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Ragpickers Leggy 986 S.. first real problem: page 9

Looking good Raggy. Sorry if I've missed it but are you PPF'ing it?
It's almost too nice to use now. I made that mistake with my C2.

Great job though. :thumb:
 
How many hours labour do we think the 996 airbox/plenum/TB route is, Raggy?
 
Did a major service. 28k miles since I last did the plugs, 4-5k miles since last oil/filter change.

Interesting thing with the coil packs, 3 of them broke off at the very tips, leaving the rubber tip of the coil pack over the plug, meaning I couldn't get the spark plug socket over..

In the end I had to remove the spark plug tube in order to get enough clearance to get the snipe nosed pliers in there and remove the retained bit:

48001867408_780fc8a393_h.jpg


48001806092_f926ed89ac_h.jpg


48001867423_0ced7a2d52_h.jpg


Luckily the techicians at RaggyRacing had all eventualities covered with new plug tubes and o-rings:
48001865491_8ee6f0c395_h.jpg


Dropped the oil:
48001864586_08e900cd4f_h.jpg


Not a single metal particle in the filter - since I've changed to Millers Nano, I have never seen anything in the filter at all.
48001865836_1aca0f58ae_h.jpg


Old plugs were grand, but all changed anyway along with 3 new coil packs due to the issues above
48001865673_b8d4924a03_h.jpg


Not a good pic, but cleaned up any corrosion from the brake pipes at the rear, coated with a protective wax
48001807697_acee012ec7_h.jpg


Then moved inside to remove this old thing which had started to feel like stirring porridge
48001867093_cd75ac6085_h.jpg


Gave Alex a few quid for one of his whizz-bang SSK's
48001866953_7fa1e72340_h.jpg


Bit of adjustment and its made the world of difference!
48001807397_84e2fb9ee9_h.jpg


Also did the air and pollen filter along with the drive belt. All fluids checked.
Essentially the full major according to the service schedule.

I'm pleased to report the car is in fine fettle. I've got a couple more things to do over the next few weeks though before I'll be 100% satisfied again.

I'm also on the lookout for a pre-facelift 3.2 engine to rebuild so that one day I'll put it in here and the car will then outlive me.

All for now :thumb:
 
:thumbs:
 
Cheers, Raggy.

How much did you replace with the SSK? Not the cradle I take it? Been looking heavily into the shifter on my proposed Boxster build. Think I'm going to go for the 997 SSK, unless we think that's unnecessary and I should tap up Alex?

Incidentally, how much drop are your springs, I've been eyeing up your ride height. Also couldn't find the Koni FSDs for a Boxster but perhaps I'm being a dullard.
 
Another little update...

The car presently sits on 159k miles and the only way you could tell is by looking at the seats. Classic bolster wear and a saggy 'snatch' (qv Squab) have bothered me for some time so I thought I'd do something about it. The PO had put in some heated seat elements a while ago but they didn't really work so I wanted to change those too.

First job was removing the seats - dead easy but I was amazed (and disgusted) at the crap that was underneath.

48099371631_682aee9d37_k.jpg

Looks like I've even won a prize under the passenger side
48099469832_8659d1c84e_k.jpg


The base comes out of the seat quite easily - did someone say 'Octagenarian's ball sack'?
48099415953_457ad94745_k.jpg


The cover comes off by unclipping little bars from these white clips in the foam
48099370076_262508bd3c_k.jpg


48099416833_a9d40c1227_k.jpg


Some seats have hog-rings instead of the white clips. Personally I think the clips are easy to mess on with.

With the cover removed you can see the bars which pull it down into the folds in the base, giving it its shape.
48099371486_ef8d523a6b_k.jpg


And here is the previous heater element:
48099416348_d3858799ed_k.jpg


Turns out it wasn't working because it was shorting out and trying to burn through the seat instead
48099368241_e5024242c0_k.jpg


Anyway... I also wanted to add a little bolster. I find the 996 seats have less ar$e bolster than the 993 or 997 seats and wanted to rectify this. So I got some 1/4 inch foam and some adhesive and set about increasing the bolster.

48099370916_39148b653e_k.jpg


Moving on, I removed the back piece from the backrest and took a pic highlighting how bad the bolster wear was on the seats
48099368741_e2715fc56d_k.jpg


Before unpicking and replacing the new heater elements in the back too
48099416103_8b21af54b3_k.jpg


48099469887_f825b62eba_k.jpg


With the bits back together I started on the recolouring process using 'Liquid Leather' from Gliptone. The seats were cleaned thoroughly with a solvent based cleaner, then I started sponging the colour on to the worse affected areas.
48099371606_94a70064eb_k.jpg


Meanwhile the little £20 airbrush I'd ordered from Amazon arrived.
48099468482_a488bcd717_k.jpg


Once the sponged-on colour had dried properly I then went and airbrushed the rest of the seats to achieve a better result (no sponge marks). Here's one base starting to dry
48099469822_8309d810f4_k.jpg


And a bolster before (with sponging marks)
48099469512_f3296935c3_k.jpg


And after airbrushing
48099416913_e9e91863e1_k.jpg


Whilst they were drying I put some holes in the batwing for a more 'OEM' placement, sorted the wiring out and located the relay and box in the dead space behind the centre console:
48102367898_39a0e64b40_k.jpg


As you can see, once dried and built back up the seats look superb!
48102318536_d9e3dd219a_k.jpg


I then replaced the drivers seat belt as it was starting to frey and replaced the seats. Dead chuffed! The heater elements are great now and there's definitely a much more supportive snatch!

48102431057_0a39e81c07_k.jpg


48102318966_aa88a862c3_k.jpg


Its not a quick job, its taken the best part of a week, but very satisfying when you see the state they were in to start with.
 
Continually amazed at this thread!

P.s. when shall I pop by for the Airbox/TB/Plenum mod on mine?
 
Are you sure your not moon lighting for Wheeler Dealers!

Are they the original 986 boxster seats?
 
Thanks guys,

The TB and plenum mod is a bit of a PITA - removing the airbag is the worst bit - so I'll let you tackle that on your own!

Yeah easternjets, the original seats! 160,000 miles worth of bums have been on them, Amazing how well they come up considering!

Spiderlane - love a bit of Partridge, me... 'Guide dogs for the blind. It's cruel really, isn't it? Getting a dog to lead a man round all day. Not fair on either of them."
 
You did the seats :eek: :eek: :eek:

You are a brave boy young Mr Picker!! Happy with oily bits, but seats? No chance!

The leggy Boxster is looking pretty amazing these days, credit where credit's due. :salut:
 
Interesting week in the life of the leggy B.. Since Christmas I had an ABS sensor which was playing up and I was waiting for the right time to change it. Then, suddenly on the way to work the other day whilst at part-throttle when the engine was cold I got a loss of power, rough running and a non-responsive throttle pedal. No CEL.

I cycled the ignition and the car fired back up. I drove it to work and back with no problems. High speed, no problem. I got back home and read the codes - total misfire bank 1, multiple misfire cal 1,2+3, pre-cat lambda fault bank 1.

So, I thought this is a good time to do both the ABS sensor as I have to do the bank 1 lambda.

ABS sensors can be a bit of a pain to replace but this one seemed to come out easy enough. Basically its wheel off, calliper and disc off, backing plate off.

Then you get to this point:
48744320527_544fa88a91_k.jpg


From here the best way forward is to get a sharp chisel and a lump hammer and smack the top of it off like so:
48743810578_c3a307b646_k.jpg


Then, whip the little silver cap off that you can see and heat the middle of it up with a blow torch. A magnet pops out and you get a load of copper wire which follows:
48743785428_cf16d81dc6_k.jpg


48744296007_db3b65f3c4_k.jpg


Once you get to this bit, keep going with the heat and you'll get another small magnet out. Then you have to dig the plastic cover out from inside the hole.

Then, you're left with the little bolt left on the spacer. I used a Dremel to crack through the aluminium spacer before knocking it off. Then you've got the bolt left there proud:
48744377672_b2d8de9b5e_k.jpg


Heat the housing up with your blow torch, use a bit of WD etc and slowly crack the bolt:
48743784688_8fad4a3a72_k.jpg


Next, get an Emory cloth into the hole to clean it up, a little bit of spray onto the new sensor and gently tap it in place:
48744295482_6bedc186cf_k.jpg


All good, well from that point of view. Little did I know the real problem was yet to come...

I moved onto the lambda sensor. £75 for a Bosch sensor from europarts. The old one came out easy and the new one went in easier! So far so good.

I fired the car up only for it to run very rough, CEL flashing. It was fine when opening the throttle and ran smoothly, but at idle it was shocking.

These were the codes:
48743786223_b7b322411f_k.jpg

The same codes but now the opposite bank!!

Fear not, a trip down to Europarts and another £75 later and I've got another Bosch sensor. Installed with no problem...

Fired the car up and all hell broke loose. Car was trying to shake itself off my lift, revs up and down, no CEL flashing, LOTS of knock heard (like marbles in the exhaust), completely unresponsive throttle.

I tried an ECU reset, battery disconnected and reconnected, throttle reset. No change, nothing.

I'm now left with these codes which will not clear and a car I cannot drive
48744295597_80e5a8801c_k.jpg


I've checked for loose ground straps, checked wiring, removed the ECU to check for damage - nothing.

So the only thing I can think of is that the ECU has died. :roll:

I've ordered another one (plus immobiliser and key fobs). Hopefully this sorts it.

If anyone has any suggestions please share them!!

:pc:
 
First off .. do NOT fit the new dme / alarm module until we have gone through this in detail .

I will pm you my number after i have written this post .

Sounding like nuts and bolts is what an ims failure sounds like .. timing check there to confirm and i assume there is no oil pouring out the gearbox bell housing .

Fault codes .. before and after are very different ..

P 1219 .. throttle pedal failure
P 1578 .. Throttle pedal failure
P0121 .. Throttle pedal or DME failure
P0103 .. although its a maf fault it is again Throttle pedal really or a massive air leak that bank.

You had misfires before on bank 2 .. a complete bank would indicate to me either a variocam solenoid had shorted out or an ims failure .

Vario cam short .. it can damage the DME .. hence we need to confirm this .. what year is your car as for the life of me i can't see if its a vario cam or a plus ??

variocam and the solenoid does do this .. plus and no it doesn't .

I'm leaning towards a variocam solenoid failure .. its shorted out which may have damaged the dme .. hence dont fit it atm .

Basically we need to chat ( if you haven't already found the fault ) and go through it .
 
Quick update and a positive one.

First off, massive thanks to DeMort for being kind enough to discuss this on the phone, and also to Nelson Porsche who also pointed me in the right direction.

I did everything we discussed, checked the variocam solenoids, no melted wires. Unplugged them and it made no difference to how bad the car was idling, still had the throttle faults.

In the end I decided to put the new ECU and immobiliser in and it fired up first time and settled to a nice idle with the throttle operating well. No fault codes at all.

I took it for a drive for about 20 minutes - faultless, running really well.

Then I left it to idle for a while on the drive and it went a bit lumpy at times and produced these codes:

p0300 misfire damage to cat converter
p0301 - misfire cyl1
p0302 - misfire cyl 2
p0303 - misfire cel 3.

These codes are only when it had been idling for ages and the engine was hot. The car still drives well.

So we're back to a problem with bank 1. Anyone like to hazard a guess?

:thumb:
 

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