no other problems, the smoke would have been oil burning, just a tad of oil will produce a large amount of smoke. You were able to restart the engine so no other damage is likely. You read these forums and you will hear about "Hydrolock" this condition is when a large amount of a liquid (in this case oil) enters the cylinder and the piston rises to compress it - liquids cannot compress so the effect is like an engine siezure only it locks so quickly that it bends the con rod or breaks the piston. Although i read on these forums that a failed AOS could cause this condition i have never come accros a single case, the J or Y tube that links the AOS to the induction system is a small pipe and i doubt it could carry enough oil to be able to create that condition given the position of the AOS to the sump. The AOS handles oil mist, it feeds combustion gasses into the induction whilst doing its best to stop the oil mist making it through, when the diaphram valve inside the AOS fails it allows this mist to be inducted - hence the smoke. If the car starts and sounds fine let it warm up, check the water temperature, if there is a water issue getting into the cylinders you will notice an excessive water temperature (it will boil up), to check if the head gasket has gone remove the water cap and start the engine, air bubles will be produced and the pressure build up from compression will cause the water to overflow the resovoir like a volcano. If you have none of these issues then simply replace the AOS, a tedious job and will take a few hours but the fitted price by Porsche is about 10 times the cost of the part.