Questions from new 2000 Boxster S owner

[Skitch]

Hello All –

I recently purchased a well maintained 2000 Boxter S from a friend of mine who has had it for a few years. IMS bearing replaced, timing chain tensioners replaced, oil pan removed and no metal particulates observed in pan or oil filter element. It has 111K miles on it but seems to be in very good overall condition for its age. I’ve owned a 911 in the past, and have a 71 VW/Porsche 914 which is my main toy car, and I like to wrench - but now it seems like I have a 914 on steroids with the Boxter S. I had not given them much thought in the past but since this was an easy purchase and I did not have to go on the hunt for one I figured why not. It is certainly a lot of fun to drive. With that said I have a few questions from reading the manual and inspecting all the functions of the car.

• “emergency” cable for popping open the fuel door, I put a borescope in the space where the cable is and saw that the loop broke off the cable. Any easy way to replace this? Or should I just not worry about it?

• “emergency” cable for the hood release by the passenger side headlight. Should I remove light, verify it is present and functions, and ensure I can get to it via the wheel well? Is there value in re-routing it or does that present an issue when you have to pull it with some force.

• Frunk and trunk operation – I understand that since this is a 2000 it is not electrically operated, but I have observed when you lock the car that the levers also “lock” – but if the battery goes dead does the frunk hood lever become inoperable? Year 2000 does not have the fuse box option to put power to the batter via a jumper battery. If the battery dies, and the car is unlocked, can I pop the hood through the lever? Is a battery tender recommended?

• Keys – so I only have one key, and it appears to function properly when locking the car via the door lock, and if you hold the key in left/right position it operates the windows up/down; however when you press the buttons the led light on the key case does illuminate, but the central locking via this function does not work. I followed the procedure in the manual to reset the function but no luck, and I opened up the key and the tiny microswitches seem to be functioning hence the illumination, but perhaps there is a break in a solder joint somewhere?

• Keys – of course I would love to have the above issue resolved, and have a new key, but is the sole process to take it to a Porsche dealer due to the immobilizer and the blackbox under the seat? The though of paying like a grand for another key is not very appealing though.

Anyway, thanks for reading this, and glad to be on a new forum and definitely love this car and hope to keep it a long time. Thanks in advance. Reg

[Newsguy]

One of the maintenance items is removing the bumper cover and cleaning your radiators. You'll be amazed at what collects in there: I had a piece of wood about 8 inches long! At that time, you can reposition the cable where you can access easily. I haven't addressed the trunk cable yet on my driver, I must admit. I have another non-running "S" which I have had occasion to remove the rear bumper cover (and engine, several times, transmission, and exhaust< don't ask) and noted the cable was broken. So that is in my future too.
As far as the locking, do you know for certain the immobilizer hasn't gotten wet? It's under the driver's seat and is a common problem if the drains are clogged, or a rain hits with the top down. You might check it to see if there is corrosion on the board.

[Skitch]

Thanks for the help! I definitely need to pull the front bumper as I did see some leaves back there. Thanks on the information on the immobilzer under the seat. I will check it out. .

[78F350]

Regarding the key: You can buy a blank key shell and have it cut to match your single key. There are plenty of places you can buy an inexpensive blank.



Of course, that will not start your car without having the proper transponder in it, but at least you can unlock the door or turn the ignition to unlock the steering in an emergency. My local locksmith charges about $30 to cut these.

If you are willing to take the transponder out of your good key and place it in the car, you can do this: https://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/56448-diy-making-cheap-spare-keys.html