coasttocoaster

It's a fairly straightforward job. If you dyi, parts will run just under $300. Pump, Gasket, Coolant. People here have gotten quotes from $500-$1200 for Indy shop to dealer. My local dealer quoted $900. I want to say its 4.5 book hrs for dealer. Plan on it taking longer than that if you dyi. If you can find a reliable shop that will do it for $500 I would go that route. I changed mine out in Sept. I would guess I had 6-8 hrs into the job working on it 1-2 hrs here and there over the period a week. Access is the biggest issue; it’s tight in there. I found that 1/4 in drive with deep 10mm socket worked best. If you don't want to drain all your coolant pinch pliers can be bought at Sears for about $16 a pair, you'll need 3 pair if you go this route. You will also need an E12 Torx socket to remove the passenger seat. You don't have to remove the seat, but I can assure you from personal experience it makes life a lot simpler. Sears sells an entire set of torx sockets for about $20. When you trim the old gasket a heavy set of scissors works best. My wife had a pair of "Kitchen shears" from Bed Bath Beyond that worked great for this. You also will need to get the car up quite high to gain access to the front of the engine from below. Good luck Mark

The up side of this, my wife doesn't say a word, when I buy the tools I need/want...."To work on the car" It's a win... Mark

Changed out my ignition switch today! All is right with the world! Thankyou for this board... Just made a donation. Mark

^ Thank you for your response... Turns out, I wasn't getting a proper ground from the door striker. As soon as I grounded to the doorstop bracket on the hinge side of the door, I heard the relay trip and was able to pop the trunk. So I jumped the car, recharged the battery, disconnected the negative battery cable and left both the front and rear trunk lids ajar. Just as I was finishing up for the day, a DHL deliveryman stuck his head in the garage door. He had my ignition switch. Seven-day turn around from time ordered. I can live with that. As I signed for the package, he walked around my boxster and asked me what I was doing. I just said that I was having a small Porsche problem. He chuckled and said;" I wish I had a Porsche problem". Must admit it made me laugh and put some perspective on my day. Thanks again

I have a 2001 Boxster S (Tip, U.S.). The ignition switch failed last week with the usual symptoms. The car thinks the key is still in the ignition. Usual electrical gremlins. Key needed to be returned to run position after starting. I read the entire thread concerning ignition failure and ordered an ignition switch from E-Bay. It appeared to be something I can handle on my own. Now I'll talk about my problem. Two days after I last parked the Boxter, my battery was completely drained. Now I can't get the trunk lid open. I've followed all of the instructions in the user manual and in the Bentley guide for supplying power to the trunk lid switch: - Inserted the key in the door to unlock it, and left the key in the door. - Pulled the battery terminal contact point from the fuse panel as far as it will go. - Confirmed that power is flowing from the battery I am using as the jump source. - Attached battery cables with the proper polarity to the connection point on the fuse panel and the door striker. Nothing I'm doing is allowing me to get the trunk lid popped so I can disconnect the battery and replace the ignition switch. Am I missing something here? Is there a workaround for this problem? My understanding is that a 2001 has an electric switch release so there is no emergency pull cable in the wheel well. Is this correct? My next consideration is to remove the ignition plug from the back of the bad ignition switch (which presents its own concerns), then attempting to open the trunk lid and disconnecting the battery. Because the car thinks the key is still in the ignition. Has anyone come up against this problem? I could use your help and I'm open to suggestions. Would prefer not to see smoke and flames. Thanks in advance! Mark

There is a very good, general engine cleaning article at CCS. http://www.carcareonline.com/viewarticle.aspx?art=4 Mark