JFP in PA

Alright i was lucky i had the cable in my car and was able to find the software - looks like the 02 sensor on the back is bad? how is that possilbe it has just been replaced?

In general, bad O2 sensors do on cause a car to misfire, which you seem to have on all cylinders on one side of the engine. The O2 sensor code, however, can be the result of this type misfire event.

Without knowing what the codes are, you have no idea if or when it is going to start blinking again. You don't need a PIWIS or Durametric system, any OBD II compliant scanner will tell you exactly what is going on. From your first post, it sounds like the car went into "limp" mode (the DME sets a relatively low engine RPM limit to prevent doing more damage), that usually does not happen without a damned good reason....................

If it were my car, I’d have it scanned before I did anything else. You could very well get a few kilometers down the road, out in the middle of nowhere, and it could start flashing, or worse.

Mistake #1: Blinking CEL means pull over, shut the car off, and have it towed to the shop; something more serious has occurred.

Mistake #2: Never, repeat, never disconnect the battery to clear a blinking CEL; in doing so, you have lost all the critical diagnostic information pointing to what is wrong that was stored in the DME. Get the car towed into a shop, get it scanned.

Without the codes, any supposition as to what is wrong is purely a guess....................

DIY intermix repair anywhere in the $2-3k range, assuming just the heads are cracked and no other collateral damage.

Experience has shown that engines that have encountered intermixing and have been run that way for a bit often end up with issues beyond just stopping the water leak. If caught quickly, and not driven, $2-3K is reasonable; unfortunately the damage often goes much further……….

People will ask whatever they think they can get, particularly on flea bay, but the reality is a complete car, including the bum engine, is only worth a few thousand depending upon year, model, equipment, and condition. By the time you get another engine, even from a wreck, get it installed and running, you are going spend that much again, even if you do most of the work.

To help put it in perspective, a rebuilt crate engine from Porsche is going to set you back in excess of $10-12 grand (or more), a used engine out of a wreck is probably in the $5 grand range.

The car in question is complete, but does not run, but is capable of "rolling" around. A "roller" is also the equivalent price for a fully running car of the same vintage in similar condition, with the cost to replace the engine deducted from the price.

If you buy this car, discount the price to that of "a roller" (e.g.: a body with no engine) based upon having to pull the engine out and have it pulled apart. Realistically, trying to do this kind of work with the engine still in is going to be a nightmare; plus you need to go through the entire assembly to be sure no other problems (bearings on their way out, or cam lobes worn due to poor lubrication and the effects of coolant on the surfaces, etc.). Be prepared to jump for a lot of money as these engines are anything but cheap to do a simple "refresh" of all the wear items.

Realistically, you probably would do better buying a running engine from a wrecked car rather than going the rebuild route......

Yea it's too bad. Durametric is a crappy tool but it's about the only one we've got. For those of you that are also Audi or VW (VAG) owners you probably know the Ross Tech Vagcom program is 1000% better. It seems like Durametric is trying to emulate the Vagcom program but they are about 10 years behind Ross-tech in their software development.

Actually, Ross Tech is very complimentary towards Durametric on their website, noting that Porsche uses a totally different diagnostics computer code system than VW and Audi…………..

Another simple and quick fix, assuming you have access to a welder, is to cut the old head off and tack weld a new head on.

The line is part of the AOS system, which is a common failure point on these cars. Solution is simple: replace the AOS before it totally craps out and causes even more problems........... As for the price they gave you, the parts are a fraction of that and this is a DIY project if you are so inclined to save some money........

The “Enthusiast” version standard price is already a “discount” off the “Pro” version ($287 vs. $675 or higher depending upon configuration). For comparison purposes, Porsche’s PIWIS is around $17,000 for the first year……..

Last time I checked, it was still a "developmental product", e.g.: not fully ready for prime time. The link on their website still goes no where as well. Biggest problem is where you would put an air to oil cooler as these cars are nearly completely covered underneath, and there is very little room up front as well.

We have a customer that set up his own using a laminar oil to water cooler from Mocal that seems to work. It connects to one of the engine coolant lines and the power steering lines under the car and is completely hidden behind the stock bottom panels.

http://208.109.215.2...es/laminova.pdf

Unfortunately, if the pump is toast, you will need to replace it as parts are not available, and you should also flush out the lines and rack as well. Because these steering systems tend to build up heat, lack a cooler, have a rather small reservoir fluid volume, and are located in a spot that is inconvenient for periodic level checks; most of the time pump failures can be related to low fluid levels and/or hammered fluid. At a minimum, the fluid condition and level should be checked at least once a year, and the fluid should be changed as soon as it begins to look or smell bad.

Thanks for the replies guys. The link was helpful. I assume the values are acceptable ranges regardless of type of tester..? I'm using and Actron, and don't find acceptable ranges, for specific vehicles on their website.

Like most scanner manufacturer’s, Actron literally cannot afford to provide such a database free of charge as the values are vehicle/model/year specific.

You can probably find most of them in either the OEM OBD II diagnsotics manual, or in the OEM service manual set.

Suggest doing a search, including the terms "Boxster, IMS, RMS, problems, engine failures"..............

A common cause for these codes is the change over valve; sometimes they just start to stick, but usually they are not fixable. If you have access to a PIWIS or Durametric system, I think you can actually test the valve without removing it.

Anyone have any experience with this type of issue or have any suggestions as to how to track down the problem?

Yeah, get the car scanned and post the codes................ It is impossible to even hazard a guess as to what the problem is without the codes.

RUF should be able to help you as well, contact them with the VIN.................

info@ruf-automobile.de

It still works. Just a quick update. I am extremely surprised to see how often the charger's display changes from "battery full" to " battery charging" with the appropriate activity of the charger. I take it that there is a lot of power consumed while the car is just sitting there (hence the suggestion to lock you car as that turns off more electrical systems). No wonder Porsche is using these HUGE batteries to prevent them from draining too quickly.

What is happening when the display changes from “full charge” to partial charge is sometimes due to normal drain (40-60 mAh), or the Ctek unit is running a test on the battery to see how it is doing, when bringing it back to full charge. The unit may sit on full charge for several days, and then run one of these test cycles, just to see how everything is going. This diagnostic, along with the fact that all Ctek units employ de-sulfating modes in their normal charge profiles (sulfated cells are a major reason batteries die way to early), is why they help keep the battery in excellent condition for a long time. These units may cost a few bucks more than some other units on the market, but they really do one Hell of a job.

This can also be caused by a bad coolant level sensor, which is located on the bottom of the coolant tank.

The 2005's are hard to read in terms of which ones have the larger diameter bearings and which ones don't. I have seen early cars (March production) with the big bearing, and later cars (June) that did not. Only way to know for sure is to pull the gearbox and flywheel and then look............

That would work if the tank was one of the early ones without a connection, but if the connection available on the tank, it would be simpler to just connect it there.

Two Porsche dealers, and the shown TSB 1001, seem to say that if you change the oil cooler to one of those new tiny ones, that you have to change all of this other stuff, and add adapters etc. It is a mess. The simplest thing is to just replace the original part and drive away. Porsche sees some connection between the oil pump in the front, the oil cooler on top , and the changes that would have to be made to the expansion tank in the boot. Changing the cooler will affect the velocities, the passage lengths, the volumes, and the breathing of the engine.

From your other message as well:

"Two Porsche dealers, and the shown TSB 1001, seem to say if you change the oil cooler to one of those new tiny ones, that you have to change all of this other stuff, add adapters etc. It is a mess. The simplest thing is to just replace the original part and drive away. There definitely is some connection between the oil pump in the front, the oil cooler on top , and the changes that would have to be made to the expansion tank in the boot. Changing the cooler will affect the velocities, the passage lengths, and the volumes.

In any case, there must be some reason why Porsche says to change all of these parts if you want to use a different part than they originally designed for the application. I don't know what the reason is, and neither does anyone else that I talked to. But they all agreed that it must be done. I lost a lot of time, and a bit of money putting deposits down, and waiting for parts that I will not use, trying to follow well meaning advice, on how to Hot Rod the Boxster, instead of keeping it stock.

This is relevant to the oil cooler thread because Porsche says all of these thing must be replaced when the oil cooler is changed on the original Boxster."

OK, let's take this in steps: I have absolutely no idea why the oil pump has to be modified, if that is in fact correct. To my knowledge, the very old style oil cooler, the one without a top coolant bleed and that requires the adaptor plate to mate to the engine, is no longer available. As such, the newer design is the only available choice I can find in the Porsche parts system.

As for the coolant tank, that has previously been discussed in this tread; the early tanks did not have a connection for the small coolant vent line on the top of the cooler to connect to, this was a design error that Porsche corrected. The small line lets air trapped in the coolant section of the oil cooler vent to the surge tank; the first cars did not have this line and Porsche discovered that air collected in the oil cooler and caused problems, so they modified all cars going forward to have the line from the top of the oil cooler to the tank. Early cars that still have their original coolant tanks (and there cannot be very many) can still use the newer cooler with the nipple by simply plugging the outlet with a small section of blocked hose. As most of the early cars have long since changed out their surge tanks (they were prone to cracking), they probably already have a tank with the connection for the line (albeit plugged for the same reasons); if they do, it is a simple matter of running the rubber hose from the cooler to the tank. Either way, the new cooler works.

As for the oil pump section modification, I know the 97 cars had a different oil pump than the later cars from the part numbers in the PET, but I have no information on how it is different. Physically, the unit looks exactly the same as the latter part numbers, so what ever changed is not readily visible. The 01 and 02 cars also have different oil pump part numbers, but without explanation as to why. Porsche often changes part numbers as they update components due to information accumulated with owner miles, so that is nothing unusual. It is also not unusual for Porsche to want to sell you the updated components, particularly if the one you have are known problems, which appears to be the case in the TSB 1001 you quoted.

But what I have confirmed is that if you read the entire TSB, you will note that it clearly states that it is addressing oil/coolant intermix problems on the 97 cars. If further goes on to state that even if the oil cooler on the car is found not to be the cause of the intermix issue, you should change out all the other parts while you are in there as well. So the other parts are not actually required to change out the cooler, but are precautions against a future intermix issues from the other components.

What I can tell you is that, as mentioned earlier, we have quite a few cars running the newer and larger cooler, including a couple early models, none of which had the oil pump changed or modified, and all of which continue to do fine everyday to my knowledge. So I fail to see any validity in the comments about "velocity" or "passage lengths"; and as the oil cooler had nothing to do with the intake system, the "breathing" comment is equally questionable.

I am sorry you seem to have run into so many brick walls on this simple and very common upgrade, but as mentioned, with so many done and having run a lot of cumulative miles, I know it works.

You can have both the tank and the cap pressure tested (cheap and only takes 15 min.), the caps tend to fail more frequently than the tanks, but the tank is not immune to failure. If either, or both fail the test, they should be replaced (current cap ends in 04).

As for the coolant, Porsche OEM coolant is pretty good stuff from both a protection and longevity perspective, but it is not overly compatible with some aftermarket brands, sometimes leading to gelation and one Hell of a mess to clean out. As you note that you have been diluting the original 50/50 coolant/distilled water mix (you should always use distilled water), you are probably a good candidate for dumping the system and refilling with new, particularly if you need to swap out the tank.