geoff

Like I said earlier, Search is your friend. Here's one post to start with, there are undoubtedly others. Lots of microswitches on these cars

Congratulations on your new car. A few suggestions... First and foremost, use the Search function to get more answers than possible in a single post You need the radio code to activate it. When the radio loses power, it forgets the code and it needs to be reentered. Search for the radio code thread, it's the one with about 50 million posts You need to use an OBD2 code reader to find out why the check engine light is on. You can "borrow" one from AutoZone, buy a cheap one for about $50, or go for the Porsche specific Durametric setup. Once you have the code, it's much easier to figure out what is wrong. As long as the light isn't blinking, you're OK. The code reader plugs in to a connector under the dash to the left of the steering wheel Start by cleaning the throttle body. Search the forums for details and instructions There's a thread not nearly as long as the radio code thread that talks about replacement batteries. And look at Mike Focke's excellent battery page

Try Discount Tire / America's Tire (same company). I think they are bigger than TireRack, but TireRack appears to be the exclusive Michelin distributor to Porsche dealers in the US. I ordered and paid for N-rated Michelin tires from America's Tire for my Cayenne last November (to replace the original Contis), and gave up in late March when I started looking for alternatives and my dealer service writer said he could get them no problem. While I was waiting those several months, member Ignited found the same tires at a different America's Tire store while I was waiting. You can read about my experience here - maybe you will get some more ideas Does Michelin now have 18" N-rated PS2s to replace the original PS Ribs? Nice to know when I need to buy new Boxster tires :)

91 octane is as good as it gets in southern California. I usually fill up with Chevron, since my mileage was consistently slightly better than when I tried Mobil, Shell, 76 or Costco and it came with Techron already added. I don't add anything else to the tank other than the gas out of the pump. I've noticed over the past 6 months or so my mileage is worse in all my cars, by up to 10%, and friends have told me the same. Some of it is due to the driver, but something has changed in the gasoline formulation recently, more than the usual seasonal chemical changes from prior years. Anything less than premium gas will be less expensive to fill up your tank, but you will probably end up spending more on gas than what you are saving by burning the cheaper grade. You can run a few tanks of each to convince yourself and do the math.

Try +"steering angle" +sensor as your search term. The + means the search item must exist. At least, that's how it's always worked for me. Put a phrase to search for inside quote marks

I was told by the dealer to use the door sticker recommended air pressure on my '08 Cayenne S. I have 19" wheels and am running 39 PSI front and 49 PSI rear and got just over 30K miles on the original all season Continental tires. The car isn't here right now, so I don't know if it's different for the 20" tires. I've never used the TPMS setup screen, but do periodically monitor the pressure on the TPMS display (and double check with a real tire pressure gauge)

I'm interested in this. Sorry to ask but is there way for you to lookup what was replaced (part number or text description)? I'm guessing it must the alt to starter cable that is flakey. The battery to body + starter must be good otherwise the booster wouldn't work. But a low current handling connection from alt would lead to an undercharged battery. Thanks in advance. There was a previous topic on this. Apparently the part corrodes and causes slow cranking: http://www.renntech....ranking-normal/ No quoted part number, but it should be easy to explain at the parts counter. If you have a Tip it'll be a lot of labor, supposedly it's easy with a manual. Mine cranks a little slow sometimes, I'm going to get under there some weekend and have a look. Mark The other weekend, my local dealer did a customer appreciation day for PCA members - free under car walkthrough with the mechanics, 15% off for parts and service - and free food. The mechanic looked at the cable from the alternator to the battery to see if it was original or the upgraded Porsche one, and said there is a factory service campaign to replace the undersized original ones (mine had already been replaced by Porsche during an earlier service without even asking). Several hours of labor with the car on a lift, but Porsche should pick up the tab, even though my car ('05 997) is out of warranty. Before buying a new cable, you should probably check with your favorite dealer service department to get the whole story and see if the cable upgrade is covered At 5+ years, they did admit the battery was pretty much at the end of life and suggested replacing it. He's seen the Optima I put in my Boxster and didn't even bother suggesting to put in one of the dealer's replacement batteries. I recently replaced the 8+ year battery on my Toyota pickup (it started just fine, but the battery was 1½ years beyond the warranty), and I was amazed at how much better the car started and how much brighter the headlights were

Do you know what version MAF is installed now? If you have a 996.606.125.00 and the new version is 986.606.125.01 you do not need to have the DME reprogrammed. However, you should disconnect the battery for a few minutes after swapping so the computer re-learns. See Mike Focke's most excellent MAF page for details. The newer MAF is supposedly less susceptible to dirt and fouling than the old one. If you haven't ever cleaned your throttle body, it seems like a lot of times after replacing the MAF your idle becomes uneven shortly thereafter. Not sure what the correlation is, but that's what I experienced and others have noted.

Porsche updated the two little pegs on the front edge of the convertible top that go into the windshield. See the TSB "Rattling Noises From the Cabriolet Top". The updated part number is 986 561 605 01 A09. I found a lot of the rattling and groaning noise from my convertible top went away when I swapped in these in my 2001 2.7, and they weren't very expensive

When I switched from the original ContiSports to the Pilot Sports on my '01 with 18" wheels, the Porsche specs said to keep the tire pressure the same at 29/36 f/r. Porsche specs are set up to achieve enough understeer so you can't get into too much trouble and sue Porsche for your own stupid driving. I found 30-31 PSI in front and 36 in back is a good compromise. All the Porsche sports cars seem to be happy with the rear tire pressure a bit higher than the front. Depending on how long or many miles since you last had a 4 wheel alignment, you might want to consider that before you start messing around with tire pressure (especially considering the price of replacing tires because of excessive wear). If you want to get overly obsessive about tire pressure, you can get one of the infrared laser electronic thermometers and read the temperature across the width of your tire after a spirited drive and adjust your tire pressure until you get a consistent reading all around. I haven't tried this but was told a lot of the autocrossers do this to figure out what tire pressure to run. I just drive the car and enjoy it without over analyzing. I found the Pilot Sports to be so vastly superior to the ContiSports it wasn't even funny. The PS2s are supposed to be even better still.

Besides searching here for lots of topics on problems to look for, and reading all the great info on Mike Focke's collection of Boxster wisdom, keep in mind Porsche made lots and lots of Boxsters over the years. If the one you're looking at doesn't do it for you, there are many more to choose from. Also, take a look at Excellence Magazine's great annual market update on Boxsters to get an idea of year-by-year changes and price trends - most recent one was November 2009

I stand corrected! Thanks for the great info. Funny, I think I read that post awhile ago and it never occurred to me that you were swapping in the 6-speed part in a 5-speed car. :) The shifter doesn't distinguish between transmission or number of forward gears, that's a function of the transmission itself. As long as the shifter housing bolts in properly and has the pivot point in the right position, it looks like any of the 9x6 or 9x7 shifters will work with any manual transmission

The part number I quoted is for a six-speed, so if you have a base Boxster it will not work. The 987 base has a 5-speed box, and the stock part is likely a shorter throw than yours. It should work just fine with your car. Mark I installed the 997 short shifter on my '01 Boxster with 5 speed shortly after the 997 came out and it has worked fine ever since, see here for details and pictures. The 996 and 997 OEM short shifters are different products. The 996 short shifter was a rebranded B&M shifter in a shifter housing; the 997 short shifter is a Porsche manufactured product and works smoother. I believe the shifters with housings are fully interchangeable between the 9x6 and 9x7 model lines

I just went through something like this for the past several months ('01 Boxster, 53K miles). It turned out my front hood latch was worn and needed adjusting, and saved me tons of money on unneeded suspension part replacements. I circled the area that wears in the picture. Pop your hood and take a look at the latch, and if you can see or feel any wear. I would start with that, which would only involve a minor latch adjustment. See my topic on the subject for details of what I went through.

Before you replace the MAF, you could try cleaning it and see if that works for a while. Make sure you use electronic contact cleaner that doesn't leave any residue. If that appears to solve the problem, that's a pretty good indication the MAF needs to be replaced. Note that MAF cleaning is only a temporary solution. Dharn55 - How many miles on your friend's '00 996? Somewhere in the 40-60K range?

A friend emailed me this video, which I had not seen before and never saw it referenced here. Thought others might get a kick out of it as well... (no offense intended for any Amish members here) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HpuM31aV2g

There are two vents like you describe, but they are toward the rear of the car (you said near the nose) and on either side of the center line. I don't think these can scrape no matter how much your car is lowered. Are you sure they are near the nose? If this sounds right, I can try to take a picture Where are the vents you're trying to describe relative to the front (or rear) wheels? I think item 17 is the rear-most piece of solid plastic and goes across much of the width of the car

are these the wheels you wanted to see on 987??? My wife's 997 has the 5 spoke Carrera wheels. They look great, are easy to clean, and I believe they are about the lightest OEM wheels. I would have voted for them if they were one of the options

I think the Motorsports AOS for a stock '01 Boxster is P/N 996 107 926 00, but saw there is an -01 revision when I check the retail prices. Not sure what the right part numbers are for all the connecting hoses. You might want to check with some of the Boxster spec guys to confirm all the parts you need

Buying used ones on eBay?

Before you yank the radio out, did you read http://www.renntech....radio-code-faq/ ?? "Hold down the TP button for at least 10 seconds after you turn the radio on. "Becker 1" will be displayed. Rotate the right knob (slowly) and it will display the Becker model number. Then rotate it again and the serial number should be displayed on the radio." The search function here is very helpful!

The cheapest place you can find will be much less interested in inspecting the engine compartment and thoroughly checking everything than a place that charges top dollar, especially if it's late in the day and more people are waiting. The last thing most of these guys want to do is tie up their smog test equipment for an extra half hour while accessing the engine. Just make sure you watch what they do so they don't do something stupid. I found on the Boxster it's also a good idea to make sure they commit to the price up front instead of having them tell you it took longer and charge more after it's all done. A $30 smog check will get you the same exact CA registration sticker as a $150 smog check from the dealer

I finally got new tires - not from where I ordered them, but from my Porsche dealer. Many thanks to Tim (@Ignited) for all his words of encouragement, advice and personal experience with Discount Tires. Here's the saga - I ordered 19" N-rated Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires last November and said I wanted them before Christmas. The holidays came and went and still no tires. Americas Tires (same as Discount Tires) called Michelin national management and was given the run around. Ignited got a set from Discount Tires during this time. My local Americas Tires still couldn't get a set for me. I started looking at alternatives (the Continental DWS look really nice, even if they aren't N-rated) and talked to my service guy at the dealer. He said he could get them no problem. TireRack has 2 divisions - consumer retail and industry. TireRack is the exclusive Michelin distributor in the US for Porsche dealers, and is able to get Michelin tires for Porsche dealers even when nobody else seems to be able to. A week later when I was back in town, I had new tires. (Unfortunately, the parts guy wasn't in when I got the new tires, so the tire tech grabbed the wrong Michelin tires for my Cayenne - the summer tires. They sure drove great! The next morning my service guy called about their mistake and put on the all season Michelins I ordered, which also drive great, just not quite as good as the Latitude Sports) Apparently, Infiniti SUVs use the same Michelin 19" tires and that's where all the N-rated Michelin tires like I ordered went off to. TireRack's web site is still showing the tires as backordered. Americas Tires refunded my order with no questions, and despite all the problems with this order, I'll continue to buy tires from them since their prices are unbeatable My original Continental tires that came on the car were just about down to the wear bars all around. I got just a hair over 30K miles on them, which includes LOTS of fast canyon driving. The tires were just OK to begin with, but I was amazed and impressed with how long they lasted. I did rotate them every 6K miles and checked the tire pressure regularly.

What about a RennTech fan page on Facebook (for all the social crap that doesn't really belong here)?

Is this just for looks? Do you care which wheel is lighter? Or the price difference between 18" and 19" tires? Or whether 18s ride better or hold up better on badly potholed streets?