ericinboca

To make the dash light go out, you have to plug the end of sensor back into the wheel carrier, but you leave the sensor out of the pad. I use wire ties to coil up and secure the wire so it doesn't get caught in anything. At least, this is what worked for me.

Engine codes as follows M96.20 Boxster 1997 - 99 M96.22 Boxster 2000- 02 M96.23 Boxster 2003 - 04 M96.21 Boxster S 2000 - 02 M96.24 Boxster S 2003 - 04 Didn't Porsche begin using a dual row intermediate shaft bearing in the back in later engines? If so, in what engine?

Just last week I installed the headers and the secondary cat bypass pipes. Not the exhaust though. I am still using the stock muffler. The headers look like a complete copy of the Fabspeed headers. They fit fine, and the quality looked pretty good to me. They are made in Taiwan and quite a bit cheaper than Fabspeed.

I have a set of H&R sway bars, front and back. They made a noticeable difference on the track over the M030 sways -- a really big difference - I was surprised. I am likely to upgrade to fully adjustable sways though in a few weeks, only because I need the adjustability for the many different tracks I go to. The M030 are not adjustable. The H&Rs have one adjustment hole on the rear, none in the front. When I do replace my H&R sways, I will put them up for sale on renntech - have M030 out there now.

Pagid has a sport pad that is not quite a track pad, but can take more heat than the stock pads. Think they are called Pagid sport blue. That might be worth a try. And, as the other poster suggests, the OEM pads might be good for you. But it is a hard question to answer. If you have or get some experience on the track, you might find the OEM pads cannot handle the heat, and you might have to move to track pads, like Pagid Orange. But the track pads make more dust, don't work as well when cold as do the street pads, and can make noise. When I first got started doing DEs, I started with stock pads, and after a few weekends, got good enough that I was cooking them. I was still driving my car to the track in those days, so I changed to track pads before leaving home if the track was reasonably close, and then change back at the end of the weekend. I see a lot of guys change them at the track.

That is a "post" or some people call it a brake bolt. Some other names too. It prevents the pad from moving forward under braking. It is held into the caliper with a roll spring. Can this post touch the rotor? That's the first thing people think, but no, it will not touch. The caliper is fixed, and it is part of the caliper. The caliper does not move at all. The pads are the things that move in and out. You mash the brake, and they press against rotor, as you know. As you use more pad, the caliper pistons move farther out of the caliper...until eventually, if you go far enough, to use of all the brake pad, and press the pad's metal backing plate against the rotor. You will not get that far - the wear indicator will go off on your dash.

That is a "post" or some people call it a brake bolt. Some other names too. It prevents the pad from moving forward under braking. It is held into the caliper with a roll spring.

This is good. I think what you were seeing in other bedding procedures, Bob, were procedures for Pagid track and racing pads. They do need to get quite a bit hotter to transfer properly to the rotor, outgas and compete curing under heat, pressure and torque. As such, they talk about braking from 100+. Not a great practice for the street. I always buy extra sets of race pads, and break them in at some point during a track day, then pack them up for when I need them.

I rebuilt all four of my calipers in February on my '04 986S, replacing all the bore seals, pistons, boots and bleeder screws. If all you are replacing is the dust boot, you don't really need to remove the pistons. Just press the pistons back in and pull the boots off. They have a lip that fits into a recessed area on the caliper, and the top of them fits into a recessed area on the top outer edge of the piston, but the boot is reinforced at those parts and you should be able to pull them right off. Below you will note I caution on the use of a tool with the pistons, but if all you are doing is the dust boots, you can use a dental type tool to help get them out. If you want to go the full monty, here is way more detail than you asked for :D ....but be sure you read my caveat on doing the full monty below. You have to disconnect the fluid line on the back of the caliper to inject air to make the piston come out. As such, you should just remove the whole caliper. With the caliper off, and the brake line dripping into a bucket, use plenty of brake parts cleaner to wash everything down and getting as much fluid out. You don't have to do this, but if you don't, when you apply the air pressure, you are going to splatter nasty brake fluid all over the place. You can remove the bleeder screws too, and spray into those and into the back until you feel like most of the fluid is out. Then you need some blocks of wood; best to have some of different thicknesses. Place blocks between the pistons so when you apply the air pressure, these things hit something other than each other. And be careful, they come out with significant force. Use the different thicknesses to get the pistons most of the way out. Then you can pull them out with your hand if you got them far enough out. Don't use any metal tool on the pistons. You can scratch and ruin them. It is a bit like a puzzle sometimes to figure out what thickness of blocks to use to get all four pistons out far enough at the same time to pull them out, but it will make sense once you start. Inspect the pistons. If you boots are shot, and you've had a few track days where you were down to nothing on your pads, you will probably find a little bit of rash on the sides near the top. If this is all you have, just at the top, they can be reused, IMO. If they are scored on the sides in a place that would make the scratch go past the seal, then resuing them runs the risk of leaking past the bore seal. Look into the cylinder and half way or so down, you will see the bore seals - one per cylinder. You get these out with a dental type tool. These are inexpensive and readily available. I've seen them at sears as well as lowes. If you pull the seal out, you should replace it, because you do not want to run the risk of cutting or tearing it at all. Go crazy with the brake parts cleaner. Clean, clean, clean, clean - but only use brake parts cleaner, or brake fluid itself. NOTHING else in the cylinder but one of these two chemicals. When you reinstall the bore seals, you lube them with a silicon grease (came with my piston rebuild kits from Brembo - have more if you want the name) like you lube the ring on an oil filter. Then you bend them (because the rings' inside diameter is slightly larger then the diameter of the cylinder, and fit them into the little recessed area in the cylinder. The pistons go in next. No grease on them. And then put a tiny bit of the grease on the lip of the dust boots to make them fit easier on the lip of the caliper...try not to get any grease on the outside of the boot though, because it will gum up with dust. Once all back together, flush your brake fluid, and then bleed them a couple of times too. I've found my dust boots don't last long. It depends on what tracks I am visiting, but I am watching them more carefully now, and replacing them at least, sometimes twice a year. It seems to extend the life of the pistons because the dust doesn't have as much chance to damage the top edge. I trust you know the pistons are different diameters. Full Monty caveat - Unless you have experience some serious uneven wear,(unattributable to difference in grip in your tires) leaks, or have a jillion track miles, you probably don't need to rebuild the calipers completely. I've done it once in 15K track miles, and the bore seals were only marginally worn. BTW, someday try pagid yellow up front and black in the back. I get WAY more life out of the yellows, and the blacks, being a little more aggresive, is like a poor man's brake bias. They work nice with yellows upfront. Also, I found better cooling using the GT3 RS brake spoilers.

Don't know if it is the same in a '99, but in my '04, there are four carpet pieces. One lines the "floor" of the trunk Two cover the left and right "ends" And one covers the back The "floor" on attaches with two plastic fastnerers, one on either side of the latch. You pry those out with your finger nail. And the latch cover comes off with two screws, and then the thing lifts right out. The end pices have a plastic nuts, and the rear piece has several of the plastic fasteners you pry off. Like I say; not sure if the '99 is the same.

My stock wheels are the carrera 5 spoke kind. I have not marred them in any way. My rain tires are on a set of turbo twist wheels I got from a salvager, painted myself - quite poorly, BTW - and never clear coated. I did rub some paint off of them once. If you get them nice and snug with a towel or something like that in between the strap and wheel, they shouldn't vibrate and rub. My "lengths" that go through the wheels have a soft leather or leather-like wrapping that touches the wheel.

Everytime I strap the thing down, I wonder if I am pulling it out of alignment, but I trailered it about 20 round trips (40 times total) last year alone, and I never felt after unloading that the alignment changed. You'd think I'd stop worrying - but I still wonder :huh:

Well, I don't know if I do it correctly, but this is what I do for my track 986S. I use a total of six heavy duty straps. Two in the front that cross each other (to make an X) and two in the rear that do the same. These straps hook to a 20 inch length of heavy duty strap with D rings on the end - I run these lengths through my wheel. I then use a strap, also through a wheel, that runs straight to the front, and one that does the same straight to the rear. These prevent forward and backward movement. And the X straps contribute to that, but also prevent shifting side to side and rotation around its axis. I tow out of gear, but with the parking brake on. I make sure the wheel is locked, tighten the dickens out of the straps that do not cross, and tighten up the X's, but not as super tight as the front and back straps. If it rains, I find the straps stretch a bit and need to be retightened. I've never made a cross country trip like this, but have made many 1000 mile trips this way with no damage or problems. Just align the straps so they do not rub on the body.

I took the passenger side header off - the honey comb is loose and sliding fore and aft. So, guess I need a new header on that side. Anyone want to diagnose the drivers side before I take it off?? I find it puzzling I got a fault code on both sides... I just took the driver's side off. It moves fore and aft too, not as easily as the passenger side, but it does move if you tap the header or shake it hard. Before I order two new headers, I'm hoping somebody can tell me if fore and aft movement (I cannot see any broken peices or cracks in the honeycomb matrix) means a dead cat.

I took the passenger side header off - the honey comb is loose and sliding fore and aft. So, guess I need a new header on that side. Anyone want to diagnose the drivers side before I take it off?? I find it puzzling I got a fault code on both sides...

Don't know for sure, but reman probably means they put a new bushing in...for a street car, I would go with reman. Unless the thing is bent or cracked or something, it should be fine.

2004 986S 20,500 miles, about 15K on the track Driver's side catalytic convertor was replaced many thousands of track miles ago Passenger side cat is still original Talking about the cats integrated into the headers here - and the '04 has a sensor in the front and on the rear of these integrated cats - no sensors in the secondary cats I got: P0420 Porsche fault code 40 catalytic convertor efficiency bank 1 Oxygen sensor ahead of and after TWC exchanged Valve lift fault Aged oxygen sensor after TWC TWC faulty and I got: P0430 Porsche fault code 45 catalytic onvertor efficiency bank 2 Oxygen sensor ahead of and after TWC exchanged Valve lift fault Aged oxygen sensor after TWC TWC faulty I put my stethoscope against both cats. The sounds coming from both are engine sounds...the sound on the passenger side seems a little deeper, but I don't hear anything I would immediately call "rattling around" sounds. In bank 1, the 02 sensor resistance ahead of the cat is 128 Ohms, and the resistance in the sensor after the cat is 64 Ohms. In bank 2, the resistance on both sensors is 64 Ohms. A chart for voltage for bank 1 and for bank 2 can be seen here (click on the image to make it bigger - and sorry, I still haven't figured out how to upload an image): http://user.streetfire.net/album/voltage-f...nks_1650087.htm Anyone know what is going on here?

That's a good thought. I hadn't considered the hub shaft being worn a bit. I studied it more last night, and can give better detail now. My tool does not press it all the way in...only part way. And I can pull it out from that point, or its weight, if inverted, can cause it t fall out. But it is tighter from that point on....I have to use a 300+ ft/lb impact wrench with the axle nut on the half shaft to draw it up all the way. Once flush fully installed, I can still pull it out by hand, but it is hard. It would not fall out on its own once all the way in. Still, I would expect it to be a little tighter.

I'm not sure you would notice movement just by pushing, jiggling, extra. I would take a look at them. Look at the lower control arms. There is bearing were the control arms are attached to the frame - that one will be hard to see - there is a bushing where the leading control arm connects (talking front here), and in the back, a bearing connecting the control arm to the frame, a bushing for the leading control arm, and then the toe rod (not sure what it is really called) also has a bearing where it connects to the frame. So, in the front, find one bearing and one bushing. In the back, find two bearings and one bushing. Try to get a look at the rubber. Is it cracked, dried out, chunks missing? If so, then you probably need new bushings or bearings.

I pressed in a new left front wheel bearing for my 04 986S last night using my SIR tool. I then pressed in the wheel hub. I had to press it in, which has been my experience before, but it promptly fell out. I have to use the tool to get the wheel hub into the bearing, but I can, with just my hands and not much force, pull the hub out. Is this normal? I've done fronts and rears on this car before, and don't remember this happening.

Got another tip for you - I forgot about this. Freeze your new bushings for 48 - 72 hours. They will shrink. I was surprised by how much my solid bushings contracted.

That's the way to go - the press is awesome. If the rubber in your current bushings is really old, tired and weak, when you press them out, they may tear off the outer metal sleeve, leaving it in the arm. Just take a flat head screwdriver and get it behind the sleeve and pry part of the sleeve inward. Then you can keep bending a little more and work your way down and created enough room enough room to change it's shape to come out or to cut it. If you scratch up the inner wall of the arm a little - no big deal, but do use some sandpaper, emory cloth, file, something to smooth down any rough edges. I only had this problem on one bushing. Others came out whole.

Yes routine maintenance is not an issue. You will probably have to get the paper oil filter cartridge from a place that specializes in Porsche parts, but the work itself is no prob. Other things like that too are not yet available at the local auto part store, but I think we will see more availability locally as the number of used 986s grow. A Bentley manual will also guide you nicely through that kind of stuff. Lot of people more qualified to comment on reliability than me. But my opinion and my experience - highly reliable. My 986S is a dedicated track car. I beat the dickens out of it on the track, both motor wise and suspension (anyone who has ever driven Sebring, what I consider my home track, will know the abuse I talk about). My oil analysis comes back with amazingly consistent and limited wear. I have never had a serious problem - wear items, sure, but anything broken has been minimal and mostly attributable to it being on the track. I would lean toward an 03 and 04, the end of the model years for the 986 because they made some reliability enhances over the early years, but this is the kind of detail others on the board can offer more specifics. (BTW - lots of track days in easy reach of Miami all year round)

Geoff, are you asking me what I used for solid stuff, or what Pete is going to use? If me, I rebushed with Racers Edge solid bushings and bearings (and solid mounts for the coilovers). You probably know, but this is not something you are likely to want to do to a street car. But for a track car, I HIGHLY recommend it.

What's the maintenance like on a boxster? If you have wrenched before, you will find it to be no big challenge. Even somewhat bigger things like wheel bearing replacements can be handled in the garage with the proper tools.