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secretagent214

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Posts posted by secretagent214

  1. You can wrap a little electrical tape around the hoops to see if it helps. If it does, the hoops are a pretty inexpensive part and can be replaced easily. Striker Back Part Link The only special tool for installation is a triple square bit, which I found a set of at AutoZone for 20 dollars. Take note of the location of the old loops as the are adjustable once the screws are loosened. I replaced the loops about a year ago, which helped a good bit. Though as I said above, the thing that took it to real silence was shimming the window regulator plastic clips. My car is 8 years old, 130k miles, and second owner...a few things are bound to start to wear out. BTW, I repeated the procedure on the passenger door with the same good quiet results.

  2. I bought my car (2001 Boxster 2.7 5sp) used with 110,000 miles, and ever since I got it, the doors rattled whenever I slammed them with the windows down...kind of a cheap sound. Today, I fixed it.

    It was a pretty day out and I felt like tinkering, so I took apart a door to figure out the problem (there are some other posts in this forum with door panel removal instructions, some with pictures even). I noticed that the window seemed to have some play within the tracks that it slides up and down on. The window glass is attached to two metal plates, and those two metal plates slide on two metal rails (in order to see both rails, the speaker box has to be removed). Between the rails and the metal plates are little blue plastic clips that keep everything snug. Those little clips had worn down over years of use and were no longer snug. I managed to pop these plastic clips off the plates (not the easiest thing to do, but possible with some patience) and I put some duct tape on the outside part that fits into the plates and reattached them (about as difficult as removing them). One was really worn (upper clip towards the rear of the car) and duct tape wasn't enough, so I went to the hardware store and found a nylon spacer, cut it into a "C" shape, trimmed it a little to fit, then popped it back into the plate.

    I gave the door a few test slams and it sounded good, so I put the door back together. I tried a few more slams, and, no rattle!

    That description made it sound like a 30 minute job...in reality, it took a lot of the afternoon. Hopefully this description will take it back down to a 30 min. or 1 hr. job. It cost me 57 cents for the pack of nylon spacers.

  3. Don't be afraid to do that 60k service yourself...I had to do the 120k scheduled service shortly after I bought my Boxster and it was a good way to learn where everything was (like the engine). If you do that, I'd recommend buying the Bentley service manual. Also, check out Pelican Parts on the net for parts...they will have about anything you need.

    BTW, I had horn problems too...turned out to be a disconnected ground wire on the horn button. I had a forum thread on that subject last year sometime.

  4. I agree it sounds like it could be battery related. Sometimes when the battery gets low or the voltage is unsteady, the computer that controls all that stuff gets confused. Try disconnecting your battery for 5 or 10 minutes (make sure you have the radio code), then reconnect it and make sure the cables are snug on the battery.

    I had a problem with my Boxster where every time I unlocked the doors, the front trunk would open. Doing that fixed it. More recently, my driver's window would roll halfway down every time I shut the door. Again, the same procedure fixed it. BTW, I'm still on the same battery.

  5. I have a Boxster, but I think the front hoods are pretty similar. There are two rubber pads, one on each front corner of the hood itself; these can be adjusted just by turning them like a screw. Screwing them in a little farther may make it easier to latch. Just make sure you don't shorten these pads so much that the hood can rattle over bumpy roads.

  6. Did both of your keys work before the battery swap? If not, or if you didn't use it for a while before, it could be the buttons themselves.

    I had an extra key laying around that I hadn't used in a year...the battery was dead so I changed it out, but it didn't work afterward. I took the cover off and pressed the little metal buttons manually with a piece of dull plastic until they started to click and the red key light started to flash. I put it all together and the key remote worked fine.

    Otherwise...maybe the batteries were just old to begin with?

  7. I had water pooling under the passenger seat this winter. It turned out to be a crazy combination of things. First, the drains behind the seat (the ones that exit through the foam liner) were clogged. I vacuumed them out from above with a shop vac and got a lot of crud out and figured that was it.

    It rained again, and I got water under the seat again. I tried the trick of running a pint of water through the drain line and seeing how much comes out the bottom...only about a half cup came out. To get a better look at the drain line, I took the rear wheel off, took off the fender liner (very simple), and actually blew air through from the bottom. This time, a bunch more crud came out of the line (it doesn't seem to be possible to get a good enough seal from above to really clean it with a vacuum cleaner). After that, the water drained through just fine. I did the same procedure to the other side of the car and checked all the drains...there are a lot of them. I also checked the electrical connector to the door (as mentioned in another thread on this forum) and that was fine.

    It rained again, and I got water under the seat again...though not nearly as much. This time, I decided to take all the covering off of the top of the engine just so that I could get a better view of everything. I noticed that the foam liner was folded over by about half an inch on one edge and was held that way by the carpet cover over the engine. The cloth/plastic clip-on gutter that hangs down from the convertible top and clips onto the body of the car below the clam shell (just above the convertible top motor) is supposed to drain onto the foam liner and go out through the drain holes that I mentioned before... Because it was folded over by about half an inch, the water that drained off the convertible top via that clip on gutter managed to get under the foam liner and work its way into the car. I fixed that. I also adjusted my convertible clam shell height so that it sealed better. My car has been dry since. :D

  8. Yeah, try to find a tow company with a flat bed. I had to have mine towed once after the water pump failed on a road trip... I called the towing company, told them what kind of car I had, and they sent the flat bed. When the driver arrived, he said a flat bed was pretty much the way to go on these cars. His explanation was because it's rear wheel drive, it's not good to tow it a long way facing forward (drive wheels on the ground), and because it's a convertible, it's not good to tow it at highway speeds facing in reverse (I think that part probably applies more to other types of convertible cars though). Whatever the case, it was nice just to be able to drive up onto the back of the truck and not have to worry about chains damaging the bumper or axles.

  9. As mudman says, tire pressure can do it...low tire pressure = poorer gas mileage. As it gets colder out, tire pressure will drop even without a leak. Or maybe that change in average speed may imply that you have more stops and starts...more starts = poorer gas mileage. Or maybe it has to do with your air conditioner usage...AC usage can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 20%. That would explain the sudden drop in late spring, around the time it starts warming up in Pittsburg. It's hard to say with the endless possible variables and without any other symptoms of anything.

  10. My '01 5sp. 2.7L Boxster has 130k miles. I've replaced the diagonal control arms on the front and rear (ball joints rattled), the water pump (it went out on a road trip at 120k miles), the convertible top (this was replaced with a GAHH glass window top after the plastic window cracked), and the exhaust system was realigned (loud exhaust rattle). The RMS leaks very very slightly...I'll replace that whenever I have to replace the clutch. It's still running strong, looks great, and is a pleasure to drive. I try to do all the maintenance myself and it's a pleasure to work on...those German engineers knew what they were doing.

    • Like 1
  11. I had a loud rattle from the right rear on my car when I bought it. I checked all the heat shields but could never pinpoint the source of the rattle. An independent Porsche/BMW shop in town was able to fix it though. It turned out to be a "misaligned exhaust system." Fortunately, this was only about a 100 dollar repair. I actually only asked them to diagnose it, but the mechanic said it only took a minute to fix once he found it. I'm not complaining.

  12. I had this problem a while back. After some help from people in this forum, I was able to narrow it down to a "wandering ground." That just means that the horn ground wire (at the switch) is broken/disconnected someplace. When the car is off, most things are not electrified and the horn grounding just routes through one of those idle wires. When the car is switched on, everything is electrified and there's no more grounding path. Fortunately for me, it was easy to find the broken wire. I took the cover off the horn and noticed the ground wire had broken at the solder connection right on the horn switch itself. It took me 5 minutes to fix it once I found it...I guess that's often how it often is for electrical problems.

  13. There are obviously a lot of things that can rattle. I had a couple of annoying ones...

    One came from the rear and was caused by the tight fabric rubbing against the metal clam shell just slightly. I fixed that by adjusting the clam shell height. There is a plastic sliding tab that you can find on the left and right side of the car just under where the very front of the clam shell rests. It is only accessible when the convertible top is halfway up, which raises the clamshell. If you push the plastic tab into the surrounding plastic sheath as far as it will go, it will raise the front of the clam shell just enough that should allow it to clear the fabric, eliminating the rattle. There are also two large plastic bolts screwed into the of the body of the car under where the rear of the clam shell rests. Loosening these will adjust the height of the rear of the clam shell, though this will probably not do as much to fix the rattle.

    The other came from the side near my ear, which was caused by a slight bit of movement between the door window top and the convertible top. Adjusting the window height or door striker may fix it. I fixed it with a few applications of silicone spray where the two meet. I have to reapply the silicone every so often to keep it quiet.

    I also know that it is pretty common to get a rattle from the rear that's supposed to sound like loose change. This is caused by lose convertible top cables. These can be tightened, which eliminate the rattle. Tightening these also tightens the top overall and may help some of the other rattles. However, if they are too tight, you may have trouble getting the top closed all the way. To adjust these, raise the convertible top halfway. Look for two silverish metal cables that run from the convertible top down to a snap that comes out of the liner below. There is one on the left and right side. These can be popped off from the bottom. I have had no trouble adjusting them while they are still attached. There is a bolt that is just next to where these cables attach at the bottom, and turning this bolt adjusts tightness. Loosening the bolt actually tightens the cable. In this case, lefty tighty, righty loosey.

    Good luck!

  14. I had a problem a while back that sounds similar. I had a metallic rattle from the right rear of the car whenever I accelerated hard or for a second after I let off the gas pedal quickly. I had a really hard time locating the source. I tapped with a rubber hammer all over the exhaust and checked the tightness of all the bolts. I even took off the cat and muffler and checked them. I wasn't having any luck, and I decided to put that problem on the back burner to focus on my noisy rear suspension.

    Focusing on that led to the solution to the exhaust problem, in a round about way.

    I took it to a service station that specializes in Porsches and BMWs and asked them to just identify a bumping noise from my rear suspension over rough pavement (which I identified myself later to be the track arm ball joints). They called about an hour after I dropped it off and told me they identified it and went ahead and fixed it since they were there and didn't require any parts. They told me it was a misaligned exhaust system. They didn't charge much. They did nothing for the bumping noise, but I was happy to have the exhaust noise gone :)

  15. I have a 2001 2.7L Boxster 5sp with over 125,000 miles. I bought it with about 110,000 miles on it.

    I've had to replace the ball joints in the diagonal control arms on the front and rear. There was some looseness that caused an annoying rattle at low speeds over rough pavement. It's a relatively straight forward DIY job, but the ball joints are fixed in the control arms and are sold as a unit, which costs about 800-900 I'd guess for all 4 (I don't remember exactly). There is a DIY article on this site about replacing the rear ones (track arms) with non-OEM less expensive ones. The front is easier than the rear.

    The convertible top plastic cracked and the fabric looked pretty worn, so I replaced it with a GAHH glass window convertible top. That again was a DIY install and cost about 800 dollars for the top. I might recommend letting a shop do that work though unless you feel comfortable with your craftsmanship. I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out, but it took lots of tweaking to get it there. Replacing it with the regular plastic window is probably easier and a little less expensive.

    The rear main seal drips oil very slightly on my driveway. I never have to add any oil though, so it must be very minor. I will probably have that replaced with the updated Porsche RMS whenever I replace the clutch (which is fine for now, but I know they don't last forever on any car).

    The door window glass rattles when the windows are rolled down and I slam the door. I've read that replacing the regulator will fix that. I haven't gotten around to it yet; it's fine when I close it with the windows up and doesn't make noise while driving up or down. I'm sure I will eventually do something about it though.

    I had to replace the water pump, which went out on a road trip. I let the dealer do that work since I was on the road and that was the closest service. It cost about $1000 (I'm sure I could have done it myself for a lot less).

    I also had some minor stuff, like my horn not working with the engine on (broken ground wire at the switch, 5 minute fix when I found it), and a clicking noise from the front brakes (pads not sitting tightly in the caliper, fixed in 30 minutes by putting solder on the pad to fill the gap).

    I did all the recommended 120k service/maintenance in addition to the above. That cost about $100 to do it myself.

    Lots of other people on this forum report issues with the convertible top, the RMS, and the ball joints, so I'd guess they are something reasonably likely to happen to any high mileage Boxster. These aren't side of the road break down issues, just little things that slowly wear out like anything does.

    That said, I'm really happy with my car. It's my daily driver and I've loved having it for the two years that I have. It feels good and solid and I get lots of compliments. No one guesses it has that mileage. I plan on keeping it up for a long time.

  16. As I mentioned before, the noise is back. I decided to try and diagnose the problem with a little more certainty; it was starting to really bug me. I started by trying to rule out brake parts. The first thing I did was check for any play in the pads themselves. There wasn't anything obvious I could see by looking or feeling around, but I went ahead and took off the pads, pressed in the pistons a slight bit, and sat the pads back in there. Once they weren't so tightly pressed up against the disc by the pistons, I was able to slide them forward and back along the disc about a 16th of an inch...just enough to make that same annoying pop (though obviously quieter since I was moving it by hand). I don't know if the play is caused by worn calipers or non OEM pads that are slightly too small; these pads were put on before I bought the car.

    I decided to put a drop of solder (about 1/16" thick) on one of two points on each pad where it rested against the caliper to try and make them fit more tightly. It was easy to see where this was since they are the two cleanest spots. (There are another two clean spots where the spring contacts from the outside, which I ignored). I put everything back together like it was. I only did this to one wheel so that I could compare one wheel with solder on the pads and one wheel without.

    It has been 4 days, and the side I put the solder on is still silent. The other side pops like it did before. When it cools off outside later this week (humid 90s is too hot for working on a car in my opinion), I will do the same to the other wheel.

  17. Update: I finally got the new control arms and installed them today. I am pleased to report that replacing those took care of that cracking noise when first braking in one direction or another. It also took care of a low speed rattle over rough road.

    I've seen a few names for that part, so I'll just post a diagram that shows it. It's #2. It says "control arm back," but it's the right one. It's really pretty easy to replace yourself. Two 18mm bolts hold it in place, and it's not too hard to access once the wheel is off. A few tips if you're replacing it: Make sure you don't tear the rubber around the ball joint when you're putting the new one in, and loosen the 15mm bolt that holds the cross piece that holds the end of the control arm to the car frame before you slide that end of the control arm back in.

  18. I replaced my chrome loops a couple of months ago after messing with the electrical tape fix for a while. I found the loops themselves at this site. http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...amp;catalogid=2 The new loops are better and more quiet than the old ones without tape, but they are not as quiet as with the electrical tape. I guess maybe the latch mechanism is probably a bit worn as well...

    It seems like there are a number of things that rattle on my door. They all are improved with the electrical tape or the new loops, which I'm sure has to do with minimizing the play of the door which makes everything rattle less. So far, I found a loose screw on the speaker box inside the door. It took about 30 seconds to fix it, but took about an hour to find. It also seems that my window glass rattles when I shut the door, especially when rolled down. I've heard a worn out regulator will cause that. And of course, there is that slight bit of play still left in the door striker. Everything seems to be improved in the cold weather of winter.

    BTW, I found that triple square tool at the Autozone near my house. I had to buy a small set, which was about 20 dollars I think, but I was happy to not have to order it.

  19. My 2001 Boxster with 125,000 miles makes the same noise. I have to backup to get out of my driveway, and when I put it back in a forward gear and press the brake, I get a pop from the front right and left, usually a half second or so apart. I bought the car used about 2 years ago, and it did that from day 1. It's always more noticeable when it's hot out, like maybe something expands and has a little more room to move around.

    I have two theories. One, it could be the brake pads or some part of the brake system that has a slight bit of wiggle room, and they change position when braking in reverse vs. braking forward. The discs and pads were just replaced before I bought the car though.

    Second, it could be a part of my suspension system, such as a ball joint on the front that has room to move, and would shift its position slightly as the car's weight pushes forward while braking vs. reverse. I'm leaning more towards this theory because I know the front tension arm ball joints need replacement soon (slight rattle when going over small bumps, especially when warm, and the ball joint was noticeably loose when I took the arms off for inspection). Since those arms control that forward/reverse stability, it makes lots of sense to me. I'm planning on replacing those arms soon and hopefully that will take care of both problems. It'll be probably a month or so before that happens, but I'll update here if there's no other solution.

  20. I have a 2001 2.7L 5 speed Boxster with no PSM. I also have a Plymouth Neon. As expected, Boxster grips the road better than the Neon, rain or shine. The PSM is far from necessary. The Boxster, even without PSM, is going to handle very well, even in poor weather (assuming you have the right tires for it). I do fine without PSM and haven't felt like I've needed it yet. Overall though, PSM is a good idea and will add a bit of extra control in that unexpected situation when you need it most.

    On the very rare occasions that I do lose traction from my rear wheels taking a turn on my Boxster, it is fun. The back end whips out a bit, I correct a bit with the wheel and give it some light throttle and grip comes right back. PSM would probably be a bit safer, but I think it's possible it would take a bit of the spirit out of my car. That lack of spirit and exoticness seems to be your complaint about the 987.

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