mcmike27

Richard, the car was delivered to Calif. So it was manuf for the US. I was changing the oil last week and easily spotted the 2 aft of the catcl converters. I did not 'spy' deeper pre catyl converter as I was running out of daylight here in the eastern US. I'll crawl back under and peek around to see if there are 2 more 'pre' catly converter.

L, thank you for the advice. I will clear those 2 tonight and take the car for a spin and recheck.

I can only visually spot the 2 O2 sensors post cat conveters. Does this make model only have the 2? One on each side.

I looked pre cat converter and could not see any.

Car runs fine and NO CEL lights on at any time.

P.S. with yours and the help of the other responders I 'cracked' open the engine compartment and for the 1st time got a peek into the engine bay and heard the engine running witout all the covers and insulation. Very nice indeed. Since being in our family since 98 I can guarantee I have been the 1st 'caretaker' to have even attempted this task. Thanks again for the step by step advice it was easy and quite the adventure, like opening a present on the holidays.

:)

Need help in locating the correct p/n for the following.

98 986 Black leather driver side center seat top cushion the upside down 'U' shaped black padded leather insert that fits into the back center back of the seat. The top three little plastic 'hooks' that attach to the black metal bar inside the seatback top wont stay engaged.

Any idea what the p/n is for this piece.

Thank you in advance. :)

I purchased this weekend a Actron CP9175 Auto Scanner and of course I plugged it in right away after reading the instructions. All went well but the results came back as follows:

P0130 PENDING 02 Sensor Cir Malf Bank 1

P0150 PENDING 02 Sensor Cir Malf Bank 2

The igniton was in the ON position engine NOT running.

Are these codes being returned since the engine was not running or do the 2 02 sensors need to be looked at or replaced? Should I rerun the diagnostics with the engine running?

Last week when I was under the vehicle I could only visually spot 2 post catalytic converters. They look to be easily replaced.

Any help with this new tool would be greatly appreciated.

Maurice, thanks for the 'double check' I went to start last night and it got too dark to attempt in the driveway. One question I did have when looking at the rear deck arm latches. Do you unclip both from each side or just the 1 'lower' clip that attaches to the body? The pics and instructions I have are not clear when it come to how 'many' to unclip. The pics look like the ones attached to the motor pistons stay on and then the whole rear deck then swings forward and then with a drift pin locks in an upright position just aft of the folded up top.

Any direction here is greatly appreciated.

I took the digital pics last night but the lighting was poor so I'm going to redo those when the sun comes out this weekend. I will also list the products I used and the color names so that anyone else who would like to make their plastic hub embelms look like the expensive ones can tackle this in about 1 hr with a steady hand :) A fellow worker has a 911 with the expensive center hubs and mine look better than his now.

Well I ventured into DIY land last night and had great experience with a basic oil and filter change. When you all said GUSH you werent kidding. Even being prepared it did splash a tiny bit. All done 25 mins and good to go. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!. Now onto the next baby steps AIR FILTER. I have read all of the replys and got out my Bentleys and low and behold this months PANORAMA has a whole article dedicated to opening the top to access the engine. That being said I have but 1 question on the cables on each side (I do NOT want to force or damage them) do they jsut 'pop' off of the studs? This part in the process is the only question I have all the remaining steps are very straight forward.

So once again I need your expert assistance and guidance then I'm off to the next challenge.

Thanks again. I will be taking some digital pics of a recent DIY I did on the wheel center emblems. Mine were the stock plastic and worn out. I re painted them with automotive acrlyic paint and they look like the $100.00 metal expoxy painted originals. 2 coats of clear and they look great. Pics to follow.

Mike, thanks for the link, I read the articles and possibly found a dead link for the Get a parts list (called the "PET") by going to https://techinfo.porsche.com/ it does not come up :( have I done something wrong? Please advise.

Tks

m2

Loren, thanks this will get me started our local Advanced Auto store has the replacement Actron unit for the discontiuned CP9135 it's now a CP9175 so I'll purchase this and keep reading.

Thks again

m2

First I would like to thank everyone who has answered my post questions over the past 2 weeks. I now have the confidence and 'backups' here to dive right in and do the basic service required on our 98 986 without having to pay an arm and a leg to the local dealer. That being said I would now like to tackle the task of being able to read faults, diagnosing them and clearing them if after the repair it's necessary. So my question is where do I being? What diagnostic tool is best for a start? Once the fault is read and repaired how do you clear them? ( I have read that disconnecting the battery and allowing the system to clear will take care of most issues) I would like to be able to clear them with the diag tool without having to every time unhook the battery.

NEED some guidance in getting started here and where can I purchase these items.

As always THANKS in ADVANCE.

P.S. I will be doing the basics tonight. Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter wish me luck.

Also I use ramps for my other vehicles and do not have issues and am going to use them on the 986. I have seen others using the jack and jack stand method. Question where is the alternate jack position on the Boxster? All I can locate is the original jack point and I dont want to damage the undercarrige if I have to use the jack,jackstand option. Please assist.

Bill, waht is the Amsoil p/n I could not get the web to find that part number when I went to do the selection for my make and model year on the new filters in your link and video. The web site selected the MANN filter not a Amsoil filter.

1998 986 basic Boxster

Thanks for the help.

Thanks to all! I was wary of the potential problems issues later on after installing it. I will return it asap and have ordered the stock filter in it's place. Once again many thks for the point in the right direction.

I have replaced in our other vehicles all of the factory air filter with the coresponding K&N permanent element. Is this a worthwhile endevor with our 98 986? The reason I'm questioning this change is only becasue it's a pain in the you know what to access even the simplest things on these beauties. That being said once a year is not that much of an issue for the cleaning and reoiling required. Could there be a potential enginge fault created with a change in the airflow?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Also I detest having to pay yearly for a genuine 'PORSCHE' air cleaner element.

:)

Thanks all I have the Bently's manual for my make and model year so I will dive in and 1st after the engine 'reveal'... that seems to be the best place to start. I have to replace the air filter and will attempt that this weekend.

Thanks again..

m2

Fellow Porsche owners...we have recently come to own a 1998 986 thru a family members passing. I am reasonably mechanically inclined as I do all the work that I can on our other vehicles. This 'cute' little sliver and black beauty just intimidates the heck out of me. I swear it sits in the garage with those big bug eyes and that front grill 'grinning' back at me daring me to attempt even the most minor of services. I was able to change the oil and filter (yippe). Now I would like to tackle some of the basic 'engine' maint....that being said I have read and read and even own the service manual about revealing the 'engine' compartment. I alas am a visual learner not a read and interpert learner. What I would enjoy would be to borrow someone for an afternoon (paid for their time of course) to SHOW me what I should be trying to do and how to do it properly. With my luck I would get the engine exposed and be so over joyed with my success I would then stare at the thing and wonder now how did I get all that apart. Are there perhaps a few likely candidates in the south central Pa area Hbg to be exact that could help out and assit me for a few hours on a Sat or Sun to help remove my fear of this vehicle. Any HELP would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the support...the local Porsche dealar called and guess what 'broke'. Evidently there are pieces of plastic seat trim around the driver side and passenger seat. Not knowing this a piece of this plastic trim broke and cracked on the driver side inner seat trim and that piece of 'hanging' plastic dislodged a wire from the imm unit under the drivers seat and pfffff it immobilized the car. The dealer reconnected the housing to the plug and yippeee off and running. My wife and son have been in and out the car recently driving and adjusting the seat and it obviously worked this piece of plastic around enough to catch on this wire and disable the car. Total cost for new seat trim installed $80.00. Moral to the story dont let youre wife or son monkey around with YOUR seat.

:)

Any advice on pinpointing a perplexing issue. Drove all day no issues stopped for dinner and pffttttt nothing...full battery charge was able to put top and windows up no problem. Full accessories and lights but the ignition switch feels 'off' clutch fully depressed wheel not locked and switch all the way over to start but NOTHING....

Any ideas...the last ignition switch was changed out in 05.

HELP...

Thanks

m2 .... with a dead boxster in driveway..

:(