mikefocke

Hardtops from '99 would fit on 986s 1997 thru 2004 US model years, yours may be different...lets just say any 986. But go to the shop and take out the "spinlocks" as they will be necessary if you are going to put the hardtop on a car that has never had one on it before. They were extra cost parts that the hordtop fit into and were under the clamshell that covered the bay that the top folded into. Off to the side. You'll be surprised how expensive they are.

I totalled my '99 Boxster too...my fault too. I know how you feel. I didn't think the damage to the front was really that bad.. Other car without a scratch...well really it was a truck. But when a P-car knowledgable shop started adding things up, I was amazed at how much sense it made to let the professionals scrap it for parts and pay me to get a new P-car without any possibility of frame damage, broken suspension bits, etc. My estimate, based on what it cost to fix my son's Honda was exactly 10% of what the P-car with seemingly less damage would have cost to fix. Insurance paid me more than I had paid for the car 6 months before. I bought a 2 year later S for the money. Unless you are a professional at auto restoration, don't let your affection for the P-car rule your thoughts. Take the money and go shopping.

Even an Actron or something similar might give you some codes to research.

You can clear the codes with darn near any code reader can't you?

Tops section of mikefocke's site. Google it.

Is it the MAF or a sensor that is sending a bad signal to the ECU? Is there a relearn after battery disconnect? Yes...pretty long and complicated involving multiple runs at multiple throttle points and other variables. Until then the ECU uses some presets. Are we sure that the Bosch MAF is the correct one for the model year you have? 0.280.217.007 sometimes sold as B3130-70627? Same as the original "bad one"? Any sense that the ECU has ever been flashed?

Must be someting about PA. Seems to me several years back I recall another 2 failure car from there, only you got 5 times the miles he did IIRC.

Look in the articles here since Maurice doesn't seem to be around in person recently. http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/thetop-itsmaintaince%26replacement

Suggest posting on babblers, the bay area Boxster forum as you are mikely to catch a local there http://www.babblers.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5

You have to have loosened some connection with your maintenance is my theory. Do you have an amp in the front trunk near the battery? Did you disturbe some wires/fibre going between units? Connections at either end?

I'm wondering from the number of electrical problems if this car was in a flood.

Go back to Loren's first post. Find an expert Porsche mechanic with the correct diagnostic equipment, manuals and experience. Even having the Durametric sw/hw, you still have to understand the theory of operation, the diagnostic flow chart, and have the other diagnostic tools sometimes. And the experience to put it all together and not just shotgun parts. Sometimes there is no substitute for knowing how to do it right the first time. By all means do the simple things yourself, buy OEM parts, use a generic mechanic where appropriate but also know when the problem calls for the experience and equipment that only an expert can provide. My scan of the web says Jones might be the place I'd try.

So you have a sensor that isn't responding as quickly as a new one would (P0133), one whose signal is not within expected limits (bad sensor, bad wiring, bad ECU???) (P0150), a code showing your catalytic converter is suspect (How long has the CEL been on? Could it have dumped so much bad stuff into the converter that it fouled it?)(P0420), and the P1130 has multiple symptoms; Incorrect signal from MAF sensor Intake air system leaking Fuel pressure too low Volume supply of fuel pump too low Fuel injectors fouled Exhaust system leaking So lets ask a few basic questions... when did the symptoms start and is the car stock and has there been any work done on it recently? And the answer is you just bought the car and so there aren't any real clues. So you can shotgun parts starting with 2 O2 sensors which typically last around 60k miles. The previous owner may well have just ignored the CEL, removed the bulb to sell the car after giving it to the dealer after a test ride when it had all warmed up. And an accumulation of miles with non functioning sensors eventually dumped enough unburned gas into the cats that they are damaged. You can also look for air leaks into the intake system or out from the exhaust ssytem ahead of the front O2 sensors. See my article on O2 sensors and alternatives to the Porsche-branded parts. Or you can go to an expert Porsche mechanic (doesn't have to be a dealer) and have him help you diagnose the problems. Or go back to the guy who sold you the car and ask him to refund the sale due to the fraudulent emissions system tampering you discovered. Good luck documenting it.

You want the Porsche part for the updated Rear Main Seal. You want to know, for the InterMediate Shaft Bearing, if they are using a Pelican kit (like the original Porsche one as Porsche doesn't offer any IMS parts) or the LN kit. Once they have the work done to replace the clutch, they have easy access to the RMS and IMS so any labor change for doing those should take that into account.

Trey, 'familiar with the Porsche' is a good quote to get you in the shop but find out just how many Boxster TIP IMS/RMS jobs they have done and if the mechanic who did them is still there. Just as in heart surgery, experience counts.

As I see it, you have a Mass Air Flow sensor problem and, after combustion, a bunch of O2 sensor problems. If the MAF isn't working, I can see the fuel/air mixture being seriously fouled up leading to some seriously confused O2 sensors. So I'd start by looking at the furthest upstream problem as it needs to be right or it can affect all the readings after combustion. P0650 says there is a connection problem between the ECU and the MAF and it can be in either the wiring and or the connection. If you don't have the factory manuals, some hints can be found at Info on the MAF site. The disconnect doesn't say the MAF is bad, more like it can't be seen by the engine management computer so you need to look at this first. Could be disconnected wires, chewed by rodents, all sorts of things. I'd also look at the air cleaner not because it should cause any of these codes but just because it is the first step in the air coming in to be measured for computation of the air/fuel mixture. It is odd that the CEL isn't lit with all these serious codes. Are there any mods to the car (air cleaner, headers, modified cats/exhaust)? Could someone have pulled the light bulb behind the CEL?

Did you install or have Spinlocks on the car before putting the hardtop on? You've adjusted them?

Looked at the color of the oil recently? Any indication out the tailpipe? Looked around the water pump? When you filled the expansion tank, did you burp the engine or use a vacume pump on the system? Are the front fans running? How about the trunk lid? Under the carpet in the rear trunk? Cleaned the radiators recently? Pressure tested the system recently? How old is the water pump?

Can't there be a crack where the coolant reservoir meets the motor? Old motor mounts allowing too much movement? For some reason, other forums this week are full of stories about how guys have cooked their engines by driving after they got warnings of coolant problems. Aluminum engines can get damaged really quickly by air bubbles in the cooling system allowing hot spots to lurk just where cooling is needed. Been there, cost me an Alfa engine. I only tried to drive the same distance. And the Boxster fix is $4 to $40k. Have you inspected the area around the water pump? So unless you have been able to locate the cause, fix the problem and then fill the cooling system and pressure test it and pull all the air out with a vacume pump, I'd swallow the expense and get my local flatbed to get you to the best mechanic you can find.

Bulbs, fuse, short, switch. You just gotta debug em one at a time. I'd go fuse, bulb first as easiest cheapest.

When you put water/anti-freeze into the coolant tank, does any end up on the ground? If you look at the front of the engine by removing the panel behind the seats, do you see anything odd looking around the water pump shaft/seal? We are looking for leaks that are external to the engine/heads, if we don't find any, we get it flatbedded to the nearest engine specialist and hand him the keys and our wallets. And just filling the tank is not enough if air has gotten into the cooling system, the system must be totally free of air eith by using a vacum pump or burping the system. An air pocket can allow a hot spot which can cause an engine failure. I can't emphasize enough how important to an aluminum engine having a functioning coolant system is. (Been there, lost one..an Alfa). I wouldn't run the car until I find out what is happening and fix it.

Since I'm not standing with your car in front of me and instruments for measurements in my hand, all we can go on are probabilities and your description of sysmptoms. And, concerning the AOS, it could cause problems at its age and mileage and it is easy to figure out if it is a failed AOS by removing the tube between the air cleaner and the throttle body and examining the amount of oil in it. A thin film of oil...probably not the AOS. Drops of oil and probably worth changing the AOS and J-tube. The AOS filters oil out of the "air" within the crankcase and routes the unburnt hydrocarbons back into the air intake stream to be used in the combustion cycle again. If the AOS isn't filtering, then much more oil will get up into the intake and cover the throttle body and cause hesitation and sputtering because the throttle body can't react as well as it should because it is covered with deposits. Same thinking about the valves Maurice mentioned. Clean things react well, dirty clogged ones don't.

The AOS is easy to diagnose based on the amount of oil it would dump into the intake and onto the throttle body if it fails. The AOS is plastic and 12-13 years old....

I assume you added the cleaner to an almost full tank of gas. So you already have gas with cleaner in it even beyond the cleaner the gas comes out of the pump with. So I'd wait on adding any other cleaner until you have burned that tank of gas. And how is your AOS? The throttle body cleaning will tell you about the AOS condition.

Mike had a '99 and loved it. As to comparisons to the other cars you mentioned, I'd suggest driving all of them and see which satisfies you. No reason my choice should be yours. When I bought my first Boxster (4th sportscar) I drove all the cars you mentioned. It was obvious to me but you may have different wants or needs so check em all out. The '99 is a 13 year old car and you can anticipate certain things to wear out just from age...plastic parts mostly. I'll bet its front engine mount needs replacing. And each oil change in a Boxster costs more because there is just more oil in the engine being used to lube and cool the engine. I like the mileage on the car...just enough. I like the idea of getting the Porsche-experienced mechanic to look at the car for leaks, and other issues that he might pick up that a general mechanic might not. Good luck.