After I sold Red to my friend, his daughter decided that she didn't want to drive a stick shift car. They still kept it and enjoyed it until last year. It was sold to someone local who re-sold or traded it about six months later.
About two weeks ago my daughter called me. Someone she knew had a 1997 Boxster they had just bought and all the coolant leaked out while they were driving it. I said that I'd be happy to get a look at it to see what the problem was. I probably had enough parts on hand to fix it. A week ago the car was dropped off at my house and I immediately recognized it.
I found that one of the main coolant hoses from the engine had split – the one that I hadn't replaced five years ago. And the hose to the heater core was deteriorated and bulging.
I replaced both hoses and asked the owner if she'd like a new water pump while I was at it since the one on it was about five years old. I had two new Pierburgh pumps on the shelf, so I didn't have to wait for parts.
I used the Walmart brand
Super Tech VW/Audi/BMW/Volvo/Mercedes coolant (assuming that they didn't have enough space on the label to add “Porsche”).
When I sold the car, the top was operated manually. Now I made an attempt to restore it to electrical operation by synchronizing the transmissions and installing a couple new bushings in the linkage. It almost worked, but one of the transmissions came out of synch and the plastic socket on one of the links popped. I don't have spares for a '97 – '99 and decided it would be best not to get deeper into the repair with limited time available.
While working on the top, I noticed that the driver's side window regulator was bad. I had a good one in a door that I removed from a parts car, so I swapped them out. My recently adopted dog, Brad (Pitt) helped make sure that the torques were correct.
There's a slight whining sound consistent with engine RPM that I thought might be from the PS pump, so I removed as much fluid as I could with a turkey baster and refilled with fresh CHF 11S. It still makes some noise and when I have enough time to work on the car again, I'll check the alternator and idler pulleys.
Lastly, I noticed that one of the
'experimental' LED headlights that I had installed had come loose and rotated. When I made them, I hadn't planned to keep them in the car, but my friend who bought it liked them.
I was able to rotate it back into position and tack it in place with some JB Weld epoxy. I told the owner that it would be best to plan on reverting back to stock headlights in the future, but they are good for now.
The car is back with the owner now as a fun weekend car and toy. I plan to get it back for some more minor maintenance in a month or two to track down a minor oil leak (maybe the drain plug) and find the source of the whine.