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HenryV

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Everything posted by HenryV

  1. Two problems are reported on the AM reception problems with the 986: 1. Noise surpression (radio picks up clicks from wheel sensor) 2. Bad grounding of AM antenna (in passenger side A pillar) For 1) you need the Porsche part 000-043-204-30 - Surpression Cable. I thought that Porsche fixed this in the MY00 going forward. You may have an early build. Best is to check with your dealer. [Testing for this is easy - tune in to a weak AM station, drive car slowly, going faster. If the ticking noise increases you need the fix] For 2) you need to take the A pillar apart and check the assembly. Most likely your antenna ground is not properly connected. You should take the aluminum bracket off, sand off any paint on the inside pillar (bare metal) and re-attach the assembly. (If you don't like sanding, run a wire to a solid ground contact.) This should fix the poor ground problem. [if not, the built-in antenna booster may have failed. You may have to replace this part] With both fixes, AM radio should be as in any other car. Some people, that live far from the station they wish to receive, have also successfully installed (external) antennas and antenna boosters. This gives the best reception. It's not a problem of the radio, rather the AM antenna mounting is non-optimal. The FM antenna, mounted in the windshield, does not help.
  2. You can read the reviews on tirerack. These are quite informative and reputable. You can't go wrong with any of the tires you suggest, they are all good tires. It comes down to a personal preference. My $0.02: - Bridgestone SO3 gets great reviews for use on the track, but the mileage is low, making them double expensive. - Kumho's are a 'good' bang for the buck, they don't last long, but they are quite affordable. Handling is very good. - ContiSportContact2's are actually very good (summer) tires. For California they will do fine, but in cold weather they don't perform as well. Handling and treadwear is excellent (and yes the Conti1's were quite bad OEM's). - Also look into the Michelin Pilot Sport Rib. It get's great reviews. This is also a long treadwear tire. - I would stay away from the Pirelli's. Had them on a non-P car (with heavy camber), and they wear extremely fast. However, they were great performers. For California street driving (inc. rain) I'd recommend the Conti2 or the Michelins. These are also more quiet and comfortable tires to ride on. If you go on the track, get the Kumho's or the Bridgestones (more $$). If you are in the east coast (think snow), these tires are not for you. - Think about how you like driving the car - if you corner fast and often, spent the extra money for the S03 or the Pirelli's. You will get your money's worth. Expect to change them in about a year (I did). If your car is also your daily commuter, get the Conti2 or Michelins. FWIW, your rear tires wear faster than the front. As I said, my $0.02 - other people may have different input. FYI: - I have had the Pirelli P0's (on non-P) - I currently have the Conti2 (17") - Originally I hade the Michelin Pilot Sport MMX (16")
  3. This is your radio. The trafficPro incorporate additional (navigation) features built into a CDR-220. You replace the CDR-220 (or 210) with the trafficPro.
  4. This was an old post of mine. Problem description: the windows do not drop when you open the door handle or operate the top mechanism. The boxster has an electronic circuit that triggers the windows to "drop down" when you open the doors, allowing for a very tight fit (window seal) for a drop-top. This circuit is triggered by the top being up, or being "latched" on top of the windscreen. This same circuit also avoids the windows from rolling all the way up when the top is in motion (i.e. not all the way down, or not all the way up and latched). Furthermore, the windows circuit has protection with regards to fuses, relays working with top relays and automatic reset. Here's what I would do: 1. Drop the top all the way down, so the light (in the instrument cluster) goes off. 2. Check the fuse for the windows in your fuse bay. Better yet, replace it with the spare fuse, or check with a voltmeter. (Sometimes they appear fine, but may have failed) 3. Check the window relay in your relay bay. The relay bay is right above your fuse bay. The window relay is the double relay with a black dot on it. Reseat this relay - just push hard on it and make sure it fits snug. 4. Roll the windows all the way down, then up. Try this a few times. 5. If there is no windows movement, take the battery cable off and try again. Make sure you have the radio codes - you'll need them when you reconnect the battery 6. After you reconnect the battery and there is no window movement, your motor engine may have failed. But this is unlikely to fail for both sides simultaneously. 7. If the windows move up and down, and are reset, you should now try with the top up. Close the top. Latch it properly and try to roll the windows again. 8. If the windows go up to about 3" below the maximum and no further, the microswitch inside the window latch has failed. This is a known problem and about a $3 repair to reseat it. 9. To try this, unlatch the top, and put your finger in the part where the latch hook would catch. This is the microswitch button. Push it in as far as it goes. Try the windows again. If they work now, your switch is loose. 10. Note - if you feel no resistance above, your switch is entirely loose. You should feel/here a click when you push far enough. 11. If your windows roll up all the way, but don't drop down when you unlatch the top, or open the door, then the relay is not properly seated. Take the relay out and reseat it. 12. Last thing to check: if you push the window buttons there should be a voltage drain on the battery. Use a voltmeter. If there is no voltage drain, then your window switches are not connected. Take out the ashtray, remove the single screw underneath, and pull out the ashtray unit which holds the window switches. Check if they are properly connected.
  5. Just thought I'd post this here for information. If you start the ignition, unlatch the top, click the top-lowering button and nothing happens .... before suspecting the motor and motor-mechanism, try the following: 1. Check the fuse for the top. It's probably fine, but inspecting it is quickly. Just pull it out and inspect it visually, and if you have it, with an Ohm meter. 2. Move the top handle as far back as possible. Does it make a difference? 3. The top relay may possible be making bad or intermittent contact. - Take out the top relay and reinsert it, a couple of times. Make sure you reinsert it firmly. (Double relay in picture below, with black dot on white) 4. Your ignition and brake light should be on (If you did the 'hack', the brake light doesn't matter). Make sure your battery is charged and the battery cables make good contact. If the brake light is not on, the brake microswitch (inside the handle assembly) is not making contact. Try pulling the brake handle rapidly up and down a couple of times, this often resets it. If still no light, your brake microswitch may be loose or defective. 5. Your top latch microswitch may be faulty. This relay has a microswitch with double switches, for windows and top mechanism. In my case it had loosened on one side and was essentially working itself loose. - First try pressing with your finger firmly into the latch-catch (relay button), and release quickly. See whether or not this makes a difference. Did you hear/feel a click? 6. Unscrew your top latch-catch section. Pull out the two smoke colored IR-"eyes" on each side - they pry out with a small screwdriver. Take of the assembly and inspect the switch. You can manually force the contact (see it working) and test the top mechanism. If it works at that time, your switch is loose and you need to replace the grommets ($0.25). 7. Still no luck, check the top operating button itself. Pry out the right side of the center console (small knife, screwdriver behind right side) and inspect the rear of the button assembly. Do all connectors seated properly. Did anyone install an autotop or other device? Are any cables broken? If you put your lights on, does the button light up? 8. Other faults there can be other faults in the system. e.g. the brake or speed sensing signal do not reach the relay. The brake signal should be open, the speed signal grounded. Most likely culprit is the microswitch grommet. This has happened to several of us.
  6. Thanks, Monney did the entire subwoofer and amp install and didn't charge a lot for the installation. The hardest part was to find vinyl in a matching color, most interiors are black, and they only stock black vinyl and carpet with a few odd (non Porsche) colors. I ended up ordering from a swatch at a local store. Monney sells you the parts seperately and ships them to you.
  7. I recommend getting the Philip silvervision side markers. They appear silver, but extrude orange light at night. White lamps are not DOT approved, they require an orange lens. One of many websites: GMCPauls
  8. Just go for it - the trim kits are very impressive, easy to install and do change the interior a lot. Use the hair dryer as recommended, and take your time. You can lay out the pieces before hand and choose the ones that you like, and not use the ones that you don't. Make sure you use a degreaser (simple green, dash cleanser, etc.) to clean the dash from any grease, wax, protectant, etc. This is important. We used Total Prep. I don't know whether olive can be matched with OEM parts. The kit is just an applique - glue it on top of your parts without removing them. The only part that is hard to remove is the passenger dashboard (line) trim. This is screwed in from the rear. Rich (in Almaden) has a unique way of removing this. I went from this to this close-up:
  9. It does. It's quite convenient, especially when switching to AM. The HK add subwoofer control (line out level) for the CD© and FM sources. I haven't tried it yet (my subwoofer amp has it's own gain control, etc.)
  10. :jump: You should be in sales, Patrick. You convinced both Jeff and myself to take the plunge. But I'm glad I did. I had to make the same pin-splice to make my amp work. (I thought I had a defective CDR-220.) Still have to put tape on it, my alarm still beeps when activating.
  11. Hi P, congrats and good luck with your boxster. Enjoy! The CDR-220 is not that bad by itself. The boxster acoustics are. I spent quite some time before making my choices. I visited several high end aftermarket installers and essentially concluded that you can make it anything you want, depending on the budget. I preferred the stock look and did not want to go aftermarket (head replacement). If you keep the CDR-220, then I suggest to do the same as I did: 1. Add a 8" sub woofer with amp. I got the custom footwell and sub/amp from Monney This is by far the #1 improvement. 2. Add the rear speakers You don't need the kit, just the wires and the grill inserts. You can make the plastic cutout yourself. 3. Replace all speakers (front and rear) with eclipse speakers Eclipses have an 92db response, whereas standard speakers are 89db. To you this means that these speakers sound 3db louder, or twice as loud, as other speakers. They are plenty loud with the 4x18watt CDR-220 (equivalent to 36watt with standard speakers.) I did replace the CDR-220 with the HK TrafficPro just recently (other posts here), but it is essentially the same unit. As to comparison - my car did not have the hifi option (no amp, no door speakers). After this conversion, the car sounds better than with the Bose option. Your setup has most likely the 6.5" bass speakers in the door. They help in creating more "definition". (But are nothing compared to the 8" sub). You don't have to replace your (4x40 amp) if you get a seperate amp for the subwoofer (as I have). The rear speakers can hook directly into the head. Alternatively you can get a larger amp driving all speakers (6 plus sub). In this case you don't need the eclipses either (if your amp is at least 40W per channel). But you'll be surprised how large these (higher quality) amps get. The trunk is quite small. Subwoofer install Rear Speaker install Eclipse speaker replacement: left is eclipse, right is stock:
  12. Hi Mike, just go for it. Both the CDR-220 and the HK unit are from the same vendor (Becker). They are essentially the same unit, pin-out wise, except for the satellite antenne input. Plug and play except for two issues: 1. Satellite Antenna comes with the unit, fits in the center of the dash cover. Installs in about 5 minutes. (I cheated here - pull up your alarm and remote sensor (blinking light under center dash cover, and you can drop the cable straight down) 2. Reverse Signal this is most likely not made available in your car. It is accessible underneath the driver's seat, or from the reverse signal (lamp) wire. Jeff made a good write-up on the driver's seat access: Reverse Signal hookup. The unit comes with an extra pin insert that you'll need. This signal probably takes the most effort of the install. The speed sensor signal should already be connected into your CDR-220 (it is what makes your GAL function work). [There have been issues with this signal/function in early ('97, '98 with CDR-210) and late ('03, '04 with MOST) cars.] I do not have the Bose system, rather, I have a custom installed 8" woofer and amp. The amp, in my case, is hooked into the line-out (connector C1 on page HK Installation Guide essentially the same for the Bose hookup. The hk has better controls than the CDR-220. [HV Note 10/1/04: See Patrick's comment below, the C1-6 to A-5 cut and splice is necessary for the amp to power up. I think everyone with an amp has to do this.] As to the display, it is compatible with the stock colors, below in the pic you see the "night-time" display. It is customizable (amber on black, black on amber, daytime/nighttime automatic). Only negative is that the polarization is wrong - you cannot read the display with polarized sun glassess. (The unit above, the A/C controls "blackens" when I rotate my head 90 degrees, at which time the trafficpro is fully legible).
  13. My understanding is that it is for accuracy. If you don't hook up the wire, the car thinks that it is always going forward (or reverse as Dale points out on the Becker board). For normal driving, this is plenty accurate, but if you are lost and back the car up, etc., the system is placing you forward, e.g. a block away from where you really are, and the directions get somewhat out of sync. This reverse signal is not as critical as the speed wire. That one is a must have.
  14. TrafficProII is not compatible with TrafficPro (I) I talked to the tech support and they explained that TrafficProII is a different version, made for FORD vehicles ONLY (I believe changes to the auxiliary control). All other users should use TrafficPro. TrafficProII is NOT a newer version of TrafficPro, they are essentially identical. I believe the non-yellow versions of the TrafficPro have sold out already, only amber remaining.
  15. I just upgraded the CDR-220 with the HK traffic pro. I have the CDC3 disk changer, no problems. You can find the manual for this on the hamman kardon website. I had a problem with the subwoofer, which was easily corrected with splicing some wires, when it showed a difference on the subwoofer line-out (unsure whether this is CDR220 or my unit related). The HK seems to be correct. [HV: Note: 10/1/04 -- this is CDR220 related, Jeff and Patrick report the same wire splice)] Otherwise, works like a charm.
  16. P.S. I have the 6mm spacers and finally installed the GT3 bolts. FWIW, ran 10k miles with the standard bolts :drive: Notice the GT inscription in the bolt.
  17. -- HV: Both claim to support the 996, albeit SmartTOP only since this(!) month:Translated SmartTOP feedback page Bahntech for some time: Bahntech claims both 986 and 996 support -- HV: Must be a 996 thing - they asked no such question for my 986 order. -- HV: It's $99 above what you would spent in parts - estimated at $50. So $145 out-of-pocket plus tax/S&H. Henry
  18. As scouser points out, a simple "timed" relay does not suffice. The controls are a little more complicated. Essentially, it works analogous to the window controls (stop/start/auto/manual), with speed, latch and other controls added. SmartTOP (SmartTop Webpage) has a nifty relay replacement solution that just plugs in and has everything integrated. They are the most expensive solution at 228 Euro (185 Euro in group buys). Bahntech is the cheapest solution ($145) and does it with a custom printed circuit board that "hangs" between the dash buttons and the actual inputs to the relays. For it to work as desired you need to plug in the speed sensor wire and perform the two relay hacks (disable handbrake and speed signal). I have the Bahntech in the 986 and am quite satisfied with it. Roll-your-own is doable, but probably not worth the roughly extra $100 you might be able to save. If you consider going the smartTop "clean" approach, be aware that just the relay replacement switch is $70 for starters :( I don't think the Bahntech unit is "timed", but rather it uses the signal from the metal hood cover when it closes (same signal in "top up" and "top down" position) to signal the end of the cycle. This would allow for simplier electronics (not car dependent). But I may be wrong on this. Now, if Porsche is using the SmartTOP in the 997s, the price might drop somewhat. Anybody knows about this?
  19. I agree with scouser - "if you build it, they will come". I vote for 914, early 911 and 993, to name m y vote.
  20. Hi Loren, how do you vote for more than one selection?
  21. Porsche U.S.A. official website for 2005 Boxster here
  22. Just print some pictures that show the color well, I'm sure the paintshops can match to sample quite easily. They'd have to guess how much metallic is in there, but I assume it is the same as in other Porsche paints. Don't know how good this chart is, but is hows the various gray/silver metallic colors: FWIW: cars.com: 2004 Available Colors Or - just the color swabs (enlarged): Larger swabs I think the exterior colors match closely, but the interior colors seem 'off' on my terminal.
  23. I would give the screwdriver one more chance - it works quite easily - about 10-20 "scrapes", given enough pressure, and the "cam" will rotate just enough to release the lever. Make sure you push in the right direction, and push hard on the screwdriver, you want the metal part of the cam to move each time you "scrape" it. Use a very small screwdriver - you'll get a better leverage.
  24. I have noticed that the OBC in our boxster (I think similar to 996), unlike in our other cars, does not average since the last reset, but always over the last 25 miles or so. So whatever your driving style has been in the past half an hour, that is what the OBC will take as your average, multiplied by the estimated remainder in the tank. Your average mpg can vary from 16 mpg (about 272 miles DTE) to 25 (about 425 miles DTE) on a 17 gallon tank. Average is probably under 20 mpg (340 miles DTE), unless you drive hard. In our other (non porsche) cars, the OBC number averages out between manual resets, and it tends to become very stable. In our boxster, the OBC number is always indicative of the driving style in the last half an hour or so, and it tends to fluctuate a lot more. It is easy to check - without resetting the OBC, you'll notice that you get much better mileage on freeway driving than in city driving, within the first half an hour of the 'changed' driving style.
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