Picked up a 2001 Boxster
 

I took ownership over the weekend. 740 miles of highway 70 later, it's home.

http://ericfilcoff.com/pictures/Boxster_02.jpg

http://ericfilcoff.com/pictures/Boxster_05.jpg

2001, 12k miles, sport package, litronic, PSM, and embossed headrests.

Before I left for home, I had the oil changed, hydraulics (brakes and clutch) flushed, SP Sport MAXXs installed, and a 4-wheel alignment. Great on the highway and returned 31.4 mpg.

Couple of questions:
-Do the litronic lights just shift the reflector, mechanically, when the brights are engaged?

-I drove the car from a dry climate to a rather humid climate. The day after I got home, it wouldn't start. It would turn over, but stumble and die. It did this repeatedly. I opened up the engine compartment, and dusted off the intake runners etc. to get a better look, and then it started right up. Could old dry plug wires be the culprit? I had issues like that in the past where the cracks cause arcing and no-running.

Thanks

Boy, thats a very clean looking ride, and great mileage on the trip home. I would suspect the mass air flow sensor acting up, try cleaning it and see if that helps, have fun,

Ed

:dance:

I've never seen the litronics move the headlamps while driving, so, I don't believe so, maybe others on the board can clarify.

Vacuum leaks are pretty common around our engines, check the AOS bellow, common area where air leaks in. Could be electrical too, any CEL's? The MAF sensor plays a role at speed, not idle, so I don't believe this is the culprit. 12K is pretty low mileage for an 01, quite the garage queen :D Very nice looking Boxster! Congrats!

I've had two problems that affected the drive-ability of my 00. The MAF and the purge valve in the fuel system. The problem you describe sounds more like the problem with the purge valve than with the MAF.

If you don't have a check engine light, you may not be able to download the diagnostic code. I had trouble starting after refueling for about a month before my car illuminated the CEL.

Congrats on the purchase of a low mileage Boxster!

There are no spark plug wires, each plug is fed directly from it's own coil.

Your car is just homesick and pissed that someone actually drove it for once.

Warm it up then floor it and shift it at 7000 4 or 5 times to blow out the cobwebs.

Thanks for the information! I'll check out the MAF and vacuum leaks... ah, I'm back in the world of German cars. ;) I haven't owned one in a few years, and the word "broken" isn't in my IS300's vocabulary.

No CELs or any other obvious problems. I've driven it twice since the incident and it's been perfect. I love the sounds these things make at about 6500 rpm at WOT.

http://ericfilcoff.com/pictures/Boxster_03.jpg
(the 8,416 miles on the odometer is just an indication of how long I've known this car)

No more garage queen status for this car.

What I mean by the lights "shift" when the brights are engaged is that the beam visibly moves up and out, as opposed to a dual beam or dual filament setup that just switches sources.

Ok- I just answered part of my own question. According to the Bentley, the low beam does indeed raise up when the brights are on. RTFM, I suppose.