Dr.Strangepork

All,

SUCCESS!!! The trick was the final, hidden, forward facing bolt at the very bottom of the transaxle. I just wasn't looking right. Came off like a champ, tranny came out like a champ, pressure plate and clutch came right off. I rounded out my T50 torx trying to get the flywheel bolts off. Guess it's back to the store to get another bit. If that doesn't work, anybody got any tips for getting the 8 torx bolts off?

B

That's really odd that it messed up such a large bit. I just used an impact gun+torx bit to remove mine, came right off. Make sure it's seated right, maybe tap it into the bolt head so that it's nice and snug.

Hmm...that's either totalled or close. Depends on what your insurance considers "totalled" in terms of percentage of the car's value. Your car is probably worth about $14-$15k fair market value...and that looks like $6000-$7000 of damage or more. Really tough call, but sad to see that :(

I guess it depends how much you trust the shop to fix it back to original condition/whether it will bother you knowing what's happened to it.

PK,

Good elaboration on my observations, definitely cleared up some things that I wasn't positive about in regards to these engines.

That really in teresting mike. I've never seen the sort of damage FI can inflict on one of these motors (assuming it was the fi).. What do you attribute the ring issue to, an over heated charge(I.E insufficient inter-cooling)? Ovaloid dylinders, a sort over-force induced? doesn't look like excessive wear or slap on the pistons? Will the sleeves mitigate this problem? and "D" chip potential?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like the ring lands failed - my guess would the weak cast pistons as I mentioned as I've seen ring lands be the first to go on other NA engines running FI. Could be catalyzed by an older, worn engine; obviously can't tell a whole lot without inspecting the rest of the engine or knowing what the heck they were running. I'm definitely curious whether there's more tell tale signs of what did the engine in.

4. Internals - If I remember right, the crank is forged, the rods are forged, but the pistons are cast.

Significance? What car doesn't? ( For the record, I'ts the pistons that go first in a poorly set up FI car.)

My previous car, an Audi TT with the 1.8T engine, had forged Mahle pistons from the factory. Despite some people pushing 700+ whp on them, nobody had managed to get them to fail...one reason why I believe forged pistons instead of cast would be a good precaution

You'll never fit an effective, reliable inter-cooler in a Boxster unless you want to give away your trunk, do a lot of fabrication and have a lot of performance robbing plumbing. WI is really the only, and incidentally superior, option.

What is wrong with an appropriately sized water to air intercooler setup? (or is that excluded due to your mention of reliability?) I've often seen water/methanol injection used in conjunction with an intercooler and sometimes as a replacement if an IC is difficult/impossible to accommodate.

I wouldn't expect great longevity out of unmodified M96's running any kind of forced induction...they're simply not designed for it. Things that I could see being a problem:

1. AluSil (aluminum and silicon) block/sleeves - this material is used so the block is light. Many forced induction blocks are cast iron or something else heavy in order to be strong.

2. Compression ratio - 11:1 is super high! This is why some running FI blow the piston rings eventually. FI engines are typically in the 8:1 or 9:1 range. High CR also increases the chances of detonation.

3. Heads - how much heat can the exhaust valves take? FI cars tend to have sodium filled valves to help channel heat away from the valves into the head. If you're whooping the hell out of the engine on a track and heat up the valves enough, they can melt/fall off.

4. Internals - If I remember right, the crank is forged, the rods are forged, but the pistons are cast.

I'd like to run FI someday but not without upgraded rods/lower compression pistons/LN sleeves/possibly some head work if it's necessary. Given the money required I'll probably just skip it and buy a faster Porsche ;)

Also, if your second key won't start the car, try it again while you have your first key in the vicinity. If the car starts that way, then the small transponder pill in the second key is suspect (but only with respect to starting the car).

Is the immobilizer on these cars RF based or something like that?

Thanks for the replies! I'll have to get a look at it this weekend or next.

When I first got my boxster, I thought the remote wasn't opening the trunk either, but then I realized I have to press and hold the button for 3-5 sec. If you are just tapping it, try holding it down for a couple sec. That might do the trick !

Do you have to hold it down for longer than the front trunk? Man I'm going to feel like an idiot if that's the real issue

Do you have a second (transmitter) key to try? If you do, and it functions correctly, check the printed circuit board in the offending key.

I do have a second key, but if I remember right it doesn't start the car for some reason so I never use it. I'll have to dig it up and try it. Like I said though, the red light on the dashboard lights up when I hold down the rear trunk button just like it does for the other buttons so I suspect the key is still transmitting signal correctly.

I had the same issue, but I could hear the release working. The rod had not been attached to the latch from day one! I could tell it had never been apart, must have been built on a friday afternoon!

Odd issue - my rear trunk will release if I use the cabin switch but it won't release if I press the button on the remote. The red light on the dashboard still lights up like when using the other buttons - so I don't suspect the issue is in the remote. The button for the front trunk still works like normal.

Is there a common culprit for this issue? What should I check?

I ran into this same issue while doing the IMS bearing. I just unbolted the headers and dropped the whole exhaust.

Now's a good time to take off the rear bumper like I did, it makes accessing the transmission and back of the engine much easier (assuming you're using jack stands, not a lift).

Also, you pretty much have to go with the dealer to replace those clamps...the sleeve style clamps are $30 or so each but there's really no alternative (trust me I tried to find one). I think the band clamp style ones are $14 or so.

There's a few other tips in my IMS article regarding transmission removal that aren't covered in the PP article:

http://boxsterguide.blogspot.com/

including:

1. you'll need a short 12 point socket to get one of the bell housing bolts off.

2. the axle flange and pressure plate bolts are made of industrial grade cream cheese (or seem to be anyway). be careful not to strip them.

3. you'll have to get at the top bell housing bolts from the top of the engine bay and will have to remove the intake tube to do so.

4. if you have an S model (i.e., have aG86 transmission) Wayne's dimensions of the bell housing bolts in the ABCDEFGH chart he made are not correct. made me second guess my labeling.

You can get the bits at Autozone...but they're too long, so I cut the necessary one down:

Am I safe in assuming you have gotten the two nuts off the center studs on the bracket circled in blue?

I took care of this a while back (obviously had to get the muffler off to do the IMS) - my problem was all the clamps were rusted and all the pipes were seized so I couldn't undo them....which made it impossible to move the muffler back enough to slide the studs out of that bracket. I ended up unbolting the headers (replaced them anyway) and removing the bumper to drop the exhaust as one unit:

The fill plug isn't in that location on the 6-speed transmission (that pic is a 5-speed).

Check out this eBay auction, it has pics of each side of the trans:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150486296215&crlp=1_263602_263622&ff4=263602_263622&viewitem=&guid=71ffac8812a0a0aad3c737b7fe2401ba&rvr_id=144529023767&ua=M*S%3F&itemid=150486296215

From what I can see, the fill plug is on the right side next to one of the shift levers. Makes sense as it's roughly right around the same level.

CDR-220

Type 4462

Serial: 15076121

After not having a radio the past few weekends, I'd say I'm sufficiently prepared for future ownership of a Boxster Spyder

...thank you but I'm not getting the ET...mine is 58 - 11mm more than yours...so surely 23mm would put me back where yours is?

His ET is 47, yours is 58; putting an 11mm spacer on yours would make your ET 47 so it would fit exactly like his.

The fill plug on my six speed was on the right side I believe. For some reason, I couldn't get it off, I think the bolt head was too shallow to fit the hex bit I was using or something. Fortunately, the transmission was out of the car so I just flipped the trans upside down and used the drain plug to fill it

Man, no offense meant but that has to be the dirtiest engine I have seen in any ANY car!

I know it's dirty :( it seems par for the course with Boxster engines for the top to be covered in dust as most owners don't ever even see the engine. I've seen others that look just like it. I haven't had a chance to give the engine a good cleaning as I've had other priorities such as replacing the IMS bearing, overhauling the brakes, top window, etc.

As for the grime on the block, guess you can thank the RMS for that...I did give it a good scrubbing though, you can tell in the final pics that most of the grime is gone :) gave the transmission a wash while I was at it too.

Great writeup! Did you also look at the option in http://www.renntech....ge__pid__186215 ??

I have yet to see that. I did mention in my article that LN and PP are the only ones in the US because I figured someone in the UK or elsewhere probably had their own solution.From an engineering standpoint, I'm a bit skeptical of that design. They're reinventing the wheel, which can introduce potential unforeseen issues. The LN solution is just making the original design more robust to make it more reliable.

I think I may be able to help as I know a thing or two about wheel offset :)

Previous car

If you run a 15mm spacer the outer edge of the wheel is going to be in the same place as your wheels are currently, but the inner edge is going to be 26mm closer to the strut than your current setup (including your 22mm spacer). Make sure that it'll clear the strut. Obviously an 11mm spacer will bring it another 4mm closer to the strut.

The fronts will be 13mm closer to the strut, so just make sure they clear.

Thanks :)

Those look juts like the rotors for a Boxster S, which are larger than those for a base model, so I doubt they will fit.

Just finished replacing the IMS bearing on my '01S the other week.

I took a bunch of pics plus a video along the way, so I compiled them into a tech article that outlines the process. Also, since I did a ton of research before getting into this, I compiled all the most up to date, pertinent info I know of into one article. It outlines everything one needs to know to replace the IMS bearing.

Since it's quite long and has a lot of pics, here's the link:

http://boxsterguide....g-info-and.html

Please let me know if anything I mentioned is inaccurate or if I left something important out.

I'll be writing up another article about the semi-custom exhaust I did while the car was apart too. I'd like to shoot some sound clips of it first this weekend though ;)

Enjoy!

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply (as usual) Loren!

I really need to get PET so I don't have to keep asking :P

I need a new hazard switch - I've got my eye on a used one for $20 (looks like new it's about $60) but I'm wondering whether they're the same for all years. My car is a 2001 S. Part number on the switch I'm looking at is 986.613.120.00.

Does anybody know whether the switches are the same for all models and years, or do I need a specific part number?

Thanks!

This link provides a lot of info:

http://www.pelicanpa...Engine_Swap.htm

Swapping out a 2.5 blown up motor (34,000 miles) from 99 boxster with 5 spd. Lots of questions. easiest swap would be another 2.5 and would it matter if auto or 5 speed?

The only issue I would see arising from using an automatic-based engine with a manual transmission would be if the crankshaft snouts are different on the flywheel side - manual transmission crankshafts usually have provisions for a pilot bearing. An automatic may have some different sort of setup to allow a torque converter to be installed. I don't know whether the cranks are different on Boxster motors offhand, but I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Lots of people are going to carrera 3.4 but items have to be changed around because rear engine becoming mid engine and also the exhaust has to be changed out, I believe? and are their other major costs involved. What is wrong with going to boxster 2000 to 2001 either 2.7 or S motor. Isn't that an easier swap. When the motors are swapped and they all have their harnesses intact can't they simply be put in the car with their corrisponding computer in the trunk.

I'd look at the Pelican Parts article for info on that. The exhaust may have to be modified as the 3.4 has to be mounted lower to fit in the Boxster's engine compartment.

Why go to a $600 dollar bearing verus a $100 bearing? Someone said that the U.K. has a bearing replacement. Doesn't porsche have a replacement by now. Keep the oil clean and don't run a sealed bearing! Seems thats the real issue!

Nobody knows exactly what causes these things to fail - the fact that it's a sealed bearing in the first place seems to be the problem. I'm sure letting the bearing get some fresh motor oil would help but the bearing isn't designed to be run on motor oil, it's designed to be run on the bearing grease that's supposed to be sealed inside it.

The $600 (in dual row) LN Engineering bearing uses ceramic balls which are several times more durable than metal ones. It also includes a new flange. The $100 or so kits just include what is for the most part the same bearing that's already in the car. It's up to you which one you want to go with, but I would probably go with the LN bearing. Why cheap out on something so important?

Also for those of you that know, how do you like breaking a 325 lb torgue when you remove the driveshaft. I will try that tonight. Cheater pipe and probably will break my breaker bar. Will except any help but don't like making a mistake when I spend this kind of money. (by the way I spent $2500 on this car so I am not the one that got hurt.)

Ha, I had the same issue when doing my CV boots. The outer bolt on both axles was so seized, I stuck a big pipe on my breaker bar and it started to bend the bar. Looks like you need a really solid breaker bar like a Snap On or similar to get those things off.

Also one more thing. I'am I the only one on this porsche forum that thinks the boxster is more fun to drive than a carrera! Thanks for your help.

I have yet to drive a 996 but I can't imagine it being much more fun ;)

I like it! Retroish but fits the car well.

I like the Boxster decal, never seen that on the brakes!

Pics back on the car:

The brakes are kinda tedious compared to other cars but not super difficult. I just replaced my rotors/pads with Balo rotors and Mintex pads or some OEM equivalent off Pelican Parts. Feel just like stock, cost a bit over $300 for all four pads/rotors.