JFP in PA

Unfortunately, this is a common sign of wear on the chain pads between the cams, which requires replacing the pads and retiming the cams:

The factory fluid is the way to go with these gearboxes. I would change the fluid and see how the gearbox responds; if you still have the second gear issue, I would be looking at the detent.

First of all, these transmissions are very sensitive to the lubricant used; over the years, we have had numerous cars come into the shop with everything from noise complaints to poor shifting issues (particularly in the cold), and for the most part everyone was cured by thoroughly draining the lube out of the gearbox and then refilling with the factory fluid. Most people do not realize that Porsche factory lube, which is a full synthetic, is produced to Porsche specs, and does not conform to aftermarket product specs. At one time, we inquired of several major lube companies if they had an exact match product, and were uniformly told that, “No, Porsche uses a unique specification lubricant, and the brand market is too small for us to produce a similar product.” That said, even the factory fill cannot correct existing wear issues, or mechanical issues. Second gear pop out is a well known problem which can often be corrected by installing an updated detent part like the Gbox fix.

You will be happy with the Stant stuff, some of mine is over 30 years old and still work like new. Never hurts to buy quality, especially with tools. Amazon is always a great source of both parts and tools.

First of all, welcome to RennTech The clutch is either slipping or it isn't; there are no in between on this. Regardless of why, you need to pull the car apart and look at it to see what kind of condition it is in. Then you will start the "while you are in there" items like the RMS, IMS bearing, and AOS unit; all items that would require either pulling it back apart down the road, or in the case of the AOS, several hours of tedious effort to replace a device that could have been done in about 5 min. while you had the trans out. Good luck.

Start by running voltage drop test across the primary battery cables. The cables and their ends can look great, but have internal corrosion in the cable itself which can lead to all sorts of problems. If you see more than 0.5V drop on any cable, it needs to be replaced. I would also load test the battery, just to be sure it is in good order.

Unfortunately, what you read online is a distillate; you only see the small number of complaints, not the majority of those that are happy with their choices. As long as the vehicle has been appropriately serviced and not had the living Hell beat out of it, you will probably be fine. Early PDK issues were mostly software and/or abuse related; once Porsche got the software issues corrected, the PDK has proven to be reliable.

Sorry, but some do exactly that. You can test a given model by locking the car and arming the security system. Wait about five min. and unlock the door with key fob, but don't touch anything. If it has the feature, it will relock the car and arm the security system all by itself after a few min. have passed.

Welcome to RennTech Double (or multiple) posting and "bumping" previous post are not allowed under the rules of the forum you agreed to when you joined. Please be patient, and if one of the board moderators or members knows of a workable solution, they will respond.

I think you are mixing things; The air powered Maddox cooling system tool is for filling the system under vacuum. While it will indicate the presence of leaks as a loss of vacuum, it is not useful for locating them, for that you need to be able to pressurize the system to its rated level, and then look for wherever coolant is coming out. This can be accelerated by adding a UV dye to the coolant, which will glow when hit with UV light, a common shop procedure. As for where Maddox tools are made, Maddox tools is one of many registered trademarks of Harbor Freight (details here: https://trademarks.justia.com/870/58/maddox-87058197.html) I think the Maddox you are thinking of is Maddox Metal Works, Dallas, which produce equipment for the food processing, aerospace & defense, oil field & steel mill equipment and other industries (http://www.maddoxmetalworks.com/aboutus.htm). As for where Harbor Freight sources their tools, they state "All of our tools are designed and built in partnership with the same factories that many of our top leading competitors use." In reality, if you order three or more of these tools from HF, you get a complimentary order of Dim sum. 😱

The one from harbor freight is cheaper for a reason, it is not well made as the Stant, but the choice is yours.

We have used the Stant pressure testing system for many, many years; well made and they are constantly adding new adaptor's. The one to fit your Boxster is actually listed as a VW unit, part number 12016, Amazon sells them :

Sorry, but a a lot of hybrid electric motors are not 'field serviceable", meaning they have to go back to the manufacturer for just about anything other than software updates to the control system. As the result, no parts are available because they don't want them taken apart in the field. Used electric motors out of a suitable wreck is possible, but a great degree of caution and some specialized equipment may be needed to complete the swap as the vehicle's electric system carries enough amperage to severely injure or even kill someone that does not have expertise with them, or the right safety equipment.

My pleasure. Loren originally set up this site to provide both solid technical information, and perhaps more importantly, a place were knowledge could be shared, in order to help all members learn more about their vehicles and systems, so that they as owners could both take care of them and get the most enjoyment from them. It has always been our pleasure and a privilege to help those who wish to gain and apply that knowledge. 😉

Like oil, how fast a coolant breaks down depends upon several factors, including how and where a car is driven, and the condition of the cooling system (existing corrosion levels, etc.) when the fresh coolant was added, so each vehicle can be different. Realistically, most coolants tend to be on a downward curve at about 5-6 years, and a candidate for replacement. But the inherent variability is why you check and test things. Acids attack metals, and tend to attach softer metals like aluminum faster that hard metals like steel; so the presence of a hot, acidic solution running through an alloy engine is not a good thing. Most people also forget that the cooling fins in radiators (and oil to water oil coolers) are thin aluminum, which can quickly corrode through and give you leaks.

We always used distilled water, which we purchased from a local super market for about a buck a gallon. Problem with using tap water is the minerals it contains, everything from sodium to calcium (from the hardness), and even some other metal ions, all of which are bad for the coolant long term, and both lead to corrosion and coolant breakdown. Starting with fresh coolant and distilled water, which is what Porsche always recommended, keeps the system clean and the coolant working longer. There are a lot of really good coolants out there; Porsche's factory stuff is excellent, but even in the aftermarket products like Prestone, Zerex, Peak, and Pentosin are all excellent products, and there are even store brands like NAPA's Long-life all types coolant are also a good choice. Most are silica free, advanced OAT technology products, which are designed for modern alloy engines. Sticking with the factory stuff is usually a very safe bet.

Porsche released a technical bulletin on this code, entitled "Complaint - Red Hybrid Warning Message Appears in the Instrument Cluster: Performing Guided Fault Finding Before Doing Any Other Work (106/19)", which cautions against making decisions on replacing the electric motor for this exact code until "As soon as at least one of the specified fault codes is stored as a passive fault in the fault memory, always perform guided fault finding using the PIWIS Tester before doing any other work in order to avoid incorrect repairs – in particular, replacing the electric motor unnecessarily." I would ask them if they have followed these guidelines before making their determination. Good luck.

Antifreeze is a lot like oil, it has an additive package that controls pH, inhibits corrosion, and lowers the surface tension of the mixture. And like oil, these additive packages break down over time and exposure to heat and metal surfaces, which is why the term "lifetime" antifreeze is a joke. The pH of antifreeze solutions will buffer at a slightly basic pH, over time as the additive's break down, the pH range will shift to slightly acidic, which is not good, particularly in light alloy castings like most modern engines. pH and refractometer freeze points are typically independent of each other, the pH comes from the buffer system in the additive package, the freeze point comes from the glycol concentration. The only time they both move in one the same bad direction is when the pH becomes so acidic that it starts to break down the glycol, the pH drops, and the freeze point rises. This is why we tested for both. A hydrometer is testing for specific gravity, which is exactly what the refractometer is doing as changes in solution densities tends to bend the light in a prism more, which is how you get the reading. Physical chemistry 101....... Check the pH and use the refractometer 😉 And to comment on antifreeze premixes; I prefer to mix my own because I do not know the water quality of the pre mix, and that matters.

On the bottom right side, you can see the zero C line (your unit is calibrated in C, you can also get them in F, which is more convenient): When a drop of pure water is placed on the prism, the blue line would be at the 32 F degree line, meaning the test fluid will freeze at that temp. A 50/50 mix of distilled water and antifreeze would put the blue line around -50 to -60F. Note you have two antifreeze scales, one for ethylene glycol, the other for propylene glycol based coolants, so you need to know which type you are using to get the correct scale value. This is the PDF manual for the Robinair 75240 model I own, which tells you how to calibrate and use the unit: https://www.robinair.com/sites/default/files/75240.pdf I've had mine for literally decades, and it does the job every time.

Get a coolant refractometer, uses one drop of fluid and is deadly accurate. Amazon sells them for around $20 or so, and you can get pH test strips for a few bucks for a jar holding 20-30 that also only need one drop. You don't always need zillion dollar tools to do the job correctly. 😉

We would also visually inspect several things, like the brakes for thin pads, worn rotors, etc.; freeze point pH and clarity of the coolant; moisture level in the brake fluid, wiper blade condition and washer fluid level, oil level and condition, any fluid leakage (oil, coolant, power steering, brakes), abnormal tire tread wear and tread depth, exterior light functions (do they all work), and signs of physical damage like dents or rust on the lines under the car or the exhaust system. All this takes just a few moments to do, but can prevent the owners from getting stranded or stopped because a brake light is out.

If you had any pronounced vacuum leaks, your air/fuel ratios would go haywire, and eventually your computer would reach the end of its enrichment capability, both of which would trigger codes.

Your photo happens to be the exact digital manometer I use, bought off of Amazon for about $35-40 at the time. Only one tube needs to be connected the the vacuum source, the other functions as an atmospheric pressure reference that you are measuring the vacuum level against. I also used a Porsche oil fill cap, but did it a bit more elegant than the one in your photo; I purchased brass barbed bulkhead fittings of Amazon and use O-rings on each side to seal it. As every car out there has an oil fill cap, you can make up as many vehicle specific testers as you need. To test, you need to first make sure the vehicle is thoroughly warmed up, testing it just after a 15 to 20 min. drive is optimal. The reason for this is you will get some erratic data if the engine is not warm in in normal running condition. The test sequence is simple and quick: Connect the manometer to the engine and turn the manometer on; set the units scale to inches of water, zero it if it has that capability, then start the car and let it run for about 1 min. to let the manometer stabilize, take your reading. Yes, Jake did develop a "better mousetrap" AOS, but it never saw the light of day, and not for reasons of cost, or because it did not work. If memory serves, Jake discovered that third part emission's hardware manufacturers are required to submit their devices for independent testing, at their own cost. The testing takes a lot of time, and is expensive as Hell, and once you passed you had to get very expensive liability protection for it as you could be held responsible for damaging the environment, and fined millions of $ if it failed. Net result was that it did not make any sense from an economic stand point as you would need to sell them for a lot of money in hope of recovering your sunk costs before you died of old age. Sometimes, the laws designed to protect the environment totally suffocates innovation …. 😬

Glad you got it sorted 👍

Welcome to RennTech Couple of possibles: (1) A wiring issue causing the heaters to malfunction. (2) The reflash itself. A lot of people have experienced all sorts of weird DME issues after getting aftermarket reflashes done as these systems are quite often set up to try to eek out small power gains by trying to trick the basic DME engine control functions, everything from strange codes to blocking connection to the OBD II port. Returning the vehicle to the factory DME flash put an end to the problems.