Porsche said my skid plate is aftermarket?
 

Hello,

I had my boxster up on the hoist the other day and noticed a few bolts missing in my rear skid plate. Took a picture on my iphone and went to the dealer to order the missing bolts. No one could understand why their was a skid plate their. Im the second owner and know for a fact that the previous owner never modified anything on the car. Heres a picture of it and the missing bolts. Anyone have this setup?

You need a new dealer, yours is an idiot. Every 986 Boxster (I can't say for the 987) has that plate, it helps stiffen the suspension. If you flat out remove it you'll probably need an alignment every 10 miles.
From what I can see the only bolts missing are the two upfront by the wire, under the engine. :cheers:

+1 Get a new dealer.

haha... Indeed.. find a new dealer... they all have that...

Skip the dealer, go to a hardware store to get the bolts.

Sounds a lot like the dealer doesn't want to "deal with two missing bolts". If he's close to you, drop by with a Bentley manual, that plate appears in numerous photos. Better yet email his service department and link them this thread, clearly whoever told you that is flat out wrong.


Porsche world class dealer network, you can pay more but you can't get less.


I remember when the dealer returned a car to me leaking oil profusely after a repair and blamed me for not asking for an oil seal while the job was being done. Yeah fellas, an extra 30 beans to not have it leak would have been off my radar!! I had to pay another fee to have them fix it right, Porsche dealers are mother%%^ers. That's why every time I repair something without them I feel triumphant.

PS We have a fastener specialty store where I live, I'd look for one of those, many times Home Depot and the like have a lousy metric selection.

What a pathetic parts department. Show them this diagram. Or better yet, find another dealer.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/PartsLookup/HTML/986_USA_KATALOG/501-01-Frame3.htm

Here's a picture to show you it's normal what you have there...
http://i44.tinypic.com/20uyjw3.jpg

Also, if I'm not mistaken, there's actually a threaded bolt that suspends down thru the plate and then you secure a nut to it from the underside...

http://i43.tinypic.com/15ed0lh.jpg

Forget the dealer, stick with 986furum! There's a lot of experts here who really knows their boxster.

+1 on that! I learn so much from reading the threads.

Viola, definitely find a new dealer...

On another note thats happened to me once before too.

No idea where the bolts went but that plate was "flapping". I took it in for service under warranty because the car had a rattling noise going over bumps. Sure enough they put the car on the lift and found the two bolts missing.

My guess is they somehow came loose and fell off. Probably not torqued correctly.

Anyway, make sure you strap up torque your bolts correctly :D

Speaking of skid plates... what are the 2 rubber flap pieces for? I attached a picture pointing these out. Thanks.

I would imagine they're for scooping the air up for cooling.

Cooling air pickups.

WOW, The ignorance thats extended from these people never ceases to amaze me! UNREAL!

Its not just a skid plate, it ties the uprights together and without it the suspension flops all over the place!

Can the two flaps be replaced without purchasing a complete skid plate? Mine seem to be missing!

If they fit like mine they can, simply grooved rubber press fit.

Yes, those rubber flappy things are air cooling ducts. They are very close to the ground so pretty easy to lose if you go over a dead opossum or something. just pick up a new set, jack up the rear of the car, set your jack stands, and refit them. A little plastic Porsche body pin snaps in to hold them.

You know... you could just replace that skid plate with a techno brace from Pedro's garage and be done with it. Not sure if it works, but from what I can tell, Pedro does know what he's doing.

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/Install_the_TechnoBrace.html

You shouldn't 'just' replace it with a technobrace. ;)

Any idea what the part number is? I'm missing the one on the passenger side.

You dont really replace the plate. its still there the picture on Pedros site is there without the skidplate to show how it works. But if Im reading the instructions correctly you retain the skidplate when you install the brace.

Bump, just in case anyone who happens to know what the part number is for the under-car rubber engine air scoops might have missed this thread a couple weeks ago. I'm still looking for the part number. :(

sticky :cheers:

Thanks. I've had that downloaded for some time now. I just went through it again--all 446 pages of it--and I still don't see the rubber under-car engine air ducts anywhere. Am I missing it, or is it just not there? (I suppose I could just pull off the one that's still on the car and see if there is a part number on it...)

Are you talking about the plastic/rubber ducts that direct air into the radiators?'

996 575 321 00 Left Air Duct
996 575 322 00 Right Air Duct
(Search for 'radiator' in the parts guide)

Here, read this...the question is answered near the middle of the thread by Loren:
http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2977&hl=scoops

GOT IT!!! Thank you!! No wonder I couldn't find it... It's not in the picture!

Even better news: It's a cheap part... $10.00 from Pelican Parts, and the 2 fasteners are $1.00 apiece. :cheers:

ok guys, i think i need to get all my ducts in a line. my new to me boxster (2000 s) has had some speed bump modifications by the previous owner that i’m looking to rectify. in my inventory of various flaps, ducts and spoilers under the car, i’ve come to the following:

front brake ducts - attached to the control arms; often replaced with gt3 ducts for more cooling.

rear engine cooling ducts - located at the rear of the car, mounted inboard and attached to the rear skid. these are the ones texomawaves was looking for and referred to in the renntech link.

front radiator ducts - there are located up and behind the front bumper; there are the ones with the part # listed by rick3000 below.

lower radiator ducts - these look to be two pieces on each side; a straight piece that is mounted in front of the wheel, and a duct piece inboard of the straight piece. i’m looking for these pieces (left side) - anyone have part numbers for me??? i think i've found the straight piece, but the duct is eluding me.

thanks.

found (on pelican parts)!

996-504-603-00-M100 left air duct (apparently on the s model only ?)

996-504-503-00-M100 left lip

At 11 pm I have the burning desire to go out to the garage, jack up the back of my boxster, and see if the "flappy thingies" have been knocked off by a dead opossum!

You guys are hilarious!