insite

EEK!

So I'm going to have adjust those controls to both remove and reinstall the black box?

more or less. the black box that connects to the window motor is PART of the regulator. it houses the cables that raise and lower the glass. it is permanently connected to the cables and the cable tracks, so to replace the window regulator, you must remove all of it: glass, cable tracks, regulator gear box, and motor. upon installation of the new regulator, you need to adjust it per my earlier post. also of note: if you buy a new regulator, there is a green plastic piece screwed to the bottom of the FRONT cable track. it's important to leave this attached for the boxster (it's removed for the 996). if you buy a used regulator, make sure you transplant the green plastic stop from your old regulator to the new one. if you don't do this, your window will roll down too far in the door and it will rattle around.

BTW, this really isn't that difficult of a job. it seems really complicated, but it's not so bad.

Insite! buddy, your here too huh! Ok ill try that tonite. Weird cause this MAF is only 2 months old. I dont have oil on my filter...maybe i should buy a HKS element and fabricate myself a better design of a filter...the sponge material seems more reliable than paper.

OH OH i also have an update....While replacing the pump didnt cure the issue, It wont happen in 1st gear anymore...only in the higher gears 2nd through 5th...the car requires more load than 1st gear can offer before it will stumble.

hmm. maybe not the MAF. do you have an OBDII scanner?

I see, Hmmm, Is there a write-up on how to remove and replace then rear upper control arms?

don't know if there's a write-up on it, but it's easy. for descriptive purposes, the lower control arms are the ones that the wheel carriers are attached to (part #5 in the pic below). the upper control arms (a.k.a. track rods) that you want to replace are part #7 in the pic below (FYI, the part number is 986.331.043.07 and they're the same on both sides of the car.

jack up the rear of the car & put on jack stands (chock front wheels).

remove the rear wheels.

remove the bolt that attaches the upper control arm to the lower control arm (bolt head is 18mm, nut is 21mm).

remove the bolt that attaches the upper control arm to the chassis. i think the bolt head is 18mm. the nut is designed to stay on the car, but you still have to hold it. it's not a typical nut, it's square. hold it with an 18mm open ended wrench.

slide arm out of car.

install in reverse order. torque for both bolts is 160NM / 118lb-ft.

thanks for the comments...

I am going to take the regulator gearing apart tonight as discussed in the other post, my issues sound 100% like his...but then again this was not a gradual wear either. It worked fine one day and not the next. You can feel that motor jump but it's as if it skips a tooth or as the other guy said the bushing has oval holes.

I'm be really suprised how the adjustments could cause this issue. Nothing is binding, looks straight and it goes up as expected, just doesn't drop. I'd hate to start playing with the pitch/yaw/left/right adjustments if everything looks good in that situation.

just replace the regulator. as for the adjustments, they need to be performed when installing a new regulator. the adjustments were also in response to a binding issue some had with the window glass against the window seal.

hmmm if it were the rear upper control arms....I remember complaining to my dealer during the 30 day warrantee period about the noise and they said it was the rear shocks but they didnt cover worn shocks.....Do you think if it is the control arm, they would then honor the replacement since i did bring it up and a control arm sounds way more dangerous.???

OH yeah, the chattering and rattle are there all the time no matter the tempurature, but only audiable at speeds between 1-25mph.... any faster and i can roll over bumps and cracks in the road and will not hear anything outta the ordinary.

they probably won't be covered by the warranty since it's the bearing in the control arm that goes bad (it's a wear item). this sounds like the control arm issue. three of us boxter owners work together; we all had similar issues and they all turned out to be the upper control arms (a '97 and two '99s)

While I'm not there in person, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt you have a problem with your window motor, they're bulletproof. The window regulators on the other hand go bad ALL the time and exhibit this exact same symptom.

agreed. it doesn't matter if there's slack in the motor, the regulator and electronics are designed to compensate for that. if you need a motor, PM me. i bought a used regulator to replace mine and it came with a motor, which i don't need.

Well I did replace the fuel filter but no difference and today I finished the fuel pump installation and while the idle is smoother, the issue is still present......what the hell else can it be? I did install bosh platinum 2's about a month & a half ago, could those be crapping out alread....or could my maf be crapping?

almost guarantee it's your MAF. if you want to check, unplug your MAF and go for a drive. when the MAF signal isn't present, the car uses a default fuel map to run the car. if the problem goes away with the MAF unplugged, you have found your culprit.

Very common issue.... window regulator will need to be replaced.

Is the regulator the black housing attached to the motor? If so I read a post where I guy said the black bushing has the round holes that attach to the large gear round out.

Does this sound like the condition? If so I have found several motor/regulator assemblies used and cheap.

the regulator is definitely the problem. the regulator itself is comprised of the black housing attached to the motor AND the rails / cable that move the glass up and down. it's not too tough to change. read your other post (i just replied to it) and follow the adjustment instructions i posted after you install the new regulator. FYI, you can get a used regulator from german auto dismantlers for around $85.

the drivers window almost stalls going down as the rubber on the outside of the window that keeps the water tight seal doubles over and wedges between the window door.

no one has mentioned adjusting the window regulator yet. it is possible to adjust the regulator to change the pressure against the door seal. if you open the door, there are four rubber plugs underneath the door. the middle two cover the mounting points for the regulator halves. if the bolts are loosened, they are designed to slide in (toward the car) and out (away from the car).

to properly adjust them, slightly loosen the bolts and slide them in (toward the car) as far as they will go. tighten them. with the window up, close a sheet of paper in the door between the window and the window seal. try to pull the paper out. if it comes out, loosen the adjustment bolts, slide them out (away from the car) approximately 10mm and tighten. test w/ paper again. repeat this process until the paper doesn't slide out. replace cover plugs and you're done.

it's also possible that the window regulator allows the window to roll up too far. porsche specs the window glass to overlap the seal by 4mm (evenly) across the top seal. if the overlap is greater than 4mm or if the overlap is uneaven (for instance, 2mm overlap at the front and 6mm overlap at the rear), than it is necessary to adjust the regulator stops.

to do this, roll the window down (you can't reach the adjustment screws with the window up) and open the door. under the door, remove the outer two rubber plugs (next to the ones mentioned in the first paragraph). this will expose the closure height adjustment screws. turn the screws clockwise to lower the closure heigh or counterclockwise to raise the closure height. try two turns and close the window / door to check seal overlap. repeat adjustment process until the glass overlaps the seal about 4mm accross the top of the seal. you are done.

....posted by accident; see next post.

There are likely strut bearings, on the front anyway, that let the strut rotate while being attached to the vehicle. I don't have the detial in front of me, but all front struts I've worked have had some sort of mounting bearing at the top. And they wear out and make noise.

I see, is the noise typically a chatter or rattle at low speeds over bumps or cracks in the road, Majority of the noise is coming from my 2 rear struts...Any idea what that could be...i heard that when struts get so old that something internally will rattle and chatter cause of wear or miss-alignment due to excessive wear.

it's likely not your struts. a chatter / clackity-clack in the rear (more prominent when cold) is usually due to a worn bearing in the upper control arms. the upper control arms must be replaced as the bearings are not servicable. the strut top mount bearings mentioned before are generally the culprit if you hear noises from the front (again, not necessarily the strut itself).

Does anyone at least know where the front right brake line runs? Does it run inside the front trunk, behind the bumper, etc.?

it runs up under the fender to the ABS modulator. if you open the front trunk & remove the plastic covering from around the master cylinder, you'll see the ABS unit. if you remove the wheel well liner, you'll see the brake line.

Your symptoms still sound exactly like bad motor mounts. Many 986's have reported the same problem and it was motor mounts that were worn out or slipping side to side during turns causing vibration against the frame. Are you sure??

i had it up in the air last night with the wheel off to change a control arm. got under it with some good light. the mount is completely shot. monday i just glanced at it and the sleeve appeared centered in the rubber. last night, the sleeve was sitting completely at the top of the mount ring.

very counterintuitive; it feels NOTHING like a worn motor mount to me. wonders never cease. new mount will be on the way when my suppliers open up for the day. Thanks again for your help.

The first class is an intake restricted class choked down to a 2" diameter; the next class is a N/A unrestricted class; the third class is unlimited ( supercharged 30lb boost) class. Same basic engine, same displacement, very different intake air mass and very different exhaust gas volume. Would your exhaust system experts recommend the same exact set of pipes on all three setups or would they "tune" the exahust to match each different setup to maximize your performance in each class?? Ask em.

excellent points!

back to square one. it's not the engine mount. i'm going to elaborate as best i can to describe the issue.

it really feels / sounds almost exactly the same as a bad CV joint in a FWD car. it seems to come directly from (or very near to) the right rear wheel. it happens whether i turn right or left, although it seems to happen at an earlier threshold during left hand turns. it will happen during slower tight turns or when cornering fairly aggressively in sweepers. the problem is nonexistent at any RPM when not moving, moving in a straight line (accel or decel), or during leisurely turns.

i'm inclined to think it's indeed a CV joint, but i've yet to encounter another person who has had one go bad, so i don't know how the symptoms manifest themselves in these cars. any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Tuned exhaust has nothing to do with the intake. What you do to the intake of the car is TOTALLY IRREVELANT to the exhaust.

if by intake you mean strictly the filter / tube, tuning the exhaust indeed has nothing to do with the picture, although ensuring your intake is unrestrictive enough to take full advantage of a freer exhaust is important. for instance, in a car with significant cam overlap, the exhaust scavenging effect of a header will actually pull intake air into the cylinder. a handicap on the intake plumbing would reduce this effect.

on the other hand, if by intake you include the manifold, this should be matched to the exhaust for maximum benefit. the intake runner lengths / diameters should be tuned to the same desired RPM range as the header.

Near the end of my commute of about 30 miles, I stopped to refuel. The car was hard to restart and then ran rough the rest of the way. It also stalled when I stopped for a traffic signal. Then the check engine light flashed a few times and stayed on. It also felt like my brakes were not getting any boost from the power brake unit. My car is a 2000 base with about 34k miles on it. I purchased it in March after a good PPI.

I got the car in my driveway and turned it off. It seemed like the back of the car was hotter than normal although the temperature gauge had not moved past the 8 in the 180 degree mark. I also thought it smelled like something was burning.

I'm planning to find a good independent Porsche mechanic with the proper diagnostic tools and have them check it out. Here are my questions:

1. Should I drive the car to the mechanic or should I have it towed?

2. Anyone know a good independent mechanic in the Richmond, VA area. (I used Krynock to change my spark plugs, but he said he didn't have the software to read the engine code.)

3. Any ideas of what this problem could be?

Thanks in advance.

i had a very similar experience with a bad tank of fuel.

Yeah! Someone who agrees with me. 'insite' has it right. Intake and exhaust air has mass. You want that air mass moving along at a smooth and swift speed. If you keep changing the pipe diameters in the "system" that mass has to keep slowing down and speeding up. If that mass has a high velocity, it has high intertia to use for filling combustion chambers on the way in as the valves close and for scavenging on the way out.

Of coure, even higher velocity could be achieved using pea shooter-sized exhaust pipes, of course ;) however that is where friction with the walls becomes too high and increases back pressure. Changing pipe diameters, though, causes impedance mismatches in the flow and increases back pressure. The same thing for too many bends/kinks, etc. What many people do with a "bigger is better" strategy is wind up with increased "back pressure" even though the component by itself has less back pressure.

and to add to that, the only time comparatively large diameter tubing / ~ zero back pressure is desirable in a normally aspirated car is under racing conditions. scavenging won't occur at low revs with that type of set-up (no low range torque) but WILL occur at very high revs to maximize peak power. tractability is greatly reduced (not streetable). this is a difference between street and race headers (tubing size / length determines 'power band' within the rpm range).

IMNSHO, engines never need back pressure. With that said, however, engines are optimized around a given set of parameters. The HP differences you're talking, though, are minimal and likely to be well within what the ECU can adapt. As Topless mentions, you can only remove bottlenecks in one place so far then a bottleneck somewhere (intake) takes over. I don't think that is the case here. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gemballa muffler just "sucks". There have been plenty of mufflers that sounded great but lost HP.

true, back pressure, per se, is unnecessary. VELOCITY, however, is critical. generally what happens when those out of 'the know' try to reduce back pressure is that they enlarge tubes in the system. this can result in sub-optimal exhaust velocity, which will in turn inhibit the ability of the system to scavenge ('suck') gasses out of the system.

Start Here.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=10005

very, very interesting! you may have saved me a wasted axle. funny thing is, i first thought a tire was rubbing because the vibration felt deadned by rubber to me. a bad mount could be my issue. Thanks!

really? it doesn't happen under ANY condition while driving in a straight line.

i think it's the PCV valve (honestly).

i'm trying to diagnose an issue. basically, when i take a hard corner in either direction, i get a 'rumble' from the rear right of the car. it sounds / feels the same as a front wheel drive car with a bad CV joint. i've not heard of many going bad in the box, so i wanted to get some opinions.

i've checked to make sure the tire's not rubbing anywhere, i've checked the play in the wheel bearing (none), and i've checked the CV boots (fine). thoughts? thanks in advance.

Hi

This has just happened to me (ie the clock, odometer, oil level displays etc keep going off) if i push on the binnacle they come back on for a brief moment.

Looking at it it looks more like lcd or led technology as opposed to a simple bulb

Did you get your fixed if so how ?

Cheers

Karl.

the bulb lights up the LED stuff; without the bulb, the LED can't be seen. probably when you're pushing on it, your jiggling the bulb and the filament is temporarily making contact and lighting the bulb. it could also be a poor contact between the bulb housing and the circuit board. it's cake to check / replace.

Why the 2002 date? Wasn't the cutover in engine control electronics in 2000?

yup; e-gas started in 2000.