2000GotBoxS

Hey Dennis, The above picture is the CORRECT flow of the coolant. The cool water FROM the radiators comes back to the engine AT THE THERMOSTAT. I took the above diagram which Loren provided here, and I later discovered in the front of my Boxster Manual, and I color coded it, and I also added in more detail. I can send that to you, as I do not know how to post pictures on here. Send me an email to BrianMasek@hotmail.com and I will forward you the above diagram that has hoses and metal pipes called out and the directions of flow. I managed to get all of the pieces out by back flushing each and every component separately. In other words, I disconnected the hoses, and then back flushed them all into 5 gallon buckets until all the pieces came out. A lot of the pieces actually came out of the heater core because that is always flowing water, along with the engine.

First of all, DO NOT use a metal impeller pump in these cars. The composite impeller is there for a reason; when these pumps begin to wear, and they all do, the shaft is going to wobble a bit. When that happens with a metal impeller pump, the impeller starts machining away the back of the pump cavity, which happens to be the alloy engine cases. You can quickly do irreparable damage to the cases. Even engines that only suffered slight metal impeller damage were observed to have reduced coolant flow due to the now larger gap between a new pump's impeller and the damaged cases. Do not use metal. A good idea for your flush is to get some appropriate sized large rubber stoppers and slip on hose fittings that you can use to jury-rig a more water tight seal for the hose in the openings while back flushing. Makes the process quicker and a lot less messy. THANKS SO MUCH LOREN, & JFP This will help me immensely. There is little plastic pieces all over, but, I am most concerned with the half of the ball and stick bearings that are missing. I found all of the metal pieces in the plastic covers on the bottom of the car, but, I found the bearing retainer inside the thermostat housing, and the thermostat had closed down on it, if those **** little pieces of metal went inside the coolant and not outside onto the freeway, I sure want to get them all removed from the system. So far I haven't found anything other than the plastic in the inside the coolant stream. At least I now can figure out which ways to apply water pressure to back flow the system, and remove all the doubt I have right now with buttoning everything up.

Does anyone have a diagram or schematic of the 3.2L Boxster engine's water flow thru the engine itself? I haven't been able to find anything online that shows the flow pattern inside the engine . What a mess, I'm telling you. I've never taken apart one of these engines, so, I haven't the foggiest as to how it all moves thru the engine itself. JFP, you are helping immensely, as this has helped me to get almost all of it down. Thanks again, B

Thank you so much JFP. I appreciate your help. Just one more clarification. I have removed all of the hoses from the engine in order to separate them from the system, and clean out each components separately. I have the 3 rads and the heater core isolated and can handle them. I have removed the thermostat housing and if I understand this correctly, I can insert the hose into the hole in the engine that is under the thermostat housing and therby achieve water flow in reverse of normal. Is that what you are saying? Oh, and the water pump is not reconnected yet either. I did however find a very nice metal impeller replacement. JFP, I really appreciate your help. Thanks.

hahaha, I am actually on the phone with them right now ordering a motor mount to replace while I am under there. So, in order to flow the water backwards, where should I shove the hose? I suspect at this point, that the only thing inside the engine is just small bits of floating plastic, as I have managed to get most of the parts assembled together on the bench, and most is there, but, what terrifies me, is the possibility of the metal bearing balls being inside the engine. I will flush the radiators, and the heater core is even easier, but, I am worried about the engine itself containing these pieces. Look at these photos..... I've never seen anything completely fall apart so quickly and not give ANY warning. The car NEVER overheated, because as soon as the light started flashing, I coasted off the freeway and into a gas station and got the tow ride of 50 miles back home. I want to post a couple of pictures on here of what I have actually fished out already, but, I don't know how to. Which opening do you think is best to put my hose to flush out any debris? Thanks, B

Hey Guys, Dennis & JFP especially, I am wondering if your diagrams are actually backwards. The only reason that I am curious is because I just had my water pump impeller explode into a million little pieces with no warning, and immediately. I was driving about 95mph, and the coolant level light started beeping and of course the alternator light, and the ABS light, the power steering light, everything went out as the bearing shattered and the belt shredded. Well, the plastic impeller, now being in a million little pieces, is in my coolant. Little plastic fragments and "hopefully" not the little ball bearings and the stick bearings, that make up the water pump, are all over the coolant stream. I am wanting to run water through the system backwards and see if I can recover all of the fragments. I've basically been putting the pieces back together to try and assemble it on a bench and see how much is remaining. So, according to the Pelican Parts picture that you posted, THEY say that the green arrow is the RETURN HOSE FROM RADIATORS, and that the orange hose is SUPPLYING WATER TO THE RADIATORS. You say the opposite. Does anyone know for sure? I want to make sure I flow the water backwards, and not forwards thru all of the components. Thanks

What does it normally cost to get it done? Lets say I put it all back together and take it to an AC place to get recharged? Thanks!

The AC Condenser was not damaged in the accident. It was removed to get to the radiator apparently, I would have just disconnected it, and moved it aside, but, they aren't me. They evacuated the system, but no other components were removed, just what you see in the picture. I assume that they evacuated it through the access points that are under the front hood, next to the cabin air filter, and the panels have been removed. I CAN tell you that I am 99% sure that they didn't just disconnect the condenser and let the gas escape. The portion on the estimate for the AC says "AC Evac & Recharge Recover $190.00" The system is basically open to the elements. If you look at the attached picture, the only thing covering the two hoses leading to the condenser are two pieces of masking tape. I have always wanted to learn how to do AC, that's mostly the reason that I am asking these questions, I've just never done it before. Let me ask this then....... Lets say that we can't figure this out here, and I have to take it to an AC shop to be fixed, Can I put the whole thing back together and drive it to the shop? Is any damage going to occur to the AC parts if I button everything up and drive it to get repaired? If I left the AC off, and didn't turn it on, it should be OK, right? Thanks again, like I said, I'd really like to learn how to do all of this, as its basically †he only thing that I've never tackled on a car, and mostly because I have a slew of classic cars that never had AC. B

Hi Folks, This is my first post to the forums, and I am glad to be here. I purchased a beautiful 2000 Boxster S back in early September. It was immaculate, and everything worked perfectly. About 15 days after purchasing it. Some Yahoo ran into it in a parking lot. As a result, the air conditioning condenser has been disconnected by the body shop. I won't get into why I am fixing it now, rather than the body shop that took it apart, but, rest assured, lawyers are involved, and it has become a big giant mess......... That aside, I now have my car back, and want to put the condenser back together and recharge the AC system. The condenser on the left, driver's side was removed, and has been detached for a few months. I have gotten new parts and plan to put it back together. I have all the AC equipment, guages, etc. to recharge and pressurize the system, I have just never done it. Since the condenser was completely removed, do I need to add the oil and refrigerant, or can I just add the refrigerant that has oil in it. According to the Pelican Parts website, the complete system takes 8oz of ND8 oil, and 30 oz of 134a refrigerant. When I come to the ordering part of the same website, they show 3 different viscosities of PAG oil, 46, 100, 150. I don't know what happens when that condenser is removed. I assume that the body shop practiced proper techniques for CA, and that they evacuated the system and captured the 134a. Now, does that mean that all the oil is gone too, or just the refrigerant, or both? Like I said, I am a newbie to AC systems, but, it doesn't seem overly complicated to me, I just would like a little bit of advice on where I should start. I have taken apart engines and transmissions and rebuilt them, I have just never gotten into AC Systems, so, I just need a shove in the proper direction. I don't want to add too much oil, obviously, as that's most likely the worst thing I could do. So, experts, what say you? If I was to go ahead and reinstall the radiator and the condenser, and get everything buttoned up nicely, how would I go about recharging the system? Thanks, Brian, from Orange County, CA