insite

i have a 986 3.4L conversion. i have heard people are using the 987S exhaust manifolds with this setup. can JUST the exhaust manifolds be swapped, or would i also need to swap the rest of the components? thx!

kev

there are some posted here: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/boxster-and-boxster-s-986-forum/645573-help-sudden-shifter-issue-03-base-5spd-w-b-and-m-ss-2.html#post8748573

on my car, the one in the top photo backed out. BTW, the photos show aftermarket bolts. the OEM are black torx bolts.

update - part #4 in the diagram above had backed itself out of the case half an inch. i snugged it up & the problem is solved.

they are accessible OUTSIDE the trans case; they are large torx fastners that go through the case. one is just aft of the slave cyl. the other is on the opposite side of the trans just below the reverse lockout mechanism. thx!

i MAY have found the issue; need to check when i get home. anyone have spare trans parts? looking for the stop bolts (#4 & #8 below)

that's all been done. as i stated, the issue is independent of the cables. it exists when MANUALLY actuating the shift rod (cables removed from transmission).

last time out at the track, the 3rd to 2nd downshift got very difficult. occasionally, 2nd would feel like it was locked out. i called it a day & figured the plastic cable ends were bad or the linkage at the transmission came out of the clamps.

replaced the entire shifter w/ 997 assembly, including new cable ends. the transmission side of the linkage is fine & properly lined up. shifter itself was aligned using the porsche alignment tool.

still feels weird. when a shifter in a car centers itself, it tends to do so in the 3rd-4th gear channel. pushing the shifter foward or backward will snatch 3rd or 4th with NO lateral movement required. in my case, it's closer to the 5th-Reverse channel (5 spd).

i removed the shift linkage at the transmission and manually actuated the shift rod. sure enough, when i rotate it CCW toward the 1st-2nd channel, it twists FAR. when i rotate it CW toward the 5th-R channel, it just twists a tiny bit. the shift rod itself is not returning to its centered position; it's clocked CW a few degrees.

i know jack about the detailed workings of the transmission innards. my mind is thinking a spring w/ detent or something to that extent. anyone have any bright ideas? no other symptoms whatsoever. if i recalibrate my brain to the modified H pattern, the car is 100% normal. thx in advance.

kev

any drivability issues? why did you bother checking the deviation? it's possible your timing is off. this happens when chains stretch, tensioners wear, or in some cases, they're set poorly from the factory. how many miles on the car? have you physically verified the timing?

Using the Durametric Software -Bank1 deviation is flatlined at 12 degrees .There is no change from idle thru 6000 rpm.

The Durametric folks have had reports of a broken actuator spring causing this -stuck in advanced postioin .

In my case using the bank 1 drive link the idle changes dramatically-which seems to indicate the actuator isn't stuck.

I would like to try same test on bank 2 but DME/durametric doesn't report that side .

Cel is not tripping-no codes .

I guess there are two questions -has anyone else experienced this ?If the timing is off -is the DME smart enough to not advance beyond 12 degrees ?

It would be nice to get a handle on this before taking it apart .

Any insight or suggestions would be most appreciated .

Dave

excellent; thanks. i'm actually pretty close on timing, but it's off enough IMO to affect the way the car runs. i actually think it was a little off to begin with. i put match marks on the head at TDC before i pulled the IMS bearing & oil pump. the cams were NOT perfectly vertical prior to having started my work......

BTW, the reason they say not to rotate the motor backward is that the chains lose tension & bad things can happen. if you only go a couple of degrees, this no big deal, but if you go far, you can jump a tooth on a chain pretty easily. looking at the factory manual made this really start to seem much easier than most people make it out to be. i've done lots of other cars, and they're all pretty straight forward. didn't see why it would really be any different here.....

with variocam plus, i'm sure it's a little more involved, but probably not rocket science. thanks again.

ok, i goofed. i ran into a bit of trouble, and after an IMS bearing retrofit & chromoly oil pump drive installation, my cam timing appears to be a bit off.

i need to re-time the cams (1999 3.4L) and i don't have the tools. i may have jumped a tooth during R&R of my IMS bearing & installation of a new oil pump drive. here is my plan; if this will not work, i'd love to know why!

1. lock motor to TDC (notch on end of bank 1-3 faces outward)

2. remove bank 1 oil scavenge pump

3. loosen sprocket bolts

4. rotate exhaust cam so notches are parallel to edge of head

5. tighten sprocket bolts

6. re-install scavenge pump

7. rotate engine 360 and lock crank (notch on bank 2 faces inward)

8. remove scavenge pump & loosen bolts

9. index exhaust cam to head just like bank 1

10. button everything back up.

the special tool (9612) doesn't look like it does anything but rotate the exhaust cam so the notches are parallel to the head. am i wrong?

finally, if i do wind up buying the tools, will the Sir Tools P253 SET the timing, or just lock it? i ask because it doesn't have a sword bolt like the porsche 9612. thanks for the help.

anyone have a set they'd be willing to rent me? i goofed on my IMS / Oil pump drive service & need to set the timing.

Ok, I installed the RoW M030 suspension and used the US M030 springs, it took a total of 5 hours and I did it by myself and never pulled a ball joint. It was mentioned earlier that the RoW M030 shocks are 1" shorter, not true. The shock body is exactly the same length but the front shock rod is 3/4 " shorter and the rear shock rod is 1/4" shorter.

you are exactly right. the bodies are identical. the rods are shorter to prevent the shorter springs from coming unseated during full droop. the shorter rods keep some compression on the shorter springs when the suspension is fully extended.

Thanks! I originally wanted to do the Targa - garage door opener hack but when I saw the cost of the Targa switch I started exploring alternatives [read as I'm cheap :D]. Decided on adding a used homelink and am thrilled w/ it. Plus, if/when I ever sell the Boxster, I can just erase the codes, give the new owner the generic homelink programming instructions and move on.

i don't even want to think of what that would look like if i had done it; you're like a dremel ninja.

wow, cassiebox, that looks great!

my car is throwing some codes on secondary air issues. working on diagnostics; i have diagrams, etc.

one thing i haven't ever seen is a SIMPLE description of the logic behind the system, i.e. how EXACTLY does it work and what EXACTLY does the triggering?

for instance, under what conditions is the pump triggered? i know it's supposed to be cold start, but what sensors does it look at to get a 'start' or 'no start' condition? does it generally come on IMMEDIATELY when the car is started, or is there some delay?

under what conditions will it turn off? what sensors are monitored to make this decision?

basically, the only diagnostic checklists for this system that i've seen are pretty poor IMO. i think that if i knew exactly how the system was SUPPOSED to work, i could design a better diagnostic plan before i dive in. any help is greatly appreciated.

Using the correct and approved spark plugs is the best way to go IMHO, and what with a possible cylinder liner damage as Topless stated. :o. I hope the best.

when i replaced the plugs several years ago (the car was new to me), i ordered whatever plugs they told me went with the car. looks like the bosch R4 is NOT one of the approved plugs. i ordered a six pack of Beru along with two coil packs (one for each misfiring cylinder). we'll see where that goes.

ok, so i'll take a crack at it. my misfire event yesterday (after replacing the spark plug) was intermittent. now, it doesn't seem to be happening at all. i checked the codes; same ones as before. here's my theory:

the damaged plug was the RESULT rather than the cause of the misfire issue. perhaps the car was misfiring for some other reason and a turbulent misfire stripped the electrodes from the plug. my best guess as to the cause would be the coil pack (even though it tested good). as i have NO other codes, i'm tempted to just buy a set of coils. opinions? another odd thing: i could find nothing wrong with the #6 cylinder even though the OBD II code tells me this cylinder experienced misfire events as well.

any thoughts are appreciated.

ok, here's the story. driving the other night, i heard a funny metallinc rattle followed by the immediated development of a misfire. i read pulled the codes; the ECU was indicating emissions related misfires on #2 and #6. i pulled the coils & let them cool to room temp; then i measured the resistance across pins 1 and 15. they both read in the neighborhood of .5 ohms, so they're within spec. visually, they looked fine.

next, i pulled the #6 plug. it looked okay; cleaned & reinstalled. now here's where it gets interesting: i pulled the #2 plug and ALL FOUR electrodes are GONE. other than that, the plug looks normal. postponing the obvious question of how this happened, i installed a new plug and everything ran great......for a few hours. now the car appears to be developing the same issue.

does anybody have any idea what would cause this? never seen this problem before. BTW, the plugs are Bosch Platinum R4 and are about 50k miles old. i haven't had a chance to pull the plug back out, but i'm thinking i might find the same thing......

here's a pic:

This is not as easy is i thought. I found the dme under the drivers seat. From reading your pdf I am to be looking for a wire installed in position 59. Very hard to tell. Do I have to remove the seat?? Is there no other way... Again I am mechanically challenged :D

-Mitesh

the dme is not under the driver's seat, it is in the trunk.

Insite:

Your '99 Boxster has an additional microswitch, called the "B-pillar Microswitch".

It's located about 3 inches below the base of the driver's side B-Pillar, and when it malfunctions, it can cause exactly the symptoms that you are describing.

To access it, you must remove the semi-cylindrical black vinyl, carpet covered trim panel which is located just behind your left shoulder when you are sitting in the driver's seat.

You may be able to fix it by correcting the angle of the bend in the small silver colored metal lever. That angle corrects how early or how late in the cycle the switch itself is tripped as it contacts the black metal part under the B-Pillar.

I posted a procedure for removing the trim panel, but haven't been able to find it. If I find it, I will post it or the link to it.

Regards, Maurice.

you rock, maurice. thanks!

strange issue with my top. basically, when i went to open it, the motors wound the clamshel SHUT and everything locked up. i manually popped the clamshell, re-synced everything, and tried to watch it go up and down. it would either open all the way and then continue to try and open further, or it would close all the way and continue to try to close further. i suspected the microswitch on the conv. top motor. i replaced it & everything worked for about two hours. now, same issue.

is there a third microswitch? one besides the switch in the dome light and the one on the conv top motor? my conv. top dash light is still lit even though the clamshell is shut. any other ideas? thanks.

I just received the OEM 17mm from Sunset import. Now I have about 2mm of clearance from the struts.

I chalked the wheel and drove round the block and there is no evidence of rubbing..

Where did you get the 20mm spacers from?

i found a set of used 21mm's on ebay. here's some now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Whe...sspagenameZWDVW

just do a search for porsche wheel spacers. 944's, 968's, 996, 997, 993, 964, etc all have the same bolt pattern (5x130mm). just make sure to get hubcentric versions.

insite,

Any updates on your CELs? I have been able to eliminate my P1117 by simply cleaning the contacts and using a jewelers screwdriver to push the contacts closer together within the harness. So far it seems to have done the trick. I'm still getting a P1115 even though I did the same with that sensor. I have to do more testing on that one. It may be out of spec.

actually i did find the problem. one of the new O2 sensors was intermittantly showing open loop on the heater circuit. i measured them two weeks ago; they were fine. i measured them again on wednesday while i was swapping out my tranny; one of them showed OL. paragon is sending me a replacement. that SHOULD fix it; well see.

its a 97 boxster 5 spd, drivers side.

i do have what you need. i can ship it tomorrow if you want it.

Well thanks for all the help, Found it was the cv-joint in the axle that caused the problem, havent taken it off yet but at least i dont got to rip out the trans. one more thing though, would anyone know where to get a cheap axle. dealers wanted close to 700 for it. Ebay was two hundred but i had to wait a week for shiping. and the parts stores around hear say dealer only. Im in he chicago area by the way.

thanks Brad,

what side and what year car? i have a driver's side for a '98 / '99 5-speed that's been freshly serviced (cleaned & packed bearings, new CV Boots)