mikefocke

502 = made in Finland 292 I've never seen.

plus to plus, minus to minus. It really is that simple. And I'll confess for the last 52 years I've never bothered to do anything but connect direct to the battery. I suppose connecting the negative of the source (in this case your fancy starter pack) to some ground on the target car is safer. Probably jumped 200 cars...mostly my own run down through stupidity. I carry jumper cables in all my cars and buy them for my boys cars...the best that can be bought...long and thick. And the red is plus on your starter pack. Black is negative. Be prepared on a Boxster that the radio and the windows won't work right. The radio may need a code entered. The windows some training...see the owner's manual. I'd assume you'd have some instructions with the starter pack. Don't be scared of a Porsche...it is just a car and you aren't gonna hurt it if you jump it. I'm assuming you have access to the battery and the bonnet (front trunk lid) is up.

First step: Obtain a method of reading any codes that pop up. Can be an OBDII code reader (Actron is a common brand) or Durametric s/w for a PC laptop or even a much much more expensive Porsche supplied diagnostic computer (PWIS, PST2) if you can find one...in increasing order of cost and capability. Second step: Obtain a list of codes that could be "thrown" by your specific model year DME (engine control computer). See the documents section of Renntech here. Third step: Obtain the manual for the DME. Start reading to acquaint yourself with what is presented and how it is organized. Forth step: Obtain some workshop manuals appropriate to your car. Fifth step: Buy tools only as needed for a specific repair. Start doing simple things like oil changes so you get unafraid of the car...it is only a car...no more complex than any other modern car. Read here. Search here and other online Porsche forums for specific problems and read the advice from others who have done that repair before you. A good place to start reading is http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/mikespor...boxsterwebpages

Why use a filter that doesn't filter as well? http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/k%26amp%3Bnairfilter%3F for about a half dozen tests that all agree. If you don't like changing filters, how are you going to keep the K&N cleaned and oiled? How many filters could you buy before you paid as much as you are going to pay for the K&N? Is it maybe you are buying the filters from the wrong source? www.autohausaz.com has em for $21.30.

Mine starts just fine after sitting for 2 weeks unlocked with the top down. It was driven at least 15 miles from the last start before putting it away. It has a good battery. Just a data point for comparison purposes.

The diagnosis approach I would use is to run the car ~50 miles at speed so you know the battery is changed well. Use a multi-meter to verify that the change is around 12 volts by measuring across the battery. Disconnect (unplug) the radar detector. Wait 1 week. Start the car. If you get a normal start, you know the problem is with the radar detector being on and the "lighter" socket being always powered on (my other cars this last isn't true...the socket turns off but not with the Porsche). So turn the detector off next time so it doesn't draw current. If it isn't the detector, you are going to have a much more complex process to diagnose by having the battery tested...by measuring the current draw while one fuse at a time is removed to see what circuit is creating the draw. My car starts normally after 2 weeks of sitting but I don't have any external devices hooked up. My bet is it is the detector.

Since the 986 Boxster and 996 are the same up front.... http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/batteries

Be careful of the anti freeze you use. http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/antifreezeforyourboxster

Should have been Bosch part # 0.280.217.007 Sometimes sold as B3130-70627 and the only difference between the Bosch and the Porsche part is a Porsche part number, packaging, distribution and markup. As with so many things, Porsche doesn't make the part.

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? Ans: Depends on how you wash it, how much water you use to flush out the dirt first before you wipe over the section. 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? Ans: You shouldn't have to be adding air daily. Get to a tire shop and have them dunk the tires in a tank and check for leaks. (I add/subtract when the seasons change and the temps cause expansion/contraction. But I also go months between needing to add. I have that minor oil leak. RMS? How pertinent is this to fix? Should I fix it immediately? I've heard stories of Porsche volunteering to fix this. Is this true? If not how much will it cost me to fix it? Ans: Not at 92k to a second owner they won't help. ~$1000. Switch oil weights and see if that helps. Watch your oil levels. You have a TIP so it won't get on the clutch plates. 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? Ans: Depends on your car and with what options it was built. Basic dash is plastic. Optional was leather. Ditto for door panels. 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? Ans: No but do remember you are driving a car with 92k miles on the suspension and at some time it will need a refresh. Not that there aren't Boxsters with 225k miles on them...but they were well maintained. The transmission in my car is Tiptronic and it climbs to fifth gear rapidly which seems to make the engine lug somewhat. When driving in town should I be driving harder to avoid this? Ans: I let my TIP figure out what gear to be in unless I'm in hilly country and then I switch to manual and control the gearing myself. Yes the TIP favors gas mileage in normal driving. But it also has the capability of learning that you are driving aggressively and changing its shift pattern to suit.

Ray you need to read the instructions on where and how to post a request for a radio code. They display in the 3 introductory messages to this forum. Your request here will not be answered.

The pollution control circuitry consists of a sensor in the air intake (MAF) and ones in the exhaust (O2). I can't see two failures at the same time being probable so my suspicion would be something that can affect both sides of the engine. You can replace any of these parts yourself very easily. There are instructions online and parts cross references so you don't have to use Porsche branded parts but can use parts from the company that makes the parts and sells them to Porsche. Any other symptoms beside the CEL and codes...like rough running under specific circumstances? http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/mikespor...boxsterwebpages

AOS on the twin theories that you'll need one soon anyway and you have oil seepage which wouldn't be from a MAF. Clean the throttle body too. DIY guides are available here.

You can buy Porsche branded with wiring, Bosch branded with wiring, Bosch without wiring, Walker without wiring, generic without wiring. I like to use one with wiring of the proper length already installed by someone who knows what they are doing and who does it using a multi-thousand dollar machine especially made to do flawless crimps and who tests the unit in ways I can't before they ship it out. If you can do a flawless wiring job that can provide the proper signal for 40k miles or so, congratulations.

The parts have to be sprayed separately because the bumper paint has to have a flex agent added to it. Add in the fact that the texture of the surface they are painting is a bit different and you have a challenge. Having said that if you look at the rear of my car you'd see 3 different surfaces painted years apart and 400 miles or more apart. The original body, a repaired bumper and some Bumperettes. And the match is perfect. Where the front bumper painted at the factory seems a bit off from the hood. I had a Lincoln with a white that had a bit of a rose tint to it that the best paint shop in town took 3 tries before they got it right. It never left their shop before they got it right.

Alternators have 4 major components: * Alternator core (the wire winding and the entire Alternator body) * Bearing (what the shaft and the pulley rotate on) * Voltage Regulator (rectangular component on the back side) * Rectifier (Horse shoe shaped component on the back) The regulator often what goes bad. But yours was replaced. Which doesn't make it good so lets see what we can deduce from the evidence of its behavoir to tell us if it is bad. Having sat for several days, the voltage in the battery should drop a bit because you use "juice" powering things like the circuitry that powers the alarm and the waiting for a remote key press. And the use (or rev of the engine) seems to recharge the battery with what seems to me a normal over voltage that then drops to nearer nominal when the engine is shut off. From what you describe the system seems to be working fine.

Most radical change I've seen is to change the front to the 996 look from the windshield forward. Lots of possibilities in just the front bumper area like http://www.gtmotorsport.net/index.php?menu...ge=Front+Bumper. But never seen the 987 look in add on parts.

And when you drive it again it starts right up and the voltage climbs again to 13.8? The idle may put out less juice than the accessories and engine consume. Especially after idling for 20 minutes, the voltage can drop. So do the measurements again...see what the voltage is with the A/C on and the radio going and the headlights on...but you doing 30MPH or 2.5k RPM. Bet it is in the high range again.

5 min job ref here

Leave my top down 90% of the time in the garage, unless I came back in the rain. 9 years old, rear window still looks good as new. I do keep the top clean and treat the rear plastic window with Novus #1 and 2 every 6 months. Top is Raggtopped and no wear at all that I can see. I park about 50% open, 50% closed depending on the look of the sky and where in town I park. I'm worried about rain, vandals, tree sap and bird doo. So I weight the probability against the hassle of closing the top and getting out to chop on all but the hottest days. Never had a problem with people.

No they aren't the same if you buy Porsche or Bosch parts (Bosch makes the Porsche part). The pigtails for the sensor in front of the cats and behind the cats have differing pigtail lengths. The actual sensor is the same part. Part #s differ by model year and engine. If you buy generic sensors and wire them yourself (no soldering) then the parts can be the same. Some part #s here

They are often offered in the classifieds on enthusiast's boards by people who have sold their car to moved to where they now have a garage. Noah fabric by California Car Cover is what I'd recommend. Fits well, resists wind. soft on the pained finis via soft inside, breathes so moisture can exit the cover, but not enter. Survived many winters and ice/snow coverings for me and is still pristine. I parked my Boxster under one for months under a tree after the nuts had stopped falling.

Your options Here Relative to the value of the car, the cost is going to really disappoint you.

Second owner, out of warranty, no cause of failure given. Car's fail. You want a warranty, buy a car with one (new, CPO, extended warranty). If you don't, you have paid your $ (less) and you took your chances (more). Risk is priced in to the price you paid for the car. A new or CPO'ed car would have been more. Presumably, you knew the risk you were taking when you bought the car (limited warranty time left) and the price of out of warranty repairs. If you didn't, shame on you. Now be responsible for your choice.

If quick and fixed...look at the glass as half full