Tool Pants

Old news, but here it is.

You should remove the bottom carpet from the trunk, then remove the wooden floor under it. This takes only a few minutes. My carpet was not wet but I had a leak. I had coolant on the ground only because one of the rubber plugs in the trunk had become unseated, otherwise the coolant would have stayed in the trunk. My dealer was charging 5 1/2 hours to replace a tank. I think they now charge 4 hours. $145 per hour.

I know CHF 11S because I have a seal leak in my 1997 power steering rack and have gone through almost three 1 liter cans over the years. It is in a green can with a red cap. Never heard of CHF 202 and I could not find it on the Pentosin site. http://www.pentosin.de/eng/index.html So I called a mechanic at my dealer. CHF 202 is new the replacement fluid for both 986/987. He said it comes in a silver can with a blue top. Update: The mechanic showed me a can of CHF 202 today. It says right on the can that it can be mixed with CHF 11S.

The plastic tank in the trunk is connected to a metal tube in the engine compartment via a rubber hose about 3" long. The rubber hose has a clamp at each end. You are supposed to remove the clamp at the end of the rubber hose where it is connected to the metal tube. This is the spring band type clamp that is a pain to get to because you have to do it from under the car because the ears of the clamp face the ground. Then when you pull the old tank out you have the 3" rubber hose connected to the tank. I was able to remove the clamp but the rubber hose had 'glued' itself to the metal tube. I did eventually get the tank and the rubber hose out a different way. So then it was time to put the new tank in and put the clamp on the rubber hose where the hose connects to the metal tube. And then put the clamp on. I had replaced the spring band clamp with a worm drive type clamp because I could then use a socket or wrench to tighten the clamp. I was working by myself and I could not get the end of the rubber hose to slide over the metal tube. Then I realized that even if I could it would be a pain to tighten the clamp from under the car. Then I looked at the situation from the top of the engine. I could see the metal tube, rubber hose, and clamp. And reach them with my hand and wrench. I rotated the clamp so that it faced up instead of down, so that I could tighten the clamp from the top of the engine. The first picture is the subject clamp facing down. It now faces up. Did a 130 mile drive and there were no leaks, so I put the wooden floor and carpet back in. The last picture shows 4 cracks in the bottom of the tank. My leak was minor compared to other leaky tanks I have seen.

Gave up playing around with the clamp and the rubber hose from the bottom of the engine because there is little to no room to work or to see what you are doing. So, let's take a look at the situation from the top of the engine. I do not know anyone who has tried it from the top because they all say you cannot get to the hose. You can. Then I could see what I was doing. Then I could get to the hose and clamp. 10 minutes later the tank was in. Filled it up and drove around. Back to normal.

Well.... So far the clamp I wanted to remove has won. :cursing: So I had to go to the other clamp at the end of the rubber hose. This was not the plan. This is a stupid design. But I did get the old tank out.

"So it is a question of choosing from which thief we buy I guess some may choose the cheaper thief." This is a funny statement, and I agree.

This is not a good design. Went back to the mechanic today and asked him to show me how he can get the clamp removal tool on the clamp, even when the car is on a lift. I have the same tool he has. He went in the same way I tried, reached for the wrong clamp by feel, then found the right clamp, by feel. I was holding and watching with his flashlight so he could not see what he was doing. I cannot see how removing the wheel is going to do anything to help you get to the clamp. I am not going to remove the plate that is shaped like a triangle. I will release that clamp. http://dietersmotorsports.com/tech/tech9-03-2003.htm Warning - the yellow arrow is pointing to the wrong hose.

Great pictures. You should have asked for a ride. And if they said no - then pull the tape off, like on this 997.

Jacked up the car today to see how hard it was going to be to get to that pesky clamp when the car is not on a lift. I cannot even see it. If I reach my hand up to where it should be and I can feel it. Thank god the ears of the clamp are facing down. If I could only pinch that clamp open with my fingers. Getting the hose clamp tool in there is not going to be fun. I think I will give it another try with the wheel off and try to go in from a different direction. New tank and cap looks pretty though. Porsche should have stuck to air cooled engines.....

Are you positive the roof warning light was not on before you put the hardtop on. There is a gap. Look at anther car and see if your gap is any different. If your gap is in fact too large then the hardtop needs to be adjusted.

My 1997 Boxster has had 3 set of tires. Second and third was Sumitomo HTR Z II. Cheap bang for the buck.

This is what your dealer was telling you. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=1313 There was a recall in 1999 for the switch on a model year 1997. I think it was W03. Any dealer can run your VIN and see if it was subject to the recall and if the switch was replaced. Very few 1997s were subject to the recall, something like just 3,000 cars. What was the part number of the switch you purchased recently?

Here is the first version.

I should have known my October 12th post would bring me bad luck. For the past few weeks I have had to add 1/2 liter of water to the tank every day for my work commute to keep the light off. I crossed my fingers and hoped it was the tank and not a head gasket. I have had no time to pull the carpet out of the rear trunk to check on the tank. And my trunk is loaded with stuff. When I open the trunk and the car is driven and hot I can smell coolant. Finally, I saw it on the ground a few days ago when I parked the car in the garage - much to my relief - that is was going to be just a "tank job" when I could find the time. The stuff on the ground even tasted like ... coolant. And looked like coolant. Last November I bought the latest version of the tank on ebay for the lucky price of $90, and because with a 1997 I just had a feeling it was just a matter of time. It is now my time. Back then I even bought a special spring band hose clamp remover, just in case. Never used it, but now I will give it a test. So my leaky Boxster and I paid a visit to the local dealer with my ebay tank in hand to tell service and parts that it cannot be too hard to make a plastic tank that does not split under pressure. 7 or 8 versions of the tank. And this also a problem with the 996. If you did not already know, GEIGER makes the plastic tanks. http://www.geigertechnik.de/en/produkt.htm Do not buy stock in this company. So I had the parts guy pull the latest version of the tank, which I put next to my 986 ebay tank, which is now also a 987 tank. See if you can figure out the difference between the two tanks. Then I spoke to a mechanic who told me how to get to the pesky hose clamp in the engine compartment. And then he gave me a 01 cap. My 1997 does not even have a 00 cap. I still have the VW/Audi cap with no Porsche part number on it. The tank replacement project is going to be fun. When I get time. Untill then....

Too bad about the window separation issue. Now you know why Porsche did not use a zipper with the plastic window. Have not seen a separation issue with the BAS glass window top on the UK boards. I still have not seen the GAHH top in the service position. The pictures of the BAS top in the service position does not show a problem with engine access. Any local owner who is considering the GAHH top might want to email me.

Us Boxster owners figured this out about 6 years ago. When I showed this feature to a Porsche mechanic he said this was a feature on the Audi, since the climate control is from an Audi. This feature is mentioned in the 1998 Boxster and 1998 996 technical introduction booklets. (I got my 1998 996 Booklet from the UK as there was no MY98 in the US.) As stated above, I do not remember this in the older owners manuals. Then for MY01 the Boxster instrument cluster changed and it would not work. At least this is what I remember.

You can read about the glass tops here. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4503 Can't tell what is on ebay because the picture is a 2003/4 with the oem glass top.

Common problem with the older cars. You need to replace the switch on the right in the picture, which was redesigned after your car was made.

I'm pretty sure your part number is for the harness from the dash switch to the defroster plug, which your car already has. You need the harness from the plug to the window. You might post in this thread because Wimster said to use the 2003/4 harness from the soft top. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...opic=4503&st=60 For some reason I cannot find that part number. I though people were using the hardtop harness because when this glass window top came out months ago one of the parts guy at my local dealer said they were ordering the hardtop harness. That part number I can find, 986 612 081 01. When you get your top can you take a picture of each electrical connector at each end of the glass for the defroster. I have seen a GAHH top at my local dealer months when it was in for service. There was some type of connector at the ends of the glass but I do not remember what it was. But this car had no wires from the connectors so the owner did not hook them up. This is the connector used on a 2003/4.

I think this has been covered before, by Sandy. For some reason I thought it could not be done like other switches because the footwell switch was internally different due to the LED indicator. But here is some info. Looks light you need pins 3 and 4. http://home.comcast.net/~kilsen/boxster_gdo.htm http://www.whiteson.org/boxster/mods/obc/liteswitch2.pdf

I am pointing to the plug for the defroster. All US cars have it because heated mirrors are standard in the US. It has power on all US cars. I do not think GAHH includes the wires from their glass window to this plug. I think guys are buying the hardtop wiring harness or 2003/4 glass window soft top and using that.

Or you might have a bad cluster. If you have a friend with a 1997-2000 you can swap clusters and see if that is the problem. Or go to the dealer and get hooked up to the tester.

I have done the retrofit on at least one 2002 with the PST2 and it worked. This is a 2002 with the OBC retrofit being done.

Those are Boxster wheels. They have 986 part numbers. The style that started with the S in 2000.