ar38070

Buy either a used or rebuilt. If it is a used one see if you can determine how many miles are on it. A used one should cost somewhere between $1500 and $2500 and a rebuilt $4-5K. I broke my tranny (1998) 2 years ago and found a used tranny off of a 1999 that only had 2000 miles on it. I figured it was just broken in. I then had an independent shop put it in. You will hear all kinds of numbers as to how long this takes. Anywhere from 3-10 hours. (I think it should take about 8 including replacing the clutch.) Multiply by the hourly rates in your area. I have 20,000+ miles on the tranny now without any problems. While you are in there you may want to have the clutch and/or flywheel replaced. Be advised that a rebuilt one from the factory only comes with a 2 yr warranty (I do not know how many miles) and in my case the dealer would not warranty it at all because I track my car. So it made no sense to get the rebuilt one. The used tranny only had to last 2 years (which it has) for me to be ahead dollarwise. YMMV.

If it is under warranty take it to the dealer and see what they say. If it is not then no harm in changing the transmission fluid to see what happens. Also when you do so you can inspect the fluid to see if there is any thing floating in it that should not be there. Instead of the stock fluid a lot of people use the Redline Cocktail. This is 2 qts 75w-90 plus .6-1.0 qt. lightweight gear oil (GL-5 spec 75W80W). The lightweight gear oil is needed as it is "shockproof" whatever that means (I believe it means that it has some friction modifiers in it to keep it from doing something (maybe foaming)). I have heard that the 75w-90 is now "shockproof" so that the mix is no longer necessary. However I do not know that for a fact.

TP, I am not sure why you said 0w-40 was not allowed for the 996tt. That is the factory fill. It is on the approved list. What is interesting is that under the no longer currently approved/or no longer available section they list Mobil 1 Tri-synthetic. 15w-50 is no longer on the approved list. However that does not mean you cannot use it. If you are just cruising along, not redlining often (like every minute) and it is not very hot (less than 100) then 0w-40 is okay. If however you are tracking the car, running the car at redline often, then I would use 15w-50. That is certainly what we boxster drivers in the bay area that track our cars often do. ed

6 years 7 months (bought 03/98), not a daily driver, just weekends and the car did sit for 1-2 months on several occasions. Did not use battery maintainer. Of course my 996tt battery lasted all of 2 1/2 years. Was not covered under warranty as I did not drive the car enough (per the dealer). I do not think that the Moll batteries are all that great. I think they are only 350 CCA versus 500-700 for aftermarket (hard to get hard numbers on the the Molls). Also I would be surprised if the Porsche dealer gives you more than a 2 yr warranty (and that warranty is only good if you drive your car 12000 miles per year (again per the dealer). So aftermarket batteries are cheaper, have better warranties, may have more power and you do not have to deal with the porsche dealer.

It depends on how how far over you go. Half a quart probably is not a problem. Filling it till you cannot put in any more oil i.e the oil filler tube is full, will cause problems. One problem with overfilling, if I remember correctly, is that you can get foaming. Exactly how foaming occurs eludes me but it is bad. Also if you were to fill it that full then the system would end of leaking as when the oil heats up it expands and if the system is too full it then has to find some place to go.

You put in 8 then check the dipstick. Then fill to the line.

Since everyone is taking pictures here is the Costco size 47. Looks suspiciously like the others, same vent tube, same red positive protector. $48, 3 year full replacement, 100 month prorated warranty. Half the price, buy 2!!

The boxster does not have the shields indicated in the 996 instructions (at least mine does not). Also I found it useful to remove the plastic wheel well liner at the front of the rear wheel well. This made it easier to get to the front plug.

Thanks

Anyone, Wasn't there a TSB about this? I checked the TSB section and did not see it. thanks

Good to know. Unfortunately an i-scan is $2000.

The Bowden cables are just the metal cables that connect the actuating levers to the hood/trunk. The actuating levers are what you pull up on (the things you are going to repaint (the cables connect to the other end of the lever that is underneath the sill). When you have the unit out you will see a spring that causes the hood/trunk release lever to return to the non-pulled (parked) position. You will need to remove it.

When you disconnect the battery just do not close the hood then you wont have a problem re-opening it.

If you do not get any answer here then talk to your local PCA buddies and find out who are the good local non-dealer porsche repair shops and then talk to them or have them do the diagnosis.

Spend the money learning how to drive it.

A friend of mine has the Baum tool scanner and when I asked him if it would reset an airbag light he said no. He had to take his car to the dealer. Tim at Fastlane in Santa Cruz can reset the light as he has a PST2. Or the next time you need an oil change let the dealer do it and ask to have it reset then.

While I do not know for a fact I would think that "Sealed Maintenance Free" batteries still have some kind of vent, even if only an emergency over pressure vent. Under normal circumstances the batteries wont vent. Under extreme circumstances the battery would vent to prevent bursting. Also I believe Optima batteries do not have a vent so if you do not want to use a non-vented battery you could use one of those (more $ and you have to make/buy an adapter to fit it to the existing tray).

The above link did not work for me. Try http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/proje.../change_rotors/ and see figure J or see attached. You do not have to take off the rotor to inspect the shield just take off the wheel. Once you have the wheel off spin the rotor and see if it makes any noise. If so then look between the shield and the rotor to see if there are any rocks stuck there. Use a screwdriver to remove the offending material. If the shield itself is rubbing use a screwdriver to pry the shield away from the rotor where it is touching. While the noise could be a wheel bearing in my experience that noise is lower pitched. Wheel bearing noise usually only happens while turning the car in one direction only (assuming you only have one bad bearing). Unless it is really bad it is hard to detect just by spinning the wheel while the car is jacked up. You can also test this by accelerating to 20 mph, coasting with the clutch in and swerving the car back and forth. If you have a bad bearing you will hear it when the car is pitched to either the left or right. If it is really bad you will be able to feel it if you spin the wheel with the car off of the ground. The wheel rotation will feel rough and you may hear some noise (though you have to be careful as the noise may only be the brake pad rubbing on the rotor). This is not easy to detect if you have never done it before. Try to compare how the left feels versus the right and see if you can notice a difference. If the bearing is really, really bad then with the tire off of the ground, grab the top the tire with one hand and the bottom of the tire with you other hand. Try and rock the tire i.e. push in with the top hand and pull out with the bottom and vice versa. If you feel any movement or hear any clicking noises then the bearing is really worn and needs to be replaced.

Sound like either a rock in the the brake dust shield or a bent dust shield rubbing against the rotor. Go to a parking lot, put the windows down, accelerate to 15 mph, clutch in then coast. You should be able to determine where the noise is coming from.

Theoretically just about anyone can align the car. You may want to ask if they have a Hunter machine to do the alignment with. If there are any porsche specific independent shops in your area see who they recommend. A competent shop should charge $100-200 for a 4 wheel alignment. They should be able to tell you exactly what your current alignment is and what they adjusted it to. The Hunter machine gives a printout of all the relevant numbers, will measure toe to less than 1/32" accuracy and camber to less than 1/10 of a degree.

Assuming that the basic attachment method has not changed (pre-2003) then yes the spoiler needs to be removed as there are 3 screws underneath it that hold the top of the bumper cover in place. Once you have done that then you take out the 8 screws that attach the bottom of the cover to the body from underneath the car, unscrew the license plate lights and disconnect the wiring harness. To remove the spoiler (pre-2003 so this might not work on a 2003): Manually raise the spoiler. On the front edge of the painted piece there will either be 3 screws or 3 plastic rivets. If screws unscrew them and remove the painted piece. If rivits then if you look closely the center of the rivet is actually a plastic pin. Use a pin punch, small screwdriver or nail and push the pin all the way in. It will fall inside the spoiler and you will be able to retrieve it when you take off the spoiler body. Once the pins have been pushed in you can pull the rest of the rivet out by hand or with a pair of pliers. Now you can remove the top of the spoiler. Remove the 2 socket bolts that hold the spoiler body onto the lifters and remove the spoiler. Retrieve the plastic pins if necessary.

Ride height adjustment will effect attainable maximum camber and corner weighting. If you are not tracking the car then corner weighting is not very important so you can set the ride height to whatever you want. Now it comes down to a matter of appearance and ground clearance. You set the ride height to however you want the car to look and as long as you are not bottoming out all over the place then you should be okay. If you do change the ride height then you will effect the alignment. Get the car realigned at a competant shop. You may want to discuss how you intend to drive the car with the shop to see if they have any suggestions as to what the alignment should be.

Regardless of the brand of tire evaluate your driving style. Talk to CA about it and then have your alignment set accordingly. An alignment adjusted for your style of driving can work wonders for tire life.

0W-40 improves gas mileage (lower friction). Also if you live and drive in cold climates (below freezing) then thinner oils (10w) would probably be necessary. Otherwise if you live in a warm climate and you do not care about maximizing fuel efficiency then the added protection of heavier oils (15w, 20w) is worthwhile.

If it is a whirring noise then it is probably the wheel bearing.