Boxster thread upon request ☺️
 

I bought a 2002 Porsche Boxster S this summer, for 4500$. At first, I was scared to death about owning a Porsche. But, after a bit, I have found they are pretty easy to work on and parts are not bad either. Here’s my first post on the things I’ve done up till now.

“Anything a German can over engineer, a Swede can fix.” - Me

Car records, as bought, calling and finding receipts in the car:

Boxster records August 13, 2019
Bought, Chico California

From Zeppelin Works in Chico (contacted) : oil changes, an ignition switch, an alternator and an alignment. Approx 1400$ 2014-18

New top 2018 approx 2500$ (receipt)

Chico Les Schwab put on tires approx 2014 (contacted)

Bought and drove home to Oregon, 300 miles...

The rest of this is my work:

8/13/2019 - 72,000; oil and filter. Mobil 1 (FS 0-w40 A40 Porsche), filter Purolator, 9 quarts (filter clean with no metal or signs of IMS issue). 58$

Fixed front and side plastics (missing clips and curb rash), vacuumed leaves from radiators, removed Sprint Booster, cleaned interior and trunks (mouse nest found) etc., registered and titled.

8/18/2019 - Need: cv axles, plus a front license plate bracket.

8/20/2019
Right front rim is bent, 3 out of 4 tires are worn inside edge and have to be replaced, rear and front brakes (rear especially bad) and I’m in the process of replacing. Axles will arrive tomorrow and I've got the left one out already and working on the right. Air filter was super dirty and, was not completely installed correctly. So put the new filter in and clipped the cover correctly. Finally, giant rat or squirrel nest on top of engine under the manifold. The starter makes a horrible buzzing noise and I'll pull that and grease it while I got the engine compartment open. Rear speakers aren't working. I noticed a red wire that had pulled out of Rear tray with the speakers in it where it plugs In. Am hoping that will fix it! I'll solder when I put the cover back on the engine. Power steering pump low on fluid to the point where it didn't show on stick so I think that's why it was whining. Will go buy the good stuff (Pentosin) tomorrow and add some.

8/21/2019
Throttle body removal and clean, starter removal, disassemble and grease, wash and vacuumed engine compartment, air filter, rear brakes, brake wear delete, CV axle install left side, battery 24 hour 2 amp charge, solder rear speaker wire (still no sound), added power steering fluid.

8/22/2019
Right side, CV axle
Ordered 4 tires, Achilles ATR Sport (good price on tires btw).
Porsche has different front and rear sizes. Rims are different width. No rotating...
17” tires

225/45 front
255/40 rear

8/24/2019
Programmed windows to lower 1/2” with top up (procedure sometimes necessary after battery disconnect) worked for a while then stopped working the next day? Will investigate. See notes below on repair of door locks.

Gears are stripped in my spoiler, so it will only come up with a tug to get it started. Light comes on at 75 indicating not functioning properly. So, I deactivated it with these instructions below, using the wires on the motor side. This will allow another unit to be installed with no other modifications necessary.

***Deactivating the rear spoiler warning light***
(From the internet)
Information: As of MY ’01, a new instrument cluster has been installed in Boxster and Boxster S vehicles. The display of the warning and indicator lights is now performed by light-emitting diodes (previously bulbs). The LEDs are soldered into the circuit board of the cluster, and are not removable. When installing an Aerokit in one of these vehicles, the spoiler warning light must be deactivated in a different manor than previously described in step 4.0 of bulletin 2/98.
Note: It is no longer necessary to remove the instrument cluster, skip steps 4.0 to 4.3 in bulletin
2/98.
Tools: Porsche press-out tool for electrical plug connections, number 87050
Work Procedure: 1.0 This procedure is be performed with step 3.1.2 (in bulletin 2/98), after the spoiler adjusting elements have been retracted.
1.1 Remove the rear luggage compartment lining and remove the relay carrier.
1.2 Remove brown relay 3 (extend spoiler relay) and brown relay 9 (retract spoiler relay) from relay carrier 2. Discard the relays. They are no longer required.
1.3 Disengage the 6-pin plug (only 5 are utilized) connection for the drive motor of the rear spoiler. It is located under the support of the rear spoiler assembly.
1.4 Using the connection diagram below, remove pin 1 and insulate. Remove pins 2 and 4 and swap locations with each other.
————————————————� �————————————————� ��———————————————— ————————————————� �——-
Pin Color Cross Function Instruction
Section
1 Blue/Green 1.00 Spoiler drive power Remove and insulate. Secure back on harness
2 Gray/Brown 0.35 Spoiler top position Remove and install in position 4
4 Gray/Green 0.35 Spoiler bottom position Remove and install in position 2
1.5 Reconnect the 6-pin plug, and install it back on the spoiler support.
Note: Do not leave the plug disconnected as noted in bold type in step 3.1.2."

————————————————� �————————————————� ��———————
8/25/2019
Worked on stereo; discovered rear speakers not connected and removed non operational phone microphone (now tucked inside switch tray at top of window).

8/30/2019 new tires installed, balance, and car aligned at Bills tire in Canyonville. (thank you Ralph!) Rear right could not be brought into spec. However, should not be an issue. Will keep an eye on tire wear. Drives super nicely now! Even the slightly bent rim is balanced out.

9/14/2019
Took door locks out of both sides of car. Resoldered the circuit boards. Now have working door locks, and security arms itself. Also, passenger door lowers the window correctly.

Installed frunk and trunk struts.

Gas door lock not working correctly so just removed the latch and won’t worry about it.

Had microswitches soldered onto key fob (for 50$, ugh...) but still not working, so I give up on remote door lock. Plan on getting normal but chipped spare key in the future.

I’ve put maybe 600 miles on her. This car is the best (and most expensive type) car I’ve ever owned (I’ve owned 93 cars). This car retailed for 50,000$ in 2002 which is 70,000$ in today’s money. There is no comparison to a 17,000$ car. Very nice driving vehicle with 260+ horsepower in a 2900 pound vehicle, with 6 speeds. Also, has aftermarket Bilstein shocks and an aftermarket exhaust I have discovered.

This car doesn’t care about corners. It will drive any corner at any speed I’m willing to try. It’s kind of insane. And, an on ramp is basically 2nd gear, 6000 rpms, and about 70 mph... no joke. Oh, 7000 is redline and the engine comes alive at 3000. But cruising is around 2300.

Ok, that’s it for now! Will update as I have more to say!

Boxster
 

First trip to the coast

Wow! You've got a beautiful high performance machine at an outstanding price and some work. I'm definitely impressed and envious.

In actuality they aren’t that expensive. Started being made in 1997 and was literally the car that brought Porsche back from the edge of bankruptcy, and a ton of them were sold. A person can get in to one from 4000$ and up. Sometimes cheaper when it has major probs.

They have a 6 cylinder boxer type engine and some of them indeed, do have issues. I did a lot of research to see what mine may need. The IMS bearing is a big one. Also, they had some early ones with porous engine blocks. But, over all, I think they are probably pretty reliable. They also make automatics. They are mostly all in the 70-140,000 mile range right now, as most people didn’t drive them much.

Just like VW they have wayyyy over ‘engineered’ electronics, and things like microswitches in the doors and such tend to go bad. But, for example, the door switches are actually VW/Audi. So a person can do some research and by the cheap VW part instead of the crazy expensive Porsche part. Example: door lock assembly on eBay, Porsche - 125$ or more. Same things VW - 15$. Now, I actually disassembled mine and soldered things back together because it just had broken solder welds on connectors. But that’s an example.

Another example: Porsche dealer wants 269$ (Former owner told me) for oil change. I got the exact oil (9 quarts) and a Purolator filter from Advance Auto and did it myself. It’s actually easier than most cars! Back the car up the ramp. Pull the plug, spin off the plastic cartridge, change the innards and you’re done! Super easy to reach and not expensive. 58$.

I also like how the Germans make most everything able to be taken apart. Even things like switches can be opened up and repaired. I disassembled the starter very easily and put grease in the caps, etc.

Engine bay; open top half way, unclip top at back, fold forward. Take off speaker box. Open hatch and now the engine is revealed. A similar hatch is behind the seats for belt and water pump stuff. Starter is on top of engine! Stuff like that. Rear seal or IMS (which I haven’t done but no issues yet)? Pull tranny out back, and sit under car with head in engine bay and fix.

I also found in my search that rich people are willing to dicker like crazy when it comes to selling. Every one I looked at was listed at around +7000$. But when I made a crazy low offer of 4000-4500$ they all came down to my price range very quickly. Mostly, wanted to get them out of the garage, had bought a 911, or something else along that line. Anyway, if you want a toy that the wife/gf can ride with/in, (and she also thinks the car is beautiful which helps) these are pretty cool!

I will say tho, it’s a cougar magnet so beware. Every time I’m sitting in it waiting for my wife to get something in a store, inevitably an older lady comes up and says, cute car and the proceeds to talk with me for 15 minutes... I guess my wife’s small cute dog doesn’t help the situation either... :). My wife is super cute tho, so when she comes out the cougars high tail it. ;)

Oh yeah, to get this car I sold 2 old motorcycles (maybe had 200$ parts into them but sold for 1300$) I had in Alaska, my 1999 306,000 mile TDI golf (which I’d payed 150$ for and fixed, maybe had 600$ into it. Sold for 2200$) and 2 old guns (700$). So, I’m into it probably in real money, maybe 1700$? Which ain’t bad. Still have my 2009 KLX250 in the garage and a TTR for guests to ride.

I had always heard that there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche. Despite that, I bought our 1983 911SC for $7K. It had been stored in a barn since it's owner passed two years earlier, but needed only tires (dry rotted) and a thorough cleaning. We owned it for five years, and put on 70 thousand trouble free miles. The only work I had to do was change the front brake pads and regular oil changes. We recently sold it, tripling our money. It can be done, but do your homework beforehand, as things can get very expensive very quickly.

Yes for sure! Probably not as expensive as a boat, but could get bad, quickly...

I kind of have this idea, that if the engine or transmission go bad, to make it an electric vehicle. :). Could you imagine a Tesla motor and battery pack in one of these things? Wow!

I am very concerned about your oil change methods ,It appears you were “done” but you haven’t bothered to put fresh oil in it .That can bite you big time .l.o.l. .
I worked for a friend who owned a Carquest store here in Canada ,Carquest owned a company that dealt with OEM foreign car parts including Porsche Ferrari ,Maserati etc,etc, .They were very inexpensive compared to the stealerships ,like 75% off ,not sure if they have the same supplier in the states but you might want to ask .

Yeah I been down the boat path. Bought a 18 foot Chrysler V hull and decided to restore it. SEVERAL thousand dollars later I had a nice boat and used it for a couple seasons, but the resale value was only a fraction of what I had in it. 😓

Having been owned by an Audi for thirteen years, I can second going for the VW part where possible. My go to parts place was FCP Euro.

Haha!! Also, yes, Carquest, which is now owned by Advance Auto, was/is my go to place. Got the CV axles, normally 69$ each for about 45$ each with some rewards bucks and a 25% off coupon. Actually said Carquest on the box! Brakes, same deal, about 20$ For the back and 25$ for the front I think? Purolator filter cartridge was around 8-11$ if my memory serves me.
The general parts aren’t too bad I don’t think. eBay is also a good place, and I went to a wrecking yard close by, and they had one Boxster! Lots of good parts on it. I pulled the front license plate bracket, some clips and fasteners, and I know now where a mostly complete car is, for future reference... evidently the engine runs too, as it was whacked in the front right side. I want to say the parts guy verified running engine when I asked...

Boats... yeah... I’d love a boat, but all the relatives own them, and my dad did, and all I saw was a hole in the water in which they poured money. And then some more money.

At least, if the Boxster goes bad, it’s not leaking from both sides... 😉 and can be easily parked in back yard with a cover over it.

Even a ‘free’ boat is never free.

The parts I was talking about are actual OE parts in Porsche packages ,etc. Not carquest branded stuff . I just remember that warehouse was in Montreal and they had everything for foreign cars .

Lands....enjoyed your posts, and viewed some on advrider...you've been at this a long time....wow!

a Swede you mentioned....I am Swede and Norwegian. My dad was a bull headed Norske.

:lmao:

93 cars? Seriously?
What is a Sprint Booster?
Thanks for the thread! Very interesting.

Hehe! My mom is full Swede from Minnesota. My dad was a mix of Brit, Scot, Irish, Dutch, German, Mohawk and who knows what else?

But I do claim the Swede part! Did a genealogy test and I’m 52% Swede, and not sure how that works, lol but part of the Swede is actually Finnish. And my mom is Lapland Swede too, so she’s dark hair and eyes...

And, their family came over in 1900 and landed in Canada, but somehow ended up in Minnesota... probably because the Swedes are so stubborn that they were looking for the coldest and most harsh environment to start new... ;) personally I would have headed to California or Oregon. Mom still lives in Fairbanks Alaska so evidently she can’t leave the cold country...