The most likely failure in my 2001 Box base...

[BYprodriver]

If anyone would care to gain additional insight into Jake Raby's personality traits, facts can be learned here:
Jake Raby - Marines

[rp17]

What the heazy happened here. Thought this only happened in oil threads. Gheesh

[evomind]

I hope all this garbage and cry babying isn't because I asked a legitimate (to me anyway) on whether or not a Boxster waterpump gives indication of impending failure like every other cars water pump does.
I ask questions because I don't know.

[Timco]

Originally Posted by evomind

I hope all this garbage and cry babying isn't because I asked a legitimate (to me anyway) on whether or not a Boxster waterpump gives indication of impending failure like every other cars water pump does.
I ask questions because I don't know.

It wasn't the fact that you asked a question, it's that 1% of us went unpoliced by the rest of the board and refused to swap their water pumps preemptively this weekend and could not be or were not forced into it.

I didn't realize that was a direct order.....

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by evomind

I hope all this garbage and cry babying isn't because I asked a legitimate (to me anyway) on whether or not a Boxster waterpump gives indication of impending failure like every other cars water pump does.
I ask questions because I don't know.

No, it's not you. This forum, like most, has the occasional spontaneous outbreak of drama and, after a brief period of frothy waters, settles back down again. Put some popcorn in the 'wave, sit back, enjoy the show.

[Boxtaboy]

FWIW, when my water pump went out on my 01 at 60k, it gave me warning by way of a nice leak under the car. I had enough time to drive it to the dealer...about 5 miles away, and all was fine after they replaced it. I personally don't see a need to replace the WP every 4 years or whatever....it gets replaced when it busts.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

FWIW, when my water pump went out on my 01 at 60k, it gave me warning by way of a nice leak under the car. I had enough time to drive it to the dealer...about 5 miles away, and all was fine after they replaced it. I personally don't see a need to replace the WP every 4 years or whatever....it gets replaced when it busts.

As I understand it ( I'm no expert ) the failure you describe is NOT the one to be scared of ( leaking ). The failure to be scared of is the vanes on the pump cracking and sending schrapnel into the cooling passages. As I understand it the cooling passages are fairly small so broken pieces of WP vanes can lodge and cause hot spots. Those hot spots cause cracked heads which then gives you the lovely brown soup of oil/coolant mix. In this failure mode you won't get a puddle on the floor............you'll get a expensive repair bill

[particlewave]

Where does it stop? Should I replace everything preemptively? Should I toss and turn at night, wondering what may happen? I don't think so. That's not how I live my life. I bought this car, cash in hand, as a 33rd birthday present to myself and I'm just going to continue enjoying it

If something breaks, I'll replace it...just like everything else I own. It's as if some would have us believe that these cars are priceless treasures that should have money thrown at them simply for the sake of what may happen. Whatever. It's just a car. You'll sleep better if you stop worrying so much.

Que sera, sera

[Timco]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Where does it stop? Should I replace everything preemptively? Should I toss and turn at night, wondering what may happen? I don't think so. That's not how I live my life. I bought this car, cash in hand, as a 33rd birthday present to myself and I'm just going to continue enjoying it

If something breaks, I'll replace it...just like everything else I own. It's as if some would have us believe that these cars are priceless treasures that should have money thrown at them simply for the sake of what may happen. Whatever. It's just a car. You'll sleep better if you stop worrying so much.

Que sera, sera

Posts like this are part of the (JR's) problem......

This isn't helping get him back ASAP!

Am I supposed to be policing you?

When you don't change your water pump, your car over-heats.
When your car over-heats, it explodes.
When your car explodes, it kills you.
When your car kills you, your wife / Gf says "I told him so!!!"
Don't let your wife / GF say "I told him so!!!" CHANGE THAT WATER PUMP!!

[Jamesp]

Originally Posted by Timco

Posts like this are part of the (JR's) problem......

This isn't helping get him back ASAP!

Am I supposed to be policing you?

When you don't change your water pump, your car over-heats.
When your car over-heats, it explodes.
When your car explodes, it kills you.
When your car kills you, your wife / Gf says "I told him so!!!"
Don't let your wife / GF say "I told him so!!!" CHANGE THAT WATER PUMP!!

It just depends on how the folks in the forum want it run. I consider myself one of the 1% because I say exactly what I believe. Imagine that. I try to be nice about it, but I don't bow down to anyone's alter, no matter how technically accomplished they might be. That's not to say I don't appreciate and value their ideas. There are a select group of posters on this forum that are clearly highly professional and experts on the Porsche Boxster, and it's fantastic that they share their ideas here, even if it is with a little self promotion. That said, all the ideas posted have value, all of us together are smarter than any one of us alone. And as for the hand wringing / group hug session, go ahead and get started without me.

The water pump is waiting to bite you in the a$$ after all this posting. If it wasn't going to fail, it is now!

[Timco]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

It just depends on how the folks in the forum want it run. I consider myself one of the 1% because I say exactly what I believe. Imagine that. I try to be nice about it, but I don't bow down to anyone's alter, no matter how technically accomplished they might be. That's not to say I don't appreciate and value their ideas. There are a select group of posters on this forum that are clearly highly professional and experts on the Porsche Boxster, and it's fantastic that they share their ideas here, even if it is with a little self promotion. That said, all the ideas posted have value, all of us together are smarter than any one of us alone. And as for the hand wringing / group hug session, go ahead and get started without me.

The water pump is waiting to bite you in the a$$ after all this posting. If it wasn't going to fail, it is now!

But, I thought it was the IMS that we were supposed to run right out and swap same day??!! Now I'm hearing it's the water pump?????

I just can't understand why each owner is being given the option to swap this stuff or not in their own cars in this day and age. With .gov making rules for everything we do, and with all the knowledge we have today, these preemptive fixes should be law. Remember, the NSA doesn't know the owner of each car, just wether the IMS and WP have been changed in it....

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

I consider myself one of the 1% because I say exactly what I believe. Imagine that. I try to be nice about it, but I don't bow down to anyone's alter, no matter how technically accomplished they might be. That's not to say I don't appreciate and value their ideas. There are a select group of posters on this forum that are clearly highly professional and experts on the Porsche Boxster, and it's fantastic that they share their ideas here, even if it is with a little self promotion. That said, all the ideas posted have value, all of us together are smarter than any one of us alone.

Well said sir!

[recycledsixtie]

I was the original poster of this thread so I take full responsibility. Yep throw rotten eggs at me. If a would be buyer saw this thread he would run a mile. If I was going to start a business on the strength of this thread alone I would call it "Boxster problems? call 1 800 986 Shrink....

I have never known a car like this in my life where me personally I can choose to throw a ton of money by at it replacing stuff or just let it go till something breaks. Either way it is catch 22 with my wife. The niggling stuff irritates my wife because she says her Camry costs nothing to run after 12 years of ownership and I am always tinkering with the Box. My response is that your Camry is so boring to drive.....

Yes this forum can make Boxster owners a more cohesive group by sharing knowledge and everybody does that well. Now if only we could get Jake to come out of his hiding place. But I know that 986 owners will beat a path to him because he has good products. He does not even have to scare anybody to do it.
Guy

[thom4782]

I believe three questions are in order when asking for advice on replacing a part. They are:

1. What is the probability of failure
2. What is the total cost of repair relative to the cost of preventative maintenance
3. Can I afford the repair

One can then assign a value to each: 1 point for low or yes answer and 5 points for high and no answer. Then do a little math to gauge the relative risks. If in the green zone (probability is low, the relative cost is low, I can afford it), then wait until the part breaks. On the other hand, if you're in the red zone (probability is high, relative cost is high, I can't afford it), then replace it before the part breaks.

Looking at the part in this way, it much easier to decide what to do. The nice thing about approaching the answer this way is that everyone can assign their own point values to the answers and judge for himself whether to replace or not.

For example, if the probability of breaking a water pump vane is low, the cost of replacing a cracked head is high, and one can't afford ro doesn't want to do a repair costing more than $3500, then he's headed toward the red zone. Replace the water pump before it breaks.

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Where does it stop? Should I replace everything preemptively? Should I toss and turn at night, wondering what may happen? I don't think so. That's not how I live my life. I bought this car, cash in hand, as a 33rd birthday present to myself and I'm just going to continue enjoying it

If something breaks, I'll replace it...just like everything else I own. It's as if some would have us believe that these cars are priceless treasures that should have money thrown at them simply for the sake of what may happen. Whatever. It's just a car. You'll sleep better if you stop worrying so much.

Que sera, sera

Now that is a healthy attitude. If it blows up, sell the parts and buy another one. Probably cheaper in the long run than hurling money at problems that might never occur.

[particlewave]

Dammit!
K, I'm on it.

Better yet, I'll just replace the whole engine while I'm in there. Should I do the trans, too? Shoot...now I'm worried. Think of all of the wiring in this thing. Any one of thousands of wires could short out at any time, burning the car to a cinder and taking my home with it. Should I just sell the car? Oh, my tummy hurts

[rfuerst911sc]

I don't get all the drama in this post ? Why the anger ? This forum and others like it are to share experience/data. Part of those experiences unfortunately concern mechanical failures. I just look at the forums as data storage. I will study the data and make decisions based on what I learned, my wallet at the time and specific data on my car. Nothing more nothing less. I guess too many people have cabin fever On a brighter note the Core Porsche 911GT3R is leading GTLM at the 24 with 2 hours to go !

[Jake Raby]

Yes this forum can make Boxster owners a more cohesive group by sharing knowledge and everybody does that well. Now if only we could get Jake to come out of his hiding place. But I know that 986 owners will beat a path to him because he has good products. He does not even have to scare anybody to do it.

As we speak I am building a better hiding place... Even further away from the rest of the world than my current one. No cell signal and no internet, just focus between man and machine.

Machines don't have opinions and can't make smart ass remarks. I get along real well with them, and if they piss me off, well I just blow them up on purpose. With a smile.

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

if they piss me off, well I just blow them up on purpose. With a smile.

'Kay, well now I'm seriously rethinking my willingness to send my car to this guy in case it pisses him off and the little switch goes click!

All kidding aside, that post is a little creepy. Sorry, but it just is.

[recycledsixtie]

See Mark. I set the right bait outside the prof. engineer's hole. He came out of hiding and took it. I would have no hesitation sending my Box to Jake's if it came to it. I think we have to cut these engineers some slack. Kind of reminds me of the movie " a beautiful mind". I forget the name of the actor. The Boxster reminds me of that movie too.

It's okay Jake. We are a tough crowd. Group hug again!

I used to go to our local Miata Club on a monthly basis when I owned a Miata. Boring-nothing to talk about.

Now I attend Boxster meetings online on this forum very frequently and there is lots to talk about. No PCA chapter for this kid. Maybe coz I have more $$$$ invested and the risk is higher.