itzbob46

What's the significance of putting Vaseline on the wheels? What does it do? Why? The owners manual says to do it and I have I was just wondering? A. It's just a laquer finish. Perosnally, my 18" originals are perfect with ordinary car washing soap. I wouldn't use any fancy wheel cleaners. And I won't be bothered with Vaseline. But mine is not driven on saltey winter roads. How much is too much to wash my car? I'm a professional salesperson who washes the car daily. Customers see my car and I always want to provide the best impression. So am I washing it too much? In ten years will the paint suffer? What kind of products are best for each part of the car? A. Wash it when it's noticably dirty. Save some time and $. In 10 yrs, assuming 300 washes per year, you may not have paint anymore! Decent car was soap, and not to excess, on everything. Has anyone tried the Tequipment valve stems? Almost daily I air up the tires and I assume that the current valve stems leak. While I don't mind airing them up I would save a great deal of time across a month. So whaddya think? A. ANY valve stem should work well enough to only add air each few months. Perhaps you have corrosion on the beads which is more likely to be a leak source. What is the interior made out of? The dash seems to shine up best with leather cleaner conditioner but if it's made of leather then it's very thick and I've never seen anything like it. Door panels? A. Do you want glossy parts inside. If so, I don't have your answer. Personally, I just like the parts inside to be clean. A damp towel wil ldo that just fine. A little windex on stains. How hard can I realistically drive my car daily and make it last a long time? I drive the most incredible country roads each day that have incredible curves and while I'm not exceeding a top speed of 65 I do ask the car for much more than I would another car because of it's capabilities. Am I hurting it's long term reliability? A. It's an '01, like mine. I think that tires are your biggest worry for wear. Enjoy it! Don't worry about wearing out suspension. Bob

It depends a lot on the choices you made. Drilled rotors?? I did the fronts on my non-S with parts form the same guys and Brembo rotors, stock Porsche pads hardware and bolts were $383 to my door a few months ago. Wow...those Ss get expensive!

Thanks for the note on the warranty. I bought one too (fear of catastrophic engine failure) but fear that it's won't be worth much if I ever need to use it. Do they expect you to have the car totally rebuilt before buying a warranty??????

Thanks to you guys I just installed the sills that are the subject of this thread without the "gap" problem. The instructions above were very helpful. I'll only add that the allen bolts on the driver's side are 5mm and only have to be loosened a few turns, rather than removed for the plastic parts housing to slide upward. The Bentley manual actually said to remove the seat to do this which is completey unnecessary. These sills are just what I wanted.....to blend in and look like they came form the factory (which they sorta did!). Bob

Personally I woul dnot trust any belt over 60,000 mi. Belts are cheap. And they are not easy to access, so don't go in there if you aren't going to change it. I pulled off the firewall cover at 36K (8 yrs) and didn't hesitate to change it although it looked perfect. I would have changed it earlier, but I haven't had the car too long. It's not like blowing a belt on a typical Amer car and stopping at Autozone and changing it on the road with a few tools.

Heck no! We wanna know about the excellent bodywork :D Here are a few pics of the stainless steel door sills for folks with the OEM upgrade. The mats are Porsche OEM. zoom in, its a bit dirty but you will see the Porsche logo :D I meant the mats in the first pic in the thread. They're black, don't fit at all, and there is no visible logo.

I love both the Porsche sills and the rings set. But it really bugs me that the 911 guys get 5 rings for the same price as the Boster guy's three. I'll probably do it anyway!!! The sills in the black plastic give the interior a broader more extensive look.

I left the gap, indeed i didn't know the gap will exist. I bought both items from Suncoast if they don't have them in stock, i could be the one who bought the last set. You may check out the following link and they are going for the same price. http://www.vertexauto.com/ShowItem/197886%...nt%20Rings.aspx Steven For the gap, a dab of black silicone gasket goop will fill that completely. But I hate to be critical, but those floor mats just don't cut it. You really need the Boxster originals.

I've done the same and one better. I've drilled and tied the bottlm of my clear plastic windscreen. Nothing gonna blow outta this car......well, perhaps my hat!!! See photo and find the 4 ties. The windscreen tiew are a pain to replace occasionally because the clear windscreen must be removed to clean the inside of the plastic window on the top. Bob

Considering the trip that I took that night, what you are suggesting is a possibility. I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks, Bob

So, are you saying that this can and probably will occur from time to time? I don't quite understand your explanation. Can you explain further? Thanks, Bob

I drove home tonight and found my spoiler at half way up when I shut the car off. I had been in the trunk earlier so it was normal then. It operated up and down just fine for 2-3 cycles when I was investigation. I am not sure if I cracked 70 mph on my way home on secondary highways. 2001 Boxster. Any ideas?? Bob

Borrowed an OBDII meter and it said misfire on #4. Sure enough, even though I checked each wire-coil connection before, it actually was loose. # 4 is the hardest plug to reach due to location and obstructions. It took me a half hour to get that thing to click into place, but it's done and I'm now enjoying a La Fin Du Monde ale (our Canadian readers will know about that....9% alc.) in celebration. Thanks, guys for your advice and logical approach. I really felt that was it, but after checking each connection the day that it occured, I thought I ruled out the wiring connections. The OBDII allowed me to be certain it was a misfire and where it was, so I didn't have to screw around with each connection. Nice meter for $139. I'd buy one if it did ALL Porsche stuff and my daily driver wasn't a 1995 (pre-OBDII)! Bob

As I said when I started the thread, I did check the wiring connections and they were firmly attached. However, as you said they are a PITA, so I did not disconnect and reconnect them. I guess I have to. And maybe get a look at those coils while I'm at it. I really doube that the plugs "gave out" at 50 miles. Thanks. Does anyone have a coil checking method for me??????

Seems odd that the car was perfect for parhaps 50 miles and then failed instantly. What happens if coils have cracks? Where are these cracks? Rechecking the plugs is a time consuming step, but I may have to do this. However, if the flaw of one plug is not visually obvious, I dont want to change them all as then I have no knowledge which one it was. Then what?

My 2001 Boxster was stored for the winter and before I took it out of storage I put in a set of original type Beru spark plugs. The job went OK except that reconnecting the wiring harness to the coils was somewhat troublesome on several cylinders. This was the first plug change at 36K. I drove the car over 3 days and it ran as good, or better, than ever. All mild driving. All of a sudden the engine started to shudder and the check engine light came on. After a quick roadside exam I was fairly convinced that I had a misfire condition as a result of one of the coil wiring connections slipping off. My logic says that this has something to do with my spark plug change. No damp or rainy weather involved. The car will run at an idle but somewhat unsteady. It definitely stumbled and shuttered when accelerating but would cruise at 3000 rpm fairly well so I drove it the 3-4 miles home. No smoke of any kind. Once home I got under there and rechecked the wiring boots on the coils…….to my disappointment they were solidly in place. Now I’m worried. I don’t have a OBD11 meter. I don’t know if an ordinary meter would tell me which cylinder was misfiring, so perhaps I need an expensive Porsche specific one to tell me that. I can pull all of the coils and spark plugs and look for a problem, but unless the problem is visual, I don’t know how to diagnose it. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Bob Ps Oh….and get this. While it was in storage, I bought a 3 yr extended warrantee WHICH HAS A 1000 MILE WAITING PERIOD. What I dope I was to be honest with them about the miles!!!

Look at the photo on the left that is on the bottom of the first page of this thread (that Bobiam submitted). That left AC radiator is easily out of the way. Look for fasteners. You'll find them. I think there are some slide clip fasteners holding one of the radiators on. At a glance they look tricky, but are not really. You do have the inner fender off...right? There is some metal frame towards the back of the radiator that I recall removing that supports one end of the radiator system. There is really no problem with the length of any hoses. Look again at the pic that I previosly posted and take your time identifying fasteners. It is a project that requires patience. you certainly don't want to remove all that hardware again!!! Regarding that little plastic tube in your photo, if your old radiator has one, you're in business. I can't recall it or what it's for, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Who said easy?? I just changed spark plugs and bled the hydraulic clutch while lying on my back and comfirmed that almost nothing on these cars is easy, except dropping in a new pair of brake pads. But they're so cool.........! Bob

"Bedding" new brake pads While researching what brake pads to buy for my Boxster, I noted that many of you prefer to use the OEM pads available from Porsche (Textar) and Pagid pads. So, that's what I bought. I bought Textar pads as well as rotors and hardware from Sunset Imports for a fair price. The Textar pads did not come with any "bedding" procedure, so I spent much time digging up dozens of opinions about how to bed new pads. You'd need a race track to follow some of the procedures that I found!!! Confused, I c Author itzbob46 Category Boxster (986) - Common Fixes and Repairs Submitted 03/31/2009 03:04 PM Updated 12/19/2016 12:44 PM

Actually, this is a DIY job with parts bought from from Sunset Imports (a internet order Porsche dealer). I'm still trying to decide which way to go on these bolts. I don't race it. But we need to keep in mind that since many Porsches are raced the specs are at times over the top on safety and parts failure protection. I just did caliper-off caliper painting, and front pad/rotor change, so I'll have to replace ALL the bolts, and then the rears again when it comes due for rotor replacement. Thanks for comments so far, Bob

The dealer talked me into replacing the two bolts that mount each caliper saying that they stretch and take a set once used. Says that they should not be used a second time! The Bentley Manual says nothing about replacing bolts, but the Porsche manual that I have on my PC says to! These bolts are over 3/8" diameter and use 63 ft-lb torque. They mount into an aluminum structure. Somehow, my seat of the pants engineering says this is overkill. If anything is getting stressed here it's the alumium parts and my wallet. On top of this, I had to buy an allen driver to remove the old bolts. Now, the head on the new bolts takes a different driver!!!! Something else to buy! I don't even know the size or name of the thing! Any knowledge or thoughts on this? Bob

The pads on the car were Brembo and Textar. Prone to squealing??? Carefully seperated from the old pads those dampers would be reusable if needed. They're not cheap! I would guess that there is a good substitute around to adhere them to new pads. Double sided tape product, adhesive spray, or paste-like product. Perhaps someone here knows what to use.

When ordering new pads, I learned that NON - S Boxsters do NOT use vibration dampers on front or rear brakes. But S models do. All the instructions that I have found for this procedure fail to mention this. Oh, by the way, my 2001 NON-S Boxster, which I've owned for less that 2 yrs, has dampers, (just like an S) both front and back. What have you experienced? I'm tempted to reinstall them since the brakes were always quiet with them. On the other hand, maybe I'll just hold on to them to install if my brakes squeal wih tthe new pads. There appears to be some kind of adhesive between the pads and vibration dampers. Does anyone know what to replace it with if necessary? Bob

Drag????

I would replace that radiator. For the $100-150 that's you may save by repairing it, there is a lot of your labor involved and this is something that you should do right. I am surprised that the plastic locator that I pointed out in my earlier post was not cracked. Must be because you hit the radiator in the center and the aluminum absorbed the impact rather than the radiator being pushed upward and stressing the locator. Your car being a 2000 (don't know your milage) is a good candidate for doing a coolant change. I don't care what they say about lifetime coolant. There's a lot of c_ _p floating around in there that should be flushed. Replace it with another high quality "lifetime" coolant and you're done for the next however many years. Changing it corectly is a pita. I flushed my system out twice with distilled water. But, the radiator labor is not complex or difficult. Just take your time and it's just a bunch of nuts, bolts and clips. I found that replaceing the bumper skin was a chore, but I did it alone. Most guys say it's not so bad. Watch how well the rubber internal parts match up to your two end grills. May take a little jiggling to make them line up right. Bob