AOS special tools - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

mountainman · 08-24-2013, 01:49 PM

Getting ready to do the AOS exchange on the 04 boxster S. Anyone think of any special tools that may make it easier?

clickman · 08-24-2013, 02:39 PM

Just getting ready to do it myself. Apparently the remote clamp pliers are a good idea.

Replace the Air/Oil Separator

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/airoilseparatorreplacement

Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Air / Oil Separator Replacement - 986 / 987

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/29585-air-oil-separator-removal-installation.html

psquared39 · 08-24-2013, 03:00 PM

Just did mine last week and followed Pedro's DIY. The spring clamp pliers were a life saver. I know a lot of people have cursed this job but I didn't find it too troublesome. Managed to replace the AOS and clean the throttle body in about an hour fifteen... car was already on jack stands, wheels off etc... from doing other work.

Wret · 08-25-2013, 08:55 AM

Just did mine. It only took about an hour and a half. I bought the spring remover tool but didn't use it. Mine had been replaced before and my mechanic had used a screw type clamp. I read a couple of DIY guides ahead of time and couldn't understand why Pedro's has you remove the throttle body. I didn't have to touch it. Maybe if you are replacing the top tube?

I used a u-joint and several socket extensions to get the wrench where I could turn it on the mounting bolts.

psquared39 · 08-25-2013, 09:49 AM

+1 Wret on the throttle body comment.

Mountainman - If you're not planning to clean it there is NO need to disassemble ANY of the intake components...

As to the Pedro article, I believe he is assuming the bad AOS is dumping excessive oil in the intake, and the complete job would include cleaning the intake components.

mountainman · 08-25-2013, 01:09 PM

Mine has probably never been replaced so I will go ahead and get the spring clamp plier tool before I tackle it. Always like new tools anyway. Not sure about the throttlebody yet. It runs great with just a small amount of gray smoke occasionally on start up. At 50K it is time to change the aos for sure. Amount of time and difficulty seems to be all over the board, but I have a lift, lots of tools and plenty of time.

Wret · 08-26-2013, 03:41 AM

I was a little nervous about tackling the job after reading about how hard it is to get too. I'm not as flexible as I used to be. The only fairly difficult tasks were removing and replacing the bolts, because of the angle. Mike Focke's write-up suggests cutting the little bellows tube and and dealing with the spring clamp when you can get better access (after removing the old AOS). Mine had a screw clamp so I didn't have to deal with a spring clamp, but this seems like a good bit of advice.