Comments on: Porsche Boxster Repairs

By: Roger

Roger — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:44:31 +0000

I bought recently a 2000 Boxster 2,7 l with 58000 km (36000miles) that has an irregular idle which goes from 400 rpm to 800 rpm all the time regardless of AC or other electric functions.
I changed the battery, but still same problem. Porsche dealer did not find answer to uneven idle.
I read all solutions recommendations, but I am unable to figure it out.

Would appreciate any new insight.

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:09:34 +0000

I have a 2000 Boxster 2.7L with 88,900 miles. I had this happen to me yesterday after I changed the battery, but went away after driving about 20 miles. The engine was dropping from 1000 to just under 500, then back up repetitiously. It never did that before, even on my dead battery! (Which only lasted 2 years!!) It's back to a smooth idle now around 800 RPM's. I was stumped, which is why I looked online to see if it is common. What happened for me I guess was the computer resetting? I even called my dealership about it and they had no clue why it immediately starting doing it after putting in a new battery.

Has anyone else seen or heard of this happening before after installing a new battery?

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:57:20 +0000

Being in the “Porsche” business, I would like to put my \two cents\ in to the problem.
The Boxster as well as all new OBDII equipped Porsches are \Energy Hungry\ cars. The idling drop is actually a drop in voltage. Alternators on these cars are too weak to provide enough power. Driving with the lights on in traffic can increase the RPM fluctuation if the battery is not up to the snuff. These cars can wear out the battery in less than two years, especially if it is not driven often during the day time. In fact, the car starts does not mean the battery is capable of handling quick load and unload. It is like a \domino effect\ if the RPM drops due to the low voltage, the DME will immediately in-rich the mixture- RPM goes up. Any load on the circuit, like brake lights at the stop, AC running, cooling fans activating, turning steering wheel (load increase on the engine) will reduce the voltage for the DME and spark consumption increasing load on the battery. Pick-up and drivability is greatly affected. I can not recommend the fix, however, changing the battery more often does help. I can only say that this particular problem plagued most of GMC ODBII equipped trucks up to (I believe) 2001. The solution was to install high voltage alternator and deep-cycle battery.

By: russjobs

russjobs — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:39:21 +0000

Hi all, I had the annoying problem of irratic idling, one porsche 'specialist' told me it was an 02 sensor, another said it was the MAF, so I looked around for proof of their diagnosis and found that you can try disconnecting the MAF and see if the problem goes away, I tried this and it reduced it but did not remove the problem, I then tried cleaning it whilst I had the engine cover off, still didnt remove the problem so thought it might not be the MAF, so i went further up the line, removed the intake pipe to the throttle body and the butterfly was covered in crap at least 3-4mm so I removed the whole thing and cleaned it with some carb cleaner, replaced and turned the key – music to my ears a static idle of just below 800, test drove and no stuttering slowing for junctions etc all seemed good.
a week later the idle is still fine however today I experienced some restriction when I got to around 3-4000rpm in any gear, the temperaturre was -4degreesC and the engine was not completely warm, any suggesons? this cant be related to the throttle body can it?
Regards
Russ

By: Carlton Bale

Carlton Bale — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:13:30 +0000

Basically, if you have an O2 sensor fault, the sensor is bad. If you don't, it's probably OK.

The engine computer does diagnostics and can detect when the sensor is bad (when the car is coasting and the engine is in a no-fuel situation, the O2 level in the exhaust is 20.95%, i.e. earth atmosphere. If the sensor is reading any other level in this condition, either the sensor is bad or you are on another planet. The computer assumes the former and lights a light.)

There are 2 sets of sensors, one before the catalytic converter and one after. The one before is used to run the engine and the one after is used to detect catalytic converter failures. The one before the cats is where the problems usually are.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:14:55 +0000

I have a 1998 Porsche Boxster. Can you test the Oxygen Sensors? and how?

By: Anders back

Anders back — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:20:07 +0000

hi my boxster is a 2000 with all of the above
why cant Porsche fix this problem I'm going to try and clean out the mas flow sensor and throttle body and give everything a good clean we will see if it makes any difference here's hoping

By: Indy Hazelwood

Indy Hazelwood — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:35:16 +0000

I have a 1999 Boxster 2.5L with 60,000miles that has a similar problem.
It does all the things mentioned above, but also idles quite high at times. between 1000 & 1500 rpm. After driving it for a while it seems to return to perfect idle. Other times it's quite erratic and will stall when the revs are too low.
The less I drive it the more symptomatic it is.
Since it is my weekend car, she doesn't get much time on the road. I would love to get to th ebottom of this.
Any thoughts?

By: Carlton Bale

Carlton Bale — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:51:03 +0000

Dave, remove the mat and engine cover under the convertible top (four anchors requiring a 1/2 turn.) The air filter is behind the drivers seat under these covers. The air intake goes from the scoop in front of the rear wheel, through the filter box, and into the engine. Slide the filter up and replace it. Pretty simple and no tools required.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:42:09 +0000

Hi.
Can you please tell me how you replaced the air filter? I bought one and do not want the dealer to charge me a fortune for something I can do myself.

Thanks

Dave

By: STEVE

STEVE — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:34:21 +0000

My 2000 boxter hade this same problem, im not sure what i did to resolve this problem i spent a day going over the whole top of the engine… egr valve, throttle body, plugs, fuel regulator, pcv, injector o-rings, air idle control. etc. basicly anything that was on the top of the engine and removable. dealers are great but they wont provide a service like this at any reasonable cost….. im quite confident it was either my intake manifold gaskets or my fuel injector o-rings. good luck

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:27:31 +0000

Hello Carlton and Everyone that has this issue,

I have the same problem with my 2000 boxster but mines has gotten worse. My engine RPM flactuates on idle non-stop. It goes down to around 600 then shoots to 800 then 700 then repeats continuosly. I have taken it to many shops but no one seems to know what the problem is. I replaced so many things already that I might as well build a boxster from scatch. I replaced the Mass Air Flow sensor to no avail. I was thinking that it might be a vac leak but from what I have been reading here it sounds like a softaware issue that will never be resolved. Good Luck to all.

Regards,
Ivan

By: robert thomas

robert thomas — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:14:22 +0000

It has been quite some time since my last inquiry about the engine surge, I believe dec. 07.

The idle is the same. I remember that the idle went haywire after the installation of the mass air flow sensor.

Is there some type of special mapping that should occur after the sensor is replaced? It does seem to be linked to the sensor.

Any information would be much appreciated. I love this car, otherwise it is faultless.

By: Carlton Bale

Carlton Bale — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:39:20 +0000

Ric, thanks for the comment. I'm going to try a Mass Air Sensor replacement as well. The dealership claimed that they tried this and it resulted in no change to the problem, but I'm not sure I trust their capabilities. Hopefully this will eliminate my problem; it's been 11 years for me also.

By: Ric Taylor

Ric Taylor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:17:03 +0000

I had the same problem with a 1998 Boxster. Took the car in many times during first few years complaining of the low rpm shutter when engine was hunting for idle. Recently (February of 2009), I took the car in complaining of pungent gas smell at startup. The mechanic recommended replacing the Mass Air Sensor. I agreed, thinking it may affect the shutter which I had learned to drive around. Guess what – the shutter is gone. No hesitation or tendancy to die at low rpm. Contacted Porsche North America, they said that since it was replaced by a non-dealer, they would do nothing. DROVE THE CAR FOR 11 YEARS WITH THIS ISSUE!! I think the car is now more responsive.

By: Paul Fraser

Paul Fraser — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Has anyone tried a new ICV rather than just cleaning it?

By: Carlton Bale

Carlton Bale — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:15:49 +0000

Carlos, Thanks for the reply. I still don't have a solution either so please let me know if you find anything.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:36:22 +0000

FYI,
I have a 98 boxster with 50,000 miles on it that has had the same excact idle problem your are encountering with newer model boxters. I had one of the best Porsche mechanics in Las vegas work on the problem for several weeks to no luck. I have had the car for 7 years and is still running great other than the idle problem once the summer hits in Vegas and the AC goes on. My mechanic swears he will find a fix for the problem as no one seems to have an answer for him. I will keep you posted if he does.

By: robert thomas

robert thomas — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:35:52 +0000

2000 boxster s 3.2 with a similer surge problem at idle. Frustrated in Pittsburgh. No apparant sure fire fix. Mass air flow replaced five thousand miles ago. Don't remember how long it has been happening. Car has 20K, no previous work, not faults to guide us. Any clues would be helpful.

By: paul

paul — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:54:10 +0000

paul
I to have the same problem with my 2002 boxter s
i will contact porsche service centre tomorrow,
date;19/12/07 to see if they know more
they seem very helpful in the past