Charlestonboxster

Excellent work Albert! I put a lot of work into customizing my system, and can sympathize with the work required! Smart idea on the sub, I though of that too, but with dual 6.5" long throws, tell, me, is there still adequate room for 3.5" coaxes next to the 8" in there, for rear soundstage fill in? Congrats on the good $ sale on ebay, and well worth it to the new owner, I'm sure. Question: I unfortunately totalled my 986 4 weeks ago, but stripped/kept the entire sound system (see signature) I'm considering parting it out for sale or selling it in one kit, I was wondering about your door baffles, would they take a standard 6.5" door speaker, and what is the depth limit for that speaker? Reason I ask is if I sell my 3 way JL audio front state system, with the door mid bass speakers, your drop in baffles may be a good alternative to the standard custom cut wood baffle method that is frequently done. The benefit to that is the entire door space/volume/area (when well selaed) is the area the mid bass speaker uses to develop quality 120hz + mid bass, instead of a smaller box, but your boxes drop in convenience is a great compromise. Thanks for replying, on the size and depth aspect of what can fit in your box, and also, if you have them for sale or reporductions for sale, peraps the buyer of my front sound stage system could combine your boxes with my 6.5"s for a simpler door install then the custom baffles. And...anyone interested in parts or all of my sound system, including the head unit and xm/sirius connector, please email or PM me or post, I have many photo's and original manuals of every component, many many hours of research, consultation and work were done on choosing and building it, and I would sell it, regretfully, but also very reasonably. The custom foberglass 8" deep throw double voice cil 200 watt RE Audio Footwell sub is astounding (but takes space), and the front stage is about as good as you can get, German made JL 3 ways, complete with black dash speaker grills and screws, just wire em and drop em in replacing yours, etc..... 5 channel amp, crossovers, entire black carpeted rear enclosure with 3.5" Boston Acoustic coaxes all available. Also have the mesh rear seat covers, a leather bra, and top quality car cover available. Regards, Tony

On the right side, I had to grind down a bolt by about i/8th of an inch. FYI: MY entire audio system is for sale, If anyone is interested, or spread the word, I unfortunately totalled my car (see 100k+ thread) but kept the audio and willing to sell this complete turn key system very reasonably, want to see it go to a good home.

Alas, my dear beloved 1998 986 was at 98k and going along great, bought it in 2006 with 65k, and unfortunately totalled her 2 weeks ago. Thought I'd have her for life. Long story short, was cut off, hit and slid up on a cement curb, car slid a ways on it, insurnace declared totalled due to underframe being bent all the way, requiring major structural work. Not to add a sorry story to this string of great stories, ut to add that, just to add, like like most of you, I was pouring on the miles without any major problems and enjoying the heck out if this wonderful car. Have since scaled down $ wise and gone the used Mercedes E320 way, which is better for by Real Estate Business, but BOY do I miss my boxy, especially with the temp warming up here in Charleston. Sigh. But there will come a time when I"ll get another one, had a 1977 911s, not a 98 986, ot's in my blood....:) I did well with the insurance company, kept the salvage comensation amount and sold her off myself to a local Porsche specialist shop, Autometrix here in Charleston, that's owned by racing fans, they are going to fix it and use her as a track car, around the South East. So she is in good hands and will back on the road, ionstead of scrapped for metal. On another note, please see my signature, I did get to keep my entire audio system, which is a very advanced installation, and I have the entire system ready to sell at a reasonable price. It's almost turn key, with all components, inlcuding the difficult to reporduce custom made dash speakers with high end JL Audio german version 3 ways (with door 6") Subwoofer is fantastic too, and 5 chanel amp an easy install. Rear enclosure is black, as is carpet cover ofer the sub enclosure. If you know anyone looking for a complete audio upgrade, send them to me, to do this system form scratch would be $2k+ I"ll keep in touch on the board, and for those clicking over 100k, happy miles!!!!!! TOny Schimek in Charleston tschimek@carolinaone.com

Excellent, thank you Maurice.

Getting close to 100, 95k on my 98, owned since 65k, only minor things so far, a joy to drive and enjoy daily!

Great News Bill!!!! The smoke from an AOS failure is temporarily heart stopping, as you (and I) have experienced, so the easy fix is great news, happy motoring! Tony

Progress report: Removed access panel, and removed plastic tray after figuring out there was one last middle area bolt...not easy when car is barely jacked a few inches, a few cracked parts, but it will go back on fine. Yes, the plastic tray had a lot of coolant dripping form it, both wet and perhaps dried. From below, the entire area on the bottom and surrounding the water pump has what appears to be coolant spray. The Y hose & screw clamp have drips and remnants of coolant on their underside, but don't seem to be perforated. From above/interior panel, all seems fine, I can see the serpentine belt needs to be removed to remove the water pump. I'm now at the stage where I'm wondering if I should: 1- Run the engine a short while and see of coolant is indeed leaking from below the water pump? or 2- Just remove the water pump and diagnose further. If 2...how do I tell if the water pump is the cause of leakage? Worn gasket? Car is jacked up a few inches, right rear tire, with this in mind, is there a danger with oil flow if I run it for 10 seconds? It appears the water pump can be removed by removing the serpentine belt, and about 5 bolts, asides form making sure I clamp the one hose leading out of it, are there any other hoses or aspects I should be aware of before trying to remove the water pump? I see in the middle photo above that a larger hose and clamp, just below/close to the water pump hose/clamp, have been removed, wonder if I should/need to do this too for convenience/access. Thanks guys, Tony

Gentleman, Thank you gratefully for the guidance, I'm off to Autozone for the plier/clamps, and will report back on further diagnosis. Just a quick question, is it ok to start the engine briefly (to check leakage location) while the right rear wheel is jacked up? Tks, Tony

Here are a few other photo's where it seems the problem might be.

1998 2.7 with 95k miles As I entered my driveway, I noticed steam type smoke coming out of the rear...then the coolant temp light came on, I immediately drove in the garage and stopped the car. A trail of leaked coolant stretched for about a hundred yards down the street. Coolant continued to leak I guess as steam type smoke, smelled of steaming coolant, came from below the car on the passenger side mostly, and from the side vent. I let the car cool down, it continued to steam a bit out of the side vent mostly, for almost a half hour, as the engine cooled down or leak stopped. I checked the Coolant tank, it's close to empty but still a bit left in the bottom. Note: I replaced the cracked coolant tank myself a year ago, and the cap at the same time. I removed the carpet and the coolant tank is fine, as are the hoses on the tank side. I checked in the engine bay at the rear firewall where the tank comes out, all 3 hoses on that side seem to check ok, and no wetness or leaks there or around those hoses. The coolant seems to have leaked from somewhere near the bottom of the engine, as it was dripping from the plastic protector panel under the engine when I looked. I filled the tank back up, and a bit started dripping again at the bottom of the engine area, but only a few drops. The coolant tank has stayed pretty much full, so I suspect it's the pressure with the engine running that caused leaking wherever the fault is. I did start the engine for a second and turned it off again, it dripped just a bit more from the same area. I do not want to start the engine again unless I get an ok from this board that it's safe, to test. If anyone can help me diagnose the most likely source of leakage, be appreciated. I read over numerous past threads, even one of my own when I replaced my tank, all seem to address tank, or firewall area hoses or the water pump, but not leakage somewhere else. Here is a picture of a hose in the area where dripping seems to be occurring, you can see an orange drop under the shield, perhaps it's leaking either from this hose part, or the metal part to the left of this hose, where this hose connects. On that metal engine part, I did see a few drops on the bottom of that part. I'm trying to upload a few other pics, but having photobucket/slow internet problems. Could it be the water pump? I thought this pump was near the firewall, and the leak "seems" to be from the bottom of the engine, right above where the plastic shield is. There are small weep holes in this shield and the coolant gathered up in this shield and dripped from the weep holes. Lot's of steam came out, so I wonder if it's not more serious then just a hose or the part near the bottom. Car is presently jacked up by the passenger wheel, coolant tank is full, not leaking at the moment, I'm concerned about starting to engine to test, and also assume I should not start the engine with the car jacked up, due to oil flow. Any and all help appreciated, to help diagnose what hose or gasket or part may be the cause, thanks!! Tony

HUGE Richard. I'm hopeful this is the issue. Thanks very much! Bill I'm not mechanically inclined, and did the AOS replacement myself following Mike Focke's instructions, lots of scraped knuckles and a long afternoon, but did it. Hope that's what's wrong, and not major engine trouble. Read below for diagnosis: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement Sidenote: If I were to do it over, I'd pay a few hundred plus parts to have it done, rather then do it myself.

HUGE Richard. I'm hopeful this is the issue. Thanks very much! Bill I'm not mechanically inclined, and did the AOS replacement myself following Mike Focke's instructions, lots of scraped knuckles and a long afternoon, but did it. Hope that's what's wrong, and not major engine trouble. Read below for diagnosis: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/airoilseparatorreplacement

I have a custom 8" sub that was built by Jamey Rawlings who used to be with Paris Audio...It sounds awesome and I pound the h*ll out of it...e.g. mirrors vibrating, punchy bass (on the right song), seats vibrating, etc. It's really amazing. On the install, basically I drilled a screw right through the back of the speaker box into the floor board. E.g. remove the drive to access in the inside of the enclosure, drill the screw through, and replace the driver. Be careful not to use too long of a screw or you will go into the gas tank (not a problem unless you ever have to remove the gas tank or the the sub). Bhavesh Two very big thumbs up for Jamey Rawlings from me too, I consulted with him a lot when designing my system, he made door baffle boards for me and led me in the right direction in making my own sub box, similar to what he does. The 8" sub in the footwell is the real deal.

Uh, before anyone tries JBweld on this type of part, as soon as I tried to lift the top to put it back on temporarily, the "weld" failed. Guess this 2 part cold weld material does not work well for this, I am still not sure if it is aluminum or magnesium. Guys at Sunset don't know. Think it's alu, but tool pants think it might be mag. I am somewhat broke (not cheap, broke:) and trying to save on the cost of the part, if it's aluminum, local welder should be able to weld it easily, but if it's magnesium, the 4 welders I have called all won't touch it. Back to the drawing board. I think I will bring the part to the welder, ugh...car is my daily/only driver.