This fall I bought two 2000 5-speed Boxsters one after the other. The first one, which is green, is being sold on to a friend after I got a lot of the basic maintenance up to date. That experience is described here:
https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-and-boxster-s-986-forum/1099769-getting-the-maintenance-up-to-date-on-my-new-2000-boxster.html
The Blue Boxster supposedly had an overheating problem after the water pump was changed. It had been sitting for a couple of years. The coolant reservoir was empty so I put in about 6 liters of ionized water to fill it. I left the coolant bleeder valve open for the short drive home and it ran well with the temperature staying right in the middle of the gauge. On arriving I had to add another couple of liters of water. I figure the guy filled the reservoir after changing the water pump and drove off without bleeding or refilling. Supposedly the car wasn’t driven with the engine seriously overheated and I have not seen any indication that the engine was damaged.
The car has 185,000 km (115,000 miles). I continued driving with the bleeder open for a week, then closed it and it seems to fine.
The car has a salvage title, accident on the front left corner which may explain why the paint is in such good shape. It seems to have a few options... but the hood was replaced so the sticker is gone; it has electric seats and speakers in the rear. It also has nice BBS wheels and good tires.
Other than the problem described in this thread:
Noise like hitting a tin can with a stick?
it runs well.
Observations after driving for a little over a month and 300 km.
The starter seems a bit anemic but the engine starts quickly and runs smoothly, the clutch and transmission are acceptable but not as tight as the green boxster that I was driving at the same time.
There is maintenance that was not done, since I don’t have any documentation, I will be bringing everything up to date.
In exploring the car I found;
- the drains were relatively clean.
- the roof lowers and raises just fine, the rear window has a small tear but other than that is in good shape, I.e. transparent.
- the air and cabin filters were dirty, but not too bad, I cleaned them.
- brake pads and shoes are good and the rotor thicknesses are within limits.
- the rear speakers have a wire cut, don’t know whats happing there.
- the front trunk lid shocks were unable to hold the lid open (replaced).
- the tool kit was missing a few things, I have replaced them and added a wrench to allow me to remove the serpentine belt on the road.
- checked the serpentine belt – it was OK, but I have a new one that I will install and the old one will be in the trunk in case of an emergency. I think the idler pulley bearing is a bit loose, I will change it if necessary when I change the belt.
- gas filler lock is not working.
- the leather seats are on good shape, treating them with a protector is in the works.
- there was only one key and I discovered that it was missing the internal electronics for the disarming the alarm and unlocking the doors. I don’t know if the alarm works… with the doors locked the light on the dashboard double flashes. I will look into this sometime in the future. Meanwhile I found a place that made me a new key that opens the doors and starts the car.
- I found a puddle of water on the passenger side, so I assume the drip pan on that side is damaged. This is strange because the car had been stored outside and there was no water in it when I bought it and no indication of previous leaking.
- there is no play in the wheel bearings or suspension elements. The front shock bump stops are in bad shape.
The car is now my garage for the next steps in its refurbishing.
- have done a compression test which gives all cylinders (cold… around freezing) between 170 and 180 with a maximum difference of 6%, which is positive. The spark plugs are all very clean and in good shape. The coils look good, no cracks. I have ordered a borescope so I can inspect the cylinders before replacing the plugs. I will also replace the spark plug tube o-rings.
- at some point the front bumper cover will come off so I can clean and inspect the radiators.
- picked up a after market starter on Amazon for $85 CDN which was supposed to be used, with some scratches. When it arrived it looked new and no scratches. Hmmm. It will be installed soon to see if the cranking speed is improved.
- before the really cold weather arrives I have to drain the coolant because of the quantity of water I added. The garage is unheated so it ends up being quite chilly during the winter.
- I will drain the oil and inspect the filter and probably change the transaxle oil.
- The big project before it comes out of the garage next Spring is to drop the transaxle to inspect the clutch and change the IMSB. I hope to get the transaxle out before the temperature in the garage falls to the point where I can’t work, so I can inspect everything and order parts to be ready to reassemble everything when Spring arrives.