2002 Boxster S squeal
 

My 2002 Boxster S has a noise that I can only describe as a squeal. I only happens during a cold startup, lasts about 30 to 40 seconds and then fades away. It's not very loud and appears to be coming from the right upper front side of the motor. My first thought was the belt but I pulled it and greased the three idlers while I was there. Still making the same noise. I thought I would bounce it off the collective here to see if anyone may have come across the same problem. Thanks in advance. Ernie

My first guess is alternator.
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Also starter comes to mind, but that is usually short term noise, 10 seconds or less.
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There's lots of info here on the forum and YouTube to repair/replace either.

Are sure it isn't SAI pump? It has a high pitched whine on my car.

Is this a manual transmission? If so, and if only happens on a cold start-up, could be a stiff release bearing that starts working when it gets warmed up. My 2001 boxster base does this, only in very, very cold weather (especially below freezing... haven't gotten there yet this year, but heading toward it) on initial start-up. It should also start working if you apply pressure to it, by simply pressing down a bit on the clutch pedal. Try pressing down a bit on the clutch pedal and see if that makes it stop. If so, most likely is a bad release. If the noise has no relationship to clutch pedal operation (or if you have an automatic boxster!), the problem is something else.

The noise appears to be coming from the secondary air injection pump. (getting a education on this)
Is this normal or something to be concerned about? The car runs fine and the noise only last about 40 seconds after startup. Thanks for the help! Ernie

I have had experience with my SAI pump with a high pitch whine while running. There is a sealed bearing (Images of IMSB dancing in your head) in the pump and guess what the grease dries out. My fix (Researched fixes) was to take the pump apart, pull out the bearing.
Use a grease gun with a needle tip
Slip the needle tip over the bearing seal and pump grease back into the bearing from a few location around the seal.
My SAI pump has been quite for a couple year now.
A lot cheaper than replacing the SAI pump @ $300+
Be careful with the vibration (Rubber) mounts as they can tear in half due to age

fix
 

Thanks for the reply kk.
That's exactly what I wanted to hear.
Winter is very near here in Minnesota and I'm sure I can pull it apart and grease it up.
I'm a retired old school mechanic that would rather fix than replace.
I worked at a Porsche dealership for a very short two years back in the early 80's.
I've moved on to bigger and better things but still enjoy tinkering on bikes and cars.

Could someone give me a explanation of the SAI's function?
What it does and why?
I'd like to get a education on this since I'll be fixing one soon.
Thanks again for the help.
Ernie

Cat converters can't do their job to burn off emissions till they heat up on cold starts. Hence air is injected by the pump to dilute the mixture during cold starts. The pump runs for 90 sec whereby after the converter is hot enough to continue its job. Most euro cars including VW, Audi, utilize this system. What a pain for those who have to work on these!

To add to the SAI head ache can be the setting of the monitor during warm up. This is what typical inspection stations look for to pass the car. How do I know, I went to inspection 2 months back and low and behold my Evap and SAI monitors were NOT complete. A $1000 later I got the Evap system monitor to complete so I could Pass inspection. I still don't have the SAI setting complete but I do need some more drive cycles to verify if there is a problem.

fix
 

Thanks for the information guys. I was also able to find an informative u-tube video.

How do I "set the monitor"?

We don't have inspection stations to deal with here in Minnesota yet.

I hoping to pull the unit and disassemble it. Hopefully inspect and grease or replace the bearings. I'll just replace it if it comes down to it.

Ernie

How does Minnesota not do auto inspection, did they become part of Canada?
Your car may not have any issue. An ODBII reader can tell you what monitors have completed.
I use a Bluetooth ODBII sender and Android apps to read those outputs
For the SAI monitor, it is set by a serious of drive cycles typically from Cold start to normal operating temps and other monitors having completed
The bummer for the rest of us in the US of A, it can be expensive and time consuming to get these monitors working, but they typically don't effect how the car runs, just handle emissions

My car doesn't seem to have an issue as far as the emissions are concerned. I don't have a check engine light on. In my opinion the fan motor does seem noisy but I don't have another car to compare it to. It could be normal but I think I'll try to lube the bearings just as a preventative maintenance thing.
I got my first oil change out of the way. I also plan to change the grease in the trans and flush the brake fluid. I'm busy at the moment doing a top end on my BMW R100/7.
Cheers. Ernie

Water pumps squeal before they go as well. I highly recommend giving that a check. Loosen the belt and see if the pulley has ANY play. play=replace. The M96 will do terrible expensive things if it gets too hot.

SAI update
 

I pulled the secondary injection pump on Saturday. I bench tested it with a 12 volt battery and some test leads to listen to how loud it was. I removed the rear cover and cleaned the foam filter with some light air pressure. I'm sure higher pressure would blow it to pieces. I was able to part the two section by removing the spring clips. There are two stacked fan blades which come off pretty easy. That's where the fun ended. I was not able to take it apart any farther. I was hoping to get access to the shaft and bearings but it seems to be a sealed unit at that point. I put it back together and bench tested it again. it sounded much better. Maybe cleaning the restricted filter helped. I put it back it the car and will see how it sounds in the spring. If it still bugs me I'll pickup a new one or hunt down a used one. It's a pretty easy swap. It took longer to get to it than it would to do the R&R.

Thanks for the help guys.
Ernie