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JeTexas

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Everything posted by JeTexas

  1. JeTexas
    I can't claim victory yet, but I had a major breakthrough this morning. I finally found a pattern to the intermittent behavior! I hadn't been paying attention to my voltage readings because they were plenty high, but the problem seems to lie in the fact that they're too high. When I start the car, I get as much as 14.2 volts. Then, as I drive, the voltage ever so slowly drops until it finally settles at 13.6 - 13.5. Once the voltage finally drops to 13.6, that's when the idle problems go away, and the car runs normal again. I think it may actually be the voltage regulator in my alternator causing the problems! Of course, that's if the voltage is the cause, not just one of the symptoms. Any other ideas? Addendum: I just read that alternators should run 13.5 - 14.5 volts, so my 14.2 really shouldn't be causing the problem. In fact, it seems that the fact that my voltage is dropping as the battery is charged shows the regulator is working correctly. However, I've verified on many data logs that 13.6 is the magic voltage when all my problems stop. I guess that means some other component in the electrical system is at fault.
  2. JeTexas
    In 18 months of ownership, I've spent just over $7500. Of course, I put about 20k miles a year on the car, so a big chunk of that is tires. I also don't plan to do the all the fluid flushes, new pads and rotors, egr valves, MAF, etc. every year. However, with the age of all the accessories on the engine, I'm still going to guess $3500 a year to keep it running well.
  3. JeTexas
    If the car is your daily driver, I think it comes down to how many miles a year you put on the car. If your car is paid off, paying $45k for a car that might have just as many miles on it as your C2, and which is going to have many more miles put on it, which quickly drops the value of the car, doesn't make sense to me. Putting a $10k supercharger onto an engine with over 100k miles also doesn't make sense to me as your putting much more stress on an already aged motor. In my opinion, if the car is paid off, and you plan to keep it for another 5 or 10 years, why not invest $15k in a fresh motor that is going to run stronger and last longer? Of course, if you don't plan to keep the car much longer, I'd just keep driving it the way it is until you find a new one you're really passionate about.
  4. JeTexas
    Nobody in town has the relays in stock, so they're over a week away coming from Sunset. (I do miss the days of domestic car ownership when I could get any part I wanted any day of the week at Autozone. However, Sunset's prices were half what my local dealer wanted. Thank you, Jeff.) So while I wait, I'd like to test the relays I have to see if I can determine which one is bad. I have the 996 workshop manual, and I'm guessing there's a procedure in there for testing them with a multimeter, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone know?
  5. JeTexas
    I finally had a nice weekend with no rain, so I could pull the cab top forward and get to the DME and relays. I cleaned the connecter to the DME just in case, but it was spotless. However, when I pulled the big green relay 96461521500, there was oxidation on the prongs and running between the prongs on the plastic. I cleaned it all off, but I'm ordering a replacement from Sunset in the morning. The other relays all looked very clean, but I sprayed a brushed them all anyway, and I rotated all the duplicate relays into different slots. When I put it back together and restarted the car, it would barely idle. It's acting like my old Mustang used to when it had a bad spark plug wire. It keeps missing and is really chugging until it warms up. However, the only code it threw was P1602, which just means the battery was disconnected. Anyway, I'm going to get those replacement relays ordered. Maybe that will finally solve my issues.
  6. JeTexas
    Still no resolution but a new symptom. Now if I'm having the hanging idle problem, and I have the A/C off, when I come to a stop the idle constantly sweeps back and forth between 600 rpm and 1200 rpm. When the A/C is on, stops are still a perfect 800 rpm idle. Had to buy new tires last week, which kept me from impulse buying a PST2. Hopefully I'll either get this sorted out or the culprit will finally fail soon.
  7. JeTexas
    There's less expensive, high-quality amplifiers out there capable of 2 ohm output. Do a search at Crutchfield.com or another stereo specialty store. You might have to use two amps instead of just the one Bose to have enough 2 ohm channels to run all your speakers with the correct wattage, but all it takes is a little math to figure it all out.
  8. JeTexas
    Yes, the ball on the end of the throttle line/lever should actually snap into the back of the pedal.
  9. JeTexas
    I could have sworn I posted the hose part numbers with photos and costs last summer, but I can't find the thread. There's a thread on flushing your system by just adding in water, running it, draining it, adding water, running it, draining it, etc. I drained quite a bit of coolant changing the hoses, but afterwards instead of spending the time going through that process I decided to pay Firestone $100 to use their vacuum system to flush it the next time I got an oil change. I'll look up the hose costs tonight. The toughest part of it all was finding the right ones because the part numbers had changed so many times since 99.
  10. JeTexas
    At about 90k miles I replaced the two hoses on the bottom of the motor and the two that run from the motor up towards the front of the car. Only the two on the bottom of the motor looked THAT bad, but in Houston heat, it's cheap insurance. I inspected the hoses up by the radiator and they still look perfect after 100k. As for the "lifetime" coolant, I don't believe it. I flushed it all when I did the hoses.
  11. JeTexas
    At the rate everyone is ditching their amber, maybe you should stick with it as it will become a rare option as the car gets older. lol
  12. JeTexas
    Been doing more research. I was going to inspect and clean the connections at the DME. I'm a bit confused. I thought it was behind the seat, but all I found was the rollbars and top mechanism. Am I looking in the wrong place? If it's under the seat, how do I get that bottom part off? Do I need to remove all the seatbacks and all the seatbelts?
  13. JeTexas
    I saw it in this 986 thread. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...20led&st=80 The guy said he just searched LED 194 and found some on ebay. The URL he posted is long gone though.
  14. JeTexas
    Here's a few mods on my wish list. Some of it's really simple like the convenience of this spin-on oil filter adapter. http://www.lnengineering.com/store/catalog...tool-p-103.html To the more complex like rebuilding a motor with nickel sleeves and an IMS upgrade. http://www.lnengineering.com/store/catalog...odels-c-36.html Then, of course, comes the supercharger. http://www.tpcracing.us/products/superchar...harger_kit.html or http://www.imagineauto.com/996%20sc.htm And round that out with a nice coilover package. BUT, as of right now, the only "mod" I can really claim is adding an AUX stereo plug into my storage bin, so I can plug in iPods or other MP3 players. I think I'm going to do an HID conversion on my lights though because the H7 55w bulbs are making yellow spots on the lenses. I need to take my headlights apart, clean it all up, and find a way to stop that problem.
  15. JeTexas
    Very nice write-up. Great job with the photos. I saw somebody in a Boxster thread mention they found a white LED bulb to fit the foglight socket, which got rid of the yellow hue without requiring more ballasting, etc. Seeing how well yours went together I'm kind of annoyed at myself for spending $40 replacing H7 bulbs earlier this week.
  16. JeTexas
    I don't know. I leave it turned off. (No green light on dash.) I've clicked it on and off when the engine was pulling to see if it did anything, but that had no effect. I'm usually sitting in such terrible traffic that I never have space to actually set it. I'll check it tonight though to see how it's working and report back.
  17. JeTexas
    When the problem isn't there, it can be created by turning the car off and then turning it back on. The zero speed program still works fine - perfect idle at a stop, but the idle speed program (idling with the car rolling at speed) goes haywire. The tech didn't know if this was the cold start program staying on too long or what, but even if the computer was running the cold start program, it was running the idle way too high. It might be that the computer isn't kicking into the idle program at all. I don't know. Incidentally, it will hang the idle at 2200 rpm if the A/C is on but only at 1200 rpm if the A/C is off. Unfortunately, I haven't met anyone who fully understands the different program circuits the computer runs. The only other thing I can think of that comes on at startup to change the variables is the Secondary Air Pump, but I don't think that would affect idle speed. It definitely doesn't affect the idle at a stop.
  18. JeTexas
    There's a salvage yard on ebay that sells 99 Boxster DMEs (which are the same part number as the 996) for $350, but they only have the VIN, not the IPAS codes. I called one Indie so far, and they thought they could source me a new DME for about $1700, but again, said there was no way to utilize a used one. Luckily my car is completely driveable, just annoying at times, so I can take my time in figuring out the best route on this.
  19. JeTexas
    I've had both Porsche of West Houston and Porsche of North Houston tell me that once the computer has problems, there's no way to reprogram it and that I'd have to buy a new computer. They've both also said there's no way to use a used computer, which I know is wrong because I've read tholyak's posts on the topic. I just wish I knew somebody in Houston with a PST2 or PIWIS.
  20. JeTexas
    After the dealership called and said it was the Idle Control Valve, and I told them that I'd already replaced it (which I'd told them when I brought the car in, but they apparently didn't listen), they decided to pull it off and check it. Sure enough, it had a good spring and was working. They cleaned it, put it back on, problem remained. So when I went to pick the car up, the tech told me his new diagnosis was a bad DME. He said there was a chance it might just correct itself, but when I told him that it had been going on for six months and that I'd disconnected the battery to reset the DME several times, he then decided it was definitely time to change the DME. They estimated about $3,000 for a new one, so I'm going to check around and see what I can find. However, he said that if I buy a used one then I need to get the immobilizer unit with it or otherwise it won't work. By the way, they charged me $138.32 to pull my new Idle Control Valve off and clean it, just to tell me I didn't have the problem that I already knew I didn't have. Awesome. So does anybody have a good lead on the most cost-effective DME replacements?
  21. JeTexas
    Just got a call from Porsche of West Houston. Their diagnosis was sticking air bypass valve on the Idle Control Sensor. I said, I've already replaced that, it didn't make a bit of difference in the symptoms. They said, sometimes new ones stick too. They wanted $550 to change it out. I'm going to pick the car back up. I guess I'll order another one. I don't really know what else to try.
  22. JeTexas
    You should just push it once, and the display will say FM1, CD, or AUX. It just cycles through with each push. Make sure AUX is activated in the setup because otherwise it will just switch between CD and FM. Plug in your iPod and then click it until AUX appears on the screen. Then you should be good to go.
  23. JeTexas
    I was going through my motor again this evening and found that when I twisted/jiggled this fitting, I'd getting a whine. I think it's the crankcase vent that runs to the air-oil seperator. Can anyone confirm this and explain how this fixture goes together because I can't tell if it's the O-ring between the hose and motor that's leaking or the actual fixture itself. It's got several seams that rotate. Is it as simple as just removing those two hex bolts and putting a new O-ring (999 707 154 40) on the end of it or should I order an entire new connector piece? And how does the connector piece detach from the hose?
  24. JeTexas
    Just make sure you read the fine print. My credit union offered me a Route 66 Extended Warranty when I financed my car. I think it was 3 years or 30,000 miles for $1500. It had a $100 deductible and covered everything except normal wear parts. However, when I started reading through the fine print it had a line that said, "Total repairs or reimbursement not to exceed $3500." $3500 doesn't go far on a Porsche engine. Might as well keep my $1500 in the bank as guaranteed money towards repairs versus gambling on getting an extra $2,000 out of the deal - especially since I drive almost 20k a year.
  25. JeTexas
    Sounds like a dirty throttle body. Opening the oil cap causes a vacuum leak that gives it enough air to idle. Do a search for throttle body cleaning procedures.
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