tholyoak

Tool Pants I have a spare LCD display that you could swap in to make it a functional unit. If you like you can send me the cluster and I will swap the LCD board or I can send you the LCD board and you can swap it in. Todd

An easy thing to do is since the 996 and 986 clusters are pretty much the same part with the voltmeter and oil pres gauges soldered to the circut ribon and a different face cover is to simply swap the gauges with your boxster cluster and keep the printed circut board portion from the boxster. This will allow you to retain the accurate odometer reading of your original cluster while adding the 5 gauge cluster. This is what I did. It is really simple. Todd

Any other thoughts? Should I just take my chances and shell out for another MAF sensor? Todd

Yeah, that was the first thing I checked when I swapped in the new MAF and got the check engine light, bosch part # 0280217007. I didn't get it from the dealer so it doesn't have the porsche part #. Todd

Loren, Yep 5.2.2 DME, it is the cable throttle body that came with the 3.4L engine. Car is also running a EVO intake kit for an S that was modified with an aluminum 3.5" pipe section to work with the 996 engine. I got the same codes before the EVO install as I do now with the evo in place. I did disconnect the MAF and drive around, didn't get the 1123/1125/1127/1129 codes, I did get a MAF code and an intake temp code if I remember correctly. Maybe I should do it again and see. Perhaps the DME program done by Imagine (GIAC dealer) is adding too much fuel?? Todd

OK I've had a nagging issue on the 3.4 I stuck in my boxster see http://www.renntech.org/forums/inde...wtopic=4798&hl= for details on the swap Some details 1) the DME was reprogrammed by Imagine Auto 2) the car has supersprint headers and muffler with dansk cats for a 3.2 OK, since doing the swap I had an 1123/1125 error, I assumed it was a bad MAF and bought a new one since the old one had ~70k miles on it Swapped in the new MAF and now I have 1127/1129 error and some part throttle driveability issues, with the 1123/1125 error it was just an idle problem although it did seem to hicup at around 6800 rpm or so at full throttle. With the 1127/29 light on, the long range fuel trim is maxed at -32 the pre cat O2 sensors seem to dither properly in range but the post cat sensors also seem to fluctuate out of range, the load signal is at 2% which is too high, the MAF #/min seems in spec but maybe a bit high. Factory manual says possible fuel pressure or stuck injector problem. The fuel pressure is fine and I don't think it is a stuck injector problem as it is affecting both sides. Anyone have an idea? Perhaps the new MAF is bad as well?? Could the Dansk cats not be working as well as they should ? There is a bit of an exhaust leak at the U-pipe from the cat to the muffler, that i need to fix since the ID of the Dansk cats is smaller than the Supersprint muffler U-pipes. This would cause a lean problem though not rich right. The oil filler tube has been updated with the correct part. I think that is all the details. Maybe I should just drive it over to Imagine and get it on the dyno. Thanks for any help. Todd

I believe the condensation is normal. The service tray is sealed to the trunk lid so depending on how humid the air was when the trunk lid was last closed and the temp difference between the sealed service tray and the outside temp, this will dictate how much condensation you see on the inside of the lid above the tray. Condensation varies on my lid depending on the time of year and the weather. I have the updated cap and tank and I have never had to top up the coolant since the motor swap almost 10k miles ago. Todd

Nope, the rear bumper cover has to come off to access 3 of the nuts that hold on the liner. Todd

Scott, The swap is running well. I finally got around to installing the proper exhaust. I went with Supersprint headers and mufflers, and the Dansk high flow cats (the 200 cell ceramic supersprint ones were 2 x as much). The original engine and supercharger were sold rather quickly. The biggest surprise was the expense of the proper exhaust. It cost almost as much as the engine. The supersprint pieces are almost too pretty to hang under the car.

Or just call the Porsche 1-800 number and give them the VIN and they will tell you the option codes. I have done this several times in the past. Todd

Nat, No I don't have PSM or TC. One of the reasons I wanted an earlier car, in order to avoid the electronic controls. People got by just fine for decades without PSM or TC, they simply learned how to drive, or they crashed :) Seriously the Boxster chassis is quite capable, and can easily deal with the increase in power. Obvioulsy if you look at the evolution of the car now with the Cayman coming with a 3.4L, Porsche obviously designed the car to be able to cope with the power. Todd

The two engines are essentially identical with the exception of the second plenum on the intake manifold, so while I didn't weigh them, I can assure you there is no significant difference in weight. The 996 engine may even be a tad lighter since you have a larger bore. Overall you will actually loose weight by upgrading the heavy exhaust and muffler with performance parts. Todd

Jin, I didn't replace the RMS or the IMS on the car since neither had signs of leaking I let them be. If you were to replace these seals you would need the appropriate factory tools. You need a clutch alignment tool but these are found just about everywhere, not Porsche specific. I started Friday night for a couple of hours, then worked Sat, and Sunday and was done on Sunday except for the brain reprogramming. it would have been quicker if I had done it before. I raised and lowered the engine several times to see what size spacers I would need. Originally had the 986 fuel rails installed but didn't like that setup so lowered it again and removed the intake to replace the fuel rails. Then needed to fab some fuel lines to work with the 996 rails. Then found I couldn't get the AC compressor installed so removed the intake again. Then found the fuel return fitting on the 996 rails was interfering with the airbox, so modified that. You get the picture. With the knowledge I have now I'm pretty sure I could do it in a day. Todd

Well actually Steve has had problems with his fabricator and I don't believe he will be making them again anytime soon, if at all. So it looks like I will be looking at other options for my header/exhaust solution. Todd

OK, the preliminary write up can be found here: http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/34swap.pdf A big thanks to Steve Wilwerding for compressing the pdf file to a manageable size. I will hopefully update this when I get some time, but feel free to contact me with questions and comments. Thanks Todd

Larry, Thanks for the offer. Right now I don't seem to have any troubles using 3.5" silicone air duct to connect the TB and the MAF. This is after about 80 miles of driving though, so time will tell. What I would like to do is cut up a stock tube using the ends to hook to the MAF and TB and connected with the silicone duct. Unfortunately my stock tube was discarded when the supercharger was added. Right now my bottle neck is that I am still running the stock headers and exhaust. Need to get my order in for some headers and high flow cats and muffler. If there is interest I have a writeup of a 'how to' procedure that I could make available. It is still in preliminary stages but gives the basics. It doesn't explain how to remove the engine as that is well documented in the factory manuals but explains the things that need to be done in order to stick a 3.4 into a '99 boxster. It is kind of big (the pdf is ~60 mb) Todd

Ok, I set up the supercharger setup on the removed engine. Not all bolted up but these pics should give you the idea of the layout of the components. Check out the pics here: http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/DSCF0009.JPG http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/DSCF0010.JPG http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/DSCF0011.JPG http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/DSCF0012.JPG http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/DSCF0013.JPG Todd

Dave, It is the black tube that connects the black box (the airbox which contains the airfilter) to the throttle body (where the throttle cable connects). It is the piece indicated by the crude arrow in the file below Todd foo.doc

CW, I will get the old motor mounted on a stand this weekend and bolt the supercharger setup back on so I can take some pics and post them. When I removed the engine I removed the supercharger setup first, so I don't have any pics from the engine removal Just thought I would share a couple pics of the completed installation: Todd

If you have changed your car to an EVO or other typed of air intake system I would be interested in purchasing your original intake tube (from the MAF meter to the throttle body) Thanks Todd

Here is the 3.4L with the mount and oil pump from the 2.5L engine As mentioned above if you are lucky and your 996 engine has the boss, you will only need to swap the cap and water outlet indicated by the arrows. If anyone is interested the TPC supercharger kit is available for $2800 with instructions, and the 2.5L less injection, oil pump and exhuast is available for $2k. Todd

One of the interesting things I found during the swap had to deal with the motor mount and oil pump. As shown here the Boxster mount bolts to the block and these bolts function also to secure the oil pump to the block (along with some other bolts) Now if we look at the bolt indicated by the arrow above, and then at the black circle in the pic below, this boss was not present on the 3.4L engine oil pump. So instead of just swapping the cap and water outlet from the 2.5L oil pump housing (shown in the last picture (arrows), I had to remove the 2.5L oil pump and swap it onto the 3.4L block and then install the motor mount. This turned out to be the only thing I encountered that I didn't expect. I have seen other 3.4L engines and the oil pumps seem to have the same boss that was on the 2.5L engine, so maybe I just got 'lucky'

What pics of the supercharger setup do you want to see? I took several pics of the wiring and installation that will be provided to the buyer of the setup. Here is a pic of the 3.4L in its new home The DME is being reprogrammed today so hopefully it will be running soon. Todd

Jeff, Unfortunately the demands on my time have not allowed for me to stick the engine in. I am also waiting on 2 gaskets I need that are on back order from Germany. They were supposed to be here today, if that is the case it will go in this weekend and I will have an update for you on Tuesday. Todd

The supercharger has worked perfect. No driveability issues or problems at all. The installation has approx 40k on it so it has been quite reliable. The supercharger is a small low boost setup and I find it seems to run out of breath at the top end or maybe it just has so much down low that you don't get the typical push when the car comes on cam at high rpm. Nice torque down low but just not enough HP and torque for my tastes. If I drive it after being in my '80 911 with a modified 3.6L 993 engine, it is quite tame. So I am looking for more of the same performance that I have in the 911 in the Boxster. I am hoping the 996 engine swap will give me that. I believe the supercharger is supposed to be 210 hp 210 ftlbs at the wheels vx ~142 and 132 for the stock car (based on the TPC site (I have the actual dyno runs of my car somewhere as well)) I think the 996 engine should be somewhere around 300-320 hp at the crank with a good exhaust and DME remap so hopefully I won't be disappointed. My supercharger setup will be for sale after the swap, so if you are considering it you could pick up the setup for about 50% of what TPC will charge you for a new setup. Todd