JFP in PA

It is much like building a ship in a bottle; patience is the critical tool.

I always go back to the last thing touched when codes sudden show up. As mentioned, P0455 is the "large leak" EVAP system code, which obviously includes the gas tank; one neat trick in this department: Jury rig a rubber stopper or something similar to replace the gas cap (we actually took a new cap, drilled and tapped a hole in it that we then screwed in a threaded fitting to connect to a vacuum gauge) and check for a steady low vacuum on the tank with the car idling. If it is intermittent, or non existent, or worse yet there is pressure, there is a leak somewhere that has to be tracked down. (Emphasis added) You can still have a loose connection on the O2 sensors as a vacuum leak is more prone to cause the car to throw overly lean O2 codes rather than a poor electrical connection code. Simply ingenious! Thanks for the tip. I'm going to add it to my limited diagnostic bag of tricks! :thankyou: Regards, Maurice. I have my moments; also did something similar for the oil fill to check the AOS.

Um, I am familiar with the oil seal arbors that Sir sells for Porsche, and to my knowledge they do not have the correct one for the PTFE RMS seal. Which arbor number did you purchase? I have the P250 tool. The seal fits nicely on the tool. That may be, but I think that tool is for the seal design prior to the PTFE seals used now; if it is, it will set the seal at the wrong depth, which is critical. I think you need to check with Sir to be sure it is machined to set the PTFE seal.

Um, I am familiar with the oil seal arbors that Sir sells for Porsche, and to my knowledge they do not have the correct one for the PTFE RMS seal. Which arbor number did you purchase?

Pedro, correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't your flow diagram show the oil to the DOF adaptor passing through the oil galleys on one cylinder bank before it reaches the adaptor in the lower portion of your diagram?

That is actually the point of the discussion, some use "just filtered oil" while others do not. And, perhaps more importantly, where is the oil coming from, and what other component's may be suffering as the direct result. While I do not want to encourage an online pissing contest between the designers of these systems, I do want car owners to stop and think about how these different designs function before spending their hard earned cash.......

Do you know if this is a common problem with Boxsters? I plan on taking it to my local porsche independent mechanic to have it checked. When you say expensive, how expensive are we talking about? Thanks for your reply, Gilbert Not common, but not unheard of either. The throttle body is about $300 or so at retail, the throttle pedal potentiometer is in the $100 or so range. You need to know which one is the problem before swapping out parts.

While continuous lubrication of the IMS bearing appears to be an attractive idea, you need to be careful here, there are considerable differences of opinion on where you can draw oil from to lubricate the IMS without causing other potential problems. Some of these opinions are based upon several years of testing different oil source locations and evaluating their impact on other engine components as well as the IMS bearing itself (e.g.: valve train components, etc.), other opinions are based upon considerably less real world data. Most people do not realize that the IMS bearing in the M96/97 is actually partially submerged in engine oil when the engine is not running, and that there is considerable oil volume that splashes up into the IMS area as the car goes through its normal running conditions. This is why many astute engine builders have recommended removing the rear seal on the 2005 and later engines as an option to extend the OEM bearing's life expectancy. Many owners of have followed this pathway with success. While pushing pressurized oil seems a logical idea, over the past several years, multiple people have experimented with the idea using different sources for the oil, and running the design for prolonged periods, both on the dyno and installed in cars. Some these experiments were obvious dead ends, while others were more promising. While spraying oil directly onto the rear of the bearing should offer both cooling and lubrication, unfortunately some methods of oil supply demonstrated the law of unintended consequences of new ideas. Some resulted in more dirt and debris getting into the bearings (which is not good), as well as accelerating wear in the areas of the engine the oil is sourced from (the valve train areas of these engines are already weak in the lubrication area, which is one of the reasons that abnormal lifter wear is common in the factory engines). Do some in depth research on this subject, and talk to the people that have done the development work before settling on the direction you choose. Just because something is new does not necessarily mean it is better...........

These cars have an electronic throttle set up, so it is often hard to access what the actual outcome is of a physical depressing of the pedal. The system uses a potentiometer on the pedal to send a signal to the DME, which responds by moving a servo motor at the throttle plate. Either could be the source of the issue, but because they are both expensive, you need to run diagnostics to determine what is going on. Best first move would be to hook the car up to a Porsche specific scanner (PIWIS or Durametric) and look at the actual throttle position data in response to throttle pedal movement. You can also scan the car for pending codes related to the egas system at the same time.

The old manual sets (986, 996, etc.) ran 13-15 volumes before they stopped printing them. The OBD II manual alone sold for over $1,300. The last Boxster set printed was 14 volumes and hundreds of pages, plus updates, diagrams, etc.. As I said, I do not believe that your model year service data exists in print, Porsche (like most OEM's) stopped printing all technical information around 2005-2006 and went electronic subscription only. The object of "per page" subscriptions is that they cost less than a $5K+ yearly access expenditure for whenever you need it.

Durametric is a little strange when it comes to alarm system diagnostics. Some model and years seem to have complete access, and other years or models have limited or partial access. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be an obvious pattern, you just have to plug it in and see what happens. I've read that Porsche may have sourced the modules in the cars from different sources (read manufacturers) which could be part of the issue. When Durametric suggests you create a file and send it to them, by all means do so. The system is a continuous "work in progress" as they try to figure out what Porsche has done now, so they are always playing catch up to some degree, and the data you send them is helping not only you, but every other user out there as well.

I'm not sure what the dealer quoted you on, as Porsche has not printed service manuals for any vehicles in several years. But back when they did print manuals, the price quoted would have been about right. PIWIS TSI is a subscription service with rates for time based (month, year) and by the page as well. The rates are listed on their website. RennTech does not condone or in any way support the "sharing" of copyrighted materials; either print or electronic, as that would be a violation of intellectual property rights. Requesting others to do so is also a violation of the terms of use you agreed to when you joined the forum.

Sounds correct.

If you are trying to save money, why not just leave the coils in it until they act up.

Item #34 in the attached exploded view:

Should not be an issue as long as your secure the excess wire out of harms way.

You'd be surprised at the amount of odds and ends you can get at decent pricing from Amazon.......

Stay with the OEM style filter; most of the claims for the aftermarket units are highly exaggerated and for the most part unsubstantiated .

The trans mounted B&M kit suffers from two known issues: First, it is very adjustable, so it ends up having one correct configuration, and an infinite number of wrong ones. Second, they are sometimes very hard to keep in the correct adjustment. These problems resulted in B&M stopping production of the trans mount design for the DIY market and going to the console replacement style, which is both durable and tends to hold its adjustments. The console mounted B&M shifter is the one most people comment about its notchy feel, and it is a simple install with a few hand tools without getting under the car.

You may want to check with your dealer, I think you should have one on the driver's side, not sure about the passengers.

Hi Paul, what was the final conclusion for you car ? Were there problems with the variocam ? You are replying to a six year old posting...................

Thanks Iogray for your reply. What was the solution to solve this, was the DME replaced ? Are there other indicators of a malfunction of the variocam besides the read-out at Porsche ? You should be able to read the VarioCam settings on the Durametric software as well. Thx JFP; At the PPI they didn't mention anything about a Durametric readout; I do not own such a kit. It was just written on the report the gave me - I didn't see the actual read-out. As I understand correctly from your answer; variocam errors are only noticable from digital read-outs ? There are no other indicators ? Often, but not always, a VarioCam fault will throw a code and trip the check engine light. Durametric is an excellent Porsche diagnostics software package that is widely used here.

Thanks Iogray for your reply. What was the solution to solve this, was the DME replaced ? Are there other indicators of a malfunction of the variocam besides the read-out at Porsche ? You should be able to read the VarioCam settings on the Durametric software as well.

With a good service record history, the car should be sound. To swap out the VarioCam unit or solenoid, it requires special tools (cam holding device) and removal of the cam cover on the side with the fault. This is not a difficult procedure, but it is a bit time consuming. As I do not have access to your local parts pricing, I would suggest asking your dealer's part department for pricing on both the VarioCam actuator and solenoid to get an accurate assessment of what it is going to cost.

VarioCam errors are often caused by blockage in the VarioCam unit's oil passages (they are very small and easily obstructed). Sometimes these codes are intermittent or momentary and then go away because they are triggered by a small bit of crud that got pushed out of the unit, other times if the problem keeps returning, it may be a sign of a failing unit (they are replaceable), a bad solenoid (also replaceable), or a poor maintenance history on the car (oil and filter not changed often enough, cheap oil used, etc.). You need to look at the car an its maintenance history more closely to see if there are signs of poor maintenance evident. If no history is available, walk away............