dpwell

Perhaps this will help someone. I was having a heck of a time figuring out the part number for what I call J-Clips. Parts guys were clueless what I was talking about until I pointed out #15 on the exploded view attachment. They are pink plastic and Porsche calls them Plug In Nuts. They only cost a dollar a piece once you figure out what they are. I purchased some from Sunset Porsche, but they are readily available elsewhere.  

I sort of figured it may be a European thing after Loren's response. I live in the California Central Valley. I don't usually drive my Boxster in bad weather, but pea soup fog is not unusual and one of my biggest fears while driving in it is getting rear ended. I may try to figure out how to connect both the right and left rear fog lights together, but not now. The car has other more important issues to address first. 

Doesn't make sense to me, but if I was smart enough to be a Porsche engineer I probably wouldn't be doing what I do.

Thank you Loren.

I won't worry about it anymore.

Happy Easter.  

BTW, Happy Easter.

And thank you for helping me.

That just taught me something. I never realized there were two out positions for the light switch. Still I assume there is not a maintained out position for the right/left parking lights and in the all the way out position at those selections, the fog lights should both be lit. I have wiring schematics so I will investigate further. I assume both rear fog lights are the same circuit (what would be the purpose of them lighting independently) and in order to make them both work, I need to remove the rear trunk moldings and trace the circuitry.   

Thank you for your response. It should stay out in the parking light right/left position as well (all the way counterclockwise past the off position)? 

Greeting All,

I believe the second bulb inward on the bottom row is considered a rear fog light. On my vehicle it only lights on the left side, always when the light switch is in parking light right/left position, key on, but only with the operator pulled outward (won't stay outward on its own). Once in a while I have observed the same bulb lit with the car running and light switch in the fog lamp position. I've never observed the same bulb on the right side light. I just replaced the light switch, I've checked both fixtures for continuity between the lamp contacts and terminals, all the bulbs are good, the same bulb on the right side will light if power is applied to its corresponding terminals. Does anyone know how it is supposed to work? The operator must be pulled outward in order to switch to the right/left parking light mode. Should it stay out on its own? All the other exterior lights controlled by the light switch seem to work fine. I'm considering simply removing both rear fog light bulbs (I don't want one lit and the other not while driving). 

Okay, thank you for the advice. Generally I believe as you do, but in this case it's just a little hard to swallow (from an economic stand point) when the original may have lasted over twenty years. I think the design change may have been due to a speeder assembly time at the factory.

The cable is $10.00. Pelican says the new interior door handle is $567.00. The existing handle works fine.

The left side cable end snapped on the handle side. After receiving the new cable we noticed a difference on the handle end of the housing and cable. Apparently there was a design change in 1998. Pelican and Sunset both list the part as correct on their websites. I bought the part from Pelican online. They say the old part is obsolete and I need to buy an updated handle, at considerable expense.  My  son says the original style is available on eBay and other sites. We pulled the handle end off the new cable and slid it into the old housing. He was unable to get the cable strands out of the old handle end, so he made a new end by drilling and bending a nail. He crimped and soldered it to the new cable (in the old housing). We're not sure if this is going to work or for how long. What do you think is the best approach?

Thanks for your advice. Did you pressure wash the engine? I was considering that, but I think I should wait for warm weather.

I usually try to replace aged hoses, belts and elastomers before reassembly.

Not sure how to reply, but your engine compartment looks very nice. I hate dirty engines and my Porsche is the worst. How do you clean it without getting debris in the interior of the car? 

I appreciate the thought. I have a multitude of vehicles and always pay the DMV fees when due. When they wont pass smog we usually try to sneak them in there without a completed registration. In CA you can get a one day pass. I want the **** thing fixed though so I'm trying to figure out the best course of action. It has become increasing harder to find shops that will falsify smog certificates. We cleaned the MAF and blew out the air filter. No code yet, but all readiness tests not completed.

This document indicates the 1128 and 1130 occur during idle when a lean condition cannot be corrected.

17109d1362502255-p1128-p1130-fault-codes-advice-p1128_1130.pdf

Happy Holidays,

My 1998 5 speed with 2.5L engine has fault codes 1128 and 1130. They popped up about a month ago when I took off in too high of gear and lugged the engine a little. We cleared the codes, but they are back. The vehicle registration is due on 1/8 and a CA smog is required. The car has always bellowed smoke occasionally on start up, but not very often though. Notice how oily it is around the intake? Is that normal? Should we try replacing the Air Oil Separator? The engine runs and starts great. We are piddling around with it now. The air filter is clean. We have the MAF sensor out and it looks okay. I'm reluctant to clean it (we have cleaner) because last time I tried (a decade ago perhaps) it had to be replaced. We don't have a fuel pressure test gauge, but am willing to buy one. Vacuum leaks are not apparent. I guess we'll look for vacuum leaks with smoke, we have cigars, no cigarettes.

To: kbrandsma, thank you for your offer. As 1schoir said "Very generous of you!" To all: I needed 5 different tools. I didn't understand completely at first. The cost was going to be over $1000. I would have spent it, but they were not all readily available. So I went back to my roots (hillbilly, okie, tightwad, etc.) and made everything from stuff lying around. I probably spent about $10. I got the car running last night and it seems Okay. I have pictures and I will upload details when I get a chance (soon). Oh I did buy a triple square bit set & a power bleeder, these did cost $10 & $100 respectively. Thanks for your interest & support. Mike.

It seems, often when I try to cut corners, things don't turn out. I'm likely going to order the tool in a little while. mike.

Amazingly enough I had only this morning reviewed their procedure. It is much as my original plan. I have changed rear main seals in other vehicles this way. mike.

The clutch release lever on my '98 2.5 5 speed Boxster cracked. The RMS was leaking any way. I was going to just install the seal like any other. But, because of all the trouble with them, I'm reluctant. I'm thinking I should do it right. I've only found the tool at a Porsche dealer for $400.00. I imagine I should just buy it. Unless someone knows a more economical solution that will work. As always thanks for any help you can give me. mike.

These guys call all the time. Its is a recording so I just hang up. Today I was doing paperwork when they called, so to waste time, I decided to see what was up. My car is a '98 Boxster w/ 93k miles. I have had it for less than two years. I have spent upwards of $1000 on parts and still have more to do. They say for $2000 I get a warranty that covers the car for 5 years and an additional 100k miles. I take it to the dealer (or wherever I want) for repairs. $0 Deductable, free car rental, free towing, and other frills. It sounds to good to be true (leading me to believe...). I was wondering if anyone has heard of, or has experince with these guys? Their name is General Warranty Service, and that they are associated with Duralube (an oil additive). I give them a deposit, they send the additive, I get an oil change and if the car still runs a month later the warranty starts.

Thanks For Your Help, Mike

I think the piston is broken or there is a problem with the valves. If the bleed down test consists of pressurizng the cylinder on tdc of the compression stroke, and air is escaping into the exhaust, that would seem to indicate an exhaust valve. pk2's response seems like the correct course of action. Even if the engine has to come out to do the repairs, I would rather fix my engine than take chances with a wrecking yard one. good luck mike

Well it finally happened after 94,000 basically trouble free miles from my 99 Boxster, I’ve had my first major problem and it’s a biggie. I was driving to work Monday, sitting at a stoplight when my check engine light flashed several times then stayed on. When I pulled away from the light, the engine was missing and had a loss of power. I was only a couple of miles from my local dealer so I drove into the service bay. The initial thought of the service tech was that there was a vacuum leak since the car was not knocking, smoking or anything. My first thought was that a coil pack had gone bad. Neither of which I would consider a major problem. I left the car so that they could diagnose it. They called me yesterday and said that it was showing a misfire on the #6 cylinder. They wanted to do a compression check next to see what was up. The good news was that the #6 cylinder held great compression the bad news was that #5 did not. All other cylinders are fine. That’s right the computer was indicating a problem on #6 when the problem was actually on #5. They did a leak down check and determined that the air was pushing into the exhaust. At this point they’re not sure if the problem is a bad ring, bent valve, bent rod or crank. Not sure how this would have occurred since the car was idling when it happened. They did verify that my block is not one of the ones that were sleeved from the factory. Now comes my dilemma, they’re telling me it will be a minimum of $9,000 to rebuild the engine or $14,000 for a factory crate motor. I’m not sure if I want to spend that on the car. I would like to find a good used motor as a replaceme goo Does anyone know of a good 2.5 non-egas motor for a reasonable price?

Thanks,

Dan

I cleaned the MAF and it ran much better. So I cleaned it some more and it barely made it back in the garage. I replaced it and it runs better than ever. I have not driven it enough to complete all readiness tests, but I'm sure it is going to be alright. I have other problems with the coolant reservoir. Thank you for your help sending me in the right direction. Mike. :)

I have 98 Boxster 5 speed w/ 94k miles. When I first got it (2 years ago 84k) it seemed a little jittery at the higher rpms. Now, for several months, it loses power during hard acceleration around 5000 rpms. Most noticeably in higher gears. It has an mil. I need to get it smogged and it won't pass with a light on. The code is Porsche FC 360&361 / P-code p1128&p1130. These could be above rich or below lean mixture threshold. It seems the problem would be lean as if not enough fuel. I mean it feels that way to me. I believe there is a way to determine this and I intend to study it more tonight. I was going to change the fuel filter. I was thinking that someone who knows what they are doing may recognize the problem and hoping they might help me.

Mike