How to make a 2001 Boxster S a Daily Driver?

[mikefocke]

You have assured yourself that the fans are working that draw air over the radiators.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

You have assured yourself that the fans are working that draw air over the radiators.

^^^ This is the 1st place to start. ^^^

There are 2 instances when the fans should kick on - (1) when the temp gets too high, the fans kick on to cool it, or (2) when you kick in the AC. The fans kick on for #1 automatically when it gets hot and then kick off when it's cooled down. The fans kick on immediately when you start your AC and stay on until you turn the AC off. There are separate switches in the fan for these operations and the switch for #1 has a tendency to die. In that case, your car can run hot in traffic b/c there's not enough air flow thru the radiator when you drive with the AC off.

1st way to check is to start your car and kick the AC on, then get out of the car with the engine & AC running to listen for the fans in the front. You should hear them blowing on both sides. If they're working, then you should not be getting a hot condition in traffic with the AC on, as the fans are working.

2nd test is to then turn the AC off and drive in traffic. Once the temp starts to go up, pull into a parking lot, leave the engine running, and see if you hear the fans running in front. If not, the switch for that side of the fans is broken. There are articles on how to fix it, which requires the front bumper to be removed, but you need to verify this is the problem first.

[thom4782]

Couple of thoughts....

Change the oil frequently...I did my DD every 3000 miles using Motul.

The IMS issue is tricky. The root cause is the seals degrade due to contaminants in the oil and the grease washes out. Low miles is actually less desirable because the seals will have sat in acidic oil for a long time. By the time you see metal parts, the bearing is already failing and you're faced with whether you can purge all the bits from the engine. If you value the car and want to keep it for many more years, you may want to preemptively replace the IMS. If not, buy a Durametric and check whether the cam deviations are rock steady flat. If they wobble, it would be an indication of a failing bearing.

I had my boots done 4 years ago and it was about 1K in the San Francisco area.

If you do put in a new water pump, put a low temp thermostat in at the same time. And as Mike said, make sure the fans are running in both low and high speed. They run in low speed if the AC in on regardless of the coolant temperature. One can jump the relays to turn on the high speed fans. A search should tell you how to do it. If high speed fans work and the lows don't the the ballast resistor on the non-working side needs to be replaced.