Or got to Amazon: Amazon.com: OTC 4521 Hose Removal Tool: Automotive

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg

Yep, Harbor Freight had one. Its a further drive for me. It was about $3 and it worked great. I would have paid double that easily. I wonder why the "true" auto parts stores did not have one in stock? The guy at Auto Zone looked at me like I had three eyes when I asked about the tool. At Oreillys they were busy so I walked through the store searching for one. Nothing found.

+1 on harbor freight
Why if you can get a tool that you will maybe use twice for $3.00 pay probably 10 times that for snap-on or Mac ? Is the $3.00 one the same, probably not, but will do the job just as well.

I needed a triple square socket and harbor freight has a set for $10, couldn't find them at the auto parts places or Home Depot or lowes. Plus you get a free flashlight or tape measure or multimeter or other stuff

What hand tool did you use to get the top far right water pump bolt out? Pedro shows he used a hand held 10mm nut driver, Pelican shows pictures using a swivel extension with a ratchet socket. It's the hard one mid section on the water pump where you access the bolt from the engine compartment, not underneath the car.

Gearing up to tackle this project Friday night. 1998 with 84k miles and it started squealing, drove it home, parked it in the garage and it started self draining. I pulled the belt and there was play in the pulley (bearing/bushing shot). I did notice that it looks like the squeal is due to the pulley rubbing a bolt on the engine.

I was bummed that Pelican was out of stock on the composite blade water pump but I found it online at another company and it should be here today. I already have the low temp thermostat. After reading some of these posts I'm curious about what antifreeze to use and the proper way to refill the system. I do not have the vacuum airlift system - can this be done without? How much antifreeze should I have on hand for this project?

Mine puked a bunch of fluid recently also. I had purchased the parts, low temp thermostat and water pump, from Pelican a while back in anticipation of the failure as my water pump was leaking a little already.
I am going to use the Porsche brand of anti-freeze, the dealership near me said that 2 gallons of anti freeze + distilled water should be enough. I am going to tackle the re fill using the method from the Pelican site. From what I have read the procedures should be followed precisely.

Be sure to have an array of 10 mm options. The bolt I reference in my post below is still giving a hard time.

HOLY PORSCHE... per the pelican parts tech article it looks like it holds 6 gallons give or take, 50/50 mix. So over lunch today I stopped by the local Porsche dealer and 3 gallons of Porsche brand antifreeze came to $177.95. Lucky for me I got a line on some cheap distilled water at my local grocery store. That stuff is $0.89 a gallon!!!

Somehow I can't help but feel when I open the jug it is still going to be green.

Yes it is $48/gallon. Pelican likes to over estimate a little so if you have an accident you are still going to be able to complete the job.

When I did my water pump, I asked the independent P-car shop about the refill process and getting the air bubbles out. They said to make sure the back of the car is higher than the front and I would not have any problems. Lucky for me, my driveway is sloping downhill, so I had no trouble with the refill process. Drove it for a day with the bleeder valve open and only had to put in about a quart of coolant in to bring it up to the correct level.
Started with 2 gallons of Porsche antifreeze, but had to buy another gallon to make enough 50/50 mix to fill it. Still have about a ½ gallon of full strength antifreeze left over. The stuff I got is pink colored.

ECS Tuning has it for $33 a gallon unless I am missing something?

http://www.ecstuning.com/Porsche-2000-Boxster-986-Roadster_S-Convertible-H6_3.2L/Engine/Cooling/ES2166166/

No, just needed some yesterday so I ran to the local dealer. $56 a gallon plus tax.


Completed the project last night. It wasn't bad, just had to take your time and realize you are working in tight quarters most of the time. Drove it to work this morning. Of course now I'm wondering where the temp gauge should be and where it used to be. I installed the low temp thermostat (160). The gauge on the dash still shows 180-190 range during highway/aggressive driving. Any thoughts if that is normal or an indicator of possible air still in the system or of Pelican sending me a 180 deg thermostat? For some reason I am under the impression that a 160 deg thermostat would make the gauge read 160?

On a side note the service manual says the 2.5L motor only holds 4.5 Gallons of antifreeze. This increases as model year/displacement increases.

The 160 thermostat debate will never end, but a few things for sure: it opens SOONER than a 180 degree thermostat. Your car will warm up a LITTLE bit slower because of coolant flow sooner in the heat/warmup cycle. The engine is STILL putting off the same amount of heat as with a 180 tstat so steady state will inevitably be the same, but with the 160 tstat it will take longer to see the steady state, and depending on the drive/weather, you may no longer get to steady state of ~195 on the freeway and 204ish while sitting still. It 'dampens' the warmup cycle, but the car will still get hot; the lower temp tstat is no miracle drug.

You will never see the difference reflected in the gauge, only with a durametric or OBD readout of the temp.

Also, warming up slower means the fuel trims are richer for longer, so you are probably using MORE gas, depending on when the ecu stops warmup fuel trim..

You'd be amazed at the number of people who "don't get it" :barf: LOL You'd think they owned/drove air cooled cars their whole life :cheers:

The coolant capacity went up on the 3.2 cars only. They have MUCH bigger water lines than the 2.5 and 2.7 cars, plus the 3rd radiator.

Technically, as displacement goes up on these blocks, there is actually LESS coolant in the block (the cylinder bore gets bigger) The 2.5 and 2.7 share the same bore size :)

Great advice for sure. That is what I do with all the cars I own. Proactive maintenance. Does not matter if a certain part needed or not to be replaced. Hit a certain mileage or age and it is replaced. Period.

None of my cars ever left me stranded anywhere. I bet I spent more than most owners to maintain them but the peace of mind is just priceless. :D

CR

I bought the swivel extension and used that to take it off. However, the Craftsman socket set I have has two 10mm sockets. Once is 1/4" drive and the other is 3/8". The 1/4" drive socket with the adapter to have it fit the handle turned out to be the perfect length for reaching the top far-right bolt.

I refilled with Pentofrost. The pink stuff.

According to Bentley Manual:

1997-2002: 4.5 gal

2003-2004 w/manual trans: 4.76 gal
2003-2004 w/auto trans: 5.02 gal

2003-2004 Boxster S w/manual: 5.81 gal
2003-2004 Boxster S w/auto: 6.08 gal

That is what I had to do. I bought a 1/4 inch drive, short one, and 1/4 inch deep sockets and that was the trick. Thanks.

I used Pedro's instructions and removed the engine mount. With the engine mount removed I had no problem using a socket or box on the bolts. also I used the prestone from Walmart formulated for german cars. I replaced the engine mount, water pump, and thermostat (160) all at the same time and burped it. No problems!