Boxster Dash Guts Pictures

[blue2000s]

I decided while I had the car in storage, I would go ahead and try to get rid of a loud click that I would get from the dashboard area when going up a curb.

There have been a couple of TSBs about the issue. One places teflon pads between the front support structure (where the steering wheel housing and passenger airbag attach) and the bulkhead just under the windsheild. The other places felt pads between the aluminum lower dash beam and the center of the front support structure. The bulletins show how to do these without removing the dashboard, but it's actually easier to do this by taking the dashboard off than trying to squeeze and pry things into small places.

These first two pictures show the dash ready to come off:




The next four show the dashboard removed. There sure are alot of wires running back there:






Here you can see the teflon pad on the passenger side. This is close to where the passenger side airbag mounts:



On the driver side, there is a plastic housing that manages the wiring harness as it passes over the steering column:



On the driver side, the teflon pad is between the chassis bulkhead and the support structure. The same bolt that attachs these two parts also holds the upper end of the plastic cable guide:



There is an aluminum beam that runs the length of the dashboard at it's bottom edge. Where this beam meets the support structure under the radio, the two parts can rub against each other and cause the popping noise that I have been experiencing when going up the curb to my driveway. The solution, according to Porsche, is to place large felt pads between the two parts so that when they do move relative to each other, the don't move in a metal on metal pop.

There are significant witness marks on the aluminum beam where it touches and rubs against the center structure, so hopefully the felt pads solve the problem. In this picture is the beam and structure joint. They are held together by a nut and threaded insert. The felt pads are between the two parts:



This is the lower side of the center support. You can see the aluminum beam at the top of the picture:



I'm really hoping these will take care of my issue. Unfortunately, it's going to be 3-4 months before I can test it out.

[Lucky]

Wow! Quite a project. My dash is still quiet after 98,000 miles. However, I do have a rattle in the driver's door that I need to find and fix... it is so quiet passengers can't hear it, but I'm sure you understand how annoying squeaks and rattles can be!

Thanks for sharing the pics of the major dash surgery... very educational.

[schoir]

You might want to double up the teflon pad application so it doesn't wear through.

I can't imagine doing that job twice!

Regards, Maurice.

[Perfectlap]

Which is the part that always rattles?

[edevlin]

Way cool pics of the dash, I still cannot believe the size of the wire bundles that are running around in our cars. Its hard to believe that the cars continue to work as well as they do. They remind me of the complexity of the space shuttle with multiple modes of potential electrical failure....

Ed

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Which is the part that always rattles?

It's not rattling so much as popping when one corner of the car is lifted by driving up a curb. I strongly believe it's motion between the aluminum beam and the center structure, where the felt goes.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by schoir

You might want to double up the teflon pad application so it doesn't wear through.

I can't imagine doing that job twice!

Regards, Maurice.

Hopefully there isn't enough movement between the parts to wear through.

[FTD]

Good grief, you're brave. I get anxieties just looking at your pictures.

Very educational and thank you for thinking to document it. I hope I never need to take my dash off. All that wiring intimidates me.

[jmatta]

Wow! A complete dashectomy. If I took mine apart like that I'd never get it back together.