Piper

My car stereo installer friend has requested that I find out the polarity of the illumination wire before I bring my 2001 Boxster S in for a head unit rewire. Can anyone help? Thanks! :renntech:

x2 - would love to see what you've done :) Pics coming shortly! :D

Thanks for the info! Wow, its amazing how different the wiring diagram is from Crutchfields supplied diagrams. I will have to show this to my installer. To answer your question on the GPS antenna, its because I have to mount an XM antenna as well. They are actually quite similar looking, and look quite nice when mounted symmetrically on the windshield wiper cowl. Also I've heard that to ensure the best possible reception you should have the antennas outside of the vehicle. Should I be able to read the alarm fault codes with a durametric tool, or will I need to take it to the dealer and see what the Piwis says? Thanks again :D

Hello gentlemen, I recently had a good friend of mine who happens to be a car stereo installer put in an Avic z110bt in my 2001 Boxster S. For the most part, the install went off without a hitch. It looks quite professional (Using one of Trilleunaires kits) I just have a few questions regarding some minor things that are a bit screwy after the install. First, the unit doesn't recognize the difference between day and night. I assume this has to do with improper connection of the illumination wire (or lack thereof). Where should I wire the unit's illumination? Second, the unit does not seem to remember EQ settings; from what I've read, this means there is a miswire somewhere and its not getting its constant voltage feed while the car is turned off. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Third, after careful consideration I decided the best place to mount the GPS and XM antenna would be on the plastic cowl in between the hood and the windshield, right above where the wipers rest. The sticky pads that came with these antennas lost their stick after just one rainy day. I have ordered some rare earth magnets to mount underneath the cowl directly below where I want the antennas to mount, in order to retain a stock look while holding the antenna in place. What would be the best way to get underneath the cowl to epoxy these magnets in place? Fourth, when left for any period of time in the direct sun, my alarm is sounding. This is really annoying, especially at work where we have no covered parking. I'm guessing the thermal expansion due to direct sunlight is causing something to make contact, but I really don't know where to start. Again any advice on this is appreciated. Thanks folks, Renntech is the best. :)

Yes I am relying on smell. I have not sniffed the coolant, and as far as I know they haven't either. I will do that next. Now that you mention it I've never smelled oil with exhaust contamination in it so I really wouldnt know. I'm pretty paranoid about the situation because the last thing my 240sx started doing before it shot a rod out of the bottom of the block is make the oil smell like gasoline. My last talk with them they told me they had narrowed it down to the car running rich and they think it is the MAF sensor. They have someone coming with equipment to check it. I used a K&N filter last time the filter needed changing; perhaps that was a mistake and my MAF is slowly getting filter oil on it and causing it to run rich? Expensive mistake if so.

I ordered the AOS from pelican parts. They are dealing with the fuel reg, and their source is a porsche dealership nearby. I can only hope they are lol. This is why I wish I had a garage lift. I've never met a mechanic that I could trust; I've been screwed over too many times.

It runs a little rough. On durametrics the rough running value is at about 3.9. I'm assuming they've done a compression test, since they arent offering it up as a possible cause. I suppose I'm going to have to ask. They measured a fuel pressure spike of something like 75 psi on one of their tests and thats what lead them to replace the fuel pressure regulator; after the replacement they measured another spike and thats what has them scratching their heads. What would cause the pressure to spike like that? Could they have installed a faulty FPR? Or could something have caused the FPR to go bad so quickly after installing it? Or am I just taking a good old fashioned reaming from a crooked mechanic?

Wow, the mechanic is stumped. After a battery of tests and a replaced fuel pressure regulator they have no idea how the gasoline is getting into the oil. Any suggestions? P. S. Should I start a new thread?

No CEL's, oil level is good (it was just changed) but the oil is day by day smelling more and more like gasoline. Now it is once again very contaminated. I'm guessing it is the fuel pressure regulator since a stuck injector would most likely signal a CEL. Its going back to the shop Monday, until then I have no choice but to drive it. I will go easy on her. Maybe I'll run durametrics on it tonight and make sure there arent any out of bound readings. Oh and no, no black smoke.

Okay the smoke is gone but I checked the oil this morning and it smells a bit of fuel. What do you guys think? Spark plugs fowled? Injector stuck? Fuel pressure regulator problem? Would excess fuel fumes in the crankcase cause an AOS failure I wonder? Maybe it just needs an oil flush? Rampant Boxster Paranoia? Looks like its going back in the shop. :(

:D You guys are brilliant. Yes it was the air oil seperator. The one I bought to replace it was defective. All is fine now, other than it runs a little bit rough, but I bet its just the plugs are a bit fouled now. I'm going to tune it up soon. Thank you all for your input; this site should expect a monetary contribution from me soon.

Just wondering if gas in the oil would be a symptom of my AOS failing again.... maybe too much oil in cylinder mixing with fuel and draining on the downstroke ? I'd really love for it to be the AOS because theres no way in hell I can afford another engine right now. I'm taking it to a mechanic this coming monday or next monday so we'll see.. just want to be armed with alot of knowledge. Any things I should say to the mechanic to make him think I know a thing or two lol? Because I don't.

At this point I'm afraid to run it because the gas/oil ratio has gotten pretty bad. I'm sure theres a nice puddle of gas sitting on top of the oil and I don't want anything to detonate, or burn out the engine from bad lubrication. Just paranoid about it. Anyway once I change out the oil and the filter I will run it for a bit and get some pics. I've run into an issue with jacking it up level (My jack sucks) so I'm going to have to get a new jack or have it towed somewhere with the proper equipment. Until then maybe a detailed description will help : The smoke is billious and white/blue. It smells like parafin wax burning, and tends to accumulate at the top of the garage and linger. It does not dissapate for quite some time. What gets me about this is there were no problems like a bit of smoke here and there, and then it would get progressively worse, like something odviously and slowly failed. One day for no particular reason it just started spewing a crapload of this smoke. There was no "awful noise" or even a little click or tiny squeel that accompanied the change. Just lots of smoke. Its quite perplexing. What is also perplexing is the check engine light still hasnt triggered. I ran durametrics on it and no trouble codes. This is turning out to be a pain in the *** to troubleshoot on my own, or even with the help of this awesome community. I'm currently in the hurricane ike disaster zone so I'm not quite ready to take it to a mechanic. They will be quite busy. Thank you all for your help.

Someone mentioned that it may be my Fuel Pressure Regulator. I'd like your input on this. Thanks guys :)

Well I finally got around to swapping the AOS. It took me all of 5 hours to do (I'm not really mechanically inclined) and about 250 bucks worth of parts and tools. I fired it up and the smoke is still present. I let it run for a while thinking it needed to clear oil out of the throttle body and various hoses, but it only started to sound like it was running worse and worse. I checked the coolant level and it had not dropped while it was running. The smoke is definately blue, and it smells like a mix of oil and gas, and a little bit like plastic or parafin wax burning. The engine is running rougher and rougher like theres not enough oil in it, so I shut it down. I checked the oil and the oil smells like gasoline and has quite a bit of carbon buildup in it. I have no idea what would cause this, but some places I've looked at on the internet say piston rings or head gasket. I could use some re-assurance, or maybe an idea of how much I'm going to end up paying. I had this damned car for 3 months. I just can't believe it decided to crap out so quick after being in perfect condition when I bought it. I treated it with respect and never raced it. I've had the worst luck with cars :( My 240sx threw its timing chain 2 weeks after I bought it and destroyed the engine. Buy a new engine and the damned car gets flooded. $6000 dollars later I have a cleaned out car and a supposedly working engine... A year later a rod shoots through the bottom of the block and all my coolant and oil gets dumped onto side of the highway. I still owe $19000 on this car and my credit is not good enough right now to get another. 13 percent of my income to pay for this thing for 5 years still. Okay I'm done ranting, you guys don't need to hear this.

Well I pulled the AOS tube connection to the intake assembly, and there was a tiny pool of oil in it. Hopefully that is the problem and I'm going to order the part in the morning. I should have it in in a couple days and I'll let you guys know how it goes. THANK YOU!

I just now checked my coolant level and there is a slight drop in coolant, it is about an inch below minimum. However I havent really checked or in any way messed with the coolant since I bought it. I know thats terrible. I figure they would have caught that when I had my last oil change, about a month ago. I opened up the engine compartment just now and noticed a thick glaze of oil on what I assume is the filler hose. An initial visual inspection of the visible while installed portion of the AOS shows nothing out of the ordinary, and theres no oil mist anywhere else in the engine compartment that I can see. I don't really have the time or the inclination to remove the throttle body hose (It is like 100 degrees outside right now) but I may do it on a rainy day here soon to try and see if theres oil in the throttle body. The smell that accompanies the smoke is very distinct, and its something I remember from when my Nissan 240sx got flooded and the engine drank alot of water. My fathers friend pumped water out of the engine and then ran it for a while to get the rest of the water out; the engine shot a plume of white smoke a good 75 feet into the street and it smelled a lot like wet burning cardboard. While I was on the side of the road I also got a whiff of what smelled a bit like spent fireworks, but it could have come from another car driving by. A friend of mine that has built a few hotrods thinks I may have lost a piston ring, but thats just from an over the phone description of the problem. I would really hate to have this completely rebuilt. I just don't have the money. Any more help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for your time.

Thank you for your quick reply, I appreciate it. This is my only car and my only means of getting to and from work, time is definately of the essence in this matter. I was aware that it could be a AOS, however the smoke is not really bluish, its white. It doesnt really smell like burning oil, though I'm not really sure. Are there any other possibilities? My first thought is that it might be an engine seal letting coolant into the pistons, but like I said I'm not really all that knowledgable on these kind of things. I just want to know what sorts of options it could be if I end up taking it to the mechanic. First of course I will check for the misting of oil around the AOS and check the throttle body for excessive oil. Thanks again!

I just got my boxster maybe 3 months ago and its been running fine since then. On my way home from lunch today I saw a 300zx pass by me and when I looked in the rear view mirror at him it looked like he was blowing lots of white smoke. I thought heh, he should have got a boxster. So I go on and when I get to the nearby stoplight I realize that the smoke is coming from my car. I mean mass amounts of white smoke. Blowing pure white smoke, it even lingers in one of the tailpipes after turning it off. I'm not entirely sure but it looks like it may be coming out of only one tail pipe. I'm going to check that tonight to make sure. I got no CEL, no warning lights of any kind. My oil looks good, havent had a chance to check the coolant yet. The engine never overheated, although it did sputter a little bit before I shut it off. I'm not really much of an automotive repair guy; I understand how an engine works for the most part but I'm at heart a computer technician. I know theres alot of very knowledgable people here and I hoping I can get some input on this before I go get fleeced by the dealer or a local mechanic.

Well I decided to wait until I have the Pioneer Navigation system and the amplifiers before I try to put this thing in, I will let you all know the outcome as soon as all the materials arrive and the install is complete. Thanks again for your help. :)

Thank you! That was quite helpful. :) I'll be making a decision as to which was to do it this weekend and I'll let the board know for prosperity. :renntech:

Did I post this in the wrong section? Is my quest to install the bose rear deck on a earlier model futile? Not getting alot of feedback.

Hey guys, this will be my first post, though I've been lurking for quite some time. A couple months ago I picked up a 2001 Boxster S, 57K miles, and I've been loving it ever since. Easily the best car I've ever owned. I've quickly fallen in love with it. The only problem is the sound system leaves something to be desired. The door speakers sound excellent, and the fronts on the dash arent half bad. The previous owner said it was the premium sound package without DSP, so I'm guessing its the harmon kardon set up, driven by the factory headunit and the nokia amp. So a week ago I ordered a bose enclosure from ebay for the rear deck behind the head rests to replace the rear speaker upgrade the previous owner had done (The speakers had rotted and the driver's side set no longer work). For the last week I've probably blown up a couple servers at google looking for suggestions on what amp to use to power them. From what I've read on this forum, they are very low impedance; .8 ohm or .5 ohm when wired in parallel depending on who you ask. I've definately decided I want to run them in parallel, but all the amps that advertise this low impedance seem to be extremely overpowered. I mean good god these things dont need 800-1000 watts do they? At 5.25 inch? Any suggestions on how to wire this up? What amp to buy? What crossovers to use? My budget is large but I don't want to spend too much if I dont have to. I'll be picking up one of the new Pioneer Premier Avic F90BT navigation systems to replace the factory head unit in a months time; does that have any bearing on any of this. Thank you for your input, and your time, Regards, The Piper :renntech: