el 3.2S

8 hours ago, Luciano casali said:

The most overlooked items when adjusting rear brakes with affect to handbrake number of clicks is the handbrake cable guides in the back of the hubs they are alloy tubes and are easily removed by drifting them out of the hub with cable removed ,these guides either brake or are broken by heavy handed mechanics,I noticed this on my 986 s and now with 4 clicks back on shoes readjusted the cables because you will need to slacken these to get cables out of hub I now now have a 3 click hand brake with reaction on first click ,if you have a problem with getting cable out of hub its because the tubes are bent something or someone has lent on them so cut as much as possible of the tubes with cutters to free the hand brake cable out of hub then look up the hole and get a sharp chisel and hammer and drift the rest out ,replacing for me was ok after cleaning the hole place new tube over the hole with a fully fitting bolt in it and tap gently and the tube will slide in nicely,replace cable adjust shoes then cable and be amazed.By the way no need to remove shoes to free cable look at the adjuster and you will see a pin and a circlip underneath fiddley but you can do this hope this helps it helped me get the perfect handbrake good luck.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. When I get home next week, I am going to evaluate the handbrake performance again and may well end up removing the wheels and will look into the cable guides that you mention.

1 hour ago, ½cwt said:

Was considering a handbrake adjustment myself, might not now...

 

By the way one of the breakers on ebay has a 986 with same interior colour as yours they are dismantling at the moment.  Might have a replacement cover.

Thanks for that, will take a look. Am sure it is straight forward enough. Just wondering if I miscounted the number of clicks on the ratchet wheel? Hard to see sometimes if it turns or if the screwdriver slides off.

Nobody else got any 986 diy handbrake adjusting experiences?

2 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

After your gear oil adventure you're now moving onto servicing your own brakes?

Dude, you're living dangerously!

Haha no problem but have some faith in me though , I have successfully completed a full coolant system upgrade, including expansion tank, single handedly.

 Brakes are fine now, backed off the 2 bolts a little and tested. No heating of hubs or binding and handbrake now holds with 5 clicks on steepest of hills and 3-4 on more gentle inclines. It never managed like this before. Job done and stepping away from tool box.

I did the adjustments at whe rear wheels as per procedure but it did not really help all that much. I read that some further cable tightening adjusting could be done via the two bolts at the front?

The picture of the cable mechanism (figure 2) in the link below, appears to show the same thing as mine so hopefully no problem there.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/51-BRAKES-Parking_Brake_Adjustment/51-BRAKES-Parking_Brake_Adjustment.htm

1 hour ago, edc said:

Aren't you meant to adjust the handbrake at the rear end? 

Yep

Since fitting new brake discs and pads the other day, I have found the handbrake to be very poor. It was not great before but it is a lot worse now. I actually thought it may be improved with fitting the new discs? No such luck, so rear wheels off again and followed the procedure on Renntech:

https://www.renntech.org/forums/tutorials/article/216-adjusting-parking-brake/

In the process, I unfortunately managed to destroy the hinges on my central storage bin.  Seems one of them had been glued and weakened from before. It sits in place and locks at the front at least as before, so not too concerning.

Was a bit disappointed, as once all back together, the handbrake was barely any better. I then adjusted the 2 screws some more and then more still. The second adjustment was too much as I could feel the handbrake being on all the time and both of the rotors were rather hot after testing. Have since backed off the 2 screws and will investigate further tomorrow.....

The picture below shows the handbrake cable and adjusting screws (along with destroyed cubby lid). The cable mechanism seems a bit lop sided? Should it be like this, or can this possibly indicate pulling more on one side than the other?

2 hours ago, Sazzy said:

I always forget these pockets behind the seats exist! And then the one time I did put something in them I 'lost' it for a week, as again I forgot they exist!

They are a bit stealthy. I actually use the one behind the passenger seat for storing all the car documents and insurance papers etc.

2 hours ago, Topbox said:

... and I dont suppose it was raining either 😁

Not then but there was a shower this evening though.

1 hour ago, Scubaregs said:

How many beers did that buy?

Inflated prices at petrol station, so only bought 3 cans @1€ each. Still quids in.

Low beer warning light was on in the fridge at lunchtime so nipped out to local petrol station to get some. Decided to stash it in the pockets behind the seats as did not get a bag. Whilst rumaging around, I found several coins which had fallen down and lodged beside the seat runner. Turned out to be 5.50€ likely lost by me, a 20 pence from the second owner in UK and a 20 pfennig from the first owner who resided in Germany. Germany fully switched to the Euro in 2002 so this pfennig has sat there for at least 16 years! A good haul which more than covered the beer costs!

On 9 de septiembre de 2018 at 8:22 PM, Sazzy said:

Actually drove it! It's been somewhat neglected over the last month and I've felt guilty. Life is 100mph at the mo and I'm having to work every extra hour I can. Even got a wave from a guy in a 987, made my day ☺️

Initially skimmed to the 100mph bit and really thought you had given it a proper outing.

Oil and filter change today as it has been a while. Dooh, just checked up - last done 28 months ago lol. Only done 2800 miles in that time though and car is now at 87000 miles. Went for Shell oil this time round. Opening up the filter revealed no silver particles which is always pleasing on the eye. Original IMS still fitted here. Maybe the Stuttgart built factor helps with this? Either way, it does not concern me unduly.

1 hour ago, Sazzy said:

It certainly looked erm interesting! I was surprised he was driving it to be honest !

Mega downforce mode. Likely all out of shape now!

We need to see before and after pics here! Actually I used ths method to paint my Boxster wheels as they were red and black when I bought the car.

1 hour ago, edc said:

I guess it was either stick as the coolant blew past or you have knocked it so that it will now always show the coolant is ok :D 

Either way am happy to get shot of the warning light - it is enough with the fuel one which is on all too often ?.

Seem to have managed to cure the slow flashing coolant red warning light which has been showing for some months now, since fitting new coolant tank, water pump, thermpstat, belt & new coolant. Interweb research showed the slow flashing (one flash per 2 seconds) to be indicating low coolant level or duff engine compartment fan. Both of these were checked to be ok. I had thought it was maybe air in the system, so ran with the bleed valve open for a good while. This did not help.

Today I poked around at the level float in the coolant tank using a long screwdriver. Hard to see what I was doing but it seems to have done the trick. I wonder if it could have been sticking?  I have stopped and started several times today and coolant light is still not showing. No doubt I have spoken too soon and will be back to square one next time I start it, but for the moment cautiously optimistic.

1 hour ago, edc said:

Porsche bonnet badge probably cheaper than £28 from the OPC. 

No idea, but I think you are pretty wide of the mark there.

£100 new at Design911:

https://www.design911.com/pages/productList.aspx?search=Bonnet badge

2 hours ago, Sazzy said:

Ah so it was you who beat me in the final second!! 

Oops sorry, I know how that is as it usually always happens to me. Got lucky here for once.

Had a reasonably productive evening after a largely unproductive day watching the fabulous wedding and terrible FA cup final. Since changing the coolant tank etc a few weeks ago, I have had the low level warning light flashing. Decided finally to investigate fully and stripped out boot carpets and removed bolts on new tank in order to get the level sensor out and have a look at it. Played around with a magnet on the contacts on the sensor but hard to see anything as so small. Also probed around the float in the tank with a screwdriver, seemed to be ok. Then jacked up the rear of the car in preparation for more drawn out bleeding. Amazingly, the warning light stopped when I started up. Not sure what it was that solved the problem but delighted with the result.

Also fitted my recently won e bay bonnet badge. Bidding stopped at £28 which I thought was very reasonable considering its great condition. Really primative bolt arrangement for fitting though. Managed to sheer off one side on the old one while trying to remove it.

The one on the car had annoyed me since I purchased it. There was damage to the centre part, I think caused by the previous owner closing the bonnet by pushing on the badge. Likely the flexing did it. Now got the old badge on my garage wall beside the other removed badges.

Here you can see the damage:

Finished off my evening session with a Gliptone treatment of the leather. Been taking a pounding from increased heat in the sun of late. And cue red  leather interior picture. Well we do like our pictures don't we? Lol

Just ordered 4 new Brembo discs and 4 sets of Brembo pads, 10 litres Shell Helix oil and a Mann oil filter from Carparts4less. £295 including delivery so not too bad. Will do all the work myself.

My Boxster passed its annual ITV (MOT) today - only 6 months overdue and 1500km done in the last 18months. Always a nerve wracking day where the test is as much about conforming to the standard car spec, as it is about vehicle condition. Luckily for me, they did not pick up on the wheel spacers (my stealth black paint job maybe helped?) after market spoiler, lower rear splitter and aluminium pedals. I think they were so pre occupied on spotting the 18" wheels and different tyres from what they thought it should have - even though it left the factory with them on. Next time it could fail for any one of the afore mentioned modifications, it is such a subjective test and depends on who does it and how thorough they are.

Bit different from the UK though. Where I go is the main centre for Malaga and there are about 100 cars, trucks and all kinds of vehicles and owners nervously waiting at any one time, waiting to be called to one of the 9 lanes where they are processed conveyer belt style. The driver stays in the car and moves it on to each of the points where checks are completed.

Think I may get new rear discs soon as I struggled to get enough stopping power on the rollers with the rear wheels. Also the emissions were a little concerning. The fast idle lamda reading was just not going under the 1.03 limit. Fortunately a fellow worker saw what was happening and helped by grabbing a roll of paper and sticking it in the exhaust and holding it there with her foot! This had the desired effect and the lamda came down to 1.03 lol. I guess this put the engine under more load? Another alarming moment was when they asked me to squirt the headlamp washers (they never bothered about the windscreen!)  I duly squirted and a huge anount of water and foam shot out, as did one of the nozzles and it flew past the testers! Have never used them before and will not do so again with the roof down lol.

I think old fuel and lack of use did not help the emissions. Should have filled up with new before the test as there was just a dribble in the tank from many weeks earlier and the range was way down on 40km. 

Overall delighted to have the ticket for another year.

15 hours ago, RCS said:

Interesting a new one starts at £156k before options, but from a quick glance at the configurator most options are already there, so not sure how you'd arrive at nearly a further £60Kish to get near that EUR250k!!  Mind you thats UK prices, but even so the difference is huge - maybe a megga waiting list?  If you're back getting your coolant be interested to see what the options are its got on it - sadly cannot read from the photo.

Having said that, at the Cayenne launch i was shocked to see the Burmester top end audio was a £4.5k option.  I like music and I like quality, but I'd thinking really hard before paying that for a system at home never mind in the car!

 

Was back today to get the coolant, 106€ for 8 litres. Did not see your reply until after I was back, so never checked the options list. I did notice today, that it was not brand new and was registered and had done 800km!  Makes the price even more crazy.

Back on the 986, got my coolant in and bled the system (hopefully) wheels on and tested - on my private driveway. All seems good. Shame there is a 2 week waiting list for an "MOT".

Went to the dealers this afternoon and prepared myself for a wallet bypass operation due to planned purchase of 8 litres of coolant. They were open but the parts department was closed. Never manage to get anything there by making less than two visits. They told me the parts department would be closed every afternoon this week due to Easter.  Whilst there though, I observed a car for sale which made the cost of my planned purchase rather pale into insignificance. Lovely car.

Do not really follow new car prices very closely, but when did new 911's start costing over a quarter of a million Euros!?

Successful day. Got the gearbox oil changed then fitted my repaired rear caliper with new bleed nipple. I then bled the brakes, thankfully without incident this time.

Coolant drain, belt, cool running thermostat and new expansion tank next plus caliper paint & new stickers.