spook

Congrats to deanmr2 and others who have recently had the PSE retrofitted. I'm considering it myself, but I have a couple of questions. 

1. Does the retrofitted PSE have modified parts that address the well-documented problems of actuator seizure?

2. What warranty does the OPC/Porsche offer on the installation should problems occur down the line?

9 hours ago, ATM said:

Yes Me

 

Not sure what else to do but keep putting it back under the wipers as I'm passing by. Is it possible to park the wipers higher up?

 

Mines been under the cover since the gritters came out so 4 or 5 weeks maybe. Hoping to have it off soon.

 

I'm also hoping a bit of flapping around isn't causing a problem so please don't tell me it is.

 

Pic from last year

 

Put the wipers in the service position - turn ignition on and off then press the wiper stalk down to the flick wipe position. Wipers are then parked angled across the windscreen.

1 hour ago, Paul P said:

Theory is it does more harm than good, starting and idling - oil pressure is basically at its lowest when you need it to be getting oil around the engine where its drained down - most car handbooks advise against warming up - rather start/drive/allow to come up to temp before "enoying"...

Also - the thing you want "up to temp" is oil, oil takes much longer to come up to temp ( especially at idle) than water, so unless you run the thing for "ages" - then all you are doing is lightly warming the oil - which promotes condensation inside the engine - and doesn't get a chance for some of corrosive by products to get vented. Corrosive exhaust by products also tend to sit around in the exhaust if that isn't really warmed up ( might not be such an issue these days with cats, but back in the day you didn't want condensation from exhaust gases sitting in the pipes) 

You are kicking the battery when it's cold ( but if on a conditioner, not that much of an issue ) - but does mean the "conditioning cycle" is reset.

Like all these things, there will be folks who have done this every winter for the last 75 years and there's never been an issue and "your car your rules" as always, but as far as I can see it - if the smart thing to do it put the car away after a good hot run, and general advice to not leave to idle to warm up - they starting occasionally over winter and not driving seems to undermine that.

As ever - just opinions....

Thanks for that. I've been doing monthly winter start-ups in the garage for a number of years, but I always let it run for about 20-30 minutes to make sure the oil temperature gets up to around 100 degrees. Be interesting to see what Porsche themselves advise on the issue. Anybody know?

11 hours ago, Paul P said:

8  don’t be tempted to “fire it up and let it warm up every few weeks”.  Best to leave it until you want to drive it again.  

Why? Genuine question...

I did it, and sold both the original airbag and steering wheel without too much trouble. Well worthwhile upgrade, the original button steering wheel is an ugly old thing and the replacement 718 wheel lifts the interior ambience immeasurably (paddles are great too).

5 hours ago, daz05 said:

Different strokes .... I don't agree I'd rather pay more for a lower mileage example of a car I want which is also in good condition personally, then I don't have the disappointment of worn surfaces and components, they just generally feel tighter in my experience. More miles = more time spent out on our wet badly paved roads, more corrosion and seized bolts that make any sort of tinkering and repairs a pain I could do without.

Yeah, but if it turns out to be a knackered old shed, there's always Daz to sort it out 🙂

I've never understood the obsession with mileage above all else and paying inflated prices accordingly. We don't buy these cars as an investment opportunity, we buy them to drive. Speak to anyone experienced in the motor trade and they will tell you that condition matters far more than mileage. 

I bought my 2012 Boxster S in 2017, it has a brilliant, desirable spec with almost everything I was looking for. It had FSH with almost 70,000 miles, and this was reflected in the price I eventually negotiated for it following an independent inspection. What I've spent on routine maintenance at a Porsche independent in the 6 years since is nowhere near the premium I would have had to pay for a low mileage example, particularly from an OPC.

So, based on my experience, my advice would be to buy on condition and spec alone and just enjoy it. Don't worry too much about the mileage because you know what, it won't be long before all 981s have high mileages anyway.

28 minutes ago, Carmand said:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and despite what some seem to think not everything in life is black and white.  Advice or experience is always welcome but not if it comes in the form of a directive.

What "directive"? I haven't seen any. As far as I'm aware nobody has directed our friend to change his tyres, there is merely an invitation to him to consider the wise advice of the many who have and have benefitted from it, in the hope that he too might benefit from it. Isn't this how a forum like this is supposed to work?

5 minutes ago, 356C said:

I had Michelins on my 987 and I said they have more grip than Pirellis and don’t last as long. I felt the Pirellis handled the same as the Michelins, which seems reasonable because the Michelins and the Pirellis that the Porsche dealerships fit are designed for the cars. 

Much as I hate to state the bleedin' obvious, the 987 is a previous generation model and therefore a completely different animal to a 981. Surely as a former tyre tester you should know not to jump to conclusions without actually carrying out a tyre test on the car in question?

24 minutes ago, 356C said:

Come on chaps, we can disagree without falling out. 
 

It really doesn’t matter what I think. 

Not falling out, just think you should consider following the advice you have been given from people who have experience in these matters and actually try your car on Michelins before summarily dismissing them as making no difference.

1 hour ago, ATM said:

 

If you search for stuff on the internet about Pirelli tyres you will find evidence of lots of internet talk about these tyres and lots of other people having problems with them.  Some even got Pirelli to replace them free of charge.  I think there was some talk about the manufacturing process or chemicals involved being problematic and this is why Pirelli said some tyres were going off far too quickly due to age.

So a brand new car on brand new tyres is very different to your car which could have tyres 2, 3, 4, 5 or more years old.  You can go outside and look at the date stamps on your tyres. 

I guessed immediately when I read all of this you were on Pirelli tyres.

Several people have also commented on Pirelli specifically.  

If you are going to ask for advice on this forum then please listen to the advice people give.

People take the time to reply. 

Ask yourself why people would try to mislead you?

Maybe they know something which is true and are trying to help.

"You can lead a man to wisdom, but you cannot make him think"

3 hours ago, 356C said:

It’s not the tyres, which are OE Pirelli’s. It’s how they are. Someone mentioned Test Drive Scotland who’s done a video on fitting bits from a 718 to fix it. 

OE Pirellis suck on the 981. Mine was borderline lethal in the wet with them. Have you tried Michelin PS4S? I did and it transformed the car.

11 hours ago, andygo said:

Spyder prefprmane ones are good. I fitted some to my previous 981 and got them to fit the bushes. They were no worse than standard for NVH and of course meant that it's easy to replace the bushes if they ever need doing again.

So the bushes on the Spyder items are replaceable but the ones on the OEM coffin arms aren't?

My 2012 981 Boxster S is into the 70k's now and the rear suspension is getting increasingly knocky, particularly on lateral ridges on the road. I've surmised from what I've previously read on this forum that worn rear lower ball joints are likely to be the culprit and that new rear coffin arms will therefore be required, even though it's still passing its MOT every year. Has anyone got any recommendations on replacements? Are the aftermarket items (e.g. Spyder Performance) any good? What else should I consider while I'm at it, e.g. poly bushes, new drop links?

All advice gratefully accepted .....

On 8/12/2022 at 2:42 PM, Robin_GTS said:

Yes you can have this feature coded in which is what I have done on mine using PoCom software. 
 

 

Any kind-hearted forum member in the vicinity of Lancashire with PoCom who would be willing to do the honours for me? 🙂

Some time ago, I swapped my awful original 981 multifunction steering wheel for a 718 multifunction wheel. In doing so, I obviously lost the "Sport" / "Sport +" indicator on the top of the original steering wheel. I heard recently that the instrument display can be recoded to display this next to the digital speedo - has anyone had this done and how?

22 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

I've had knocking tuning forks go through MOTs.

Same here. Hard to know which end of the car the knock is coming from though. I think it's the back on mine - is this the most common area for failure?

7 hours ago, daz05 said:

Hi all, there has been a big gap since my last video, this one will probably explain why!

How do you think it turned out?

https://youtu.be/QLSr41zd40g

You, Sir, are a mad genius.

Some nice work on display. Could someone give an idea of how much having something like this done costs?

8 hours ago, iborguk said:

They will want to redo the last service plus anything like plugs, belts, brake fluid which are due (even if they have been done).

 

Well, that's insane

4 hours ago, Stuno1 said:

Just finished speaking with Porsche Colchester.

- The most recent service needs to have been done by Porsche.

- 111 point check required with replacement parts as needed to porches oem.

- Must have owned it for 3 months. 
 

That rules me out until the next service in 2 years time at which point a 111 point inspection will be needed on top of the service. 
 

I don’t get it! Do the inspection, replace parts as needed and offer a warranty. That’s what other manufacturers do. I’ll put money away and use that if something goes wrong. That gives me 1700 ish until the warranty can be applied in 2 years if I decide to do so at that point. 

If you're so desperate to get the warranty, why don't you just book it in for a service at the OPC alongside the 111 point check and do a deal on the price? If your last indy service was so recent, it's not like there will be a load of work required on the service side surely?

Need to change those number plates to the new UK versions to comply with the new regulations that commence on Monday.... 🙂

On 8/8/2021 at 11:28 AM, ATM said:

Fan sounds fine when AC is off. I keep the fan on always as I've been through times when it sticks and it's now a known issue. I usually leave the AC off always. Only turned it on as it was very hot and my car had been baking in the sun.

Huge mistake.

3 hours ago, Ringmaster999 said:

I really wish I new what all this means but there you go. I blame my age 😂😂😂👍

Glad it worked out for you what ever it means 👍

Old age is a distinct advantage here as you're dealing with 30 year old disk drive technology in the PCM of early 981s...

On 5/25/2021 at 9:17 PM, spook said:

OK, quick scan of the Rennlist thread (thanks iborguk and daz05) suggests that you have to be VERY specific about what hardware you use to replace the OEM ATA/IDE HDD or you will be wasting your time and money. The recommended replacement IDE SSD is a Zheino 64GB (other makes don't seem to work due to incompatibility between the PCM and the memory chips used in the SSD) but these are now unavailable, so you have to use an mSATA to IDE adapter - as per the definitive answer in foodbiker's recent post on Rennlist as follows:

"The key detail is that if you have an IDE drive (mine was out of a 2013 Boxster), DO NOT PASS GO. Just order one of the ~$35 Ableconn mSATA to IDE adapters (I used a Transcend mSATA like one of the earlier users did…64GB) and be done with it. Mine looked used and prepackaged (bent pins), but whatever. Remove the jumper on the IDE pins as you won't need it.

The answer is definitively that the Ableconn adapter uses an old-school controller that the PCM can recognize, specifically a Marvell 88SA8052 chipset. The one that I tried was a ~$15 “CY” brand controller, which used a JMicron JM20330 SATA bridge chip controller which the PCM didn’t like. This seems like the only viable option these days, given that the Zheino SSDs have not been available for quite some time."

Hope this helps anyone else facing this problem. Thank God for forums and thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion. I'm now going to have a lie down 🤪

Quick update. I followed the above advice and bought the Ableconn mSATA to IDE converter caddy plus a 64GB mSATA card to put in it. Removed the OEM IDE/ATA HDD from the PCM and cloned it to an image file on my Windows computer hard drive using AOMEI Backupper. Restored the image file to the Ableconn, installed it to the PCM. Worked first time. Total cost around £75, including the cost of the Inateck external IDE HDD reader that I also needed. 

Highly recommended preventative maintenance project and probably not a moment too soon, as while cloning the PCM's OEM HDD I noticed that it was starting to get a bit clicky ...