KevinC

I have brand new front/rear brake pads from my boxster which I never installed. I am wondering if these would fit a 2002 c2. can someone confirm this for me?

The rear pads will fit. The front pads will not.

The garage may be referring to the spring plate which pushes the pads down into the caliper. If this broke, if could cause the pads to rattle. However, I think it is pretty unlikely that this part would fail. It is more likely something in the suspension. My car developed a nasty clunking sound over small bumps which was due to busted rubber bushings in the upper strut mounts. The sway bar and drop links would be another good place to check out.

I was in a similar situation last summer - IMS failure in my 2000 Boxster S; PCNA declined to help despite two previous defective engines; high initial quote from dealer. I wasn't aware of the work of Jake Raby at that time, so it seemed that my options were either a junkyard engine or a new engine from my dealer. I didn't want to take the chance with the junkyard engine, especially since I heard that the dealer engine would have updates to the IMS and other problem components.

I wasn't happy with the dealer quote, so I investigated sourcing the engine from Sunset Porsche in Oregon (I'm in CA) and having a good local mechanic install it. Sunset's price for the engine was thousands less than my dealer's. (I believe the number was $8900.) I would have to pay to get it shipped and would also have to pay for shipping the old "core" back to them. However, the shipping costs (about $400 each way) were offset by the fact that I wouldn't have to pay sales tax on the engine purchased out of state. I got a quote of $2000 for installation by a very good independent Porsche mechanic.

Armed with this info, I was able to get a much more reasonable quote from my dealer. I paid just under $13K which included a new clutch, various fluids and sales tax. Fortunately, I had resisted the urging of my dealer to allow them to start tearing the car down for inspection. That would have made it expensive to pull the car out of the dealership.

You might be able to put together a similar competitive quote for your dealer by sourcing the new engine from someone on the east coast like Suncoast Porsche in Florida. I even found that the parts department at another local dealership happily offered me my standard 10% PCA parts discount on the engine. You can also hit your dealer with the cost of installing a used engine which should be about half the number they quoted you.

Bottom line - $17K is much too high. In these times, your dealership should be willing to make a more reasonable offer to keep your business.

Is there a difference between Super Dot 4 and Dot 4 brake fluid? All I could find on the shelves is Dot 4 brake fluid rated for 478 F. Is synthetic Dot 4 brake fluid adequate for 2001 Boxster S? If there is a difference between Super Dot 4 and Dot 4 what is it? Thanks

It's just a question of boiling points. Any DOT 4 fluid will be fine for driving on the street, but for $13 why not buy some Ate Super Blue or Typ 200 (gold)? It's a great brake fluid which stands up to hard use at the track. It has a dry boiling point of 536 degrees and a "wet" boiling point of 388 degrees. This qualifies it as a Dot 5.1 (or "Super Dot 4") fluid.

http://www.livermoreperformance.com/brake_fluid.html#ate

Check out this link for more info on different types of brake fluids: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_brakefluid_1a.shtml

I like the Autovation pedals. They are reasonably priced and the gas pedal has a shape which makes sense. The pedals with the extension on the bottom of the gas pedal can be a problem. Since he pedal hinges at the bottom, pressing on that extension does little to depress the pedal and mostly just acts to twist the fragile plastic hinge. The Autovation gas pedal has an extension along most of the side of the pedal. If your feet are narrow, this extension can be very helpful for heel-toe down-shifting. (Keep in mind that a lot of folks just press the brake with the ball of their foot and roll the right side over to the gas pedal.) I like the Competition Matte finish pictured below.

I'm driving a 2003 C4s. I was recently checking out my rotors and pads and my freind who is also a car mechanic mentioned the fact that some after market rotors have beveled holes in order to reduce the microfractures. Is this true? If so, is this something I could have done to my current or new OEM rotors?

I don't think the beveled holes will change things much. If you are just driving the car on the street, the rotors will be fine. If you are driving it hard on the track or autocross, cracks will form at the holes. The holes will also act a a cheese-grater and cause grooves in the pads and rotors.

IMHO, the holes are there mostly for appearance. Modern pads do some out-gassing when they are first getting bedded in but after that, it's not an issue. The holes may also improve the initial action of the brakes in the wet but in general, braking in the wet is very much limited by tire traction rather than braking force.

I have a 2001 Boxter S and am considering buying an '09....but Boxter or Cayman?

When I have the top up on my Boxter......even with new tires (good ones).....I have a

degree of tire noise.

Is the Cayman going to be quiet or am I going to have rear tire noise all of the time?

You might have a bad wheel bearing. The sound is very similar to tire noise. I have had dealer service techs repeatedly dismiss wheel bearing noise as tire noise. When I pointed out that the noise was the same before and after replacing the tires they took the trouble to check and identified the bad bearings - noise gone.

I will probably put the rear on stands to do the work - is that what you guys did?

I just backed the rear onto a set of Rhino Ramps.

Kevin

I installed my Porsche Sport Exhaust without removing the rear bumper cover. However, removing the cover isn't very hard and it will give you better access and visibility.

Most of the process is pretty straightforward. The clamps on the "U" pipes can be a bear to get apart so be prepared with a rubber mallet and some WD-40 to loosen them up. You will probably need to move the upper mounting bracket over from your stock muffler. As Savowood mentioned, attaching the bracket to the top of the transmission is a b!tch because you need to do it blind. You'll be reaching up from the front side of the car, trying to get the nuts on the mounting bolts without being able to see them. It's tough to get a wrench in there to tighten the bolts. I played around with a few different ones until I found a setup that worked.

Hi guys,

I bought a Stebro Racing Exhaust (only the muffler) and am planning on doing the install myself on my 01 2.7L Boxster...

Has anyone here done such install? Do I really need to remove the rear bumper? How hard/time consuming should it be?

Please, let me know if you come across instructions on how to do the job.

Thanks,

Gus

I don't know about Orange County, but up here in Santa Clara County I have never had anyone request that the engine be exposed for a visual check. I usually go to the "Smog Pros" at an Arco station. They just roll the car onto their dyno which is built into the floor, then hook up the OBD-II connector and the sniffer. Ten minutes later I get my certificate.

kc

Has any body had a modded engine/car smogged in Orange County Ca. lately? Had a good experience? If so, where and, how did you pull it off ( lame or lazy tech?)?

My car sniffs clean but there is no way it will pass a visual. From underneath you could mistake the supercharger for something else. From up top though, the plumbing just would not compute.

Please post or PM if you like (don't want to blow anyones cover) with any leads.

Regards

The car has 90K. The engine has 40K.

kc

Hey Kevin

whats the mileage on your 2000 S? around 30,000

I'm afraid that Dan might have an intermediate shaft failure. My car is throwing the same kind of misfire codes (also a "signal implausible" code for the camshaft position sensor).

One of the first things my mechanic checked was the oil filter. He found lots of metal in the oil and his experience told him the problem was most likely the IMS failure. My car is now at the dealer to get their diagnosis and then to see if Porsche will help me out with a new engine.

kc

few months gone since, but I'm just curious, what was the problem and how was it solved?

H

I had a metallic clunking sound in my 2000 S which turned out to be bad front strut mounts. The rubber bushings in the upper strut mounts had deteriorated, allowing the shock rods to contact the metal portion of the strut mounts. The sway bars could also be the culprit. Check the drop link connections as well as the chassis mount points with the bushings.

Yikes! My mechanic is saying that the engine is toast. He found lots of metal in the oil. He's assuming that it's an intermediate shaft failure. Is that likely given that the engine still runs?

I was on the track when my engine suddenly started running *very* rough towards the end of my first session. The CEL was on. I was barely able to limp back to the paddock and pulled these codes from my Durametric scan tool:

P0300 Porsche fault code 62 - Misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0301 Porsche fault code 63 - Cylinder 1 misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0304 Porsche fault code 66 - Cylinder 4 misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0305 Porsche fault code 67 - Cylinder 5 misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0306 Porsche fault code 68 - Cylinder 6 misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0341 Porsche fault code 112 - Camshaft sensor bank 1 Signal implausible

After limping it into a friends trailer and then into my garage and waiting a few weeks to return home from a trip, I see the following similar set of codes:

P0300 Porsche fault code 62 - Misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0306 Porsche fault code 68 - Cylinder 6 misfire damaging to cat. converter

P0341 Porsche fault code 112 - Camshaft sensor bank 1 Signal implausible

P1340 Porsche fault code 322 - Camshaft position with respect to crankshaft bank 1 below limit value

The engine still runs but it is very rough and vibrates badly. No smoke, no fluids, no nasty mechanical sounds.

It certainly sounds like something is going on with the camshaft position sensor. Does anyone have any experience with that? I'm praying that this is just an electrical problem with a bad sensor or a bad connection. Any help would be much appreciated.

The car is a 2000 Boxster S with 90K miles. No engine mods but lots of suspension mods.

Kevin

I would recommend using your pretty (but heavy) 18" wheels for the street and getting a light-weight set of 17" wheels for the track. There's a better selection of track tires for 17" wheels and they're less expensive. I love the Kumho VictoRacers which are quite sticky, wear well and have very stiff sidewalls but are not made in 18" sizes.

Depending on your budget, you can either get a set of take-off OEM wheels (maybe $1000?) or, for about $2200 you can get a set of custom made 3-piece forged wheels from CCW ( www.ccwheel.com ). I have the "Classic" in the track model. These are similar to the wheels you would get from Fikse or HRE for twice the price. You can specify the width and the offset but the guys at CCW know the proper fitment for Boxsters. If you get them 8" wide in front and 9.5" wide in the rear, you can mount either "standard" size 225,255 width tires or "super-sized" 245,275 width tires.

http://gotbluemilk.com/web080302b/40/imagepages/image13.html

Rotors normally last through about two sets of pads. The best thing to do is measure their thickness with a set of measuring calipers. (You can find inexpensive ones at Sears, Harbor Freight, etc.) The minimum thickness is stamped on the side of the rotor "hat". It can be hard to find. Look for it close to the wheel mounting surface in a dot-matrix font after the part number - "MIN TH xx MM".

In your case, I believe that the minimum thickness of your front rotors is 26mm (28mm new - 2mm of allowable wear). The rear wear limit should be 22mm (24mm new - 2mm wear).

kc

I'm pretty sure that's an air-conditioning line. Others have reported that the system still works well with a significantly squashed line. Just make sure there isn't a leak.

I bought a Bosch sensor from AutoHausAZ.com, as Maurice suggests. Next time, I will buy the very inexpensive ones which just come with a pigtail and must be crimped onto the existing wiring harness.

Yes, the front and rear O2 sensors differ only in the length of the wire.

There's lots of great info on Mike Focke's O2 sensor page: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/oxygensensors

As I was leaving Infineon last weekend my 2000 Boxster S emitted a single plume of smoke from the exhaust and the CEL came on. My Durametric scanner revealed the following codes: P1125, P1132, P0102. The P0102 sure makes it sound like a MAF problem. But I did some more investigating and now I'm not so sure...

I happened to have an old "Actuals Values" log of the MAF values running the car unloaded at a range of RPMs. I repeated that test and got similar values (c. 15 kg/h idle, 52 kg/h @ 3000 RPM). The voltage out of the MAF looked reasonable (1.3V idle, 1.9V @ 3000 RPM).

It seems like the next thing I should look at are the short term and long term fuel trim numbers. The Durametric Actual Values display doesn't list these names. Are the Adaptation Range 1 (RKAT) and Adaptation Range 2 (FRA) names for the same thing? These values were static during my 5 minute run: Bank 1 RKAT : -0.66, Bank 1 FRA: 1.15, Bank2 RKAT: -1.17, Bank2 FRA: 1.13.

I cleared the CEL by disconnecting the battery. I haven't had time for any long drives but after a few short ones, the CEL has not come back on yet. I have forgotten how many "drive cycles" are required to set the light and how long the drives need to be to count.

I'll be out of town this week then, shortly after I return, I have another track day. Should I play it safe and just order a new MAF? Or should I not be too concerned as long as I don't get a blinking CEL? Any other diagnostic suggestions? (Yeah, I know - take it to a good technician - but what fun is that? ;) )

More Info:

The car has been running fine throughout this time. No repeat of the smoke plume. That may have been a coincidence. I seem to get them about once every 6 months to a year. As soon as the CEL light comes back on I plan to check the codes again then disconnect the MAF connector, reset the DME and see what happens. Any tips for getting that dang connector off? Even with the MAF removed, I couldn't get the connector off easily.

The wheels should work fine but you don't want tires intended for a 987. Boxster tires have an outer diameter of about 25" (front and rear). The 987 rear tires have an OD of about 26.5" and the front tires are about 25.5". So don't buy a 987 tire/wheel package - buy the tires separately.

I need to replace my Clutch Master Cylinder, I don't see a DIY on that one and the old workshop manual only shows how to replace the Clutch Slave Cylinder. Please Help.

VMAN

If you are takling about the one on the tranny it's easy just remove hydraulic line then the 2 bolts holding it on the tranny (from back of car it will be 2 Oclock position right side) pull out then replace new one and reconnect every thing and rebleed by following instruction in the brake bleeding DIY section. Good Luck

I am referring to the clutch master cylinder located in the the clutch pedal array, the old 911 manuals (84-89) had measurements and such you had to set the master cylinders up to match before reinstalling, I can't believe Porsche left out of their manual how to replace the thing, unless it now self adjusts. In the pedal R&R section of the manual I have it does not discuss what to do if you have to disconnect the clutch master cylinder from the hydraulic system, I assume you have to first pinch the hose, or drain the brake fluid reservoir, then disconnect....I could measure the one that is broken to see if their is any adjustment on it, and then reconnect, but seems like a lot of guess work.

Vman

The Bentley Boxster Service Manual describes the clutch master cylinder R&R. I assume the procedure for the 996 would be the same. It's pretty simple: 1) Drain brake fluid reservoir. 2) Disconnect fluid supply line and line to slave cylinder (done from front of firewall, next to battery). 3) Remove clutch rod retaining pin from clutch pedal. 4) Remove master cylinder mounting bolts, slide master cylinder down and out. 5) Re-install, refill reservoir and bleed clutch hydraulics. There doesn't seem to be any adjustment required.

On a US car it should be on the passenger side - and there should not be a reason to jack it up.

Some mechanics have a small grab hook to grab the cable and then just pull it to open the trunk.

Loren - isn't the release cable located behind the front passenger wheel liner? That would be tough to get to without removing the wheel. But perhaps jacking that corner and letting the wheel droop would provide enough access to open the wheel liner. Some folks re-route the cable so it's accessible from the hole for the tow hook. But I'm not sure it can be fished out from there without re-routing it first. Is that were you think some mechanics are grabbing it from?

The original poster is probably referring to the Air Oil Separator rather than the swirlpots. My understanding is that the AOS is part of the system which returns crankcase gases to the intake. It's job is to prevent oil from being fed to the intake along with the gases. When it fails, the engine can smoke badly due to oil entering the throttle body. It's a common failure item on Boxsters. I assume the 996 has something similar. Here's a link to some good info on the AOS in the Boxster: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement

I also had a similar noise which was caused by worn out upper strut mounts. When the rubber bushings break down, they allow metal to metal contact.