Jump to content

Welcome to RennTech.org Community, Guest

There are many great features available to you once you register at RennTech.org
You are free to view posts here, but you must log in to reply to existing posts, or to start your own new topic. Like most online communities, there are costs involved to maintain a site like this - so we encourage our members to donate. All donations go to the costs operating and maintaining this site. We prefer that guests take part in our community and we offer a lot in return to those willing to join our corner of the Porsche world. This site is 99 percent member supported (less than 1 percent comes from advertising) - so please consider an annual donation to keep this site running.

Here are some of the features available - once you register at RennTech.org

  • View Classified Ads
  • DIY Tutorials
  • Porsche TSB Listings (limited)
  • VIN Decoder
  • Special Offers
  • OBD II P-Codes
  • Paint Codes
  • Registry
  • Videos System
  • View Reviews
  • and get rid of this welcome message

It takes just a few minutes to register, and it's FREE

Contributing Members also get these additional benefits:
(you become a Contributing Member by donating money to the operation of this site)

  • No ads - advertisements are removed
  • Access the Contributors Only Forum
  • Contributing Members Only Downloads
  • Send attachments with PMs
  • All image/file storage limits are substantially increased for all Contributing Members
  • Option Codes Lookup
  • VIN Option Lookups (limited)

octantman

Contributing Members
  • Posts

    28
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by octantman

  1. Good Morning. So can you tell me which set of bolts you loosened and tightened ? My muffler is supported from 2 bolts on top of the muffler, and by the exhaust pipes themselves. The 2 bolts on the bottom of the muffler are not attached to anything. Of course the components are bolted together at several locations. Alan
  2. Hey, David. This is octantman. I posted the same problem you seem to have been close to fixing, that of the vibration at 3000 to 3200 rpm. I have off and on tried to reason a solution. I cleaned my MAF as a part of replacing my air oil separator a while back and the vibration went away completely, for about a week. Cleaned several more times with temporary results. Replaced it with same temporary results. Today I took the heel of my hand and pounded on the the cat, and that same low frequency vibration was there. So my request is that if I were to take this to an independent shop and get them to raise the system, or otherwise induce tension into the system or brace it, can you help a little bit more? There are too many bolts in the area you describe for me to know which ones are the ones you are referring to. The muffler is hung from the top but the two bolts attached to the bracket on the bottom forward part of the muffler are not attached to anthing. The mounting bracket is different in later models. I have the Bentley manual and there is a nice drawing of my system. Suggestions? I still just want the vibration gone. Thanks, Alan.
  3. Take a look at Pagid, Textar, Mintex and Galfor. I use Pagids, but my car is purely a track car, and I use high MOT, high friction pads. Shop around - you can find some street ones at a decent price. And look at the DIY on how to install brake pads. I have a 2003 Boxster and just replaced all 4 rotors, rear pads and sensors. Had replaced the front pads a year ago. My original pads were (Porsche) Brembos, stamped right on the back plate of the pad. I replaced with Textar. Cannot tell the difference, my car is a daily driver. The symbol stamped on the original rotors is also Brembo but it does not say Brembo. I replaced with Zimmermans. Two came coated and 2 did not. I cleaned really well and painted the hats inside and out and the edges, getting paint inside the 2 plates of each rotor, with silver high temp caliper spray paint. I spent about $500.00 on everything. Did the work in about 2 hours, and I'm just a regular guy. Good luck, it really is a straightforward project for a saturday morning.
  4. Advance Auto sells both products and whereas the MAF cleaner does cost a couple dollars more a clerk overhearing my question about the products being the same said definitely not exactly the same, get the MAF cleaner. You judge, point is Advance Auto sells the MAF Cleaner.
  5. Good afternoon. I have suffered from a vibration that has gotten worse over the years and have participated in posts in the past. I have a simple question after stumbling across this information when monitoring live data from the engine sensors. 2003 Boxster, 65,000 miles, vibration since 8,000 miles. 5 speed manual, original owner, daily driver. Viration only under load. In addition to the Durametreic software, I bought a portable Actron 9180 unit. I have observed that at a steady engine speed of about 3180 rpm the throttle closes from about 18% open to about 8% open all at once. It is at this precise moment that the vibration begins. The MAF confirms about 1/2 of the airflow, too. The ignition advance continues upward and is at about 44 degrees holding steady at this engine speed. When accelerating normally thru this rpm there is no drop in the MAF and throttle position, but there is no vibration, either. This seems to correspond to the rpm in which the resonance valve is activated which I have observed while stationary. I have not recorded higher rpms to see if/when the throttle opens again significantly at a steady rpm. Is this action normal for the Boxster? Do any of you with a 2004 with the dual throttle intake duct have this vibration? If more data would be helpful I can post the Actron data and can collect what Durametric provides, there are over 100 items that can be recorded and would welcome suggestions of what to monitor. Any assistance would be appreciated, even a confirmation that this is normal and look for another cause to the vibration, including raising the muffler as has been suggested in months past. Thanks in advance.
  6. At one time I had the engine compartment open revving slowly up to about 4,000rpm and this flap did operate at about 3,000, although there was no vibration. Could definitely hear something click and indeet you can see the stud on top rotate. There was a lot of oil when cleaning it but did not notice grit. But since I operated it about 5 times plus cleaned the linkage outside with a toothbrush this could be it. So there is something else relatively simple for folks to try. Well, the vibration came back. If Renntech believes this is a misleading post and thread, please remove it in its entirety so people will not think this will solve their vibration problem. It is a fact that the vibration was gone for about 4 days and over 100 miles after this work. I have another question which I will post as a new item.
  7. At one time I had the engine compartment open revving slowly up to about 4,000rpm and this flap did operate at about 3,000, although there was no vibration. Could definitely hear something click and indeet you can see the stud on top rotate. There was a lot of oil when cleaning it but did not notice grit. But since I operated it about 5 times plus cleaned the linkage outside with a toothbrush this could be it. So there is something else relatively simple for folks to try.
  8. George Costanza is an Architect too! :) Does this "line" really work? So between the 2 of us we know just about everything, right George?
  9. Now there is a possibility, I made sure that was clean and functioned fully, operating the linkage attached to ther vacuum canister. I assume you are talking about the (horizontal duct forward of the throttle body) this thing: Silly for Porsche Service to not even try. My explanation is quite elaborate but it is because I spent hours making sure they understood all the conditions precedent to the vibration. Thanks for the evaluation.
  10. Hey, George. I participated in the thread you reference. Had NO vibration when stationary or before warming up to 185 degrees. You may be right so here is what I did: 1. Read and cleared misfire faults cyl 2,4,5. 2. Removed and cleaned (just wiped off oil, used no cleaners) throttle/manifold section and forward manifold section taking care to see that connectors and vacuum tubes had been secure before removing. 3. Removed old AOS. 4. Cleaned MAF. It's connector was secure and clean when removed. 5. Replaced K&N air filter with OEM filter. Used since June 2006 and cleaned annually. Decided to not use based on posts I have seen about K&N not keeping particulate out. Note vibration predated 2006 use of this filter. 6. Cleaned a little oil out of intake air duct that had dripped into it. 7. Installed throttle and manifold section with precise care for alignment and reconnecting of everything. 8. Cranked and ran, cleared other codes for precat O2 sensor and CEL not being present. 9. Been to work and back 3 days, no codes, no vibration. So what could it have been? Alan
  11. All gears but never when stationary. Also, I think VarioCam for Boxsters and 911 are different. Here's what Ludvigsen says on page 1370 of "Excellence" specifically for the 2003 MY and updated VarioCam on the Boxster: "Assurance of enough hydraulic pressure to operate the VarioCam was given by a five-percent increase in the pressure pump's size." Could be one of those times I am over my head, but there it is. Alan
  12. I will tell you first that I am an architect and understand that many things are inter-related, but I do not know how they are inter-related. The theory is has not included the AOS until now. I have believed all along that the VarioCam was the culprit. The valve overlap is controlled by VarioCam somewhere between 1,250rpm to 5,120rpm according to Porache literature but the service manager 5 years ago, who I trust but who is no longer there, told me that the VarioCam is the only thing that "happens" in this 3,000-3,200rpm range, where I have had the vibration. I asked him what was different at this rpm and that was his reply. The vibration started when I took off in the car just to see/feel the power. The car had less than 10,000 miles on it. Got to 80mph in 3rd gear and that was good enough, and short shifted to 5th and let the clutch out. You would have thought I pulled 2 opposing plug wires out. I just knew I had broken something. Put clutch in, slowed a little, then went on. All was fine. Some time later but before the 1 year service I started getting a slight vibration decelerating thru about 3,200rpm to 3,000 rpm. It had gotten worse as time went on, including every time I accelerated thru this rpm, to where driving at 3,200rpm on the highway caused constant vibration. This is at 75 to 80 mph, the exact speed I had to drive for 2 hours going to Kitty Hawk regularly. Made me crazy. To get out of the vibration I either had to slow down or get up to about 85mph, somewhere above 3,500rpm. You can check the graphs, the speed/rpm's match so performance was never affected. Yes, I had a motor mount replaced, had no affect. Transmission replaced early on since they said the pinion gear was chewed up, but I had no symptoms whatever, no affect. They were sure that would fix the vibration. So 5 years of this with no relief. So my AOS blew and I replaced it. While in there I cleaned the MAF just for fun. Now if someone out there tells me the MAF cleaning solved the problem, I'll accept that but even Porsche Service would have tried that. Don't know if it has ever been cleaned but looked pretty good. Have a photo of it before cleaning if you are interested. All I know is trhe vibration is completely gone and I have duplicated all the scenarios that caused the vibration, cannot get even a little shutter. The VarioCam was redesigned for MY2003 to include an oil filled stadia rather than electronic operation. The oil pump was made 5% larger. I got this from "Porsche: Excellence was Expected" and other Porsche literature. Now here is the theory: If I had a breech inside the AOS effectively reducing the oil pressure slightly (5% or more, the pump size increase made to overcome the 2003 VarioCam design?) which affects the valve timing during this rpm transition, would that cause a too long or too short overlap in the valve timing, causing the out of balance vibration? And if the breech got progressively worse would the symptoms get worse? Something happened to get progressively worse, that is a fact. The alternative is that the MAF was dirty. Those are the only 2 things I did, besides cleaning the manifold and throttle. The vibration is gone. Completely. I will admit that one of my greatest faults is to learn a little about something and think I came up with something ingenious. This may be one of these times. If you have the same vibration, clean the MAF. If that works, groovy. If it does not, change the AOS. That is the simple way to look at it. I have no idea if the rpm of the 996 is in the same range or not, so the previous question may not be ansewerd even if it is for the 986. Thanks for sticking with me this long, that is if you are still reading. Architects are imaginative, aren't they? Alan.
  13. Great job! Did you find it a difficult repair? For $90 this must be a DIY correct? Yes, DIY. Took about 3 hours to remove the top manifold sections and throttle and clean all the oil out, but otherwise it was not bad. Anything in the Boxster engine compartment is tight, but the AOS was just a little tedious, that is all. The AOS cost anout $78 and the bottom hose was $12, and that is at the local dealer. I posted a fix and some photos just before this post which goes into a little more detail, but it is mostly about the AOS having blown. If it was just replacing the AOS and not all the clleaning it would be considered almost easy in my mind.
  14. I just replaced my Boxster's AOS on a 2003 with a 2.7L engine, 65,000 miles, 5 speed manual transmission. An unexpected byproduct is that an engine vibration at about 3200 rpm's that Porsche said was normal is completely gone. I also cleaned the MAF but surely that was not the fix. If you have a vibration that occurs after warm up when accelerating thru this rpm, driving on the highway at this rpm, and more pronounced decelerating in gear thru this rpm, and you have not replaced your AOS, you might just want to try this. I would welcome any dissertation anyone out there may have as to why this may be so, although I have my theory and told Porsche that in 2004. Have at it.
  15. Last friday my AOS blew completely. Thanks to this forum I was able to come back from the brink of the abyss and all is well. Most of the AOS posts show or describe a unit that bolts to the side of the engine and has a bellows on the bottom. For the 2003 the unit bolts down directly onto the variocam area without bellows and has an L shaped tube that fits onto the side of the engine. I went with the cut the old hose and replace it route using the hose clamp for the new hose connection to the side of the engine. The newest revision number is .01 and cost about $78. I had the .00 on my 2003. Please be careful with the vacuum tubes if you choose to remove and clean the horizontal manifold sections and throttle. I strongly recommend this if you had a thick white smoke, you will surely have standing oil in the manifold sections. I was about a half quart low after this trial. Also note that I got a lot of fault codes upon starting after cleaning. I also got a lot of white smoke upon restart for 5 minutes or more, but it did not foul or cause additional codes. All fault codes cleared out and everything is lovely. I have a Durametric diagnostic tool. I offer photos for your edification. There are more and I will answer any questions you may have.
  16. Octantman: What you have described here are the classic signs of a faulty AOS. The only thing you haven't done is to check for excessive pressure at the oil fill cap which, if the AOS is shot, will be so strong that it will be difficult to actually unscrew and pull off the cap. However, since you are getting liquid oil dripping out of the exhaust, you have got to be careful not to run the engine because you run the risk of "hydrolock", which could cause major engine damage. This can occur when oil gets sucked into the combustion chamber and the pistons try to compress the oil. Pull off the air intake where it connects to the throttle body and if you see some oil pooled on the bottom of the throttle body, you don't have to look any further. Replace the AOS. Go to Mike Focke's Boxster Pages and you will find a nice photo of the kind of smoke you can expect to see when an AOS goes bad, and some good DIY information, here: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement Regards, Maurice. Maurice and ericinboca: Thank you for the advice, it encouraged me to do this myself. I have the AOS off, and the throttle body and two ducts between the intake manifolds. This item is different, for sure. Did NOT need to jack the car up. I'll post photos and a little of my experience tomorrow, but meanwhile here is the part number for a 2006 Boxster 2.7: 996.107.026.00 No bellows. Rubber "L" tube out the bottom fits into side of engine. Short angled tube fits straight down into the engine. Two machine screws hold the unit to the base. Y tube fots onto side and that into the throttle body. Oil everywhere. I took everything on top off and cleaned well, except the intake manifolds, but I put shop rags on a wire and got a lot of oil out. Hopefully only a small amount left. The car ran less than a minute after the thich white smoke started so I probably am OK. Only faults were misfires in 3 cylinders. There was more oil on the 4-6 side so that makes sense that fault was 2, 4, 5. I am not even a weekend mechanic but it was not a big deal since the posts and photos were good enough to allow me to anticipate the steps. Just tedious and to save $600 or more I don't mind tedious. Thanks again, Alan.
  17. Agreed on all points, pooling oil in the y tube. The bottom of my AOS has a tube coming down and turning into the side of the engine. I cannot see 2 bolts holding the AOS to the engine. Will this be easier than the procedure you reference? I looked at it and the unit is different. The round top of the AOS is oriented vertically and the tube to the throttle body is not long, maybe 4" and flex tubing. I'll order the parts and will be able to tell by the new what I will be up against. Thanks guys, you are right on the money.
  18. Are you down on coolant? What does your oil on the dipstick look like? Oil or a chocolate milkshake? not down on coolant, oil is slightly darker than new, not frothy. Hmm. In my experience, white smoke is coolant being burned. The oil on the floor in the garage was from the exhaust? not from the area where the transmission connects to the engine? or can you see where it is coming from? Correct, in fact it collected in the exhaust tip and dripped out on the front of the tip since it is sloped toward the front, or muffler. Smoke could have been slightly gray but in the mirror it was very white. I turned it off and it began to dissipate and its appearance was hard to say what color it was then. Now the engine ran not more than 5 minutes total for both trips. We need some more people to express an opinion, but I would look inside the air intake distributors for a film (possible heavy film) of oil. If you find oil in there, your AOS (the AOS on top of the engine, not the one in the pan) probably let go. The AOS is supposed to send vaporized oil into the intake to be burned in the cylinders. When it is malfunctioning, it can send liquid oil, which, in enough quantity, can cause a misfire - especially for cylinders 4, 5 & 6...your misfire in cylinder 2 does not match this theory perfectly, but doesn't spoil it either. If you don't find anything there, I would do a pressure test on the coolant system to see if it is leaking. And then compression test the cylinders. I might also drain the oil and take a hard look at it (maybe even send off for analysis - Blackstone Labs does the oil on my track car) to be sure there is no coolant in it. Hope you are right. Just saw a post on another forum and the AOS is exactly what several folks there said happened to them. There were photos of how to check for more than just a light film and how to replace the AOS. I can check that out tomorrow and probably do the work myself upon confirming and getting the parts. Thank you for the opinion, I am inclined to agree since there was smooth running up until the heaviest smoke.
  19. Are you down on coolant? What does your oil on the dipstick look like? Oil or a chocolate milkshake? not down on coolant, oil is slightly darker than new, not frothy. Hmm. In my experience, white smoke is coolant being burned. The oil on the floor in the garage was from the exhaust? not from the area where the transmission connects to the engine? or can you see where it is coming from? Correct, in fact it collected in the exhaust tip and dripped out on the front of the tip since it is sloped toward the front, or muffler. Smoke could have been slightly gray but in the mirror it was very white. I turned it off and it began to dissipate and its appearance was hard to say what color it was then. Now the engine ran not more than 5 minutes total for both trips.
  20. Are you down on coolant? What does your oil on the dipstick look like? Oil or a chocolate milkshake? not down on coolant, oil is slightly darker than new, not frothy.
  21. Are you down on coolant? What does your oil on the dipstick look like? Oil or a chocolate milkshake?
  22. I believe this is serious. I (hopefully) attached the Durametric work log. VehicleLog3132009.txt 2003 Boxster, 2.7 five speed manual about 65k miles, daily driver. Home as usual, no sign of a problem. Back to the store 30 minutes later, only a mile but it is raining and 40 degrees. Out of the driveway a little white smoke, but sometimes this happens, unburned fuel. By the time we got to the store, more smoke so this is different. Started right up, idled smothly but more smoke, worse when we got home. Flashing CEL 100' from home, by the time we got in the garage white smoke everywhere, very thick. Misfiring once in the garage idling and I turned it off. Oil dripped onto driveway. About a tablespoon under the exhaust pipes, coming out of both ports. Durametric read fault codes as in topic, misfire detection total and cylinder 2, 4, 5. No other faults read, except it says my radio is faulty, which it is not So what is worst case and best case? I have complained to the dealer for years about a vibration at 3,000 rpms without impact. They say it's no problem and maybe it is not related, but I am not convinced. Help!! Alan
  23. There is a TSB for this - that also requires that they replace the connectors under the seats and re-solder the ground wires. Yes, after inquiry the dealer produced 3 sheets of the bulletin in defense of having recommended replacing both buckles, wiring harness and the control unit. My bad on the previous post about the triggering unit being under the seat..of course that is not true, that is the alarm ecu. The TSB states that before 2000, and certain VIN's, replace the buckles and wiring harness...and the ecu only after repeated warnings. After certain VIN's and model year 2000 onward replace the buckle and it does state replace the wiring harness. The TSB is dated 1/04. The offending ecu's are part number 00, the ones made as of 2004 are 02, and mine is an 01. If the light comes on again (only happened once so far) I'll replace the buckle. Are there instructions out there as to how to replace the wiring harness? The new buckle, a 1/2008 mfg has the blue 4-pin plug on it with longer wiring. My original buckle plugs into another harness under the seat which in turn has the blue 4-pin plug on it. Seems I have seen the part number on this forum for the service kit. Octantman: Part numbers are as follows: 996 803 183 09 Driver's side belt buckle 996 803 183 10 Passenger's side belt buckle 000 043 206 06 Service set belt buckle (2 sets required) The seat belt buckles you can only get from the dealer. Make sure that when you get them, that the driver's side connector (small square four prong connector) is blue and that the passenger's side one is green (same size connector as the blue one, but has only two prongs, with other two slots left "unprongged"). The "service set" can only be obtained from the dealer as well, but you can get all the parts from Sunset Imports for a substantial discount off of what your local dealer would charge. If you give them a call, ask for "Jeff", he knows his parts. The service set is only a bunch of wire leads with some special "gold plated and greased" connectors on their ends, and a (relative to the original ones) thick brown ground lead with a cable lug on one end. Although it's tempting to just use thick brown ground wires to solve the problem (and I think some indie mechanics may have actually done this), it's safer to use the factory supplied parts in the service sets. I find the light so annoying that I don't want to deal with it in the future. I also think that it's beyond ridiculous that Porsches should have this problem. When you do it, you will see how ridiculous it is that they used a bunch of thin ground leads and then spliced them into a thicker brown ground lead, in effect exceeding that ground lead's grounding capacity. Regards, Maurice. Hello, Maurice, This is excellent, I apprerciate the post. I have downloaded the TSB and can now do this job if the light comes on a couple more times. Hopefully there was some improvement by 2003, but that remains to be seen. Sincerely, Alan
  24. There is a TSB for this - that also requires that they replace the connectors under the seats and re-solder the ground wires. Yes, after inquiry the dealer produced 3 sheets of the bulletin in defense of having recommended replacing both buckles, wiring harness and the control unit. My bad on the previous post about the triggering unit being under the seat..of course that is not true, that is the alarm ecu. The TSB states that before 2000, and certain VIN's, replace the buckles and wiring harness...and the ecu only after repeated warnings. After certain VIN's and model year 2000 onward replace the buckle and it does state replace the wiring harness. The TSB is dated 1/04. The offending ecu's are part number 00, the ones made as of 2004 are 02, and mine is an 01. If the light comes on again (only happened once so far) I'll replace the buckle. Are there instructions out there as to how to replace the wiring harness? The new buckle, a 1/2008 mfg has the blue 4-pin plug on it with longer wiring. My original buckle plugs into another harness under the seat which in turn has the blue 4-pin plug on it. Seems I have seen the part number on this forum for the service kit.
  25. The unit in the photo in my 986 is the airbag sensor. The dealer said replace the control unit (octantman edit: the airbag sensor, triggering unit, and ECU are all the same item with different names, sorry). I asked for a cost breakdown, but they have not even honored that. The $1,500.00 was a verbal quote over the phone.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.