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Tool Pants

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Everything posted by Tool Pants

  1. Tool Pants
    You need to replace the switch for the parking brake. Remove the center console like you were going to put in a short shift. Search around for the B&M short shift install which shows how to remove the console. The switch is white with a black plunger on the top. When the brake lever goes up and down so does the plunger. You can see 2 switches in the picture as I was getting ready to swap the old with the new switch. Strange for your 2001 since Porsche started using the "improved" switch in July 17, 2000 for cars sold as model year 2001, unless you have an early 2001.
  2. Tool Pants
    This is the Cayman plastic tank in the engine compartment for those who have not seen it.
  3. Tool Pants
    The relay tray is under the dash to the right of the fuse box. The top relay is twice the size of the other relays. You can reach under the dash in unplug it.
  4. Tool Pants
    The most common problem is that the handbrake switch starts to act up. Pull up on the handbrake. Start the car. Is the handbrake warning light on? If it is not on then push the button on the end of the handbrake lever and pump the lever up and down a bunch of times while the engine is still running to see if you can get the warning light to come on. The lever is attached to the switch and sometimes pumping the lever up and down makes the switch work. You need to rule out the switch first. Next, try the micro switches for the top latch. When you latch the top the hook pushes against a pair microswitches. One switch is is for the window drop and the other for the top operation. Turn on the key with the handbrake up. Stick your finger in the hole for the latch and push your finger in and out to work the switches, at the same time you push on the top switch. Next is the top relay/control unit. Pull it out and give it a few taps, then stick it back in. If you can find another car try the relay from that car in your car. The relay on a 1997-1999 is different than 2000-2004. Some 2000s came from the factory with a defective relay, but most have been replaced by now. Just in case, pull out the relay and see if there is a black dot on the base where the pins are.
  5. Tool Pants
    I like the way you welded the pipes, like the factory. The German ebay guy does it differently.
  6. Tool Pants
    I have not seen a 2007 3.4 Boxster yet, but for some reason I think the tank is no longer in the rear trunk. If this is true I hope Porsche came up with a better design because the past history and all the generations of Boxster plastic tanks that have failed is not good.
  7. Tool Pants
    The cooler for a Boxster tip is on the transmission. On a 996 tip it is in the front. Your profile says you have a Boxster S. So you would use a 996 tip cover because you have a third coolant radiator in the front.
  8. Tool Pants
    Richard is in the UK. UK cars are a bit different than US. All US cars have the phone connector. Guys on the UK message boards say they do not have it. Or, maybe they do not on unless they have a phone prep option. On US cars the lighter is live all the time. This is apparently not so on UK cars and it may depend on the year. Some UK people have purchased a battery maintainer that you plug into the lighter, but it does not work unless the key is turned on, which defeats the purpose of a maintainer. Other UK people say their lighter is live all the time. Confusing. Putting that aside, on a US car you can use the cell phone connector for switched or constant power, depending on which wire you hook your device to.
  9. Tool Pants
    Have you considered using the cell phone connector instead?
  10. Tool Pants
    Whall bought that kit and I was thinking of buying it. You can buy the parts for about 1/2 of their price, for whatever that is worth. Frankly, the VW relay is probably the best way to go, but I have to get rid of that round plastic plug in the dash that has bothered me for 7 years. You need to hook up 2 wires from the pot to the relay pins #1 and #6. Whall indicated that they drill a hole in the side of the cover for the relay so that the wires can be connected internally, via solder I believe. Nothing wrong with this method. In fact, to test the dial and relay I just shoved the 2 wires next to the pins as I seated the relay. After trading messages with Whall, they do not use a factory type connector and use too large of a wire gauge. Again, this does not matter so long as it works. But I want to see if I can do it like a factory install. I also do not want to use wire taps like they have in the kit, but there is nothing wrong with taps for this type of application. Today I ordered what I hope are the female terminals for the relay pins. They only cost a few cents. If these are correct then I will be able to plug in the relay just like a factory relay. Also ordered terminals for the illumination, but I don't think I will need them. Stay tuned for a factory like install or, if I give up, an updated "hack."
  11. Tool Pants
    There are a few local 2.5 owners with 996 bumper covers. When the front of my 1997 got hit a few years ago I considered it, but I like the looks of the Boxster cover better. It is a direct fit but get one for a non tiptronic 996. This is Peter Smith's 1999. His car was also hit in the front. In fact, the body shop that put the 996 cover on was the same body shop I used.
  12. Tool Pants
    Here are the parts. 996 relay. Wiper dial/ potentiometer. Mercedes 4 pin connector. The pins that go into the connector are the same as the OBC retrofit pins that go into the connector for the OBC stalk. You can see 5 of those pins I already had from another project, you only need 4 for the dial. For the picture I also stuck one of the yellow 009 VW wires into the connector. And, I was wrong and Richard Hamilton was correct. When I said the cruise control connector would not fit the back of the dial I was thinking in my head of the 6 slot OBC connector when I responded, since I have never done a cruise control retrofit. Same style connector, but I was thinking of the 6 slot OBC connector I tried and not the 4 slot cruise control connector. So there is a connector sold by Porsche after all for the dial. Use the cruise control connector, which also needs a cover for the connector. The Mercedes version has an intergrated cover, so the Mercedes connector/cover is sold as a single part.
  13. Tool Pants
    The base Box does not have them.
  14. Tool Pants
    http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=3544
  15. Tool Pants
    The shift buttons run to the 2 wire blue connector on the tiptronic unit on the left of the picture. The unit on the right is for a manual transmission, so ignore it.
  16. Tool Pants
    The number I gave is the correct Porsche part number. I think the Becker number is 1184.709-276. It was $36 years ago from Becker.
  17. Tool Pants
    The thing in your picture is a coil. Once in a while you see reports of cracked coils, and if I remember correctly it is not just a Boxster issue. Do not know why this happens on some cars - always thought it had something to do with heat. I'll have to ask Peter. First picture is from Tim777 on boxa.net. The rubber extension from the coil is a separate part. You can just pull it off the coil. I have also seen this extension split. Update: I asked Peter and he said the coils carry something like 40k volts and they can crack from the heat of the coil.
  18. Tool Pants
    I would like to see one made of metal. As far as I'm concerned the plastic versions are all going to fail sooner or later. In my younger days I had a 1975 and 1981 Fiat X1/9. Mid-engine with the tank in the engine compartment. The 1975 had a metal tank, stainless steel, and I had that car for years with no tank problems. Lots of other problems, but not with the tank. The 1981 was fuel injection and had a plastic tank. I went through a few plastic tanks. Then I went to a wrecking yard and got the metal tank like my 1975 had and put it in the 1981. Back dating to the metal tank solved the issue.
  19. Tool Pants
    I have the Porsche and Becker part numbers, but not with me. I think the Porsche number is 993 645 453 00. It is a lot cheaper buying it from Becker. Tell Becker you want a silverstone 2660 changer cable. The Becker cable is longer but you coil it up next to the battery tray.
  20. Tool Pants
    It is a yellow rectangle.
  21. Tool Pants
    There is a white 21 pin connector next to the brake booster.
  22. Tool Pants
    The 3 button remote is for 2001-2004. I have been told by a mechanic that you can also use it on a 2 button car (excluding 1997), but of course the 3rd button will not work. I don't know if he has actually tried it, so just assume it is for a 2001-2004.
  23. Tool Pants
    Is this a new remote and/or does it have the paper tag for that remote?
  24. Tool Pants
    Are those 1s or 4s in the part number and I will check out that connector with Porsche. In the meantime, local Boxster owner Patrick who does work for Mercedes solved the mystery, together with Loren's picture of the Mercedes connector. Felker used a cd-rom cable that already had connectors on each end, and one of those connectors fit the back of the dial. That is why a connector part number is not listed on his site, nor are pins. I went to a Mercedes dealership by my house and ordered the connector used by Porsche based on Loren's picture. The Mercedes part number is A0285458428, called a pin bushing housing, with 4 slots. Used for a door switch thing on some Mercedes car. $1.70 and should be here in a few days. I asked the Mercedes parts lady if she could show me the pins that go into the connector. She did not have just the pins, but had the pins already crimped on wires. The pins were the same pins that we use for the OBC retrofit, which go into the connector for the stalk. You can buy just the pins from Porsche, but I already have them. Or, I think you can use two 009 VW wires cut in half, and extend the resulting four wires - down to the relay (2 wires needed) and over to your illumination source (the other 2 wires) . Nice lady, but she kept asking me what Mercedes model I had and what I was going to do with these parts....
  25. Tool Pants
    Actually, once I determined the relay was the problem I called 2 local VW dealers to get prices on the VW programmable relay. $66 at one place and $53 at the other. 2-3 days to order. If VW had one in stock I would have picked it up that day, and the end of the story. Then I went on ebay and found this relay as a Bosch part, but both sellers were outside the US. Then I called my local dealer to see if they had a 986 relay in stock. $19, but there are none in the US. But my dealer had the 996 relay in stock, and the wiper dial. Then Peter told me the wipers would work (mine were not turning off) with the defective relay removed. I removed the relay and they worked, and I could turn them off. Peter was correct as usual. :rolleyes: The purpose of the relay is to park the wipers and for the intermittent delay feature. So I was in no hurry. I took the above as a sign from the Porsche gods that I needed to do this "hack" and get rid of that round blank piece of plastic that I have been looking at for 7 years and put in the wiper dial. Plus I wanted to do this retrofit years ago but did not have a good excuse until now since I now have to buy a relay. And if it ever does rain up here I'll be ready....
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