Repairs are getting tedious after only one month of ownership.
 

I've had my 2000 Boxster 2.7l for just over a month now and repairs are getting to be a pain. The last two weeks I've had to replace both the coolant tank and the AOS. Both jobs took about eight hours each in my hands and arms are all cut up and bruised.

Let's see, I've also done two oil changes just to flush out the motor, and I flushed the cooling system before I realized the coolant tank was leaking and I had to change it.

Next on the agenda is the water pump. This weekend I took the auxiliary belt off because I thought I heard one of the tensioners going. The tensioners are all fine, but the water pump has some play in the pulley.

After that, I have two change the the fuel filter and transmission gear oil.

Hopefully after all that's done, I'll actually have some time to drive it!

You most likely need a front motor mount too. Do that when you change the fuel filter since you will have already removed all the under panels.

You've got an 11 yr old Porsche. Did you expect it to be maintenance free?

What you're experiencing is typical. There are always lots of little things to take care of to get a "new" Boxster up to snuff. You can look at all this as a big PIA, or pursue it with enthusiasm and view each issue as an opportunity to learn about your car. I'm no cracker jack mechanic, so when I'm able to resolve a problem myself it gives me greater satisfaction when out driving and pride of ownership.

Actually, do the motor mount when you do the water pump as it is easier when you have the hose off. do the thermostat too while you're in there.

And yeah, lots of maintenance work on these cars. All part of the fun. If it's not fun for you then you may have picked the wrong car. My wife's Corolla requires almost no maintenance at all.

I like to wrench, don't get me wrong, guess I just got a little overwhelmed with the coolant tank and AOS back to back. But from what I've heard, these jobs are particularly tough.

Each of us went through the same thing when we bought our 10+ yr old cars. Catching up the maintenance and fixing the things that need to be fixed is time consuming and expensive - at first. After you get over the hump, you'll be amazed and as delighted with the car as the rest of us.

Wrenching may be a PITA, but at least you can do it and think of the money you're saving. Labor up here is over $100/hr. Good luck and get out there and enjoy your car.

In my experience, that coolant tank is the worst job. Not complicated but man did my arms look like I just got in a loosing fight with baby tiger...

Hang in there. I just got the water pump and plan to do it next week. I would go for the LN thermostat. It's pricey but way worth it in terms of keeping the engine cool....

Good luck...

-John

I will say I am more impressed when someone does it themselves
on a DIY job/maintenance procedure on their Pcar
than hearing how much they spent to have it done @ dealer
don't get me wrong ...not all jobs/DIY's r easy
but its nice to c others r doing it 4 the love of their Pcar.
kudos to the other forum members who help every1 out
with advice/ shortcuts etc.
tackle what ur comfortable with....save some money
get to know ur car inside out.
OR drive a corolla......<nudge/nudge> lol
My 2 cents
Chris

There is definitely a learning curve with these cars and lots of insider shortcuts. Download a posted DIY before you begin your next project and it will go a lot quicker. With a little experience the AOS and coolant tank can be changed out in around 2hrs each.

Yeah, the money i've saved definitely makes it worth it. Was reading that some people have paid $1200+ for the tank replacement and $700+ for the AOS.

Water pump spindle - when it goes it goes.
 

Good to get it done. I changed the s-belt and not a sound from the pump.
About 50 miles later I heard a noise and then 20 miles later it completely broke off.

Went through the same thing (as others have stated). You go through this "what did I get myself into???" phase, followed by a "it's a porsche, why am I replacing <insert part here>??", followed by a quick search on the forum and obtaining a handy DIY where others have previously trekked, followed by the daily smile when you leave the office and walk to your car, knowing that your day isn't quite over yet.. and then you grin.

...something like that.

it gets better. mucccchhhh better!

I guess there isn't a way to know for sure, but I wonder if the tighter, new belt, pushed the already weak water pump over the edge?

I also have a 2000 (3.2). I'd say I've spent $10K on major and minor maintenance over the last 12 months. It's like spooky clockwork. A bunch of things just strated to go. But to be honese a few of those have been on their last legs for some time.

What you have to keep in mind is that this is a sports car.
Not an econo box. The parts are made lighter and more fragile and cost more to produce. There's no getting around any of this. Either buy new or newish or suck it up. Either way you end up paying. The only difference is do you want to plunk down a bunch of cash all at once for used or have a never ending monthly payment.

But at the end of the day withing the sports car realm, these are very durable rare birds.

Nobody is ever going to walk up to you at the gas station and say"Wow! Nice Corolla!" :D

Not unless the driver of the Corolla was:

1. really hot
2. hot
3. really hot

Of course she would need to have a sense of humor lol.

If the driver of the corolla was a hot blonde.. I would say that...

Wow, nice Corolla.. what it's phone nr?

San, how many miles on this car...I've done a ton of stuff to my car but it didn't 'have' to be done, in fact all the 'repairs' on my car (2000 S) at 55k miles were minimal. I think I have done more early maintenance and unnecessary repairs then all those from the previous owner and I got the car at 53k miles in Nov. Do you have to do the gas filter and transmission fluid? If it is at that scheduled maintenance point then of course it makes sense. Like gschotland says getting it up to snuff can be a pia but in the end the piece of mind and the fun in doing it is worth it. I still have the water pump, engine mount, clutch, rms, ims on my list and look forward to doing it when the weather cools down. It gets really expensive when you start adding mods :). I will say I probably won't be so positive if my coolant tank goes ;)

As much as I would like to believe what you are saying, sadly it just isn't true. I have had many a discussion about German car manufacturers unscrupulous ways of making profits and they all seem to tread the same thin line between purposely making crap/junk parts designed to fail, and poor, but not deliberately poor, design.

To say that the parts that go into german cars are of higher quality or perform better thus making a better car is for the most part completely untrue. In fact, you'll often find much better parts in Japanese autos, especially in electronics. However I will concede that the parts on German cars are usually designed in a unique fashion, thus making their construction more expensive, but I really do question how much more expensive. I believe there is a lot of BS going on here about exclusivity - i.e. Porsche knows that if they make up funky shaped parts, odd fasteners, and unique designs, they will be difficult for after market companies to replicate and/or install, and thus all parts and service revenue go directly to Porsche (Most glaring example of this was the advent of the "service interval"). On top of this, sometimes I believe that certain parts have a prescribed lifespan. In other words, Porsche makes them knowing they will break, and thus they are a big revenue stream. This is CERTAINLY the business model for BMW/Mercedes. Possibly also for Porsche. The AOS is a good example -- it does not take 5 revisions to make one that doesn't fail in 20,000 km. A simple fix would have been to use better materials from the outset. Instead, they used crap knowing that this would be a common service on the car and hence reap the profits from repairs.

So the OP can feel better in knowing that the majority of the people on these forums have suffered the consequences of ownership of a german luxury auto. The only way you can avoid such costs is to buy the car new and use the warranty for what its for. However this is not a perfect fix since the downside is that your cars parts are still going to break and you will waste coutless hours at the dealership NOT enjoying your 100,000$ car. Trust me, I know. Alas, these are just the prices we must pay to enjoy luxury. I know I could have an Acura and be problem free (or much more so), but it just doesn't have the same feel and thrill as the Porsche or BMW. 'Tis a tough world... I wish someone would just make a luxury car that isn't made from cheap crap parts. I've heard that old Bentleys are good for this, but I think I'll need to work on my Law career a little longer before I can get one of those :)

Cars break down and have to have parts replaced. Some parts are poorly designed. There's a couple of revelations. At the end of the day it's what you get out of it. Cost / benefit. If that balance doesn't work for you, buy something else. Simple. :cheers:

To the OP, having just finished the jobs myself, I concur with the earlier post to combine some jobs if you have to do your water pump. I did the front engine mount and low temp thermostat and fuel filter, and it sure opened the area up and made the jobs a lot easier.

PS, if you don't know what coolant you have and have to replace it, and want to avoid the possibility of gelling, either buy a lift for your garage or have the pros do the flushing of the old coolant. Ask me how many times I had to put my car up on jackstands...
:mad:

I heard that in heaven they have French cooking, German cars, and English humor.

In hell they have English cooking, French cars and German humor.

I'm not sure I said the parts were of higher quality. But the idea that Porsche is going to simply use off the shelf parts across the board may have been true in the early 90's when they were using auto parts store shocks in the 911 (although that's also when they were on the brink of bankruptcy) but not so much since the rebirth.
I also have to say that for the most part the new Porsches have been on par on reliablity with any Japanese car I've ever owned. Actually my experience prior to my recent major 10 year overhaul was of a single $300 unexpected repair after nearly 70K miles. The newer Porsches are even better. But when it's time for major maintenance you need specialized labor (most import mechanics I've visited flatly refused to touch my car) with expensive parts. What are you going to do? I guess some people arent' getting excited about driving an RX8 or Jetta.

I saw that on a the back of an Italian menu in South Beach.

In heaven:

The cooks are Italian
The police are British
The lovers are French
The mechanics are German
and it's all organized by the Swiss

In Hell

The cooks are British
The mechanics are French
The lovers are Swiss
The police are German
and its all organzied by the Italians!

Just turned 116k miles. The gear oil was done at about 50k and I didn't see a record for the fuel filter. I'm trying to get all the major maintenance out of the way and start fresh. Luckily, the tires are new, glass window top is new, suspension is tight, clutch feels great.

Next step is to check the cam timing at the dealer (ouch, $145) to see if the IMS is in good shape, if not, then its clutch, IMS and RMS for me too.

Yeah, I just read Pedros write up on the waterpump amd he says loosening the motor mount and lowering the engine makes the job much easier, so I'm going to check the mount and if it isn't perfectly pristine, I'll replace it. I'm a firm believer in if it aint't broke, don't fix it, but I'm friends with the porsche dealer parts guy and he gives me wholesale/mechanics prices on OEM Porsche parts, so I can't really go wrong.

116k miles...sounds like a good car that just needs some tlc, enjoy fix'in her up and enjoy the drive!

116K miles on the original clutch?

Yep, and its in pretty good shape except for just the slightest hint of chatter below 2k rpms. I'm hoping the chatter is from a bad motor mount.

Then you should definitely do the IMS/Clutch/RMS. Your rear axle boots are probably both ripped as well.

On the brightside the previous owner was obvsiouly easy on the machinery. I'm guessing he probably performed regular oil changes as well.

Boots are good, tranny mounts good, suspension tight as drum, no shakes at any speed. Previous owner put new Bridgtones on it (paid over $1300 for them). He was an older guy and his widow said it was mostly highway miles. But yes, the IMS has me worried, the internet has made me paranoid. If the cam timing is good, I may just wait till the clutch goes. Although since I only paid $7500 for it, I guess I can afford to put some money into it.

I'd do the IMS if I were you. I was a doubter but eventually got too paranoid and had it done on my 2000 Boxster S with 76,000 miles on it. The bearing was about to fail. It sounds like a lot of money, but once you've done it you know you have a good car that you don't have to worry about. Just my .02.

If the car has the original motor mount I'd be comfortable saying that it's almost impossible that the front motor mount doesn't need replacing. The 2000 cars had the earlier design with less rubber. It's a cheap enough part that I'd replace it while you do the water pump. My 2000 at 84k had a very bad motor mount. These two are pretty easy jobs.

Steve