FrayAdjacent986

I'd say whatever can be done... is probably prohibitively expensive.

It's feasible that air could have gotten into the brake system, since they share the same reservoir. If someone were to actuate the brake pedal in the shop while the fluid level was too low...

I'd tell the dealer that the brakes feel weakened, and have them bleed the brakes for you.

Dan, that's a pretty tiny picture there... I'm having top issues, but haven't been able to determine if it's similar to yours yet... haven't been able to try to put the top down due to vacation, and generally crappy weather around here.

I'd like to remove my top latch switch and check it... I THINK I can see what your pic is referring to. If you have something a little larger... it might help ;)

Herc,

Most likely, not a lot of people (here or otherwise) have actually replaced our tops ourselves, so we have not encountered what you're having an issue with.

I think your best bet may be to take it to an upholstry shop, and see if they can clean it up. I plan on getting a Robbins top, and having the local Robbins authorized installer on standby. I might even pay 'em a little to check it out after I install to make sure everything is adjusted correctly.

Or I'll decide it's too much and just have them install it outright.

Anyway, you're doing something not many have actually done, so not many of us will have an answer for your situation.

I've had my car 3 weeks and cracked the rear window the second day I had it lowering it when the weather was 33 degrees to check out the engine!

i'll bet you won't be doing that again! ;)

Hopefully he'll get a glass window top!

Tom, I have not replaced my top, so I have not been able to see how the headliner is installed/removed. I likely won't be replacing my top until later this summer. Depends on how finances work out. BTW, I did the same thing you did, and cracked my rear window. Had to put some clear tape on the inside, and fill the cracks with household Goop. It seals, but it looks like turd.

I think what a good process would be (since my car is a daily driver)..

Get a set of front calipers from a dismantler, and disassemble them. Then take them to a buddy's house and bead blast them, and then powder coat them in red. Rebuild/reassemble and then swap for the calipers currently on my car. Then do the same with my original calipers and sell 'em on Ebay. Repeat for the rear.

How does one go about getting the 'PORSCHE' label back on 'em? A stencil?

Good find! I'm glad it turned out being something simple! Now get out there and drive that sucker!

I echo the comments here: Use premium fuel. When I drove my Boxster home from the small dealer I bought it from, they had their monkey boy put $20 of midgrade in it. It ran, and got me home, but when I burned it off and filled up with premium, I could tell the engine ran smoother.

Second, there was a thread here about which a gentleman did install a Xenon kit in the standard headlights, and the projection was pretty good. It might not be a terribly bad idea, but the Litronics are pretty nice. They can sometimes be found for as little as $1100 (I think that was a group buy, tho), but places like Suncoast sometimes have them for around $1300-1400, IIRC.

The windstop usually comes with a small cotton cloth bag. I have mine tucked in the bag, hanging out behind my driver's seat. Be careful with the windstop, though, it's expensive to replace.

Fourth, Porsche does have a roof rack for the Boxster. Look up the Tequipment catalog. It's not cheap, and if you put it on with the top up, the top stays up until you take off the rack, vice versa with the top down.

Seems like lots of people have similar problems with their tops. Mine intermittently does not want to respond to the button. The weather around here has been $*** for a while, so I have had no opportunity to put the top down...

I HAVE heard on p-car wrench say that the top latch switch can actually still cause problems even if the windows do respond to the latch being released. I'm going to replace mine and see if it helps.

Probably the ignition switch is binding the cylinder. It's a cheap part, but a little tricky to replace. If you take it to the dealer, they'll want to replace the key cylinder too, which is kinda expensive.

So it appears the drain was the culprit. I probably will do the 'tupperware' mod sometime, tho. As I say, Porsche makes some awesome cars, but sometimes, they just do something STUPID.

if you do the Tupperware mod (or the Ziplock bag) make sure that you glue rubber washers on the inside and outside surfaces where the screws will go. otherwise water will still make it through the screw holes. the best thing would be to find a solid rubber washer (no hole in it) and screw the screw through it to make a hole. that way the hole is only big enough for the screw.

Chris, I'll go with tupperware, I think... and I'll probably use some silicon to seal the screws when I install. For now, cleaning the drain seems to have helped... it rained like crap the night after I did it, and the carpet back there was only a bit damp.

I'll likely remove the driver's seat and do the mod all in one day. If anyone knows the dimensions of the control unit, that would be helpful, so I can find a tupperware container that will work. :)

Gee, if you wanted to kill a turkey, you should have used a 12 gauge, not a Porsche! :P

Well, over the weekend, since I was out of town, and it was rainy... dad got in there with his wet/dry vac and sucked out a bunch of water. I got back into town Tuesday afternoon, and though it was cloudy, it hadn't rained yet.

Got home and checked the drain, and it was kinda clogged. Didn't seem like a lot, since one jab of the finger broke it loose. I poured some water down the drain, and it flowed freely. Checked the other side, and it was not as bad, but still had a little bit in there.

Then I closed the top back up, and poured water on the top, and it appears to have all flowed out.

Yesterday and last night it rained... a LOT... I just went out and checked, and it's only a little damp under the seat, likely from before I cleaned the drain out..

So it appears the drain was the culprit. I probably will do the 'tupperware' mod sometime, tho. As I say, Porsche makes some awesome cars, but sometimes, they just do something STUPID.

Hi,

I have a few questions, I got my '99 Boxster a few days ago and need some advice.

First, my dash displays the outside temp. does this mean my OBC is turned on?

Do you have the stalk (lever) below your turn signal stalk? If you don't, then all you'll get is the temperature. If you DO, then your OBC is there and turned on

Does a hard top add any safety?

It can contribute rigidity to the chassis, but as far as 'safe'... do you mean if you, say, somehow manage to flip the car over? - not likely. Security? Yes, it would be harder to break into, since knives penetrate canvas better than aluminum

What cup holder do you recommend?

http://www.ultimatecupholders.com Got one, very stable, I recommend highly

I have the ac at the top then the radio then cd storage then a shelf on the center console, could I put the porsche cup holders in or not? Part # 000 044 801 91

You could, but why would you want to? I had 'em and they suck. Well, for anything that's not a 12oz can!

Where is the battery and how do I access it?

You're serious? It's in the front trunk in the middle, under the dash. There is a plastic cover over it with a couple screw in type tabs at the front holding it in place

Are the rear speakers worth it?

They do add a bit to the sound stage, but the Boxster's sound won't be SUPER with 'em. If you can get 'em cheap, I'd say go for it.

Is the autotop worth it?

Could be. I might look into it, but until then, I'll just deal with holding the button...

Any other easy but useful mods?

Not much is easy to do... maybe clear side markers? Clear tail lights? Upgrade the speakers and head unit?

Why do some many people put polce scanners in there porsche's?

So we can hear it when they're chasing us!

Did the '99 Boxster come with a motion sensor, red clip?

I'm not sure... I'll have to check my sources

Any advice for a new Boxster owner? Sure! Don't try to put your top in service mode when it's cold outside. Check your drain tubes and clear them. Have your alignment checked. Use good gasoline...

Thanks! :)

Quite a few people have painted (or had painted) their center consoles. I know Bumperplugs will do a core exchange, or just paint your console and send it back to you. You could also have a paint shop do it, and probably end up with good results.

It's annoying that the coating stuff that Porsche puts on some of the plastic surfaces starts peeling after just a few years... A lot of my interior peices look bad... I plan on having the center console, the side trim of the dash panels and the door pocket covers painted... someday when I have the extra money for it!

cool, i'll look forward to the mod update.

i agree, sucks having water coming in. are you aware if the passenger side and driver side is connected (below the seats)? if it enters through 1 side, does it stay there?

thanks.

I believe they're separated enough by the 'hump' between the driver's and passenger footwell.

frayadjacent986 - is it just your drivers side? let me know how your ziplock/bowl fix goes...

my passenger side gets quite wet (behind the seat). is this most likely due to the drain holes as well? if so (would it be the ones in back or up front)? if it's just the passenger side getting wet/damp, is there danger of it leaking over to the driver side where the control box for the alarm, central locking and immobilizer resides?

thanks...

I don't think there's anything under the passenger side seat... I could be mistaken, tho. Either way, we don't want water in the cabin at all!

I'll update this thread when I can do the ziplock/ tupperware mod... I guess it's gonna be a good idea for us to clean out the drain passages periodically.

Nice!

Fred sent me the materials last week, and he's been trying to get the DIY posted to PPBB's Tech Articles. Mike Focke's page is a great place for it. I do have the document in PDF format, and I also have the Porsche Workshop manual section about the top if anyone needs it.

Thanks to Chris for putting it in PDF, and getting it to a great place to host the procedure! I hope it helps many Boxster owners!

Oh, I might have to do a little addendum to the procedure, since Fred's car doesn't have a headliner... and newer Boxsters do. AFAIK, you do not get a new headliner with a new top, so it needs to be removed and reinstalled with the new top.

I had Kumho Ecsta ASX on my previous car, which had Michelin Pilot Sports as the OEM tires... the Kumhos were great! They were not as grippy, but the ride quality was as good or better, and I didn't notice much noise difference. Had them on the car for 10k miles when I traded it on the Box. Aside from some wear on the edges of the front tires (didn't rotate them when I should have), the tires looked practically new!

When I got my Boxster, it needed new rear tires... It was a draw between the Ecsta SPT, and the BF Goodrich GForce Sports. I went with the BFG to try something different. They were the same price as the Kumhos... had a good treadwear rating (the Box is my daily driver, so I want to get as much tire life as I can!)

I like the BFGs I got, they grip well in dry conditions, and if nudged a bit, they will break loose... but they do seem to be a bit slick when it's wet.

The car still has some Bridgstone Pole Positions on the front that have a little tread life left... but they will lose grip and cause some understeer if I push 'em... so I'm starting to think about what I should put on the front... Probably go with the same BFGs for now, then in a year or so, switch to something else.

But anyway, I would say Kumhos are good tires, and they are cost effective. They probably won't be 100% as good as Pirellis or other higher end tires, but for the cost difference, they compete! A buddy had Kumhos on his C5 'vette, and then on his 99 996, and he liked them.

Thanks for the reply, guys, I figured it was likely the drains being clogged. I'll have to check/clean them when I get home. I flew to DC yesterday, and this event almost had me having to call a cab! And the unit seemed to work after I dried it up in there a bit... the doors would lock and unlock with the remote.

Chris, I'll probably do what you mentioned with the ziplock...though I've heard of someone doing it with some sort of tupperware bowl. That might be something I'll try.

I went out and did some errands today, and it had rained pretty bad last night. I knew the carpet behind the driver's seat was getting damp...

But today when I pulled back into the apartments, I stopped at the office to drop something off, and turned off the engine. When I got back in, everything would come on, but the starter wouldn't kick in. I started to push the car into the complex (I live downhill of the office, thought I could try popping the clutch), but I got stopped after I tried to pop the clutch. Then the engine started!

I checked under the seat, and there was water. Not a lot, but some of it was standing. Got back to the apartment, and got in there with a couple towels to soak it up, and then put a fan in there. It's sunny and dry today, so I hope it will dry out. I'm about to fly out to DC for a week, and I'll be leaving the car at my rent's, so I at least need to get down there today.

I might also mention the trunk warning light was flickering off and on right before I pulled into the apartment complex...

Could it just be the water down there that caused it not to start? Will drying it out resolve the problem, at least until it gets wet again? What can I check to stop this leaking? (I also noticed the seat belt was damp, so the part that rolls up outside of the cabin is getting wet)

Thanks,

M@

And they call the convertible top the 'hood' across the pond.

One guy posted a topic about a problem with his hood not closing and the dash light staying on. I replied as if his front trunk hood might not be closing... but then noticed he was in the UK. I added an alternate answer if he was using the Queen's English definition of 'hood', which of course, is the convertible top. Turns out it was the top, and he just wasn't holding the button until the top stopped it's operation on it's own.

Boot, hood, trunk, bonnet, saloon, sedan... it gets confusing!

I concur on the switch.

If your parking brake light in the dash does NOT come on, your top will NOT work. PERIOD.

The switch is cheap and easy to replace.

Your engine being replaced is a GOOD thing. That means the old one went kaput, and you shouldn't have to worry about the replacement engine doing the same thing. ;)

A guy from PPBB did a good write up with pictures that he submitted as a tech article, and is awaiting approval.

I have his writeup and pictures. If anyone wants it, email me and I'll forward the documents! I'm tenatively planning on replacing my top with a glass window top maybe in June/July.