JFP in PA

Use the anti seize compound. Porsche wrote that warning because some anti seize compounds are electrical insulators, which is not a good thing on plugs. Fortunatley, most anti seize compounds sold in North America are metal paste types, which are fully electrically conductive, and can be used on plugs with no problems. Also put a dab of dielectric grease on the plug ceramic to aid in seal and removal of the coil packs in the future.

I would not touch the case bolts unless they are a problem (show signs of oil seepage). More often than not, fussing with them leads to more problems than it cures, and it is not necessary to loosen or remove them when doing an RMS. Most of the later M96/97 cars already have the longer case bolts in them, so changing them out really does nothing.

RFM is referring to the sleeve the thrust bearing slides on at the front of the gear box. They sometimes get worn and need replacing, but even if they are in good shape, should be lubricated during reassembly. Often over looked.............

The photo is from a Tip equipped car, which many internet resources will continue to tell you do not have IMS failures. No, you cannot see the IMS flange on a manual equipped car without removing the flywheel; there just isn't any room. On a Tip car, you can see the flange through the flex plate, but even then you are only a few bolts away from an unobstructed view. When we do a 2000-2001 car, we pull it apart and then look to see which style is in there. LN stopped allowing exchange returns due to the number of people that ordered the wrong style bearing based upon build dates, VIN numbers, or whatever other methods they found on the internet; all of which proved to be useless. There is simply no other way to do this, except by looking at the flange with the flywheel removed.

CA smog checks typically require a visual inspection of the engine bay for non CARB components.

I really would not be leaving a Boxster and instructions with someone that has never opened the engine bay before, the potential for screwing up everything from your convertible top to the rear body work is just too high. Either take to someone that knows how to do it, or learn how your self and do it for them. Too risky.............. :eek:

You should not be using electrical contact cleaner on the connectors for O2 sensors, that alone can permanently damage the sensor.

A quick question, you said this is a 2000 base Boxster, what scan tool are you using to read the codes you listed?

Anytime, let us know how you make out.

If the battery is below 12.6V, the battery is at least low and needs a recharge, or may need replacing. If the alternator is below 13.6 to 14.5V, the alternator or voltage regulator are bad.

If the system shorted internally, yes, what he describing could occur, but these incidents are rare. But I don't think that is your problem, which is most likely low voltage related. In either case, if you connected a voltmeter directly to the battery terminals (depending upon your model, you may have more than one battery), with the vehicle off you should see 12.6V; with the vehicle running, you should see between 13.6 and 14.5V.

What causes the OEM cables to fail is not the gauge or number of wires, but corrosion build up inside the cable and particularly the cable ends, which causes the internal resistance to go up. The replacement OEM cables designed to address this corrosion issue have something injected into them to retard the corrosion development over time. Welding cable is not treated in this manner and would probably do no better than the original cables.

Just be aware that some IMS fixes are well designed and thoroughly tested, others not so much; and you are betting your $17K engine on the product.

Good luck with this project, it is one that I do not envy. Keep track of what works to get the paper out and what does not, I'm sure someone else will do this again sometime, and you will have literally "written the book" on how to deal with it.

Yes, but you can also do it with a simple hand held volt meter.

It is, but it is also removable and replaceable without getting a new alternator.

Any educated guesstimations? ***** And on the other issue, I'm not having much progress/luck here. From the outset, I mentioned that "I see a lot of people refer to their cars as "2006 MY07". So if a car can have a buld date in 2006 and yet be called a MY07 - then the build year isn't the answer I'm looking for. I think i'm generally pretty good at articulating but maybe the issue is just so simple that people are missing the crux of my question. I just want to know what makes a car an MY07! and "build date" isn't really the answer if you can have both MY07's and MY06's built in Aug 2006. Is "MY07" written somewhere? I thought when "The original paperwork" was mentioned above, that that was the answer to the question and that it would therefore be somewhere in the books - and that therefore was the end of the question. NB: Does "running the VIN" mean via a dealer? I just want to know if there's a simple way you can know for yourself. I'm really not sure what you are attempting to accomplish, but people can say anything they want about their cars; however there is only one correct model year for any given vehicle, which typically listed on the title and registration for the car. If you have the 17 digit VIN for the car in question, you can enter it into Scouser's Porsche VIN Decoder (Documents tab at the top of the page), and it will break down what Porsche thinks the car is, which is pretty much exactly what I would expect the car's title would say. A dealer can also decode the VIN using a different software, but should come to the same results. The only people that have accurate data on the IMS failure rates is Porsche, and they are not talking. We have seen a few, but have no idea if that is representative of the entire population. Any number thrown out is pure speculation.

You need to have the alternator checked for out put, it may be as simple as a bad voltage regulator.

Are there any stats on how much lower? I think I need to clarify what I meant. ... "What lets you know a car is a MY07?" meant ... when buying a second hand 987 privately, what is the thing to look at to determine whether its a MY07? Is it the Servicebook? Something else? Is there any way to tell from a listing or do you need to look at the paperwork? There are no "hard" stats on the final IMS design as Porsche has continued to be tight lipped, so all the information is second hand. But they can and do fail. If you want to know what year Porsche thinks the car is, you need to run the VIN and/or find the build date.

Thanks again Ahsai!. What would have been the harm of it being driven after these happened? :cursing: It should create a major oil leak, with everything that entails. A larger question would be why it happened in the first place, these plugs simply do not fall out on their own.............. That sir is the real question. I do not know what would be the cause. I was at the track autocrossing, did a 360 and did not hit anything. Thats when this all happened. The oil pressure and levels dropped but not to significant levels. There were no alarms or CEL indications. It was drove off the track and retired for the day :( They are metal are they not? So I really don't know how or why it came out. No, they are synthetic rubber or plastic material (flexible) and held in by friction and the sump vacuum:

Thanks again Ahsai!. What would have been the harm of it being driven after these happened? :cursing: It should create a major oil leak, with everything that entails. A larger question would be why it happened in the first place, these plugs simply do not fall out on their own..............

For those that would like to know a bit more about the water pump issues on these cars, the May 2014 issue of Excellence has an in-depth explanation in the "Tech Notes" section, starting on page 36 in the letter titled "Anxious Pump Watcher". A good read........

+1, which is why the part counter guy at your dealer often asks for the car's VIN number, from that he knows exactly what is in the car, regardless of what anyone calls it.

The original paperwork determines the model year, as it is what the state uses to title the car. The M96 vs. M97 depends upon where your head is at; if the possibility of an IMS failure concerns you, a car that can be updated would be preferable. If you are comfortable living with the non-serviceable IMS lower but still persistent failure rates, then the M97 would be fine.

Sometimes when the IMS starts to beat itself to death, one of two things can happen that will cause oil leaks. There is a seal on the IMS bearing center bolt that fails, allowing oil to leak out. In extreme cases, the center bolt can even fail completely, allowing the nut with part of the center bolt to actually fall off and drop to the bottom of the bell housing, which will also allow the oil to leak out: