new to forum, new porsche 986 owner

[caballo77]

HI everyone-

Great forum here...I am already finding it very useful!

Well, I bought a 1997 Boxster, arena red 5 speed, with 89k miles. It has many little issues that I have found so far but I love driving it...and I have only had it two days!

Well, unfortunately I have no service records with the car and there is not even an owners manual..so I am in the dark on the basic features and operating details.

Does anyone happen to have an owners manual that you could email or pm me? I would be very grateful.

Problems:

Drip from engine (not sure of location)

various lights and switches are not functional or seem intermittent

my door panels are both black..but the majority of the rest of the interior is grey..is this correct?

stereo not functional

center lcd screen on gauge cluster has no backlight

left lcd has "worm tracks"

surely more to come...;)

Thanks for the great forum!

R

[N41EF]

Welcome to the Boxster world!

As a contributing member here (make a donation) you have access to all of the doccumentation such as owners manuals that you can download. The peace of mind of contributing also buys a little karma.

If the car hasn't been driven much, electrical switches can get dirty and be intermitant. Many people's wierd intermitant electrical issue end up being the ignition switch. You can find the black replacement switch on eBay for about $12. You need short small screwdrivers to replace it, i bought a pair at Sears.

The radio has a fuse in the fuse box, and a fuse on the back of the radio. You also need the radio code on a 1997. There is a post at the top of this forum on how to get the code. Please follow the instructions, you need numbers off the radio and the vin I believe. You can get a pair of radio removal tools on eBay for a few bucks, they look like pointed hooks or a broken pair of kids sissors.

If your displays are bad, not just the backlight, you need to replace the cluster, but if it doesn't bother you, just drive it.

If you have no maintenance records, I'd do a baseline 60k/90k service just to make sure it won't strand you. An oil and filter, spark plugs, air filter, pollen filter, serp belt, you are alos due to flush the brake fluid.

On a just because you can I'd replace the electrical portion of the ignition switch, the water pump, install the 160 degree thermostat, flush and replace the coolant. If you get vibrations at about 3k RPM or the shifting feels notchy, your front engine mount may be bad.

While you are crawling under and around, wiggle the four sway bar end links, check the four boots on the cv joints and make sure the drains under the convertable top are clean, check the carpet under the seats to make sure they've never flooded and gotten wet.

You car needs about 9 quarts of oil, when Advance runs a 5 quart special I buy two plus a boxster oil filter. Most here stock the purelator filter which is above average in quality. The last oil special here was 5 quarts of castrol syntec plus a K&N filter, but my local ones don't stock K&N for the boxster so I get filters for one of our other cars. I like 5w-40 in the Boxster, thin enough for winter, and high temp protection, I look ACEA ratings and castrol syntec 5w-40 meets it.

Let us know how it goes, and let us know how we can help.

[whall]

R,

Congrats on the purchase of your "new" car.

+1 on N41EF's advice to get a copy of an Owner's Manual. The earliest Owner's Manual (published in English), available on RennTech, is a MY03 (Model Year 2003). I think there are enough differences between a MY97 (Model Year 1997) and a MY03 to warrant purchasing a new Owner's Manual - about $30.00 MSRP. I would also suggest puchasing a Bentley Porsche Boxster Service Manual. If you purchase it through Amazon's link here on RennTech, the board will realize a small profit.

With regard to the problems you have with the instrument cluster, the "worm tracks" on the left display are probably only fixable by an instrument shop....Palo Alto Speedometer comes to mind. The back lighting issue with the center display is probably caused by a burned out light bulb which is owner replaceable. See Bentley Service Manual Page90-8 Instruments, Horns. Or from the internet to remove the instrument cluster:

http://boxsters.addr.com/hacks/cluster.htm

The internet is full of information for owners willing to DIY:

http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/mikesporscheboxsterwebpages

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site/Technolab.html

http://boxster.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/

+1 on N41EF's advice concerning checking the drains - front and back. See Bentley Service Manual Page 50-4 Fenders, Drains. Or search here on RennTech.

+1 on N41EF's advice concerning servicing your car. If I recall corectly the 60,000 mile service is the most comprehensive. You can download the requirements here on RennTech - "DIY Menu/Maintainence Schedules" - found at the top of any page.

Re the different color door panels - probably not original. Although, Porsche will build a car to almost any specifications. If the door panels have been replaced, make sure the internal water barriers are intact and the drain holes at the bottom of the door are clear. See Bentley Service Manual Page 57-3 Doors and Locks (See a trend here?)

You'll find RennTech to be a great source of technical information. For more of the social aspects of Boxster ownership, visit:

http://pedrosboard.com/

Good luck and have fun.

Bill

[caballo77]

wow, thank you very much for the comprehensive answers...I have purchased the 101 Projects (Pelican Parts' book) and have read it cover to cover ;)

I also bought a digital manual which appears to be a Porsche service manual which appears less than DIY, although useful.

I will buy a Bentley as well.

Will perform the maintenance procedures you recommend...

Where could i purchase an Owners Manual? Ebay has none for my year, and those that *are* on there are silly $ (120$??).

I even tried reading the French MY2000 on the forum ;) but my French is poor.

Updates:

My coolant light is flashing slowly; which I believe relates to coolant level low...but coolant is at max in the boot tank..? ANyone know how to meter that sensor?

The engine oil leak does *not* appear to be at the RMS or IMS area. Rather appears to be somewhere near the AOS or even dripping from the filler tube (from boot tank to engine)...will dig further.

WHen removing the oil cap on the oil filler part of the boot tank, I get a fair amount of engine vaccuum. Idle roughens when cap is removed. I think this indicates AOS is intact and likely OK?

Anyway, thanks again!

R

[1schoir]

wow, thank you very much for the comprehensive answers...I have purchased the 101 Projects (Pelican Parts' book) and have read it cover to cover ;)

I also bought a digital manual which appears to be a Porsche service manual which appears less than DIY, although useful.

I will buy a Bentley as well.

Will perform the maintenance procedures you recommend...

Where could i purchase an Owners Manual? Ebay has none for my year, and those that *are* on there are silly $ (120$??).

I even tried reading the French MY2000 on the forum ;) but my French is poor.

Updates:

My coolant light is flashing slowly; which I believe relates to coolant level low...but coolant is at max in the boot tank..? ANyone know how to meter that sensor?

The engine oil leak does *not* appear to be at the RMS or IMS area. Rather appears to be somewhere near the AOS or even dripping from the filler tube (from boot tank to engine)...will dig further.

WHen removing the oil cap on the oil filler part of the boot tank, I get a fair amount of engine vaccuum. Idle roughens when cap is removed. I think this indicates AOS is intact and likely OK?

Anyway, thanks again!

R

R:

If you can remove the oil fill cap with relative ease (and you don't have any blue smoke coming from your exhaust), those are all indications that your AOS is okay. You should remove the tube that runs from the AOS to the air intake and inspect for excessive oil deposits there as a double check.

The rubber bellows on the AOS is a common failure point, so you should check that part to see if that is where your oil leak is coming from.

Aside from being an indication of low coolant lever, the coolant light slowly flashing can also be an indication of a fault in the engine compartment blower fan.

Regards, Maurice.

[whall]

R,

This web site, RennTech, is full of imformaton. Search is your friend.

MY97 Owner's Manual:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?app=content&do=prices_us

$34.88 + tax. (as of March 2011)

MY97 Maintenance Manual. The maintenance booklet that specifies the recommended maintenance and has places for maintenance sign offs:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?app=content&do=prices_us

$24.06 + tax.

If, for some reason, you don't want to patronize your dealer:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=OEM-WKD98602197&catalog_description=Genuine%20Porsche%20Part%3A%20OWNER%20MAN%20%39%38%36%20%31%39%39%37

$36.25 + shipping. (as of today)

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=OEM-WKD90002397&catalog_description=Genuine%20Porsche%20Part%3A%20%31%39%39%37%20MAINT%2EMANUAL

$25.00 + shipping

When it comes to parts and the prices thereof, you can almost always better the dealer's price with the likes of:

http://www.sunsetimports.com/parts/

(You can't shop "on line". You have to call and speak to a sales representative....not always a bad thing if you have a question. Their prices are difficult to beat.)

http://www.suncoastparts.com/category/POTEBX.html

http://www.autohausaz.com/

and the afore mentioned

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/986M_catalog.htm

And, I'm sure there are other good ones. I have had good experiences with the ones mentioned. Hopefully, the "many little issues" you have with your car can be ironed out without the need for extensive use of the above parts houses.

Bill