Stefan

There are two relevant heat shields. There are the rounded sheet ones that go around the cats. Those ones get loose because the fasteners corrode, as Chris in NH pointed out.

There are also heat shields that wrap around the exhaust pipe in front of the catalytic converter. These are harder to fix. I believe they are spot welded onto the pipes. When the welds break, the shields start to rattle. You can bend the metal to get them to be tighter but they will eventually start rattling again. The correct solution is to reweld them. I removed them and replaced them with heat wrap.

Incidentally, when heat shields rattle it is very often only within a particular rev range.

When you use a mallet to bang on the exhaust, you should not have to hit it very hard and you should use a rubber mallet. So you shouldn't have to worry about the O2 sensors.

It is extremely common for heat shields to loosen up and cause an awful racket. The circular ones near the cats will loosen up sometimes and rattle like mad and other times be completely silent. Your description is very consistent in many ways with this kind of problem (except the part where you say it's not a heat shield :) )

To diagnose a heat shield, get under the car with a rubber mallet and hit the exhaust with it. Heat shields will usually rattle given that sort of provocation.

I wouldn't get fancy with diagnosis until you've tried this.

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It also could be a bearing in one of the pulleys that the PolyRib belt turns. For example, does it happen more if the AC (snowflake icon) is on?

You can remove the engine panel behind the seats and drive the car and see if you can get the sound to happen.

But seriously, I would check the heat shields first and foremost.

Is the sound is coming from the engine compartment behind the seats?

If so, you can remove the engine access panel behind the seats and perhaps pinpoint the problem better.

The fuel pump is near the accelerator but on the other side of the firewall, in the fuel tank actually. It should run briefly to pressurize the system when you first turn on the ignition.

Bravo!

I can assure you that this job gets significantly easier in subsequent tries so be sure to lend a hand to any local Boxster owners who need this done.

Since you were having AOS problems you might want to pull one of your spark plugs and check for fouling. That can happen if the AOS dumps enough oil into the air intake.

I couldn't find the "online instructions" on their website either. You could ask them for it. You could also look at completed auctions and contact someone who bought the kit.

That auction implies that the bulb can be replaced without soldering. You might want to ask them for their instructions.

I have sent Hung some pictures. He is welcome to post them.

My experience has been that the summer tires seem to work well in the dry but their limit of adhesion is lower and when they let go they completely let go. In the wet or in the snow the problems are much more pronounced.

So you might get away with using summer tires in the winter but the more you do it the more you are risking your safety.

If you remove the right rear wheel you still cannot see the lower AOS bellows. But you can see part of the plastic of the AOS unit and you can also see the bolts that hold the AOS in place. You should be able to fairly easily reach them with a socket.

To connect the bellows using the clamp pliers, you compress the lower clamp and put it around the lower bellows. From above you wiggle the AOS down into approximate correct position. Then go under the car through the wheel well and use your hand to put the lower bellows on the metal tube. You can verify that it is in place by using a little mirror and a light. Then release the pliers. The rest of the connections (the bolts and the other hoses) are relatively easy. The bolts can be put back from below and all of the rest of the connections can be done from above.

If you PM me your e-mail address I can send you some pictures. For some reason, my router crashes whenever I try to upload pictures to Renntech or any other pictures site.

it doesnt close all the way, from memory if it closes all the way there is no air at all getting into the motor as I believe the throttle body is closed at Idle and the ICV acts as a bypass around the throttle body

I mostly agree with this. However, I believe that the ICV is supposed to be closed when the car is not idling. So if the door doesn't have the freedom to close the car might not run optimally. But it should idle fine as long as it can close enough to let the right amount of air by at idle.

P0506 Idle Air Control - Engine speed too low.

Why not check the idle air control vave? It is probably not functioning correctly. You can clean it and that might just solve your problem. Do a search for idle control valve and you will find instructions.

Mike's guide is excellent. One thing that I would add is that if you're in the store and you see a battery that has the exact right model number but it has an "R" on it, don't get it. "R" means that the battery terminals are reversed. That means the battery cables won't reach the proper sides.

(Note that with the Optima battery, unlike with the other brands, you are supposed to get the "R" model, not the non-"R" model)

I have done this conversion several times. Once you understand how it works it is quite easy. However, many people have gotten stuck trying to figure out how to get the old parts separated. If you have trouble with my instructions or if they are clear enough I'd appreciate the feedback.

If you get stuck, post it here or send me a PM and I will try to give you a better description.

I think everything you need to know is here:

http://www.ppbb.com/boards/ppbbphp/showfla...rt=all&vc=1

Thanks for the tip. I had already replaced the AOS before doing any of this cleaning. As I have mentioned in another thread, buying $10 hose clamp pliers for the lower AOS hose is the key to keeping your sanity on that otherwise not too difficult job.

It is true that the ICV is obviated by the e-gas mechanism which modulates the throttle body flap to get air into the engine during idle.

Regarding throttle body removal, it is easy for me because I have a 996 engine in my Boxster and it is easy to rotate the intake tube so that the throttle body bolts are all easily accessible. However, I did clean the throttle body when I had the 2.5L engine in. The trick there is to use short wobble extensions. That makes the lower bolts much easier to access.

Batteries for year-round daily drivers typically lasts longer than 5 years. I just replaced the original battery on my 1999 Boxster after 9 years (105k miles) and this battery life has been approximately the same for my last 5 cars.

Is it running poorly too or just not idling?

Yikes. That part is expensive. It is about $150 and I can't be sure that it will fit my existing tester since I don't have specs for it.

The plot thickens...it's even worse:

(From http://iecoklahoma.com/adapters.aspx)

"A few of the high-end imports (Porsche, Lamborghini etc) have a proprietary port, often an M14 x 1.5"

I think that I could probably just get the Porsche special part 9559. I think that's just the adapter. Does anyone know where I can get it?

Ok, so I bought an Actron CP7818 fuel pressure tester, which has an attachment for Schrader valve fuel test ports. It turns out that the threads on the Porsche are finer than a standard Schrader valve. The attachment that came with the kit screws onto the tire valve fine but the fuel test port seems to be more like 1.25 thread size.

So now I need to find an adapter from standard Schrader to 1.25 (or so). If anyone knows of one, please tell me.

Dana,

Just to clarify: you're talking about the studs, not the nuts, right? I am trying to remove the studs.

The check engine light indicates any of hundreds of possible problems. So there is no one single sensor for it. You have to read the code through the OBD port using an OBD reader. The OBD port is just to the left of the driver's left knee just under the dash. Most auto parts stores will read the code for you for free. Once you get the code, post it here to get advice on how to proceed.

I've done this job a few times and I found the adjustable clamp to be a bit of a pain. It is a reach to get at the clamp and with the adjustable clamp I had to hold it in place while tightening it and that gave it plenty of chance to get crooked. With a spring clamp, you push it into place, then release the clamp and it is exactly right.

The spring clamp really is quite easy with the spring clamp tool.

Yes, and my advice is to make sure you have this tool (or similar) before you start the job. Although it is possible to do without it, the clamp is a royal pain without it and fairly easy with.

All good and valuable ideas. I was definitely thinking of removing the O2 sensors before hammering.

Dana, you said that your Porsche mechanic took care of those studs in minutes. Did he heat them up with a torch an nail them with a heavy mallet? (Because that is my current plan) They don't look like they're going to give in without a fight.

BTW, nut cracker...sweet! (Sorry, couldn't resist)