2005
Boxster base
, manual. 100,000 miles.
Just passing on my notes from what’s in the title.
Alternator
replacement-
My
alternator
seemed fine, but I replaced it because of age and mileage.
Remove the underbody panel so you can get a jack under the engine.
Jack the engine up a little to get the top bolt out, then (while the engine is supported by the jack) loosen the four nuts which hold the engine mount to the car. Don’t remove them, just loosen them so you have about a 1/2 inch of thread showing and let the engine down to rest on the nuts (but keep the jack supporting most of the engine weight). This will give you room to remove the
alternator
. You have to tap the bushing that the top bolt threads into back a little by tapping the loosened bolt before you remove the bolt. This will free the
alternator
from the engine. The
alternator
is a tight fit, but it will come out.
Starter -
My starter made a grinding noise right after start. This was the bendix sticking and grinding on the fly wheel. The starter was also weak, but I only noticed that after I heard the new starter crank.
Replacing the starter is pretty easy once you get the intake off. The oil fill tube has a plastic C clip that you can remove and pull the oil fill tube apart to gain good access to the starter bolt on that side. There is not a lot of space to turn a wrench, so you need a ratcheting E14 wrench. Ratcheting… ask me how I know.
While you’re in there you should replace the air oil separator and the plastic crank case vent tubes. Mine were cracked and broke when I tried to handle them. The tube to the crack case is a bit of a pain, but you can get it in there without pulling the intake. These tubes are brittle plastic and the top tube will cause a big vacuum leak when it cracks.
You should also replace the oil cooler since it’s probably leaking at the O rings. Mine had made a mess of the top of the engine. I spent a lot of time just cleaning oily gunk off my engine. Be sure to get the correct O rings. My O rings had clearly flat spotted.
Clutch/brake switches-
My cruise control would intermittently not engage. The first thing to check seems to be the clutch switch. My clutch switch was sticky and grindy. Pelican has a good article, but for the clutch switches I found it much easier to remove the 10mm bolt above the clutch switches and remove the bracket that holds both switches.
Well, those are my notes. Hope it helps the next guy.
EXCELLENT NOTES - and great description and photos.. (didn't take any of the
alternator
, I guess? That's a project I'm thinking of having my mechanic tackle.. I get occasional
alternator
noise from the radio when I start the car - which goes away after a bit, but I'm sure it's probably due to an old
alternator
with old brushes..)
Where did you source the starter and
alternator
? Brand? Cost?
BTW - you're getting the tech contribution award - way to go!
I see I already awarded you that award.. get stuff - please DO keep it up!
Thanks for the kind words. I didn’t take any pictures of the
alternator
job. I bought a new
Bosch
alternator
from
Pelican
. The original one is
Bosch
made in England, but the new one was
Bosch
made in China.
I guess between England and China - probably not a lot of difference in electronic reliability. I wonder if the
Bosch
rebuilds are available for these cars.. I'll have to look. My experience with those has been excellent - it looks identical to a brand new starter/
alternator
. One might almost think
Bosch
is labeling new ones "rebuilt" to get around dealers bitching about them stealing parts market share.. but nahhh... that couldn't be right?
update…. driven the car quite a bit now and the cruise control works consistently after replacing the clutch switch.
