devin357

Our 986's are 5 years older now; my 2000S has 62,000 miles on the clock and has been shifting poorly for some time. It had second gear popouts when cold, notchy shifts everywhere else. I changed the motor mount to some effect, but the mount wasn't completely degraded like some of that age, so the difference wasn't huge. I then changed the transmission fluid since it was 15 years old, but I didn't notice any difference in the shifting. I finally decided to upgrade to the 997 shifter and man, it shifts better than it did when I bought it with 8000 miles on it. UPGRADE TO THE 997 SHIFTER IF YOU HAVE A 986! That is all...

You'll be glad you replaced it; mine crapped out at 58,000 miles. It's a dual-row, 2000 S. If it goes out completely and trashes the motor, your car is basically a boat anchor at that point.

Just a "heads up". My dual row IMS failed at 58,000 miles. If I had the transmission off for whatever reason I'd certainly upgrade the IMS. It's just not worth the gamble. Luckily, I replaced mine just before catastrophic failure, but I still don't know how much damage was done from the tiny bits of metal that flaked off the bearings before I caught it.

Thanks, txhokie4life, I just did my 6th oil change and installed LN Engineering's Spin-On-Filter Adapter; no more bypassing of oil. No particles found on the mag plug and nothing in the filter. I think I'll do one more change in a couple hundred miles and then declare victory. The thing is either going to grenade on me or not. I think I've done all I can.

Can you post a pic? I have a 2000 S also, and I've never seen the wood option. Also, the toughest glue I've seen for anything like so far is Gorilla Glue. You can apply a tiny amount and wet it a bit with water. You just have to make sure you keep the glued area clamped down while its drying because the glue expands. You just cut off the excess with a sharp knife. Devin

Okay, I've had my 2000 S since 2006 and I like the knob okay, but is there some really cool shifter knob I should look at? I just got a new clutch, so why not?

Changed the oil today; didn't see any metal on the magnetic drain plug or on the filter (at least with the naked eye). I'm going to drive it a couple hundred miles and change it again and see what it looks like. It has now been changed 4 times. Devin

Continuing to run and engine with a prior failed IMS is a total crap shoot, some make it, but many do not. The M96/97 engine design has a lot of small "pockets" in the oil system where debris can lurk for a long time before breaking loose and circulating through the system; and it only takes one particle in the wrong place to start a cascading disaster scenario. Your best bet is lots of oil & filter changes (you can use non synthetic oil for this, and a spin on filter, magnetic drain plug, and magnetic pad wrapped around the filter would be advisable as well). Good luck........ JFP, I have a magnetic drain plug, but what are my options for a spin-on filter? Would that require the LN spin-on adapter? Also, I've never heard of the magnetic wrap. Where would I source that? Thanks, Devin PS: My condolences to your brother; I was a divorce attorney many moons ago... :)

JFP, I call dibs on the name "Cascading Disaster Scenario" for my new band. Devin

Thanks JFP, That's my plan at this point. Silver, the bearing was still together with all the balls still working, but they were a bit scratchy. The picture of the sludge on the bearing is what collected on the outside of the seal.

The difference in metallic debris between the second and third flushes was huge (the third filter looked like fresh oil), but he told me that at one of the classes he attended they said that 7 or 8 flushes would be optimal (even though LN doesn't publicly recommend retrofitting an engine with ANY metal debris). I'm just going to keep doing it until its pristine, assuming it lasts long enough. I'll be out $50 in oil and whatever a filter costs each time, but that still beats the cost of a new engine. I can only hope for the best, I suppose.

Just a word to the wise; I have a 2000 Boxster S USA that started leaking oil a few months ago. I finally got around to taking it in to have it looked at and it turned out that my IMS bearing was failing. I didn't have "chunks" of metal in the oil, but there was what appeared to be glitter in the oil filter. It doesn't appear that the motor is ruined--yet. But you never know. I opted to go ahead with the LN Retrofit and my mechanic ran the car and drained the oil 3 times (until no metal was evident) and I'm going to drain it again this weekend and check it (he also installed a magnetic drain plug). The bearing was still together albeit a bit wobbly. I wouldn't have gone much further before my car became a boat anchor. Bottom line, don't screw around with an oil drip hoping it's just the Rear Main Seal; I gambled (or screwed around) and nearly lost. This was a dual row bearing, which may have saved my car, but they they fail, too. I have attached a picture of the bearing, on which can be seen a paste of metallic bits. Also shown is the IMS tube, which escaped damage as the bearing had not completely failed. My mechanic and I felt the risk of repair was worth taking (although I signed a waiver acknowledging that I knew the new LN bearing could also fail due to the metal in the oil system), because $3800 beats paying God-knows-what for a new motor for a 15 year old car. (The price included a new clutch and rear CV joint rebuild among other things.) Be proactive, and if you're looking to buy an M96-97 motored vehicle, just add $3000 to the purchase price. Devin

+1 on the Dawn method. I used one-half Dawn dish soap and one-half water in a spray bottle, let it sit for a few minutes and used a soft brush and low water pressure to scrub/rinse. This was the first time I'd ever washed the engine (2000 S model, 53K miles) and it looks new. No water got in the cabin and if you slosh it around the sides it goes down the drain holes. Didn't pay any attention to the alternator and the car started right up. I guess I'll wash it in another 13 years or so.

Thanks, Loren, I'll give that a whirl. It does have that squeaking problem that some people have posted about.

It releases at a high point in the travel and the pressure is a bit higher, but not uncomfortably so. What's odd is that it changes after running it hard for a few seconds--the release seems smoother and the pressure is not as high. That's why I can't seem to figure it out. If it was always hard to push the pedal down (and once again, it's not terribly hard, just enough that I notice) then I would just assume the clutch plate was bad. I have just never run across a situation where the pressure seemed to be variable.

Dear Porschefiles, I have a MY2000 Boxster S, US, 50k miles. The clutch pedal pressure seems high to me, which I believe is a sign that it needs to be replaced. The odd thing is, if I run it hard through a couple of gear changes (like a 0-60 run), the pedal frees up and seems to have a longer effective travel. I don't track the car or drive it very hard. I have about a 4 mile daily commute. It doesn't seem to slip under high-gear full-throttle conditions, either. All of the posts I've seen here about clutch pedal pressure increasing seem to involve pressure that never seems to improve, but this one seems to work better after it's warmed up. Any ideas? Thanks, Devin

Hello Everyone! Have been a lurker for several years; this is my first post. I have some information that may or may not be useful regarding MAF and throttle body. I bought a 2000 Boxster S in 2005 with 8600 miles on it. It ran nicely, but had evidently been sitting for a while. I replaced the tires and instantly got a much better ride. After a couple of months I got a CEL (I believe it was P1126). Happily, I had found this site and learned all that I could about the problem. I recalled one post where a gentleman said that he had a similar experience on a low mile car that had been sitting for some time and that he solved the problem by simply cleaning the MAF with electronic parts cleaner. I did this and it worked like a charm for over a year. Eventually the CEL returned and I cleaned the MAF again, thus saving money once more. It lasted another period of months before I got another light. I figured I had ridden that MAF sensor as long as I could and bit the bullet and ordered one from Paragon Products in Corpus Christi for about $240 US. It got here quickly and I installed it today. While I was in the engine bay I decided to clean the throttle body as my idle had been a little jumpy for a few months. Took it out of the car (I have some mechanical skills from helping my dad restore cars 25 years ago when I was a kid) and cleaned it with carb cleaner in the manner prescribed by this site. The car only has 30,000 miles on it now, but there was a significant buildup of carbon or whatever gets in there in the TB. In any event, I was fortunate enough not to have much trouble getting the plastic hose on and off and I think Loren is correct when he says having the car warm (not hot) can make this process a little smoother. Anyway, I cleared the CEL and took her out for a spin. I waited way too long to replace the MAF! I forgot what this thing can run like. I shifted into second gear and spun the tires enough to kick on the traction control and these are brand new summer tires. It's good to have her back. Hope I didn't bore you to death, just wanted to say that if you have MAF problems, cleaning it will shut off the CEL for a while, but go ahead and replace it. It's worth every penny. Devin Giddens Edmond, OK USA