Bunch of problems at once
 

Up to now my daily driver 03 has been relatively inexpensive to maintain. Engine demons have yet to strike, the second RMS is holding, and I do the easy stuff myself: brake pads, flush brakes and clutch, etc.

Of course luck only holds out so long and in the last few weeks everything happened at once. I'm not ********************ing; two problem free years is pretty good.

1. During state inspection the dealer said coolant is a little low and I may have a leak. Not surprising. While flushing the brakes I saw a few drops of coolant clinging to the bottom edge of passenger side front wheel well.

2. The driver side window retracts when pulling the door handle but immediately goes back up again rather than staying down with the door open. Same behavior using either the inner or outer door handles. With the driver's door open the cabin lights goes out so the system thinks the door is closed. The window works fine otherwise, so based on the cabin light observation, I'm inclined to look for a malfunctioning microswitch rather than blame the window regulator. It's just like this report http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=16191

3. Top squeaks from somewhere behind the seats and is driving me nuts. I pushed and pulled and didn't get any sound from the frame itself but reproduced by pushing near the window. I've yet to figure out exactly where the sound is coming from. It started off only on parking garage ramps but now the car replies to every minute bump or crack in the road with a chorus of squeaks.

4. Pump clicks off prematurely while fueling. Annoying but it may be something I just have to live with.

61k miles and a daily driver. Probably soon it will be time for new rotors and clutch and I see the $$$ growing!

So anyway, I'm trying to decide whether to tackle these myself one at a time or take the car to RUF and have them fix everything at once. One takes less money and a lot of time; the other is a lot less time but probably a lot more money.

Have you thought about a new car?? find out the cost to get the niggles sorted then weigh it up against maybe a 2005 onwards, you may be in the same ballpark. plus you could look for the 3.4 s

just an idea bud!!

I am not sure about the others but I know 4 is fixable. It is somewhat common in Boxster's the tube the gas tank slips, and causes the gas pump to shut off, there's some info. over on 986faq, on this.

All except clutch are pretty simple repairs for an average mechanic with hand tools. All are covered extensively on Renntech with very detailed howto's. One full day in the garage including beer breaks :D and you are good to go.

Dude, it's always nice to have an excuse to go to RUF! I'll be visiting them shortly myself...

Thanks for the input. I'll start with the window since that currently causes the most swearing and tackle the coolant leak second. Good to know the beer breaks are factored in already.

Jeph, call me when you go to RUF. I work only a few miles from there and maybe we can meet for lunch.

Cool. But ya know, we ARE neighbors, so we could grab lunch on a Saturday or something. Have you heard of MooYah? http://www.mooyah.com It's not too bad. I won a promotion and now get free burgers for a year there! You still have my number?

I'll be needing to go in for an oil change soon and rear brakes. And if I'm feeling financially irresponsible, a lowering.

Fixed two of the problems this weekend :) I like working on the Boxster. My "workshop" is a parking garage space and half the fun is all the looks and comments from people who are not used to seeing someone take apart a Porsche.

The convertible top contacted the compartment lid in one place and squeaked as it rubbed back and forth. It was a simple fix to detach the top from the tension bow and reposition. Took about an hour plus a few dollars worth of double sided automotive tape.

The window behavior traced to a bad door lock assembly. This one took two hours to replace the lock and put everything back together, followed by thirty minutes to take it apart again and connect the outer door handle to the lock. Oops, forgot that part. Total cost $225 + tax for the lock and $6 for an 8mm triple square bit. A little pricey but at least it works now.

Next up is the coolant leak but I may have to put that off until January. Hard to find time with both the holidays and consumer electronics show (CES) just around the corner.

Good job getting all that stuff fixed. I was working on one of my cars this weekend in my parking garage too, as well as a buddy's BMW (we also disassembled a door). Here's a tip, do it on the top level... less traffic and stares. Plus if your garage is anything like mine, its outside and has natural/sun light.

Next time you do that kinda stuff, call me man!

P.S. I ran into your Tamera friend today, after I promised I'd never see her again. How fun!

P.P.S. This probably should have been a PM. Ah well.