cbonilla

Coincidentally I had a similar experience this past week in my 03 986S (100k). Friday evening I was coming home, accelerating hard and I got a flashing CEL. Had never seen that before. The car was running fine the whole time. When I got home I plugged in my scanner and got a P0301 pending code, indicating that a misfire had been detected on cylinder 1. It never actually threw a code. That weekend I took it out for a hard, fast drive in the country with no repetition of the problem. Car ran fine the entire time. I'm chalking it up to a temporarily clogged injector. Plugs were new 6 months ago, and I should have replaced the coils then, but I cheaped out as I I had done a lot of work on the car. New coils are now on my list, but I feel that I don't have to stop everything to do them right away. CB

I had a similar problem on my '03 986S last year. Would only happen at the first start of the day, a momentary "grumble" that would quickly go away. We did some work on the Secondary Air Injection system to clear a CEL -- if I recall it was the SAI tank which was leaking. That seemed to have fixed the problem 90% of the time. I was told, by an independent Porsche shop which I trust and has inspired my confidence by doing good work and not looking to run up the bill, that some noise out of these systems is normal at this vintage. As this car is aging (it passed 100k miles this past weekend) this brought me peace of mind. Your fears were much the same as mine (poor oil circulation?) or even worse (the death throes of an IMS bearing?) but I sleep easily now Carlos

My 2003 Boxster S Tiptronic will hit 100k this weekend. I bought it from the original owner with 9k miles in 2004. Since then i have only had to deal with the following: Service Carried out by Shops/Dealerships 2 AOS 2 water pumps CV joints (@95k) - one was torn so we we replaced the other a the same time, and since the other drive shaft was weeping at the diff we replaced the CV joints on that side as well. Kudos to my indie shop for rebuilding and not replacing my CV joints Replaced the immobilizer as it got wet in a storm that overwhelmed the rear drains, but insurance covered it A complete fluid service (trans, diff, brake system) @95K Secondary Air Injection system service to remedy a CEL Crankshaft position sensor Trans mount 2 sets of plugs, but original coils Service I carried out Other than that its been oil changes (at Jiffy Lube!) using a Porsche filter and Mobil1 Brakes (every 25k for the front, 50k for the rear -- can I admit that I stretched the life of my front discs to almost 100k?). Pelican parts has saved me a fortune in brake jobs Small stuff -- Filters, trunk struts, etc Seat belt buckle replacement to cure an airbag light Window motor and driver's door lock I figure what I saved by doing the brakes and other items myself pretty much paid for my indie shop to carry out the stuff that was over my head. All in all, count me a happy owner with no breakdowns that ever left me stranded, few unscheduled items, and primarily only maintenance. Much of that happine$$ is attributable to a good indie repair shop (Auto Sports System Group in Fairfax, VA) To celebrate I'm going to the Hershey swap meet on Saturday! CB

I recognize that concern, but the device is simplicity in itself -- 4 resistors and a switch. With visual confirmation via the flashing airbag light that it's working. By this logic we would never do any work on our own cars. Nevertheless. i would like it if someone with a factory unit could give me the resistance (ohms) with the buckle inserted and not inserted CB

Yes,I am aware of him, but he seems to have dropped off the map, hence I am building my own. Less than $5 in parts BTW. my other questions still stand

I have occasional need to be able to pick up my grandson at day care in my 2003 Boxster S (986) and I need to disable the airbag so that its safe to put him in the car. I know the Airbag Deactivation Bar is discontinued from Porsche. I have a lot of problems trying to find a used one, primarily that the seat (which has a buckle built into the front) buckles into the deactivation bar is going to be over 10 years old. But the deactivation bar requires that you have the non-standard buckle that comes with the Porsche seat to insert into the device to let the system know when to disable the airbag. I have found a schematic for the switch contained in the unit. It's actually quite simple, just 4 resistors and a Double Pole Single Throw (DPST) switch (see attached). 1) I'm looking online to order the parts for this, but I want to ensure that I have built it correctly before I plug it in. Can someone with a Airbag Deactivation Bar do me a favor? I need the resistance (ohms) from the two wires that are part of this unit to make sure that I have done it correctly and don't do damage to my airbag system. I need resistance with and without the buckle inserted. 2) Question on activation. I know I need to have this functionality enabled by a Porsche dealer or indie with a PST2. I'm concerned that they may not enable it if they see that I crafted a device that works the same as the Porsche unit, so I would like to take the car to them before I install my homemade device. Can they do that, or must the PST2 think that the Deactivation Bar is already installed? Many thanks

I have been through the re-learning process for the auto down function. And for my vintage the windows don't work the way you describe (holding the remote button) Hate to think what the dealership will charge for this Thanks, any and all ideas welcome Carlos

More info now that I have focused on this issue It also happens when I open the drivers door from the outside. And when I drop the top the drivers window drops down about half way rather than just an inch. When it happens i can't stop the downward travel with the window buttons and have to wait for it to go all the way down for it to respond to the window switch. And when it does respond the window only goes up if I hold the switch -- no auto up Any thoughts on debugging which microswitch is responsible for this? Carlos

Thanks. I had read that tutorial. That you pointed me there leads me to think that you believe the problem is in the micro switch and not the regulator? As I mentioned, this is an intermittent problem, though it has been getting more frequent. I hate intermittent problems as it almost forces you to simply start replacing parts Do you think there is any value in trying to clean these switches with contact cleaner? Is that even possible? Carlos

2003 Boxster S and I was hoping someone can guide me to an answer. I have checked the forums and I still can't decide whether the problem is the regulator (which I see if a common problem) or a microswitch (which I also see is a common problem). Problem happens most often when I open the drivers door from inside. The window, rather than just dropping down an inch will continue to drop all or most of the way down. Can anyone point me to a diagnostic procedure for this? As I say it's an intermittent problem so I'm leaning to one of the microswitches. How many are there and where are they located? Does one replace just the microswitch or are they (it) part of a larger assembly? Thanks in advance Carlos

Carlos: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...ic=5227&hl= You can also buy a Uview Ulift Vacuum Tool and get the whole thing filled without any air bubbles in 1/2 hour (about $100 online: Amazon.com, etc.) Regards, Maurice. Am I correct in understanding that on a tiptronic (at least on the 986) you have to pull a fuse as part of this process?

I've searched the forums but haven't found what I'm looking for. Can someone post the instructions for properly bleeding the coolant system? 2003 Boxster S Tiptronic Many thanks, Carlos

Thanks, I appreciate your looking into this for me. A good shop did it for me. They've worked on my cars for almost 20 years and I don't like complaining if there's no reason to. In that spirit, I'll share a story. I try to get my oil changed more than the 15k porsche recomends. Always Mobil 1 0-w40, and I keep a stock of filters, o-rings, crush washers and the right tools available. I know that a lot of people say never to use htem, but I even take it to Jiffy Lube. On one of the oil changes they stripped the oil pan drain plug. Not the external threads, just the place where you insert the right size hex wrench. They replaced it with a standard drain plug with the exposed head you can put a wrench on -- and noted this on the ticket. A few months later I started seeing a few oil drops on my garage floor. "Not another rear main seal" was my immediate reaction. Car was going in to the dealership for an end of warranty inspection and I flagged the oil leak for them. Dealer told me that it was leaking around the non-factory drain plug. That they recomended replacing the oil pan as it was likely stripped. $450 was the estimate. I bought a new drain plug and went back to J-L where I laid out the story and said "why don't we do an oil change and see if the new plug solves the problem before we start arguing?" After a lot of back and forth this was agreed to as the best solution. I watch the tech get under the car. Yes it was leaking around the plug. Plug had loosened to where it was only finger tight. Nothing was stripped -- I watched it all closely. Changed the oil and installed the new plug. The one they had put in probably loosened to differing expansion rates between the pan and the iron plug they installed. Made me very happy I hadn't gone in breathing fire. Thanks again, Carlos

Thanks, I appreciate the help. It wouled be a bit of a pain to take it back, but wouldn't want to screw up new tires Can't scan the sheet, but here are the values Left Front-------------------------Right Front Camber -0.3----------------------Camber -0.2 Caster 7.6------------------------Caster 7.6 Toe 0.02--------------------------Toe 0.03 ----------------------Total Toe --------------------------0.05 -----------------------Steer Ahead ---------------------------0.00 Left Rear------------------------Right Rear Camber -1.6-------------------Camber -1.6 Toe 0.11------------------------Toe 0.04 -----------------------Total Toe ---------------------------0.14 -----------------------Thrust Angle ---------------------------0.04 Carlos

Just had new Michelins Pilot Sport PS2 installed on my stock '03 Boxster S. Had the tires balanced on the Hunter Road Force machine, and a four wheel alignment performed. Drives like new. But. Looking at the printout the shop gave me (a good independant shop, but not a Porsche specialist) I see that the Printout says "...986 except US" Does a US 986 use different specs than the rest of the world? Which specifications differ? Do I need to take it back to them and have them re-do it? Thanks, Carlos

I agree that if this is the probelm I am only postponing the inevitable. However, I'd like to make sure I isolate the problem before swapping out parts. Any receomndations on a rubber friendly lube? Carlos

Great to see this topic as I was about to post on the same/similar issue. 2003 S with 50k miles. The noise I'm getting out of the front end is when I go over small bumps and the suspension makes what I can only describe as a rattling sound. Is this consistent with what we have been discussing here. Before I go swapping expensive parts, 1) is there a diagnosis routine for this? 2) Someone mentioned using a "rubbers safe" lubricant. Can you recomend a brand? many thanks, Carlos