KevinH90

I just finished swapping 8-way power seat bases into my 2000 Boxster. This added power adjustment of the fore and aft position and seat height. You can read about it here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/58080-full-power-seat-installation.html The driver's seat has the memory seat control box and I'm curious about installing the memory function to the seat. I've managed to source the used parts I need for a reasonable price, but before I start I'd like to be more certain of the procedure and avoid tearing the car apart. In the following paragraphs, I'll share what I've learned so far. Here's a picture of the control box: The large vertical socket (fourth from the left) is for the connector that controls the seat and mirror memory. The white connector in this picture fits in the socket: The two smaller black connectors to the left of the white connector fit in the bottom of the trunk release panel in the driver's door sill. One of the connectors has three pins and the other has four pins. You can see where they fit in this picture: Here's a top view of the control buttons: I think that installing the mirror control may require too much disassembly of the interior, so I think I will leave that for another time. However, based on this diagram, the seat memory looks to be almost plug and play. In this drawing, the schematic for the large white connector is on the left and the 3 and 4 pin black connectors are on the top right. I didn't show all of the connections in the white connector in order to keep the diagram simple. You can find the entire diagram on page EWD 79 of the Bentley Manual. It appears that 5 of the 7 wires on the two plugs in the control module go directly to the large white connector. Of the two remaining wires, one (brown) appears to be a ground and the other (red/black) appears to be power. The red/black wire appears to go to a bridge plug (BS 7 8/E12) in relay carrier below the dash board. The ground is supposed to to to MP 7 17/E9, but I'm not sure of that nomenclature. In addition, it appears that I may need to connect two of the wires in the white connector to power and ground. The white wire in position A4 is labeled system ground in the Bentley manual and the white/yellow wire in position A5 is labeled +5 Volts. What I would like to do is: 1. See if anyone has done this or has an electrical background and can review my research to confirm my thinking and approach. 2. Find close sources of power and ground that will work correctly and avoid having to remove interior trim and fish wires. If you can suggest an efficient approach to this project I will appreciate the help.

It wasn't exactly a new part - more precisely it was "new old-stock.". About four years ago I bought a box of maintenance items from someone who sold their Boxster and was selling the parts he didn't need at a discount. The items I bought included the ignition switch. I know it was at least 4-years old because I bought it in July 2011. There is no way to know how long he had it before he sold it to me. I was just thinking - I've used everything in that batch of parts except one oil filter and 4 spark plug tubes and the associated O-rings. I hope those will be OK when I need them.

Thanks JFP. I reached up behind the dash and pressing the back of the ignition switch turned the illumination off on the headlight switch. But, then it wouldn't light up when I turned the car on. I re-replaced the ignition switch and all is well. My inexperience prevented me from thinking that a new part could be defective. I thought that I may have damaged something when I removed the vent trim. I am as careful as I can be, but it took a bit of wrangling to get the trim off and on. At least I've learned not to start throwing parts at problems. A few years ago I probably would have bought a new headlight switch to see if that fixed the problem. Headlight switches are much more expensive than ignition switches.

The light switch on the dashboard in my 2000 Boxster is illuminated all the time. I think that it may be related to my recent replacement of the ignition switch. My ignition key would not come out of the ignition switch, so I replaced the electrical part with the Audi part. I used the replacement procedure that includes removing the left side vent trim piece that holds the ignition switch. This fixed the key-removal issue, but it seems like soon after I noticed that the ignition switch lighting was constantly on. Even when the car is totally off and locked, I can see the light switch illuminated. About a year ago, I added a set of litronic headlights with the self-leveling feature. I've seen some posts that indicate that the litronics may add some stress to the light switch causing it to fail. So, that could be a contributing factor. Before I start throwing parts at the problem by changing the light switch, I'm wondering whether anyone else has had a similar problem and found the solution. Also, are there any options other than the Porsche part? Thanks

The folks on the 986 forum are asking too: http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/49050-headlamp-unit-seal/ Sounds like a business opportunity.

Mike, I've seen some folks on Boxa.net indicate that they have had problems reading the chip when they used certain programmers other than the GQ-4X. You can read about it here: http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=62435 It has been a long time since I did this, but I remember that I had to swap the bits that I read from the chip. I have attached the full instructions.

After some procrastination, I finished installing my seat. The YouTube video shows how to hook up the power. A board member on the 986 Forum also provided a diagram. You can find that here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/58080-full-power-seat-installation.html I took a slightly different approach by using one of the black 5-connector plugs that another board member sold me. I still had to figure out the backrest control. If you look at the picture of the control unit in my first post, you can see that the socket at the far left (backrest control) is empty. I did not have that plug for that socket in the unit I bought. The seller left it attached to the seat back which I didn't buy. (The backrest was in very poor condition and I didn't want to pay to ship it. I also used the seat bottom from my existing seat.) I had to use the wiring that was already in the seat. I cut this connector and the two wires attached to it from the control of my two-way seat: I used the red and brown wires that remained to power all of the seat motors. I stripped about a quarter inch of insulation from the end of the wires: Then I crimped on two connectors: The crimp-on connectors fit on the terminals in the blank spot on the control panel: When you orient the control unit so that the backrest control is on the right as in this picture, the gray wire with the green stripe is in the front and the gray wire with the black stripe is in the rear. If you put it in the opposite way, the backrest control operates in reverse of what it should. You then just plug the connector into the existing connector in the two-way power seat bottom. The existing harness provides power for the motor, so you don't need to make any changes there. Overall, this was a nice improvement and makes the car feel more refined. The height and distance adjustments are much easier to make than with the manual controls. (The manual height adjuster was particularly clumsy.) One oddity is that the backrest now operates in steps rather than continuously. It is not a big deal since I don't usually make big adjustments.

Loren is usually right, so with great reluctance I have to respectfully disagree. I don't think a 2001 cluster will work in a 2000 Boxster. There are two styles of cluster in the 986's. An "early" and a "late" style. The 1997-00 Boxsters can only use the early style, and the 2001-04 Boxsters can only use the late-style. You can easily tell the difference between the two by the color and shape of the connectors on the back of the gauge cluster. Early-style clusters have a blue, white and black connector. Late-style clusters have connectors that are grey, blue and green. The two different types of clusters are not interchangeable. You can reprogram a cluster from another Boxster or swap in a cluster from a 200-2001 996. Here are general instructions for the 996 swap: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/90-ELEC-996_Cluster/90-ELEC-996_Cluster.htm I have attached programming instructions for the cluster. Working with the EPROM on Porsche Boxster - illustrated - old and new style clusters.docx

I've driven the car about 150 miles since my last post. I'm not smelling hot oil anymore, but there was a white, fine-grit deposit on the back of the car. (It noticed it because it was making the view from the backup camera look cloudy.) I washed it off on Saturday, but it was back after I drove 30 miles to work today. I thought it might be leaking coolant, but the level in the tank is fine. It seems to be coming from under the engine since it is lightly coating the bottom of the bumper. I cannot be sure, but it does not appear to be coming from the exhaust. Any ideas about the source?

He replaced several O rings. I'll ask him if he replaced the one on the oil cooler.

I've been chasing after some oil leaks in my 2000 Base Boxster with just under 101k on it. In previous efforts, I had the RMS and the oil filler tube replaced. That slowed things down, but it was still leaking. I have also replaced two of the spark plug tubes and their associated O-Rings when I found oil in them during spark plug replacement. Today, I had the following work done: R&R Intake Manifold Plenum - this included replacing various O Rings, Clamps, RTV, etc. under the plenum. I also had the following major parts replaced: 99617401571 - Crankcase Vent Valve, 99610327257 - Breather Hose, 99610716401 - Breather Hose. The mechanic who did the work told me that there was oil deposited on the top of the engine and several O-rings and clamps were leaking. I'll keep checking to see if this solved the problem.

If you have a 2000, I think that your display has LCD's instead of LED's. If that is the case, than the programming process is the one I used when I installed a 996 cluster in my Boxster and simpler than the one required for the later clusters. I tried three or four sources for cluster repair and didn't find anyone willing to repair a cluster. They all told me that they couldn't get the parts. So, I'm afraid I cannot be of much help there. If I was in your shoes, I would buy a used cluster with good LCD's. The cluster can be from a 1997-2000 Boxster or a Carrera up to model year 2001. You will only be using the circuit board, and the Boxster and the Carrera have the same circuit board. If you locate a cluster, feel free to send me a link to the ad and I can confirm whether it is the right one. It is pretty easy to tell. The early-style clusters like the one you need have blue, white and black connectors on the back. Late-style clusters have connectors that are grey, blue and green and won't work on your car. Then, I would put an ad on Craigslist or a similar site and see if you can find someone with experience programming EPROM's. (Since you live near Palo Alto, you have a good chance of finding one due to the concentration of electronics firms.) They should be able to follow the instructions I provided and reprogram the replacement circuit board for you. If you don't want to take on the job of removing and installing the cluster, a mechanic should be able to do it in about an hour. Good sources for used clusters include eBay and the Porsche websites. The guy who posted this thread: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/52469-parting-out-whole-lot-boxsters-31.html is very good to deal with and has reasonable prices. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

I attempted to repair one of the older-style clusters with the LCD display. The shops I contacted said the LCDs were not available from the manufacturer. (The gauges are manufactured by VDO.) I ended up re-programming another circuit board with good LCD's. You can read about that here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/43017-carrera-gauge-swap.html I am not as familiar with the LED clusters and don't know for certain whether replacement LEDs are available. Hollywood Speedometer and Palo Alto Speedometer are reputed to be good repair shops for VDO gauges. I suggest you search for their contact information and see what they say. If those shops cannot help, I think you have two options: (1) Reprogram a cluster or circuit board with good LEDs or (2) remove good LED's from another circuit board and have them soldered on yours. I have attached the programming instructions if you choose to pursue that option. Working with the EPROM on Porsche Boxster - illustrated - old and new style clusters.docx

Easy: While the OEM filter is much larger in physical size, it is also much coarser in terms of the filter media pore diameter as well, which allows a lot more fine material through the filter and back into your engine. The NAPA Gold spin on has nearly a third smaller pore diameter in its media, which stops particulates that would pass through the OEM filter. And as Ahsai has also already mentioned, the spin on is a "full flow" design, which does not have a bypass like the OEM filter, so all the oil is filtered all the time, and failed bypass valves are a real issue with the OEM setup. As for physical size or surface area, that is not the critical measure of an oil filter, what you should be looking at is efficiency (how many gallons per hour of oil the filter can the filter handle, and how good is it at stopping particulate matter); and in those categories the spin on wins hands down (it is rated well in excess of the volume of oil your engine can actually pump, and with a third smaller media pore diameter it will stop a lot more than the OEM unit). Some like to argue that without a bypass and with smaller pores, the spin would clog up faster than the OEM and shut off the oil flow in the case of a catastrophic engine failure, which is actually irrelevant as in that case the engine is already toast and would need to come apart anyway, regardless of which filter is on it, and running it longer with circulating debris is just going to make a bad situation a lot worse.. We have a lot of customers running the spin on filters, and we cut open every filter on every oil change, regardless of filter types. We also offer UOA for every oil change to our customers as well, and many make use of that service with each change so that the owners have records of how their engine's have been doing over time. Which style filter you use is not a matter of hype, the spin on is better hands down, particularly if you also run a FilterMag unit on the outside of it, which passes every drop of oil in the engine through a strong magnetic field as it passes through the filter. Why does Porsche persist in using inferior technology when a fairly simple process for improvement is available? I would have thought that their substantial staff would be aware of this information and be eager to make an upgrade. Is it a cost factor or is the paper cartridge in a reusable plastic canister the response to a recycling issue? I guess they are avoiding having a substantial amount of metal being added to the waste stream by doing it this way.

I ran into the same challenge when I was refurbishing some litronic headlights for my Boxster. It wasn't that difficult to open the headlight and replace the wiring harness. If you are thinking of fixing the wiring yourself or want to provide guidance to a repair person, you can find instructions here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54697-advice-used-litronics.html

Mine goes to 5 until the oil warms up and flows more freely. That makes sense to me since the colder oil presents more resistance to flow and thus the pressure is higher.

I have attached a pdf with all of the information I have on programming the Boxster cluster. Unfortunately, I am less familiar with the LED-style cluster so I don't know the answer to your question. When programming the cluster in my car, I did swap in the VIN from the old cluster and I didn't have a problem with the OBC. Since your new cluster has the VIN from the donor car, it is possible that it is causing a problem when the DME sends data to the cluster. I am not absolutely certain that is your problem. It seems like the wiring is OK since the OBC worked with the old cluster. If you know someone who is handy with an EPROM programmer, you could swap the VIN and be sure. I have not disassembled an LED cluster. Is it possible to swap the circuit board from your old cluster or is the broken oil-level display attached to the board? Working with the EPROM on Porsche Boxster - illustrated - old and new style clusters - minimum.pdf

Is it possible that the bulb behind the OBC display is burned out or not seated properly? What is the model year of your Boxster?

Thanks for your reply. I'm planning to splice into the wires before they go to the block as well. Thanks for for letting me know that worked for you. My situation is a little different from yours. I don't have the entire seat - the seat back was heavily damaged and I bought just the base. I'm planning to use the seat back and seat cushion from my two-way seat. I have the base hooked up to a computer power supply and I have it working. I connected the power supply as shown in the You Tube video, but I was able to source a plug instead of using the 5 separate connectors. From left to right in this picture, the connectors are: Seat back recline Up/Down Not Used Forward/Back Control Power That does match exactly what I determined based on my Internet German translation. The biggest concern is that the seat back recline control seems to act in reverse. That is, when I push it forward, the seat back mechanism reclines and when I push it back it moves forward. Also, the two-way seat I have now must use a different mechanism for reclining the seat since there is no motor in the base. I think the only option I have now is to disassemble my two-way seat, hook everything up and see if it works.

I rolled over 100k last night. I bought the car used with 30k on the clock. I've put about 8k on it per year.

Thanks - You are obviously a more skilled researcher than I am. I have used some VW, Mercedes and Audi parts on my seat-heater, variable intermittent wiper, and Carrera gauge cluster projects. The part numbers were identified in the DIY instructions and I didn't have to find them myself. I found the Mercedes parts department staff at the local dealer to be very friendly and helpful. A member on the 986 Forum sold me some parts he had removed from a car he had prepared for racing. They look similar, but not identical. So, if they don't work I will be trying your suggestion next. Right now, I only have the base with parts for converting the driver's seat. But, I may have a source for inexpensive parts for the passenger seat.

This is a connector for the motors in an 8-way power seat in a 986 or 996. I found this diagram showing the part, but it does not have a separate part number. It appears to be considered part of the seat motors (part number 7.) The plug goes into this control module that fits under the seat: Please contact me with price and availability. Thanks

I have the driver’s side seat bottom to a full power seat and I’m planning to install it in my 2000 Boxster that has the basic two-way power seat. (“Two-way” apparently means that the seat back moves forward and backward. Everything else is manual.) I decided to do this because I am regularly taking 100-mile trips in the car and I’d like to vary my seating position more frequently. I received a fair deal on the seat bottom. Unfortunately, the seat back was in bad condition so I decided to buy just the bottom and save shipping cost on the back. Apparently the tricky part is the wiring. Here is a YouTube video I found on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ztXTTpGGo This is pretty good information, but I have a few special problems because I don’t have the seat back or the wiring that goes to it. Also, the seller had to disassemble the seat to ship it and the connectors were not attached to the memory module when I received it. So, I have to figure where each connector goes. Here is a picture of what I have with my best guess at connector location: If you look closely, starting on the left, the first 6 connections are labeled in German. I think I have been able to translate it pretty well, but if anyone else is better at German, please feel free to correct me. 1 – Lehne – Rest (back rest) - currently not occupied because I don't have the backrest 2 - Höhe hinten – height rear 3 - Höhe vorne - height front 4 – Langs – length – (front/aft seat adjustment) 5 – Tastatur – Keypad - Blue/Black connector seems to fit here - assume it connects to the seat controls 6 – Spannungs versorgung – power supply - this seems to be the location that the tech uses in the YouTube video. From what I have been able to gather from research on several forums, the memory controller in the driver seat is what controls the servo motors; i.e. when you push an adjustment button, the button talks to the memory controller, and the controller instructs the motor to move. So, unfortunately its not as simple as just plugging the seat into power. That is why the YouTube video shows the technician making a jumper. So, I'm planning to hook the power up to socket #6 and then I'm going to have to figure out how to power the seat recline function. I'll probably need to look closely at the connector in my current seat and figure out how to adapt it to the memory controller. I'm assuming that the seat recline function is controlled by socket #1. Ultimately, I think I will need to hook the seat up to a power source and do some trial and error. Here are my questions - your responses may save me some time: 1. Does anyone have a good basic diagram for wiring the seats? (The YouTube video helps a bit, but I work better from a diagram.) 2. Does anyone know what size/part number for the connectors that the tech used to make the jumper? 3. Does anyone know where the motor that controls the seat-back recline function is located on a 2-way power seat? I'm assuming it is at the base of the seat back, but I'd like to confirm this before I disassemble the two-way seat in my car. 4. Any other tips or suggestions? Here are the other threads that I have been able to locate that touch on this topic: Installing full power seats Full Electric Seats Electric Seat Retrofit 2000 3.2S? As you will see, some of the poster offered to post diagrams, but I haven't been able to find them. By the way, here is a picture of the seat bottom from the sellers ad. It may help someone with sharp eyes assist me: __________________

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/91-ELEC-turn_signal_switch_-_OBC_upgrade/91-ELEC-turn_signal_switch_-_OBC_upgrade.htm Here's a link to the instructions for the OBC upgrade.

Check out this thread on the Pelican 986 forum: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/boxster-cayman-forum/848710-head-lamp-advice-1999-986-a.html#post8460771 The theory is that European regulations required biodegradable wiring during the 90's. These articles appear to provide some support for that theory. http://www.prestigeimports.net/are-rodents-chewing-the-wiring-in-your-porsche-or-audi/ http://rennlist.com/forums/porsche-cayenne-forum/733521-brittle-wiring-insulation.html I personally had to rewire a litronic headlamp from a 99 Carrera. The insulation was dried up and cracked as described by the OP and was just flaking off. Although his car is a 2000 model, it may have the biodegradable wire insulation especially if it had a build date in 99.