Jpeterson

I have a 99 Boxster. I has an occasion to take a good look underneath the rear of the car. I wanted to inspect the dirve axel boots. I noticed that the axels looked cleaner than the rest of the stuff under there and I also saw a Porsche part number sticker on both axels. What I would like to know is do the axels come from the factory with the number stickers on them or could this be a sign they have been replaced. All four boots looked to be in very good condition and no leakage at all. Thank you for your help.

Dear Forum I have a 99 Boxster Triptronic. Sometimes when I try and start the car the key just turns to the start position but nothing happens. It is like the car is in gear. I can wiggle the shifter back and forth and then place it in neutral and it starts. Other times it starts just fine. I was told it was likely a switch that is connected to the shifter or shift linkage on the transmission and the swith can be cleaned or adjusted. Can anyone advise if the starter interlock switch is under the center console or on the back of the transmission. If it is on the trans, can it be accessed by jacking the car up or does this job require a lift. Thank you, Jerry

Dear Forum, I highly recommend the Nexen 3000 brand. They are very aggresive looking, have great grip, run very quitely and you can get a whole set installed for under about $350.00. They are great - much better than the Pirelli P-Zero tires I used to have and 1 P-Zero is over $200.00. Just my opinion, Jerry

Dear Sir, I have a 99 Boxster with the 2 buttons on the Key Fob. One locks the doors and sets the alarm and the other one opens the trunk. You have to point it directly at the trunk and hold down the button for a few seconds and the trunk will pop open. It works fine. Thanks, Jerry

Dear Forum, I recently installed a set of Nexen 3000's all the way around. I had Pirelli's P-Zero's but they wore out. The Nexens are almost the cheapest tire you can buy but they are worlds above the Pirelli's as far a grip, driving noise and looks. They are made for "Drifters" and they are very cheap. I would replace these tires when they wear out with another set as they are the best tires I have ever had on a sports car. Thanks, Jerry

Dear Loren, thank you for clearing up this matter. This Forum is considered to be one of the best especially for in-depth knowledge of Porsche's and that is why I made the Comments because I still fell that Porsche owners should be informed if someone knows something they might not know and could cost them a lot of wasted money and time, and be made aware of what it is so they can make an informed decision about spending their money and a Forum like this is a good place to educate people who might not understand the differences between some products and others. I also feel that if someone knows of a company that sells junk products and/or is not a true enthusiast and has the best interests of Porsche owners at heart that they should be exposed or at the very least allow members to post comments about such a company as long as they are not directly selling anyone's products so the evaluations will be somewhat fair. Thank you for you time and understanding in this matter, Jerry

Dear Forum, I agree with trieullionaire 100% about his comment concerning Karl from Fiberwerks being a genuine assest to the Porsche Community. He has a vast knowledge about things like Body Kits and he will gladly help anyone that has any questions concerning such whether or not they even purchased their kit from him. In my opinion, installing a Body Kit especially on a Porsche, is very difficult if you get the product from a company that simply sends you a piece of fiberglass that needs an expert body man to make it fit that also probably cost more to begin with than a product from Karl. His products need very little work to install and he even offers free installation on most kits and parts to anyone who makes a purchase and then comes to his shop. So I think this alone is of great help to anyone considering buying a Body Kit - they should decide ahead of time if they wan't to install it at home or pay a small fortune for a professional body shop to install a kit that is of lesser quality. This would save any Porsche owner a lot of money and I think this should be posted in the interest of helping the Porsche Community which is the basis of this Forum in the first place.

Dear Forum, I have a 99 Ocean Blue Mettalic Boxster and I am putting a body kit on it. I have tried everything my local PPG dealer can think of and just cant get the basecoat paint to match. The car has never been re-painted and the rest of the paint is in very good shape. I have spent almost $500.00 trying different formulas of PPG basecoat and the closest I have gotten is by using the cheap "shop line" brand and adding my own green and blue pearls to it but it is still not a great match. Does any professional painter have the color code formula for PPG that I can have the dealer mix? I would really appreciate it as I am totally lost at this point. Something so simple can turn out to be so hard at times but I am sure that a forum member can help me. Thank you very much!

Dear Forum, I bought a 99 Boxster w/ Triptronic. It has over 117,000 miles on it and it runs and drives like a new car. No oil leaks or any engine problems whatsoever. I have heard that early model Boxsters had engine problems and some engines were replaced under warranty. My question is - is there a way to tell if the engine has been replaced? Like maybe by finding the engine numbers or something. I got the original owners manual and service book. It appears that it was regularly serviced by Porsche but no mention of an engine replacement. If you can tell by the engine number - can anyone advise were to find it on the engine.? Thank you very much, Jerry Peterson

I would highly recommend Amsoil products. They are the inventors of synthethic oil and in my opinion it is without a doubt the best oil you can use in any engine. Just look it up on the net and look at the scientific studies - Amsoil beats every oil in every category. I could actually feel the difference when I first put it in my 99 Boxster. It had an oil leak when I bought it and as soon as I put Amsoil in it, the leak stopped and now it runs smoother, cooler and seems much more responsive. The same results in my 04 Honda, the engine ran smoother and is getting better gas mileage. So for my money I will never use any other brand of oil than Amsoil. Just my opinion. Thank you, Jerry

Dear Forum, I have read all I can find about top problems on your forum. In one topic, you adised a guy to try and switch the large round pushrods that attach to the v-lever from one side to the other and see if that will help his problem. I bought 2 new pushrods from a dealer and they are different from side to side. They even have a different bend for the drivers side and the passengers side. My question is - can you really switch these rods. I have broken 4 of the pot aluminum arms that the pushrods attach to so it might be possible that even though they are marked that I might have them backwards and this is what is causing the arms to break. Is it possible to switch the rods from side to side? Thank you very much, Jerry

Dear Forum, In this message you advised the person to try to swithch the pushrods from one side to the other. I bought both large round pushrods new from a dealer and they are NOT the same. They each have a bend to them and are marked for the drivers and passengers side. My question is for you top expert. Can you really change the pushrods from side to side? I have had many problems and have broken 4 of the pot aluminum arms that the pushrods attach to so it is certainly possible that I have the sides confused and have them backwards. Thank you, Jerry

Jerry: This is an issue which I have never seen explained completely. The closest I have been able to come is that the dash light is turned off by a combination of the clamshell pressing down on that microswitch lever that is on top of the electric motor along with a time delay that is controlled by the top control module. What makes this a little more confusing is that the later model 986's eliminated that microswitch lever from the top of the motor entirely. One possible (although not very elegant) solution is to take some 1/4 inch styrofoam blocks and temporarily tape them to the underside of the clamshell where the clamshell meets the microswitch lever. Add 1/4 inch block at a time (stack them up) until you get the desired effect, which should turn off the light a little earlier and stop breaking those expensive aluminum arms. While this may not be a permanently desirable solution, it may guide you in the right direction. Let us know if you have any success. Regards, Maurice. Dear Sir, I have tried this method but the dash light still stays on. There must be something in the Top Control Module that can "sense" when the electric motor goes under the strain and then signals the light to go out. I have tried taking the module out, cleaning the contacts, Tapping on the module, etc with no results. Do you happen to know if the large round control rods are supposed to "expand" under pressure? I have put mine in a vise and pulled on them but could not get them to move. I am going to try a friend's control module to see if that works, but this whole thing just doesn't make sense. It should just have a switch that will signal when the top is properly opened or closed and I am going to figure it out somehow. Until then, I have just dis-connected the large rods and open the clamshell by hand and then use the motor to open or close the top which works fine. Maybe someone has a rational explanation about the dash light issue. Thank you very much for your advice, Jerry

I have a 1999 Regular Model Boxster with the Triptronic. When I first bought the car the large, round control rods were missing and the rods that had the red ball joints on them, one of the ball joints was broken. I got all new parts and also found that I had the new style cables for the transmissions. I then went through all the procedures outlined in the Bentley Repair manual. The top worked fine either opening or closing. The dash light did not go out at first then someone told me to keep pressing on the switch until the light goes out and it did. When doing this, the electric top motor started to sound like it was under a lot of strain and you could hear it slowing down and then the light went out but you could tell the top mechanism was under a tremendous amount of strain. Suddenly it started breaking the pot aluminum arms that the large, round pushrods connect to. I have broken 4 of them. Each time I have re-done all the adjustment procedures and tested all the micro-switches. It just seems to me that there is simply too much pressure being put on the motor and mechanism and this is causing the arms to break so that is why I need to know what actually turns the dash light out. When the top is closed the latch micro-switch is closed and so is the b-pillar micro-switch along with the switch on top of the electric motor. When the top is open, the latch switch is open and so is the b-pillar switch so that is why I think the dash light must have something to do with the switch on top of the motor but it checked out ok with a continuity meter and it also will set off the alarm if I open the clamshell when the alarm is set. Then I thought that this switch might have 2 positions - 1 for the alarm and 1 for the dash light. If there is something else that turns the dash light out when the motor undergoes the strain then it must be some electical function in the top control module or something similar otherwise you could just push the switch on top of the motor down and the dash light would go out - to me it just doesn't make sense to have to put the electric motor under such a strain to get the light to go out. So I wish someone who knows about this issue could finally tell me what actually makes the dash light turn off. BTW my car is a 99 Boxster and it doesn' matter if the car is under speed or not as the dash light stays lit up because I am afraid to put the mechanism under such a great strain again just to break another arm (they are expensive). I hope this info will help you diagnose the problem. Thank you very much, Jerry"

I know Karl Lawley (owner of Fiberwerks) personally and have purchased a body kit for my 99 Boxster from him. I visit his shop often and watch how much care he takes while making the parts. He is so careful and meticulus that he actually has more time spent on each item that he can realistically even sell them for but his prices are low compared to competitors and his parts are far better. They actually fit without a lot of work at the bodyshop. A person who is handy with basic tools and has some degree of mechanical ability could easily install all of his parts themselves. Karl is a great guy and will go way out of his way to help you both before and after the sale unlike many others so if you are interested in a body kit or maybe just a spoiler or rocker panels please check out his website at www.fiberwerks.com. I also have a section on my website with the before and after pictures of the rebuild of my car. My site is www.petersonsoftwaresystems.com. BTW If you are interested and you contact me I can talk to Karl and probably get you a very good price on any of his items. Thank you very much, Jerry Peterson

Dear Forum members, I have a 99 Boxster that is Ocean Blue Metallic. It still has the original paint and it is in very good condition however I am putting a "Fiberwerks" body kit on it and will need to repaint the new parts and probably the entire car while I am at it. I am not a "Professional" painter but have painted many cars and motorcycles with great results. I have all the professional equipment such a large air compressor, spray guns, air and water traps, the correct size couplings and air lines for HVLP, etc. My local PPG dealer has tried many times to match the paint color with poor results. They have used the color chip, the car paint codes and even have done a "camera" reading but the color just doent seeem to be the correct color. I am beginning to think that maybe Porsche "tints" the first coat of clear with blue and green pearl to give it the look that other owners of similar color cars will see when looking at their cars in the sunlight. The paint seems to have a bluish-greenish glow to it that I have not been able to duplicate with the different basecoat-clearcoat type finish. Does anyone know if the first coat of clear might be slightly "tinted" with the pearl or if not I hope that a professional painter reads this and can offer some advice especially if you have the color codes for the correct blend of PPG DBC basecoat paint or can offer any other advice. Thank you very much, Jerry

I have a standard model Boxster 1999 with about 117,000 miles on it. I have just had it for about 3 months but was lucky and got the maintenance recors with the car and it appears that it was serviced by Porsche at the correct intervals. As far as I know there have been no engine parts replaced and there are absolutely NO oil or fluid leaks of any kind. It runs and drives like a new car. I have replaced the tires and put in a new battery as a precaution. I had a broken sway bar link at the ball joint in the front but other than that all is well. I also use Amsoil only and can tell the difference the oil makes as the car runs smoother and the heat guage seems to stay at a lower temperature even in very hot weather (I live in Florida). I have heard so many horror stories about the engine failures that it almost had me convinced that it was just a matter of time until mine blew up but I am very happy to hear that others have enjoyed high milage with no blown up engines. Thank you very much.

Does anyone know if you can modify the large black round pushrods that attach to the motor drive lever and then attach to the clamshell bracket to make them have less resistance. Are they spring loaded or gas loaded. If they are gas loaded maybe by drilling a very small hole in the bottom will make them move apart more easily instead of constantly breaking the cast aluminum brackets for the clamshell. Thank you very much. Jerry

Dear Forum members, I have a 99 Boxster. When I bought it the black large round pushrods were missing so the top could be opened and closed by manually opening the clamshell. Also one of the cast aluminum Brackets that the large round pushrods attaches to was broken near the top where it attaches to the clamshell. I took it to a Porsche Dealer and got the typical "my motors are bad and I need to replace both of them, etc for about a total of $1500.00. The "Top Specialist" said the motors cant be fixed and even if I could I could never get the top to work as it takes years of experience to do it. I bought a Bentley Manual and followed the directions. At first everything worked ok but I was surprised to learn that you had to keep pushing on the open or close button until you hear the motor "grind down" and the dash light finally goes out. Well something started to go wrond and so far I have broken 4 of the cast arms. I have re-timed the motors, straightened the motor mount bolts, checked the micro switches, removed the Control Module and tapped it and cleaned the contacts, taken the clamshell off and watched the top open and close and it appears to be ok but with the clamshell on if I open the top or close it and keep holding on the button while waiting for the dash light to go out - all of a sudden I hear a very loud "popping noise" and sure enough another arm has broken. My questions are: what actually makes the dash light go out. It does not appear to me to be a micro switch as I have tried them in every combination I can think of and that doesnt work. My second questions is - are the large round push rods supposed to expand as I have tried to put them in a vise and pull on them as hard as I can and they wont move apart at all - is there a way to make them less "strong" or take them apart or anything. I also wanted to mention that I am a very meticulous mechanic and am very precise when I measure or take something apart - I have about 45 years of experience in doing things others say are impossible such as welding the "pot aluminum" arms together instead of paying Porsche about $60.00 apiece for them. Doeas anyone think it might be the actual control module and do they go bad very often. In my experience they dont. Also is there some sort of electronics inside the control module that can sense when the Motor "grinds down"? Thank you for any and all help and I really appreciate it. Jerry Peterson