geoff

Not sure about cars in Oz, but US Boxsters have the cigarette lighter plug set up for constant power. That way the battery maintainers work when plugged in to the lighter plug On US cars, there is a phone plug behind the center console that has both switched and unswitched power. See this post for an example

I hadn't heard this one, but expected some important announcements this coming Wednesday ;)

Thanks Eric. I was originally asking Pete, but curious what anyone else used and how they liked it, since it seems to be only recently that replacement bushings have been available for the 986/996. My car is just a street car, but it's near 60K miles, so besides a very expensive service in the near future, I expect lots of little wear items to really start hitting in the next few years. From what I've read here and elsewhere, some replacements are better than others, and now some experts are alluding to serious problems with some fixes that have been widely discussed over the last couple of years, like fixing Boxster front motor mounts with urethane. I read stuff here that sounds great, but then when I talk to the people who install and service it, like suspension parts, I get different stories. There was some discussion here about urethane sway bar bushings several months back. When I had my car aligned last month and asked about it (Steve Alarcon races Porsches and does a lot of high end suspension work), he said they are great for a track car but not what I want for a street car. So it's good to know about the solid bushings, more to understand they're not for my application

Porsche uses cosmoline, which is a yellow/brown coating, on the undercarriage and many other parts to prevent rust. See Wikipedia for a brief description. Lots of aluminum parts on the undercarriage, which doesn't rust like steel. If for some reason you do have rust, I think Porsche's new car warranty covering rust is a lot better than their drivetrain warranty. You might want to have someone knowledgeable look at your car to determine if it really is rust, as well as address a lot of your other concerns. Try your local PCA group. You can look at places like tirerack.com or tires.com to see what the original and optional wheel and tire sizes are If you bought the car with any kind of warranty, you might want to take it to a trusted independent shop and get a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) with written report, then take the report to the seller to get items fixed. You don't have to tell the shop you already bought the car

Did you use the replacement bushings from Elephant Racing, or something else?

If your MAF has gone bad, cleaning it won't help. You may have to try replacing it. Depending on how many miles you have on the car, it might be time to get a new MAF

Bentley service manual for the 986 is also a much simpler-to-use option than the factory service manuals. Depending on how extensive you are planning service for your Boxster, it could provide everything you need. Just about the best price is through Amazon - buy through the RennTech.org store at Amazon and help support this site

Outside temperature sensor. If it's on the right side of the bumper by the radiator duct

If you go from 996.606.125.00 to 986.606.125.01, you don't need to have the ECU reprogrammed, only if you have an earlier MAF (the 124 flavor). These were the before and after parts for me. However, you should disconnect your battery for 5 minutes after replacing the MAF (make sure you have the radio code first), so the DME will relearn the MAF parameters. The 125.00 and 125.01 seem to be electrically the same, but the .01 version is less susceptible to getting dirty and fouling (or so I've read). I've never heard of any advantage of using the older style MAF sensor. The TSB referenced above talks about above says the 124 MAF needs to have the ECU reprogrammed when going to the 125, but it came out before the 125.01 issue of the MAF (if you were a contributing member, you could read the whole TSB and be as confused as everyone else!) If your dealer is trying to sell you an ECU reprogramming going from the 125.00 to the 125.01, you can politely set them straight. You will need the security torx to get the MAF sensor on and off. It takes several reads of Mike Focke's instructions for everything to sink in - there's a lot of information there. Ask more questions here if you get stuck. After doing the first MAF replacement, the second one from start to finish should take less than 30 minutes. If you do the job, it will take longer because you will probably want to clean some of the dirt in the engine compartment that has accumulated in 50K miles; the dealers don't seem to wipe down the dirt that accumulates in general.

I went through the same thing with my '01 base Boxster - see here. Sunset in Oregon (renntech sponsor with link at the top of the page) had a great price on the Porsche MAF. Mike Focke's MAF page has all the details you need on parts and installation. Get the current version of the MAF from them, there's absolutely no reason to use the older part number. eBay is probably the worst place to buy an MAF, since you don't know what you're getting. I'm mechanically spastic, but didn't break anything replacing the MAF, and getting to the engine is the most complex part of the job. You don't need the TSB to replace the MAF, but becoming a contributing member is without a doubt the best investment you can make in your Boxster. Based on what I've experienced and read here and elsewhere, if you need to replace the MAF on an '01 Boxster and your car has around 50K miles, give or take, you will probably need to clean your throttle body in the next year or so to solve a rough idle problem (if you haven't cleaned it already). Probably coincidence due to the mileage, since the two items aren't mechanically related

Try an electrostatic ionizer and spray some Lysol. That's what I've seen work in hotel rooms. Wipe everything down with water until the rag you are using comes out clean after wiping. Vacuum / steam clean all the carpets. If your top has a headliner, try removing that and cleaning it thoroughly. Wherever possible, wipe down the inside and outside of parts. You might want to search for what can be sprayed through the vents to get rid of the stench in there. Also, if you keep the top and/or windows down parked outside on a hot day, smells seem to dissipate faster (obviously not with the ionizer going, since that defeats the purpose). If the smell is in the headliner, putting down the top probably defeats the purpose.

I looked at the spin-on adapter and the oil filters. But the spin-on oil filters looked a lot smaller than the OEM ones. I always thought oil filter size was important. Does anyone know how the stock vs. LN-engineered oil filter options compare in terms of filter area?

Is there any trick to getting the second side up? It looks like you jack up the first side under one side of the bar, then place the jack stand. Then the opposite side bar would be lower or touching the ground. What's the process for jacking up the second side? Like others said in your original post, it looks like they might be more effective in a front-to-back configuration instead of side-to-side. Now that you've used them, and knowing what you know now, would you still make the bars go side to side?

The CTEK 7000, which is a souped up version of the CTEK model that Porsche rebrands and ups the cost, has a supply mode that provides power without a battery, and will supposedly provide 13.6 volts at 7 amps, which should be enough juice to save the radio code or pop the front trunk. I almost tried it on phillipj's car when his engine went kablooey, but he managed to get the front trunk open before we met up. I haven't tried disconnecting my battery to see what it does yet.

Not sure about a complete set of 4 cats. I can tell you from recent personal experience that used cats are highly valuable, even very old ones. Three weeks ago I got home late Friday from a business trip to Northern Virginia. I started my 1988 Toyota pickup and I sounded and ran terrible. Somebody hacked off the original catalytic converter! Toyota dealer estimated it was worth at least $50 scrap value for the platinum and palladium. As the economy has deteriorated, the price of precious metals has skyrocketed in the past few years and catalytic converter theft has become big business. The good news is anyone removing their cats can get a lot of money for them, and Porsches are low enough to the ground it's extremely difficult for someone to get under there and steal a catalytic converter

See my writeup on the 997 short shifter in my '01 Boxster. You should have similar results in a 996. The 997 short shifter is not the same as the B&M, or the 996 short shifter, which was a rebranded B&M pre-mounted in a shifter housing

Geoff, thanks for the great info. I had no idea that Mequiars held these classes in Irvine. I'm actually here in Irvine at my office today... I may end up paying someone to get the scratches out this time, however, I'm definitely signing up for one of the 7am to 3pm sessions at Mequiars. Much appreciated! Bill :beer: Try the class before you pay someone to get the scratches out. A couple of reasons: 1) You'll get expert advice and help from world class car detailing experts; 2) You'll find out how to get the scratches out for the next time you use your Cayenne the way it was designed to be used; and 3) I've seen bozo detailers who are highly regarded but end up screwing up paint finishes. Our Cayenne had a blemish on the front fender when we got it. Met with the district service manager at the dealer to get approval for having Porsche take care of repainting the fender. There was a brand new Carrera there at the same time, with the owner and the guy who detailed the car. Owner and detailer claimed the original finish was defective, but I can't imagine anyone spending that kind of money and taking delivery on a new car if it looked as bad as when I saw it after the detailer was finished with the car. I've done the Meguiars class twice, and I've seen them do amazing jobs restoring paint scratches to better-than-new condition

This is my wife's daily driver, so nothing firmer than the stock suspension is in the future. No track time. She got 28K miles out of the original rear tires, if that give you any indication of how competitive she drives. Definitely don't want a lower or stiffer ride Steve Alarcon at Johnson's Alignment recommended the Bilstein HD shocks over the OEMs. More comfortable ride and better handling for the stock suspension. As long as the other shocks are OK, and the loose one is being replaced, I don't need to spend $ upgrading (or just changing out) shocks. Supposedly Bilstein is going to have a "4 for the price of 3" promotion in April. shox.com looked like about the cheapest source when I started looking at options. I had the ROW 030 suspension installed on my Boxster, there's an equivalent for the Carrera. OEM and designed as a system. Lowered the car to Euro specs, rides great. Not much firmer than the stock US suspension, but handles a lot better. One of the best upgrades I've done. There's also an OEM X74 suspension for the 996, not sure about the 997. And there's also the Bilstein PSS10s. All of those are options you might want to look into if you want better handling without sacrificing ride quality before reverting to stock. Based on what I saw on my Carrera, the original shocks should easily be good for over 50K miles

Meguiars periodically has open to anyone Saturday detailing classes, where you provide the car and they provide the materials and expertise. I've done it before and highly recommend it. My car looked better than new the last time I went. They should be able to help you make the scratches disappear and a whole lot more. See http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28080 for their 2009 Saturday detailing classes.

Another update: Took the car back to the Porsche dealer today to have a mechanic look at it. The car has one month left on the factory warranty and odometer reading when I got to the dealer was close to 49,900. Service writer and I pulled in to the mechanics area, and drove the car up on the rack. Mechanic asked where I took the car for alignment, and after I told him, said he knows Steve Alarcon, and Johnson's Alignment does good work. Pushed on the extended right front shock and it felt pretty solid. Mechanic asked if I was sure it was the right side? Mechanic removed both left and right front wheels, then pushed on the extended shocks. Sure enough, the right side has a little side-to-side movement, but the left side doesn't. The dealer will replace under warranty :D then redo the front alignment. The mechanic said they rarely replace Porsche shocks - they seem to last a long time. PCA tech section on their web site says Porsche shocks often wear out by 50K miles. Not sure what the right answer is after this experience, but I'm happy with the outcome.

If thats the case, thats scary. I would love to see pictures of that strut after its removed. For the piston rod to be loose enough to be moved by hand something is really wrong. There should be zero movement there. Are you sure all of the oil didnt leak out already? Lol. Are they making any noises at all? :?? When checking out the movement with Steve, he indicated it wasn't all that bad. Shocks were fully extended, and according to him not leaking yet. Since he does a lot of Porsche race cars (I think he's very active in the race community, based on what I've heard), he said the pistons on early versions of most race shocks wobble a lot more, and eventually the manufacturers figure out how to beef them up (he rattled off a few brand names he saw that did this). My dealer said to bring it back and they would put it up on the rack and have me show the mechanic what I was shown so they can figure out whether to do anything about it. When I get back in town next week and take it to the dealer, I'll post another update

More update: I took the car back to Steve at Johnson's Alignment yesterday. They put the front up in the air, he took a look, then called me over to check it out. I put my fingers around the chrome center rod of the right front shock and pushed, and the shock wiggled around. The left side didn't move nearly as much. I guess shocks aren't supposed to be loose like that. Supposedly Bilstein is having a 4 for the price of 3 sale in the April timeframe. I may just get new shocks then. Still need to talk to the dealer to see what they say, or at least get them to note the problem in their files. I am expecting that shocks are a wear item. Steve's recommendation was the Bilstein HDs will ride better than stock. But he pointed out there's no need to rush and replace the shocks, as nothing is leaking at this time, so no sales job

I took my '01 Boxster to get it smogged today. I always get cars smogged at the cheapest place possible ($48 out the door, including CA certificate - obviously not a Porsche dealer), figuring they just want to get cars out as fast as possible. Today, they decided they wanted to see my engine while a dozen other customers waited. While running the smog test with the smog machine plugged in to the ODB2 port, while the tech was accelerating to 15 and 25 MPH on the dyno, I noticed my speedometer (both analog and digital) didn't read any speed. I asked him about this and he said he recently did a 2009 911 Turbo and it did the same thing. Is this normal for Porsches? I never heard of this before. The speedo worked fine after being unplugged on the drive home.

Maybe obvious to most, but what is the advantage of replacing the rubber bushing with polyurethane ones? Does it reduce the inherent give in the rubber ones? Polyurethane doesn't disintegrate over time like rubber? Or something else?

Check with Tool Pants (although I haven't seen him here lately). I think he found some reasonable transmission rebuild shop in San Jose for his Toyota pickup. The base Boxster manual transmission is sourced from Audi, not sure about the Tip. Given the transmissions have been around for a while now, I expect a non-Porsche shop might have the wherewithal to tackle the job for a lot less than the dealer You might want to check some of the wreckers up there as well to see if somebody crashed their car without damaging the tranny. See http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/listsofsources