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E-Accelerator is also known as E-gas or E-throttle, I believe. Some people also call it fly-by-wire (or drive-by-wire). All this basically means is that a stepper motor controls the throttle instead of a mechanical cable. So you have a potentiometer (variable resistor) on the throttle peddle, and an electrical signal goes to a stepper motor on your throttle butterfly and opens it as required. Not sure which your car needs as I don't know if you have E-gas, but you probably do as all (as far as I know) Motronic ME7.2 (MY2000-on) Boxsters have it... Thanks! Shash

Possibly a faulty O2 sensor? Considering the variable error messages (lean then rich)... Thanks! Shash

Um, I have a left hand drive, US model... And it's *definitely* on the drivers side (cuz I pulled it to open the hood yesterday)! :) Thanks! Shash

Heh, funnily enough this happened to me this morning. I went on a trip a couple of weeks ago and I disconnected the battery before I left and closed the hood! I got back and tried to open it this morning and the mechanical level inside the car was locked - it wouldn't open! Anyway, this is how I opened the hood: * Put your hand behind the drivers side FRONT wheel and just on the right of the suspension spring, behind the plastic trim, you should be able to feel a cable. This is the mechanical cable link. Pull on it a little so that you can get a good grip on it, and then pull hard away from the front of the car. * The hood should now pop open. Your alarm MAY go off if your battery has enough charge to power it. Just quickly disconnect the battery negative lead to silence it. Thanks! Shash

Sounds to me like it *could be* a fuel pump issue too... It primes the fuel rail, starts up, then the fuel pump shuts off and the car dies... I've seen fuel pumps behave very erratically before - sometimes working, sometimes not... Could be a fault with: - ECU (no signal on fuel pump control) - Fuel pump (dying pump) - Debris in your fuel tank (is your fuel level low? If so, fill up a petrol container with fuel and put it in the car) If you know what you're doing electrically you can monitor the fuel pump output line on the ECU for activity. Checking engine codes might help too... Thanks! Shash

Hi all, I finally took my door apart today and removed the power window regulator and motor assembly to investigate my issue. To recap, my window would not quite move down the 10mm or so when opening the door, but it did try. All other functions worked normally. The window would also have some play in it which you could move up and down about 4-5mm by hand - but ONLY when the window was partially down. When the window was in the 'fully up' position, it was solid and didn't move at all. I was told by the dealer this was probably a problem with the regulator, as this is common, but after taking the thing apart I have found that it's actually a problem with the motor assembly. The motor itself works fine, but the problem is with the gears. If you haven't taken the assembly apart before, it basically consists of a worm gear, a large plastic gear (with mates with the worm gear), and a smaller plastic gear that fits *inside* the large gear and has the plastic output shaft on it. In between the large and small plastic gears there is a rubber "cushion" (for want of a better word), which allows a slight amount of play so that there is some 'softness' from the powerful, unforgiving motor. In operation the motor turns the worm gear, which turns the large gear, which exerts pressure on the rubber cushion, which turns the small gear, which turns the regulator on the outside (via the output shaft). In my case, it would appear the rubber part has excessively worn and is allowing a huge amount of play between the small and large gears. Here are some pictures of the parts: The rubber "cushion" - you can see the holes that mate with the small gear have been worn into ovals, allowing the excessive play: The inside of the large gear (still in the motor assembly) with the small gear and rubber "cushion" removed: The small plastic gear (upside down so you can see the plastic 'pins' that fit into the rubber "cushion"): So, my question is - can this rubber cushion be bought seperately from Porsche? :) Thanks! Shash

Yea, I went over to my local Porsche dealer yesterday to get my radio code (which they did quickly, and for free!), and I mentioned in passing about the window issue. First thing he said was that it was probably the regulator (a job they wanted $700+ to do!). Kinda weird that it actually moves at all though... Anyway, I'll know for sure soon when I get around to looking at it this weekend! Thanks! Shash

Okay, looks like it's probably a mechanical issue, so I'm going to take the door apart at the weekend. As I mentioned previously, when opening the door the glass moves a little. So after opening the door I tried pushing it down a little - and it actually moved down to where it needs to be (normally you can't move the glass at all by hand). When I close the door, the window does move back up too. So it looks like, for some reason, the mechanism cannot move the glass down the 10mm, but it does try. Oddly enough, the glass moves up and down just fine with the button. It almost feels like a tooth has broken off a cog giving the glass a little play - although that should be apparent *all* the time. Anyway, I'll know more when I take it apart... Thanks! Shash

Hi all, Before I start troubleshooting this myself, I wanted to know if anyone else had come across this (i.e. is it a known Boxster issue)... Basically, my drivers side window has stopped dropping as much as it used to when opening the door (it used to drop about 10mm). It still looks like it moves a little, but not as much as it used to - so it gets caught on the convertable top seal when opening and closing the door! Everything else works perfectly. I can move the windows up and down all the way, and the window still drops about 3 inches when you unlock the top. The passenger side window still works fine in all respects (still drops 10mm or so when the door handle is pulled). I'll probably start by resetting the windows (disconnect battery, etc), but I don't have the code for my radio so I'll probably just pull the fuses. Can anyone confirm that this has the same effect as disconnecting the battery so I can reset the end-stop position? Don't know if that will fix it though (considering nothing has been reset, and it still moves a *little* when you pull the door handle). Alternatively I'm thinking that it could be the switch in the door handle. I don't think the mechanism or control modules are defective as everything else still works... Any other suggestions are welcome! Thanks! Shash

Ack! Todd - do you have a spare cluster with those parts on it that you could send to Toolpants? TP - I'd send you my cluster, but then I couldn't tell how fast I was going (dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing - it would be an awesome excuse to give to the police though!) ;) Thanks! Shash

Toolpants - if you get me the cluster I'll see about fixing for you... Thanks! Shash

I was going to take parts from my existing cluster to repair this one, and since you said you didn't want to risk your cluster to repair this one, I didn't offer to fix yours! I can fix it so you can use it, if you want, but I will probably need spare parts from another cluster (such as the one Todd has just offered)... Either way, I'm not too far from you (Redwood City)... If I can take a look at it I would be able to tell if it's repairable without spare parts too. Thanks! Shash

Because I can probably repair the unit so I'd like to buy it! :) Thanks! S.

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but won't just changing the barrel and key will still leave a transponder issue with the immobilisor? Therefore the system will need reprogramming by a dealer to learn the new key. And that's where they will probably cash-in... Not sure how much a dealer charges to program a new key into the system (they might even try and sell you another key!)... Thanks! Shash

Heya ToolPants... Do you still have that defective cluster, and if so would you want to sell it? :) I know it was almost 2 yrs ago, but if you do have it lying around (and it's not cosmetically damaged)... Thanks! Shash

That's what I do too and it's definately better for the clutch - I'm from the UK originally so that's where I learned... Took my driving test here and was amazed that the test was so easy - nothing about smooth driving or reducing wear on the car... Hroussard - are you from the UK too? I don't live too far from you if you're in Foster City! Thanks! S.

Hm, yeah, but the excess weight, slower response times, higher CofG (especially compared to a horizontally-opposed type engine), higher fuel consumption (even if you factor in the 'clever' turning off of some cylinders, which has its own drawbacks anyway), etc, outweigh any benefits of sheer grunt, IMHO... Besides, revvy, high-output engines are more fun and far more responsive - I drove around a new Mustang for a few days, and between its annoyingly slow auto-transmission and the lethargic engine, I was ready to scream after a few miles! ;) Thanks! Shash

Since that the cars I disassembled in my youth were built in the 40s and 50s there really wasn't much of an alternative to pushrods. The earliest car I drove regularly may not have had finesse, but it sure had "powerstyle" http://www.adclassix.com/ads/56chryslernewyorker.htm <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Pushrods on cars from the 40's and 50's is fine... What gets me is using the old technology on their latest cars... Thanks! Shash

Heh, I've worked on Audi TT's, Lotus Elises, Nissan Skylines (GT-R V-Spec), Nissan Pulsar GTI-R's, Nissan 200SX's, Toyota MR-2's, Toyota Supra's, etc, etc, so have plenty of experience with sports cars and engines, although I've never worked on a flat-6 type engine, so I'm sure I'll have some fun - I have lots of plans! :) Never liked American cars though... Too much power, not enough finesse... And what's the obsession with pushrods all about?? ;) Thanks! Shash

Cool, thanks - very interesting (although it's for a 996 - but the principles are similar)! :) Shash

Thanks! The dealer I bought from was Porsche of Oakland (in Northern Cali)... Has anyone got any experience with them? I just spoke to their service department and the earliest they can see me is next Wednesday... As soon as I mentioned 'RMS' to him, he was like.. "ohh, okay, lets get you in next week"... Thanks! Shash

Ahh, it's amazing how many people are misinformed on this on other forums... It does make sense that the engine would rotate the same - Porsche would never bother to develop a reverse rotational engine when they could just change the differential... Thanks! Shash

Hm, I've read in lots of places that the 911 engines rotate in the opposite direction... Can someone confirm definitively? Thanks Shash

Thanks AdSach! I was actually just reading that clutch article and came back here to say that I found the info I needed - thanks anyway though!! :) It actually looks pretty easy... Don't know why OPC's charge so much to do this... I hope they use new parts throughout! ;) Thanks! Shash

Anyone...?? Tool Pants, maybe? ;) Thanks! Shash