txhokie4life

If you are in/around Austin, Texas -- the mechanic that did my 3.2S would love the work and is very reasonable in cost. I got to help him -- and it is quite a project and a lot of fun. BTW, we've used one of LnEngineering's IMS' and she's purring like a kitten. Not for the feignht of heart -- but a lot of fun to work on and she's running great! We've got all the tools to work on the M96, would love to rebuild another one. M

Order your parts from Sunset and save a ton on the parts and then see if you can find a good Indie -- I work with a mechanic here that would be able to do a complete engine rebuild (not counting parts) for way less than that! If you were in Texas -- I would hook you guys up! mike

Does your car have the storage compartment behind seats between rollbar? Or do you have a subwoofer there? how about a net between the seats above the center console storage but along the engine wall? Also how about under the steering wheel where the manual holder is. I installed cup holders along what would be the transmission well just in front of each seat -- you could find/create something there as well. m

The rear main seal is at the end of your crankshaft -- and seals the block and and the crankshaft. But since your engine is actually mid-mounted, and the crankshaft is connected to the flywheel where the transmission is connected. If the seal is leaking -- it will show up right about the cross member just forward of the rear wheels. The rear wheels are connected to the transmission about mid way. So compare the leak to the location of the rear wheels. Btw, the IMS is in line with the RMS as the crankshaft sits just above the IMS. So you really can't tell which is leaking until you split the transmission from the engine. If you can jack it up -- see where it is coming from along the engine -- you could be "lucky" and just have a loose or stripped oil plug. m

Can you clean it up and take a picture -- the guides in my 3.2L were brownish -- I don't remember seeing anything in there that was green. Mike Sorry iv disposed of it,it was hundreds if little pieces,almost like fine gravel,but def not magnetic,first thing i checked! :o Most of the oil plastics are black. Chain guides and tensioners are brownish. Of course in fine pieces the color may appear to be something else. The water pump impeller I think was a lightish gray - -but that wouldn't be in the oil. See if you can find lnline pix of the timing guides -- and see if that color could match what you are talking about. I could see the chain hitting the guide and shaving it producing the debris you describe. Is that bad? Well obviously that is not good -- to fix it you would have to pull the heads and replace the guides, not as bad as having to crack the case -- but no a trivial amount of work either. There was a posting of Jack Raby that showed a failure of one of the chain tensioners - and it took out the complete engine -- so I would be concerned about those -- but you mihgt be ok if the guides get a little chewed up -- I don't know they serve any distinc purporse other than "guiding" the longsih chains from the IMS to the Cams. mike

Can you clean it up and take a picture -- the guides in my 3.2L were brownish -- I don't remember seeing anything in there that was green. Mike

lower passenger side front is where the water pump is .... get up on ramps or jack stands and pull panel. could also be a leaky hose or connection.... although unlikey that side .. maybe even a pressure crack in resovoir. find it and fix it .... cheaper now than later.... don't wait for overheat light. m

I have AXXIS for the rear and ESB for the front (or vis-versa) ... AXXIS only makes one pair that fits the S model. Low dust -- and while I have only had them on the Boxster for ~550 miles -- I have had AXXIS all around on other cars. M

A good place to start would be to remove the inspection panel on the rear bulkhead, just behind the rear seats. That will give you a really good look at the serpentine belt, along with the water pump puller (lower left) and the power steering pulley (upper right). Regards, Maurice. the bearing in your water pump seized... the shaft on the water pump pully has sheared off.... your serpentine belt is flopping around.... fix it now ..maybe $500. let it overheat..... $5-10k plus yiu can get a water pump for $200 and a good indie can do the install..... I bought one just like yours ... bit the owner blew up the engine before pulling over......

Google 996 and IMS. I wouldn't be overly concerned -- but I would make myself well educated so that I knew what I was getting involved with. They also occasionally have water pump problems. m

The oil in the cooling system should circulate to some extent and eventually make it's way to the highest point in the system(the re savor). I know this sounds crazy but I was first told this by a very knowledgeable factory tech. with 25 years of Porsche experience. Drain the cooling system and fill it with distilled water and about a cup a cup of Shout detergent. Elevate the rear end of the car with a floor jack and let it reach operating temperature then drain the system. Repeat this two or three more times or until you're satisfied that the majority of the oil has been removed. Then use only distilled water to flush the system of soap. Finally fill and bleed the cooling system. If you find that after 3 runs of the Shout you still have loads of oink in the system than you clearly have a serious problem. I know it's unorthodox but I've done it and it works like a charm. I still service several of the late cars I've done this with and after years they still show no ill effects from the soap. Feel free to flame away but remember I love you guys. :renntech: Sounds very much like what I came across -- the "freeze" plug blew -- and if you checked compression via the spark plugs -- everything would look good (one of mine didn't which confused the Porsche dealership into thinking the cylinder liner had cracked, but when we put the rings back on the piston for that cylinder I found that the wafer ring was missing -- we can't swear it was missing prior to disassembly but would contribute to the misdiagnosis) So if the freeze plug blew in yours -- coolant would mix with the oil -- but in my case the water pump sheared off -- so it was caused by overheating. did the indy completely flush the coolant? What does the oil look like? -- Does it still have coolant in it (the indy did replace it right?) m

Anyone have luck just replacing the mirror with an aftermarket that has homelink built in? This one for example? Homelink Mirror A little more pricey -- but "cleaner" install? M

http://www.f2pelectronics.com/category/100/ Looks like $80 for the kit. Just came across this -- does this work for one door or two? So if you have two garage doors -- will you need two systems -- or at least a second receiver? thanks, m

Is there a source for switches for the left side? I'm thinking about wiring in a homelink and having real switches there would be useful....

There is a bleed valve on top of the coolant tank. Latch it in the open position for a few days being sure to top up the tank daily. When the level stops going down you can close the valve. BTW... it does not hurt to drive with the valve in bleed position - Cup Car racers do it all the time. +1 Loren I ran with the bleed valve open for several weeks when I had a cracked coolant tank with no issues. The tank did not leak with valve open (not under pressure) and allowed me to replace the tank at my leisure. Back to the OP. I wonder how many engines have been tossed due to misdiagnosed failure mode or just the economics of the replacement program? I spoke to an owner who had been diagnosed with a cracked sleeve which turned out to really be a oil cooler failure. Back years ago, nobody would toss an entire engine due to a failed valve spring due to replacement cost but that scenario is likely highly played out today. In 1995 a factory rebuilt 911SC motor was about $15k. No doubt -- but it's cheaper to replace the whole engine than it is to pay Porsche Mechanics rates to perform the rebuild. There is a LOT of hours to perform a complete tear down and rebuild. Got 300 miles on it now -- running just fine! love to find a nice 911 with a blown engine and do the same rebuild! m

Thanks for the responses guys. Yes I did mean the IMS, not the rear main seal. Sorry for the typo. It is my understanding that while the IMS problem wasn't solved in later years, I thought that they had done some improvements somewhere around '02. Something about beefing up the bolt that shears off the end. This is the reason I was looking at newer motors. Psychologically, I have a very hard time putting the same motor with the exact same defect in my car. So are the newer motors, while still not perfect, better? Or I am looking at the same odds regardless of what engine I put in? I'll check out the 2.9 rebuild as well. Any feedback from anyone on whether there is any market for the car without a motor? At this point I'm thinking if somebody wanted to give me 4-5K for the car I'd sell it and buy a newer model. Am I dreaming here? Thanks again, Ron I don't think anyone can quote you odds --- heck its supposedly low odds to happen in the first place. When I rebuilt my 986 3.2L I snagged a completely re-engineered IMS from LnEngineering. Charles Navarro and Jake Raby collaborate on quite a few things. Note there was nothing "wrong" with my original IMS (I bought mine with a water pump failure), but I figured better safe than sorry. Here is a picture of an IMS which is redesigned by LnEngineering and an OEM IMS (not sure which vintage) -- check out www.lnengineering.com So if I get a used engine put into my car, how much additional work would it be to have an ln engineering new IMS put in? This would not be a diy situation, my mechanic would be doing the work. Thanks Note the only way to replace the IMS -- is to rebulid the engine. Or at least crack open one half of the block. Not a DIY (for 99% of the world), and not a trivial excercise. LnEngineering is working on a retrofit -- but I do not know where that is from a time frame wise, nor the effort involved. mike

Or make your own :-) Note the PVC "tool" in the background. (this was for a 986 3.2L - but similar concept should work for any M96 engine) <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_vWWL8dQ1nk4/SYUobi3HD0I/AAAAAAAAAhc/Nuc8s9RMzTU/s800/DSC03524.JPG" /> I unfortunately did not see this one in action.. but supposedly worked just fine! M

Thanks for the responses guys. Yes I did mean the IMS, not the rear main seal. Sorry for the typo. It is my understanding that while the IMS problem wasn't solved in later years, I thought that they had done some improvements somewhere around '02. Something about beefing up the bolt that shears off the end. This is the reason I was looking at newer motors. Psychologically, I have a very hard time putting the same motor with the exact same defect in my car. So are the newer motors, while still not perfect, better? Or I am looking at the same odds regardless of what engine I put in? I'll check out the 2.9 rebuild as well. Any feedback from anyone on whether there is any market for the car without a motor? At this point I'm thinking if somebody wanted to give me 4-5K for the car I'd sell it and buy a newer model. Am I dreaming here? Thanks again, Ron I don't think anyone can quote you odds --- heck its supposedly low odds to happen in the first place. When I rebuilt my 986 3.2L I snagged a completely re-engineered IMS from LnEngineering. Charles Navarro and Jake Raby collaborate on quite a few things. Note there was nothing "wrong" with my original IMS (I bought mine with a water pump failure), but I figured better safe than sorry. Here is a picture of an IMS which is redesigned by LnEngineering and an OEM IMS (not sure which vintage) -- check out www.lnengineering.com

So the issues I think you will have is 1) the DME on the 2005 3.2 is different than the 2.5L --- if the motor comes with the 3.2L, then that will help, but you still might have issues with the alarm system. If you do -- I'm not sure if you have to buy a new alarm controller, and take it to Porsche to allow them to collaborate, or if you can get the 3.2 DME to be reporgrammed by Porsche to talk to the existing alarm computer. 2) the '99 boxster is non-E GAS (i.e. it has a throttle cable) -- you might be able to take the top half of the 2.5L 99 and mate it with the 3.2L bottom half. But I don't know for sure. Even the 3.2L has its failure mechnisms, including but not limited to IMS issues. From qeb research it appears it is less likely, but still possible. M

They claim that is something they are unable to do. :-( m

I was afraid of that --- Looks like I will have to pull the bar (or at least disconnect it so that I can get through inspections ..... "Sorry officer -- I don't have any plates or registration because my air bag light won't go out" -- probably won't cut it :-) Mike Nothing like replying to your own posts -- But I simply unconnected the child seat bar -- and the airbag light went out -- so looks like I'm good until I can find someone local to enable the child seat via computer. m

I was afraid of that --- Looks like I will have to pull the bar (or at least disconnect it so that I can get through inspections ..... "Sorry officer -- I don't have any plates or registration because my air bag light won't go out" -- probably won't cut it :-) Mike

Bought a child seat air bag disengage bar and specifically bought a durametric to clear the fault codes. Note this is a fully rebuilt Boxster -- and in the process I installed the child seat bar When I fired it up -- the Airbag light was on Durametric will say I have Airbag fault codes -- including the child seat code. I cleared all the codes -- but Airbag light did not go off --- checked codes again -- Child seat detected. It allows me to reset that code and the all show cleared -- but then when I ask Durametric to check codes again -- it flags that Child Seat (only) Thoughts -- Should I pull the child seat bar (PITA but can be done) -- and see where my baseline is? Or am I missing something -- and the durametric can't really reset the child seat code? thanks, M

She first fired up last night -- Ran her for 20 minutes -- then flushed the oil.... Picked her up today -- gave her a test spin --- sounds and drives silky smooth --- Still trying to fully burp the coolant system -- once that is behind us I will feel more comfortable driving around. For the full story -- check the link full of pix and captions..... Been a Porsche owner for 6 months -- now a happy Porsche driver :-) m Pictorial of the Resurrection on my Boxster S

There are so many in the US forsale -- shame you can't buy one here and import it back home cheaper....... I don't know what you want to consider the useful life of a car - but if you say it's 120K miles, than '99 is half way there and the other 1/4th. The 2.7 has E-gas, should have an upgraded RMS and IMS flange..... Neither of which are perfect. I'm guessing the 2.5L stick and the 2.7L auto probably perform similar. m