Tom C

'01S

just looking around, and would like to know what this is and what is it's purpose?

Thanks.

That was a good question, I was cleaning my throttle body a couple of weeks ago and was wondering the same thing. If you haven't cleaned your throttle body, it's a good idea to do so. Keeps the idle constant and the engine operating efficently.

Man, you guys are so paranoid! :)

My wife and I drove our Boxster from California to Michigan with the following tool kit:

1) Cell phone

2) Visa card

My garage has welder, air compressor, various grinders and cutters, hydraulic press, jacks, stands, steel to fabricate frame and suspension parts, engines laying about in various states of assembly, turbochargers, engine stands, hoists and all sorts of crap like that, but there's no way in hell I'm carrying any of that with me when I drive anywhere.

Eric

You may want to reconsider the hydraulic press, it could come in handy. Just joking :D . I think only a very few of us could do anything major along the road, but I still like to carry the basic screw drivers, star key wrenchs for the minor things that can come up.

You might want to add one of those small, cigarette lighter plug-driven air compressors to inflate your tires if necessary. You can get a small, inexpensive one at Harbor Freight Salvage (.com).

Regards, Maurice.

You may want to consider a can of flat fixer. I don't know if you can get a full sized tire in your trunk especially with all of things you're carrying. I know a couple of months ago there was a lot of discussion about getting a wheel in the trunk and the general consensus was that it was very difficult to do so.

[One other item that I recently added to my carry on bag, a wheel bolt alignment tool. It's a brass rod about 8" long that screwss into one of the lug bolt holes and allows you to hang the wheel onto it while alinging the rest of the lug bolts on. Makes reinstalling a wheel a snap. Since it's brass it doesn't scratch the rims. You can get it from Performance, here;s the link. worth every penny.

http://www.automotion.com/productpage.aspx...amp;part=196834

Doesn't this come with some of our tool-kits? Is this in the 987 Boxster? Thanks.

I have a 986 S (2002) which I purchased this year and it did not have this. If it came with the car's tool kit the original owner took it with him. I can see why.

[One other item that I recently added to my carry on bag, a wheel bolt alignment tool. It's a brass rod about 8" long that screwss into one of the lug bolt holes and allows you to hang the wheel onto it while alinging the rest of the lug bolts on. Makes reinstalling a wheel a snap. Since it's brass it doesn't scratch the rims. You can get it from Performance, here;s the link. worth every penny.

http://www.automotion.com/productpage.aspx...amp;part=196834

I'll be trying this out for a winter project. I tried the easy way and ordered a unit from ebay from a junker. It had the same problem, this seems to be the best way with a new part. Thanks for taking the time and step by step photos.

Last April I bought a 2002 Boxster S. One of the down sides was one of the AC/Heater control temperture light bars was burned out. The unit itself worked fine but looking at the one burned out bar always bugged me. I found a used unit on eBay for $102 and installed it and had the same problem but with different light bars burned out. Is this a common problem? Is there a fix for this?

TomC can you tell us who and what top you got? I'm doing mine this week with and ebay vendor in Cali and want some reviews from others!

Just had mine delivered today from these people:

http://www.car-hood.co.uk/content.php?nID=2

It is 100% as the genuine Porsche even on the headlining, I went for the glass convertion.

Fitting the weekend, may do step by step photos.

Lloyd Six

Lloyd Six, I purchased my top from M&T Manufacturing, 30 Hopkins Lane, S. Kingstown, RI 02897, 401-789-0472

I've been very happy with my top. I had a pro install it and the fit and quality is just as good as the original. I just got out of the boat world, selling my 34 foot sail boat, so I am accustomed to doing things stem to stern, keel to top mast myself. In fact I just replaced my left front AC condenser that took a u-bolt from the highway. However I decided not to fit my top, it's more of an art than mechanical. I compare it to a suit. You can go out and buy material, follow the pattern and sew a suit, but would you wear it in public? I consider the $400 I paid well worth it. Good luck and I hope you prove me wrong! :)

It is not the MAF - then MAF does nothing at idle.

Chancers are you have a carbon buildup around the throttle butterfly. On egas cars there is no idle control valve like the older cars - instead the throttle butterfly is opened just slightly to maintain and control the idle. If you look at the pic I posted above - that is Tariq's car and he had exactly the same problem. On the outside if you look at that throttle body it does not look to bad. But if you push the throttle butterfly open you would see carbon buildup all around the butterfly seating surfaces. Once we cleaned this off his idle was rock stable.

You could try some Techron in the gas but the best short term fix is to clean the throttle body with some spray card/fuel injector cleaner (keep it off the paint). You will need to push the butterfly open with your finger to clean inside. Let it dry for a few minutes then start the car.

I find a bottle of Techron every 3000 miles or really helps prevent the buildup.

Thanks, I'll clean it tonight.

:D

Thanks for your help Loren; I removed the large air duct that runs from the air cleaner box to the throttle body. I couldn't get to the bolts on the bottom to completely remove the body but was able to clean by spaying carb cleaner into it while the body was still on the engine. It cleared the problem and now she idles at a nice 650 rpms!

By the way is there a trick to getting the airline back on the throttle body? I finally got it back on but it was really tough. I greased the lip of the throttle body and then had to heat the duct with a heat gun, keeping it well away from the engine due to gas vapors and it finally set in. There has to be a better way.

Hi TomC.

After reading your post I decided to clean my TB too. I also had problems trying to get the intake tube offf of the TB so I also removed the tube from the air box and removal/installation was a snap! I think the pipe is so rigid it is best to remove both ends....Mine was DIRTY!!! Chris

We both owe Loren a steak dinner where ever you are. If you're ever in West New Jersey let me know, I'm buying!

THANKS GUYS!!

it was a cold engine start when that happened.

gaoo

The only time my boxster does this is when it was started, driven a short period, stoped and then restarted. I read on one of the links that this is a characteristic of the flat six.

Last week while driving on I-78 in eastern New Jersey a U-bolt flew off a vehicle in front of me and into my front left grill punching a hole in my AC coil. The bolt struck the piping just where it enters the coil. My question is does this coil also affect the car's cooling system? The temp seems to have jumped several degrees from 180 to around 185 - 190. My boxster is a 2002 S. Photos below show the u-bolt that was found below the front AC radiator, damage to AC radiator and where the puncture may have occurred, pin hole.

The condenser has been replaced; I repaired the hole in the cowling with fiberglass, epoxy, and black paint; I repaired the broken grill with marine epoxy and the piece I found next in the pile of leaves when I took off the bumper. I'll have my garge charge and check the system.

I see they are now selling 134a these days. It appears anyone buy it, but you must be certified to use it?

I assume there's a link you followed to undergo this project. I've had the rear bumper cover off; very simple. You mentioned rivets? I'll need to do some searching to find how to accomplish this. I'd like to do some cleaning, as well as a little paint repair (underneath) where the prior owner scaped a curb or such.

Glad you asked....I found this link months ago but never got around to doing this.

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Porsche/R...r/Radiator.html

In terms of importance i think this should be a must do project. Some of my concerns before were that i wouldn't be able to get the bumper cover to

sit properly after the reinstall. But Porsche did a great job of making this idiot proof. No matter what it seemed to line up.

The other concern i had was that i would not get the car back togther. But if you can do puzzles aimed at 5-10 year olds, you are set.

The other thing i did but didn't mention is that i used a hose to rinse the radiators. Not a hard spray to hurt the fins, just a gentle flow.

All black bits got the Mothers treatment of "Back to Black". Works great.

A timely post since I just finished doing a similar job, replacing the left front AC condenser coil after a run in with a Ubolt. I did the cleaning too. Hopefully my wife won't read your comments about how easy it was to reinstall the bumper, she now thinks I could repair anything after seeing the car with the bumper off and back on. You're right, the bumper goes on vary easily thanks to Porsche's quality control and tight clearances. The only thing I can add is to label the screws so you know which one's go where when you start putting everything back together.

I would start with cleaning the front radiators - especially if it has never been done.

Just remove the front bumper and clean the AC condensers and the radiators behind them.

How to Remove the Front Bumper

Loren, Thanks for the photos and text. I had my AC condenser knocked out by a u-bolt last week and you replied to my post. I plan on replacing the condenser and clean the leaves out in the near future and this helps a lot. I have a copy of the Bentley Service Manual but I’m not too happy with it. I find it very vague.

I have found an after market condenser for $278. I’ll replace with a little help hopefully from my brother in law, an Audi mechanic and then get the system recharged at a garage.

Last week while driving on I-78 in eastern New Jersey a U-bolt flew off a vehicle in front of me and into my front left grill punching a hole in my AC coil. The bolt struck the piping just where it enters the coil. My question is does this coil also affect the car's cooling system? The temp seems to have jumped several degrees from 180 to around 185 - 190. My boxster is a 2002 S. Photos below show the u-bolt that was found below the front AC radiator, damage to AC radiator and where the puncture may have occurred, pin hole.

I downloaded the manual and found the button as well. The wing slides out and back in as it should. COOL :)

Thanks again guys!

Enjoy the car :D

I had the same problem. I initially made the problem go away by bending the metal so that the heat shield didn't have space to rattle. But it eventualy found a way to rattle again. So I removed the shields from both sides and replaced them with cloth heat wrap. I will never have that problem again and the exhaust is probably better insulated than stock.

Stefan, see post 11, the same thing happend to me. Everything was ok for about two weeks, now the rattle is back and as bad as ever. Can you add a photo of how you installed the heat wrap. Did you wrap the cats or mold a shield with them over the cats? Where did you purchase the wrap. Any help you give would be appreiciated. I thought I had found another source, a bar running directly behind the muffler was rattling a little I bent it downwards but that didn't help.

My neighbor who drives corvettes strolled into my garage last night with a puzzled look on his face. He said I finally got around to checking under my hood and I can't figure out what this one thing is he told me. What are you talking about I asked and he told me the round thing with "710" on the top. I told him I didn’t have the slightest idea what it would be and he told me he had seen it on many other cars but never knew what it was for. He told me it came out easy and to hold on and he would go get it. He returned and this is what he had:

http://www.hotautoweb.com/cogifs/710.jpg

This is an extremely easy DIY. I'd rate it a 1/10.

DISCLAIMER: If you screw up your car doing this or hurt yourself, it's your fault, not mine. DO NOT do this if you have a plastic window and it's below 50 degrees outside. You could split the plastic.

Please take heed to Roger's advice about not doing this when it's below 50 degrees. I bought my 2002 Boxster in early April , snap, went the plastic window. It was a little faded and was on my list of things to replace, I just wasn't planning on replacing it immediately. With the cost of just replacing the window verses the entire top, I opted for the top replacement. All told with cost of the top plus replacement, count on around $1,000. :o

I did a lot of research and was planning on doing the install my self but saw too many posts on this site and others that it is rather difficult. I opted to have it done and was glad I did. I isn't that difficult as far as mechanical, howerver it is an art and you need to do several to to get "it". I would compare it to buying the material for a suit and then making the suit on a sewing machine in your home.... but would you wear it in public?

:clapping: I thought so.

Both the throttle body and tube should be clean and free from dirt or grease (grease attracts dirt).

I usually just put both hands around it and move it back and forth until I get one (barely) side started - then push straight on.

You must be built like your governor!!

Thanks again.

It is not the MAF - then MAF does nothing at idle.

Chancers are you have a carbon buildup around the throttle butterfly. On egas cars there is no idle control valve like the older cars - instead the throttle butterfly is opened just slightly to maintain and control the idle. If you look at the pic I posted above - that is Tariq's car and he had exactly the same problem. On the outside if you look at that throttle body it does not look to bad. But if you push the throttle butterfly open you would see carbon buildup all around the butterfly seating surfaces. Once we cleaned this off his idle was rock stable.

You could try some Techron in the gas but the best short term fix is to clean the throttle body with some spray card/fuel injector cleaner (keep it off the paint). You will need to push the butterfly open with your finger to clean inside. Let it dry for a few minutes then start the car.

I find a bottle of Techron every 3000 miles or really helps prevent the buildup.

Thanks, I'll clean it tonight.

Thanks for your help Loren; I removed the large air duct that runs from the air cleaner box to the throttle body. I couldn't get to the bolts on the bottom to completely remove the body but was able to clean by spaying carb cleaner into it while the body was still on the engine. It cleared the problem and now she idles at a nice 650 rpms!

By the way is there a trick to getting the airline back on the throttle body? I finally got it back on but it was really tough. I greased the lip of the throttle body and then had to heat the duct with a heat gun, keeping it well away from the engine due to gas vapors and it finally set in. There has to be a better way.

It is not the MAF - the MAF does nothing at idle.

Chancers are you have a carbon buildup around the throttle butterfly. On egas cars there is no idle control valve like the older cars - instead the throttle butterfly is opened just slightly to maintain and control the idle. If you look at the pic I posted above - that is Tariq's car and he had exactly the same problem. On the outside if you look at that throttle body it does not look to bad. But if you push the throttle butterfly open you would see carbon buildup all around the butterfly seating surfaces. Once we cleaned this off his idle was rock stable.

You could try some Techron in the gas but the best short term fix is to clean the throttle body with some spray card/fuel injector cleaner (keep it off the paint). You will need to push the butterfly open with your finger to clean inside. Let it dry for a few minutes then start the car.

I find a bottle of Techron every 3000 miles or really helps prevent the buildup.

Thanks, I'll clean it tonight.

How many miles on it? Is it a wondering or rolling idle change?

Could be several things but here are a few things you'll see in several posts that potentially could be causing it: A/C just happens to cycle on/off at that time, throttle body needing to be cleaned, MAF in the very beginning stages of needing cleaning or replcement, clogged air filter, etc.

I have 44,000 miles, the fluctuation is rolling and does so with or without the AC on. The air filter is new, what is the MAF?

This is the support topic for the DIY Tutorial Fluctuating Idle. Please post here if you have any questions or feedback.

That seems to be it, I bent the right cat heat sheld up and spread it slightly which stopped about 90% of the rattling. Thanks to everyone for your input and help.

I had the same problems with the gauges on my boat which were polarized. Tried turning them etc. the best solution was to stop wearing polarized sun glasses.