N41EF

Troubleshooting intermitant electrical problem is tough, especialy in a moving car in a changing environment. First I'd pull the radio and make sure the connections are well seated. Check the fuses and such to make sure they are seated well, and check the ignition swith to make sure the electrical connection is good. Second, pay attention. We refered to this as symptom elaboration. If you atart the car and let it idle in the garage for 5 minutes, did it reset? As you drive take note of when it resets, is it time? temp? that bump in the road? What was the temp outside when it happens? Was the AC on? heat? Didi it happen when the auto temp kicks the heat on? Third try to recreate it. If it is time, what did batt voltage do during that period. If it goes off on a bump, does it do it at 15mph? At 45? Doe it do it if you bang your fist on the dash? On the radio? on the ignition switch? Slam the door? Once you firgure out what things makes it happen THEN you can track down the cause. Let me know what seems to be the issue, I'll see if I can help.

did it do that before you replaced the ignition switch? is the electrical connection on the switch on good? Have you removed the radio recently?

Another option, is to take the mp3's and burn them to CDR's. You don't get as many per disc as you would with mp3's. No wiring changes, cheap. easy.

I've had more MAF issues on my VW than the Boxster, but here's what I know. As a MAF goes bad it may or may not throw codes, but what you notice is idle inconsistentcies and I had a loss of power with no codes. From my understanding, the MAF measures air flow into the engine by heating a wire in the air stream and measuring how much current it takes to keep it hot. As the MAF ages, strange things start to happen. On one of my VW's it started thinking there was less air flow than actual, so started running lean. I know VAG-Comm can measure MAF air flow compared to air flow desired, not sure if durametric can, but that's the first thing I would check. I checked the MAF flow at idel, on acceleration, and at 3k RPM in cruise, that's where mine started showing bad, wasn't telling the computer that as much air flow was there. I've also had a MAF show more air flow, I assume because the MAF had aged and it took more current to keep the wire hot, so the computer thought there was more air, and it made the car run very rich. A surging idle might be indicative of an intake air leak, and the idle will surge with one because the electronic idle circuit will hunt becasue you are getting more air flow than it thinks it is letting in. Some people have had success with buying just the MAF element instead of the element and housing. VW guys have posted the Bosch part number for most VW elements, you might look around and see if you can find it for your Boxster. If you have someone close with a similar car you might try swapping them to see if the codes come back. When you clean it with MAF cleaner make sure it is completely try before you turn it on. Also, it helps to disconnect the battery when you play with the MAF, cleaning it or changing it will change the computer inputs, unless you have the ability to re0initialize the computer, it may take several drive cycles for the computer/MAF etc to get used to each other. Just my opinion, YMMV. Chuck

An update, replaced the sender and the roung ring gasket tonight. Follow the info in the Bently's for the earlier cars. The later 986's have one high pressure line, one vent line, and one electrical connector on top. As you start to remove it the power lead to the pump is high on the passenger side and it T shaped, can't put it back on wrong. As you slowly wiggle and raise the sender, there are two lines that go to the sender, they are tye wrapped together and there is little wiggle room. On my initial look it seemed one was metal banded on, but it was just to the 90 degree connector which has a squeeze connector. My sender was cracked below where the high pressure line connects, hard to see, but there was dirt collected in the crack. When I was finished and started the car, as you would expect, there was some air in the lines, and about 10 seconds after I started it it cut out and sputtered, then ran fine. Have a fire extinguisher handy. Use a flourecent drop light, not an regular drop light, minimize the fire hazzard. Do this with a low fuel level, I ran mine till the "feed me" light came on, was still several inches of fuel in the tank. I did use a flashlight to check the tank, nothing loose in there. If you drop the wire or the pump to sender hose it's no big deal, pleanty of room to stick your hand in there and get it. The sender and gasket was about $170 from sunset with shipping. Much less than the other online sites.

Ok, I need to know what year, there is a difference in wiring diagrams. Is it a US or ROW car? Do you have Litronic lights or the standard bulbs. Does the car have headlight washers? Daytime running lights? I know from changing my bulbs that the car connectors that make contact with the light assemblies are kind or hinky. There are seperate ground wires for each low beam bulb, and seperate fuses for each (A9 & A10) I think. The fact that both of them are out makes a ground problem seem unlikely. Did both low beams stop working at the same time? Have you checked the bulbs with an ohm meter? Or the fuses with a meter? There is a list of things it could be, if you can answer the questions above I can narrow it down, but here is a list of possibilities so far: Fuses, light bulbs, light switch, turn signal switch, headlight cleaners, DRL relay, ground points, the ignition switch, and wiring. There are very few single component failures that could make BOTH low beams go out at the same time.

Yes, two types. The older or original ones are black, and have an Audi/VW part number, Porsche no longer sells them, and the new style that is white. Not sure of the changeover year, you could pop out the heat duct over the driver's feet, and look up at the switch. The switch is on the forward end of the portion where you stick the key in, the elecrical part at the end will either be black or white. The two electrical portions are not interchangable.

When you turn the headlights on do the dashlights and radio lights come on? Do all of the park or "position" lights come on, the tag lights? In short does every light that is suppossed to come on excepts the headlights? Have you ever replaced the ignition switch? Also, what year and model of car. You can post it in your signature line, or just include it in your post.

So, with the starter removed, have you tried to turn the engine over with the crank pulley? I can think of two possible failures: 1. The starter hung up, and the bendix stayed engaged, you oversped it and smoked it. It makes ALOT of noise when this happens. 2. You shorted the starter when you tried to jump it. Try to turn the engine before you put the starter back on.

Depending on milage, I'd bet what you are seeing is on the outside from sand and rocks and such. If you look at just about any 10 year old car with miles on it you'll see the same. It looks worse at night, especialy when dirty. You can try to polish them out, but I've never been completely satified that way. Only thing I know to do is to replace the windshield. I didn't realize how bad theglass was in my 2001 Beetle until I replaced it, was amaizing. Where you at in GA? I'm just across the river from Augusta. Chuck

I did this over Thanksgiving. Ordered two new axel assmblies from Sunset. The price with shipping was just under $1,000. I bought a long set of allen sockets and a ball joint tool from Harbor Freight. It took me about 3 hours to do both sides including breaks to warm up and eat lunch. The dealer wanted something rediculous like $700 per shaft just for parts. It wasn't a hard job I used the guide from Pedro, and the Bently's manual. All 4 of my boots were torn, my intention is to disasemle, clean and repack the joints with new boots, then vaccum bag them and put them on the garage shelf. This means the boots on the car will last forever since I have spares. My research says the S cars with a 6-speed are harder on boots because of the angle the axels are at. Sunset sells a "boot kit" that does each boot with clamps and grease, price is about $100 for all four. I'll rebuild mine this spring. As far as if you ruined them, don't know, mine were torn, had thrown grease, but had no noise and feel smooth, can't really inspect them without taking them apart.

Wow, flashback, had a tape deck once get side 2 of The Wall stuck, listened to it for several months. I would either remove the fuse to remove power to the head unit, or disconnect the battery. There are probobly several fuses that send power to it. When it restarts, it should go back to normal, and you should be able to eject the disk.

The brake fluid resevoir is the source for the brake and the cluth fluid. The resevoir has a small divider in the bottom, if there is more than 3/4 inch or so of fluid there should be fluid for both. If you have a leak, the fluid drops to the divider, and makes sure you either have front or rear brakes, so a leak can't cause loss of both brakes. Bleeding the clutch is a pain, up on the left side of the transmission, might be easier to see if you pull the alluminum pan with the car on a lift. It's one of those see it or touch it things, but hard to do both.

Somewhere I have a link from a study I read for grad school. It related to how a tire with too high of pressure will hydroplane at a lower speed because the contact area is smaller, less give to the tire, and less control. I think of stuff like that and chuckle when I read about people inflating tires to the max-safe pressure trying to get better milage. All the mialge won't matter when you get blown off the highway in a rainstorm. IIRC, the speed at which a tire will hydroplane is indirectly proportional to some factor (dealing with the "roughness" of the surface) divided by the square of the pressure in the tire.. IE pressure goes up, hydroplane speed goes down. I tend to follow the manual on pressure, and adjust it slightly, if any based on tire wear. I have a neighbor who is pretty technical, he checks tire temp in several places across the tread and adjusts pressure to get even temps

I know an "s" takes at least 4 gallons, I bought two from Sunset, and two gallons of distilled water, and then still had to top up once it's fully burped. The Bently manual has a pretty good procedure on getting the air out. Even after that first time I drove it the car got "warm" then the thermostat open and temp droped to exactly the 180 mark where it tends to run. I used the Porsche labeld stuff, just because. It's an every three or four year thing, why not use the right stuff and not have to lay awake at night thinking what if? Make sure you have a HUGE catch pan when you go to drain it. And you can check at: http://search.earth911.com To see who you takes antifreeze to recycle.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...=cruise+control Was the thread I used to do the 4 stalk swap. With parts and dealer time it will cost about 300, gave me the cruise and the OBC. The stalk swap takes about two hours, and 3o minutes of dealer time to turn it on. They have to code the DME, then tell it that it has cruise, the thread above will give more info. After doing this, I could do it again in an hour. Where are you at? Someone might be close enough to help you out. Good Luck, Chuck

Put the car up on jack stands and remove the rear wheels, the plastic splash shields, and everything will be right in front of you. Th forward plug on the driver side take and allen wrench, not just a socket bit if I remember right. It's an hour job or so once it's up in the air. Be careful with the coils, don't drop them and check them for cracks. I used a dab of dialectic greese in each plug boot to prevent corrossion and make them easier to change in 60k more.

So, there are thre of these bearings on the car, are these the same on the later cars, as in my '03s? If so, i now have something to put on the Christmas list. Thanks, Chuck

I did the window regulator a few weeks ago. open the door, put down the top, and trip the door latch with a screw driver, this makes the door think it's shut and the window will go all of the way up (you need to reach the two clamp screws that hold the glass. Disconnect the battery and leave it alone for ten minutes before you mess with the air bag. The bag is held to the door with 4 nuts, take it easy on the connectors when you unplug it, then unbolt it and set it aside. Another tip is to get a set of the door panel tools, I got the blue set from harbor freight for $6, make it easy to pop the panel off with damaging anything. You'll need duct tape or something similar to patch the plastic vapor barrier, you'll tear it I promise. It's an easy job, take your time.

There is only one belt on your car, it drives everything including the alternator and water pump, hence, if you drove 35 miles, your belt is there or you would have overheated the engine. Things get weaker as you drive because you are discharging the battery and voltage drops things start to fail. if you have a battery charger you can charge the battery and drive the car to a mechanic. Advance Auto, Sears, or any one should be able to test the battery/alternator to see if it's charging. Your car has no battery meter, just an idiot light, to let you know something is wrong. It is suppossed to come on when you turn the car on, then go out when you start it and the alternator is charging. The alternator sits on the top passenger side of the engine, it is doable as a DIY project. Check the fuses, and the wiring to the alternator first. Then have it checked somewhere. If you put your location in your signature or profile, someone close may be able to help.

Making a guess, your batt light is on because your voltage is low, and is not getting charged. If your car isn't overheating, your belt is still on so the alternator is should still be turning. It could be something as simple as a fuse, causing the alternator getting it's field current, Could be the alternator itself, or even a loose wire, Something is not letting it charge the battery. The electrical system "went haywire" because voltage was low and things shut themselves off to protect themselves. If you car isn't running hot, you could probably drive it to the mechanic, if it isn't too far, turn off the radio, climate control and such. If you have a battery charger put it on prior to the trip. If you can't confirm no overheating, don't even think about driving it, tow it, or find a mechanic/friend to come to you.

Where are you and the car at? Someone might be close with a Durametric.

Some soul searching, and I actually read the Bently's. There isn't a section on doing this for 2002+ because there is no fuel filter to replace, but the <2002 section says this thing is suppossed to be tightened to 52ft/lbs or 70nm. Mine was less than finger tight. It's a plastic ring screwed into a plastic tank, is the tank/sender setup the same <2002 to 2002+? It also says to use tool VW 3217 (no picture in the book) to tighten it. Does renn-tech have a tool loaner program? Any one have one in the garage? Thanks, Chuck

While replacing a window regulator tonight, I had the Batt disconnected, so I pulled it, and the plate it sits on, and Yep, the "well" on top of the sender is full of fuel. I don't see and cracks in it, so I'll try tightening the lock ring. Funny, but you would think this would cause a CEL on the evap system wouldn't you? I'm still getting between 26 and 27mpg commuting to work, but notice a fuel smell outside the car when running, like when you get out to check the mail. Seems as above the fans are blowing air under the car and spreading the smell. When I used my fingers to tighten the ring, I got between 1/8 and 1/4 turn on it. I snugged it down good, but thinking I may have to remove it soon didn't want to crank down on it. There was evidence that fuel had sloshed from the top the pump to the top of the tank. I used a rag to whipe what I could and a dozen q-tips to clean up the rest. The battery is in it, I'll drive it a few days and pull the battery again. I checked every where I could see, and I didn't see any cracks in it. I also used a small screwdriver to "scratch the surface, didn't feel any cracks. I was trying to think of a way to run the fuel pump with the battery removed. I'm allergic to sparks around an open fuel tank. Butt, may try a battery charger to provide power if there is still a leak so I can try to find it. Will let you guys know what I find this next weekend.

Just did this a few weeks ago. The drain is on the bottom facing down. The fill plug is farther back on the left (drivers) side about half way up on the transaxle. Both are 10mm hex. Remove the fill plug first, stick your finger in and you'll feel the level. Drain it while warm, let it drain for an hour or so, then replace drain plug and fill. It took 3 quarts plus to refill. From my Land Rover I've learned that you do a drain and fill with cheap gear oil, drive a week or so, then do a drain and fill with the good stuff. Removing the braces and the alluminum pan inder the trans is a pain. Good luck with it!