ericinboca

I’ve installed a Porsche Motorsports Air Oil Separator in my track-dedicated 986S. For reference, the car is a 2004 Boxster S Anniversary Edition. On other posts, you can read about the symptoms I experienced on the track warranting this change. Note number one: The TSB (also can be found in other posts) calls for the removal of the air intake distributors. I did my install without removing them. You will have to decide whether to remove or not depending on your situation. There are two advantages in removing the intake distributors. 1. You have much more room to mount the new, much bigger AOS 2. You may have a lot of oil in your distributor that you will want to clean up Removing the distributors takes some doing, and in my case, I am making the change from the stock AOS to the motorsports one shortly after beginning to experience the symptoms – hence, very little oil. So I left the distributors intact. Note number two: I did not install a new vent line. Instead, I rerouted the old one. Parts: Porsche Motorsports AOS, 996.107.926. 00. $488 2, M6 x 35 fastening screws, 900.067.316.02 (these are used to mount the new AOS; you need these because they are longer than the stock ones) $0.30 a piece 1 tube (small) – Kluber Sytheso Glep or equivalent, 000.043.204.68, $11 You may also want a new vent line. New vent line, 996.107.947.00, $81 The AOS and the vent line are special orders and take some time to arrive. If you remove the intake distributors, you may also need to replace the rubber gaskets. The tools used were basics; nothing Porsche specific. You will want a 10 or 12 inch socket extender, a 5mm Hex driver for your socket ratchet, and I made good use of a telescoping magnet. These were not all the tools required – just the ones that were slightly out of the ordinary and required. The job is not all that hard except for the cramped confines. It takes patience and time. I spent a good hour trying to figure out how to attack it, and then a good 4 hours doing the install. It is just tough dealing with the space. Here is how I went about the install. In addition to opening the engine compartment, I removed the driver’s seat and the engine panel behind the seat. This will give you access later to where the vent line attaches to the cylinder four flange. First, use an E10 star socket on a long ratchet extension to remove the bolts holding the stock AOS to its mount. If you look straight down over the AOS, and move all the hoses and cables, you will see the two bolts – one on each side, but not exactly opposite of each other. Once they were thoroughly loosened, I used my telescoping magnet to pull them out. This image shows where the stock AOS is. The next steps involve disconnecting three hoses that all are attached to the AOS. Two are vent lines and are attached on the sides. One is a rubber hose attached underneath. Disconnect the ventilation line that runs to the throttle body from the AOS. The vent line that goes to the throttle body is the short one toward the top of the AOS. You do this by squeezing the outer ring at the two points (you will see them – they are the part of the outer ring that has ridges) and then pulling out. On the opposite side of the AOS toward the bottom (but not underneath), there is a vent line that runs to cylinder four. It has the same type of fitting. It is tough to get your hands done there, but you release it in the same way. The third hose is clamped to the bottom of the AOS. The clamp requires a pair of pliers to squeeze the two ears together to loosen. You can, if you position yourself on the trunk, get at this from the top. I was also able to get at this from the bottom, but I do not have secondary cats on this track car. If you can loosen the clamp and move it down the hose, great. If not, try to at least loosen it some, and then from above the engine, rotate the AOS back and forth – you can’t rotate it much because you have no room, but with some patience, you can wiggle it loose. Then the AOS comes up and out. The motorsports AOS will fit in the space you just made – barely, but it will. Use the glep grease to lubricate the O ring and around it a little on the new AOS. Angle it into the space. You will have to push some hoses and cables around. You need to be sure you have not set the AOS on top of any hoses or cables. Orient the AOS so the two large openings for the vent lines are pointing to the driver’s side. (The two small openings are not used on a 986.) The hose underneath might be in the way, and a second set of hands might be helpful to help get it lined up on the AOS. You need to take your time and be sure the bolt holes in the AOS are perfectly lined up with the mounting bracket. You do not want to drive those bolts in at an angle, which would be easy to do. They need to be square to ensure the AOS is flat on its mount. Once you have the holes lined up, use the telescoping magnet to drop in the bolts. Tighten the bolts. Re-attach the hose underneath, and get that clamp moved back up so it holds the hose. Next, there is a trick to re-attaching the vent line that goes to the throttle body. You need to disconnect it from the throttle body (same type of fitting) and turn it over. If you don’t, you cannot get the angle needed to re-attach this vent line to the AOS. When you turn it over, it twists and can kink an attached smaller rubber hose. Loosen the clamp holding that hose and rotate the hose so it has a nice bend it in with no kink. Now it is a simple matter of plugging both ends back in – listen for the audible click and be sure it is embedded all the way around. Now you need to remove the long vent line that runs from the bottom of the old AOS to the cylinder four flange. This is where removing the seat and the engine panel comes in handy. Facing the rear, sit on the driver’s side. On the far right lower corner, you will see where the vent line attaches. It has the same type of fitting as the other end, so if you can get your hand in and squeeze, it will pop right out. It took me a second to figure out how to orient my hand to remove the line, but it was a breeze once I got it right. Now the hard part. Once again, you need to be patient. Loosen the hose clamps on the throttle body tubes on both ends and on both tubes. This will let them move some to help you get your hands under them. Don’t yank on them – they are attached to important stuff. Starting with the end by cylinder four, carefully, but with authority, both pull and push the tube out from underneath the intake distributor on the driver’s side. You want to pull it to the back of the car. Watch for the tube getting snagged on cables and wires. Splayed across the trunk from the driver’s side, reach under the tubes, following the line. There is a mount shaped like a C toward the passenger side distributor. The mount is open at the top. If you push the line up and out of the C mount, you can begin pulling and pushing the tube out toward the driver’s side. Be careful over on the passenger side of a single thin wire that can easily get caught on the line. Carefully tug, rotate and push the line out. It is hard. The line will keep reseating itself in the C mount, and it won’t budge, so keep unseating it. Eventually you will have it completely removed. To reuse this line, working again from inside the car on the driver’s side, I fed the line through the engine panel opening just the opening, with the end that attaches to the AOS going first. I pushed and pulled it through and then re-attached the fitting to the cylinder four flange. Then I simply laid the line toward the back of the air intake and routed it to the AOS. I have images, but I cannot figure out how to embed them in the post.