Porsche Boxster 2004

Two additional possibilities to add to Solar Eagle's list:

1. Adjustment of the release mechanism - The solenoid may be either loose or be adjusted so that its full travel is insufficient to fully release the latch.

2. The rubber stops/ buffers may be adjusted such that they put more pre-load stress on the latch than the solenoid can release.

Solar, I also heard it's under the wheel well cover on the passenger side. I never did find the release on mine, but I only tried the right side. I plan on checking the left wheel well cover.

The did change the location through the model years.

What I heard from Porsche is that the release is on the right side for the Boxster and left side for the 911. On the internet, I've seen posts that say the Boxster is on the right and other posts that say the left. I've checked my car (Boxster) and there is no release on the right, so I'm going to check the left. My problem is that the wheel lock key is under the hood, so I have to carefully pry the clips off with the wheel on the car.

My mechanic curses every time he has to repair a German car. He tells me that they have change orders all the time, but they're not documented well. Surprises me that such an efficient nation has trouble documenting change orders, but I've heard it many times and seen it on many occasions. I've even orders parts from the dealer (Mercedes in particular) and the new part doesn't match the old part.

Makes sense to store the wheel lock in the center console.

Geez, I know that now!

When I bought my Boxster, the wheel lock tool was in the console (in the little cloth bag). I thought it should be with the spare tire, so I put it under the hood. Made sense to me, until I couldn't get the hood open.

I had exactly the same thing (different type of car) - just spray any exposed parts of the mechanism with WD-40 (or whatever you call it wherever you live). I'll bet it's small amounts of corrosion or friction in the cable... spray that stuff all over and down into the cable itself if it's visible.

(you may have to do what Solar Eagle suggests first of course - in my car I could spray the release mechanism through the grill but I don't know if that's possible with a Boxter)...

Looks like I won't be needing any part after all. On Saturday had a flat. Guess where flat is located, in the front compartment. AAA could not get it to open so they brought in a flat bed truck to tow me to tire shop. Monday, picked up car with new tires. Driving CA 101S going 60mph, without warning, the hood slams into my windshield. Destroys windshield, hood, and frame to the convertible top. YEP, how in the heck can this happen? ANYONE have this happen where the latch doesn't release and then releases on it's own. That's two latch systems that had to give. Unless the wind was strong enough to push the second (push to the right to open) latch. Cried, yes, I am a girl.

Don't cry. Really. The simplest solution now is to list the car on an internet auction website (name wihheld) as a "spares or repair" project. Someone will have it!

SharAnn, Your Boxster has a safety catch to make sure this doesn't happen. Somehow the safety catch opened up - they're designed no to open unless someone moves the lever.

What might have happened is the car was in a previous front end accident and was no properly repaired. This may also be the reason why the electic solenoid did not open.

Here are a couple things to consider, regarding your Boxster.

If you have the 2.7L flat 6, know that your engine is susceptible to the dreaded IMS. When the engine is cold, rev the engine in neutral and listen for a rattling noise. If you hear it, shut the engine off and take it in for a retrofit. My IMS went at 23K miles on my 2.7 Boxster. Luckily it was under warranty and Porsche put a brand new engine in.

Take the wheel lock tool out of the bag (spare tire cover) and put it in the glove box or console. If your hood gets stuck, you can get the wheel off. This sort of defeats the purpose of the wheel lock.

If you have 18's, the fronts will fit under the hood, but the backs won't. Make sure you have a flat tire bag in the spare tire cover. You can put the dirty tire in the bag and take it to the tire shop in the passenger seat. What happens if you have a passenger? Call AAA and have it towed. And don't drive on a flat or you'll wreck the tire - as you know, they aren't cheap.

Oil change intervals. Porsche's recommended service intervals are a bit too long. I'd shoot for 10K mile max for oil changes.

If your car was in a front end accident, find out how bad it was. If the car pulls or has odd tire wear, you should get rid of it. There are lots of Boxsters for sale that are clean (no accidents). If you can afford to go a little newer, get a 987 (newer body). I hear the engines don't have as many IMS problems.

Lastly, enjoy your Boxster. The mid engine design combined with a stiff chassis is a great combination for carving out corners. I was able to drive my 911 much faster, but I didn't have the confidence the Boxster gives. One day, we were on the 15 in San Diego and I pushed my Boxster to 125 IN THE RAIN. The original Pilot Sports were awesome tires and the car felt good. I've never felt the confidence to get close to that speed in the rain in any other car.

oh man - don't worry - I'm crying too. Sounds like maybe your bonnet latch was well and truly jammed... someone at the garage forced it open to get the bonnet up and it stayed stuck open (or close enough to open for a 60mph wind to do the rest). In once sense you're lucky you're here to write the thread... but I'm sure you don't feel too lucky. So sorry to hear of your plight. RIP Boxter

There is also an adjustment on the cable to the latch, this may have slipped.

2004 uses electrical solenoid.

Yep - Hood in the windshield is a very frightening experience. It happened to me twice when I was in my teens. Once on my 1953 TR3A and once doing a road test on a customer's Datsun. In both cases, the hood was released when I got into the car. My fault both times.

My guess is that the hood release solenoid was working. After all you said that you heard it and that means that it was moving. Perhaps the original failure was that the solenoid became disconnected from the latch that holds the hood down. Vibrations while driving caused the free latch mechanism to move to the release position and then instantly the hood is in the windshield. The safety catch is no match for the forces created by the air scooped under the hood while driving.

"The safety catch is no match for the forces created by the air scooped under the hood while driving."

If that were true, why would they have it?

Not to keep the trunk monkey from escaping, I presume. :)

"If that were true, why would they have it?"

Good question. If the safety catch worked reliably our OP would still be driving her Boxster. All I can say is that during my years working in service departments at auto dealerships is that I have seen many hoods fly up. Why didn't the safety catch work? I don't know.

My guess is that there is probably a DOT requirement to have it but the means for qualifying it was not adequate. Perhaps the qualifying test, if there is one, was to apply a static upward force, but at highway speeds the hood could be twisting as it raises causing the catch to miss and forces seen by the latch are complex.

If you're familiar with the Boxster (and water cooled 911's), the area under the hood is fairly clean (wind resistance wise), so it's unlikely that enough air could get in to push the hood open. I myself have driven with the hood release undone, but with the safety still holding. I don't know how long it was like that, but when I noticed it, I of course closed the hood.

Again, I think the cause was due to a prior accident/repair. This I've seen before.

There were no other accidents on my Boxster. I purchased this car brand new from Porsche dealer.

Snave,

I own a Boxster and the mechanical safety release will not open from simply air resistance from driving on the freeway. I think it was due to an accident and the latch was improperly repaired. I could be wrong, but this seems like the probable answer!

NO, it was not an accident, as I purchased it new from a dealer. I don't know what happened and probably never will. I do know that it was probably only one of two things. The tire shop opened it and didn't close it, or it mechanically failed. There are no other options that I can possibly think of. Anything mechanical can fail, if nothing mechanical fails, we wouldn't need mechanics. I wish I had someone to tell me for a fact, what happened ; (

No, it really wasn't working. AAA tow truck driver and I, both heard it make a noise but it wouldn't open. Tow driver tried everything he could think of and recommend in the manual. I sorta knew it wasn't a battery problem since all other indications showed the battery charged. However, I let him do his experiments. I know now from all my research that this is a common problem. I have found over a half a dozen people who could hear it trying to work, good batteries, but wouldn't unlatch. There must be many many, more people out there, since my search to find these people were only in a short few days.

I love this site. A world of information. I'm over the wreck and hood. Have full coverage and 500 deductible. At 28,000 miles I had to replace this engine. I wish I had sued Porsche then. I was able to get Porsche to pay for all the parts but I had to pay for the labor. Repair bill $5,000 that does include new clutch, which I put in since the engine was out. Champion Porsche in Boca Raton was horrible and I should have sued them as well. Will tell you the story when not on tiny iPhone.

Sorry for the ill experiences. I am surprised you replaced the clutch at 28K. That seems must too early unless you had a rear main seal failure.

The engines do have that stigma of the IMS failure hanging over them. Did you grenade your engine due to the IMS?

Normally these cars are pretty bullet proof with gas, oil, and tires being the only real expense.

I have put 75K on my car and encountered my first real repair bill with a failed heater relay. Unfortunately, we did not discover the true nature of the fault without erroneously replacing a $540 climate control unit and about $300-$400 in labor. Like you, our dealer has sort of dropped the ball and created a sour taste in our mouths.

Anyway, look forward to your full story when you can and hope you enjoy CR4.

My car had 28,000 miles when I had to replace the engine and Champion Auto suggested to me to put a new clutch in it since the engine was out. I just took their word for it. My car only has 62,585 miles on the entire car, which is only 34,585 on the new engine. This is my 2nd car, used for date night, impress my grand-daughter, so it has low milage. Champion Porsche, took off my knobs to my stereo and a couple other things. When I went to them and showed them pictures of what it looked like the day I purchased it, they said they did not have the dash off. I WENT INTO THE REPAIR SHOP to check on how far along they were with my car, I SAW MY DASH OFF. They tried to tell me, I could not have seen what I know for a FACT, I saw. I was pissed! However, I was in the middle of moving from Florida (sold my house) to Texas. When I arrived to my new place in Texas, it became hard for me to fight with them. Mr. Danny Dimitrakis was the sales person in charge of my car for all service issues. He would not return my phone calls. I took it to the owner but could not get any place with him as well. I will photograph the work while in process this time. I should have photographed the progress during the installation of my new engine. I never thought they were going to screw me and never thought I needed to document them. GRRRRRR - - -

FYI - If you need new tires soon, Michelin has $70.00 company rebate now, ending June 17th I believe.

I love the Michelin Pilots that my car came with, but $300+ for the rears and $200 for the fronts is $1K per set. I put some Dunlop Direzza's on instead. Good tires, but not as good as the Michelins, but they're okay. A little soft compound and I can feel the sidewall flex, but for the price, I can't complain.

Living in Florida, myself, I can say that the salt air can easily cause mechanical latches to get sticky over time.

That may have happened to your safety latch, too. My wild guess is that vibration from driving popped the hood open after you and probably your tire installer tried to open the hood.

The safety latch was probably stuck open or partially open as well causing the full release of the hood.

I'd call the installer and ask if they were able to get the hood open, not that this is really their fault, but just to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks for the tip on the tire rebate. I just put fresh tires on mine, although a cheaper substitute that is a little to squirmy for my tastes. I'll probably wait and go with PS2s or Yokohamas next time. Seems every time I put PS2s on my car they would gather nails whereas the cheap tires never get any. :(

Hero, I think you're right about the latch. Probably had some corrosion and got stuck - along with the vibration, it let go.

What tires did you put on your car? Also, do you have 16's, 17's or 18's?

I am running Hankook Ventus V12 295/30 18" in the rears and 235/40 18" up front.

They suck compared to the PS2, but at less than half the price they are easier to take since I replace rear tires every 12 months (no track time) and fronts every 24 or so months.

I got the Hankooks last year when the Japanese tsunami made it impossible to get anything else. I had been running Yokohama.

The Hankooks actually handle very well in a skid pad, but the turn in is squirrelly feeling.

I have some Hankook Ventus V12's on my M45 (235/45/18 all around). I read the reviews and they sounded good. My tire guy told me to try them. Personally, I don't like the feel of the tires. They hold the corners well, but you're right about the squirrely feel - not confidence inspiring. Also, when they were new, I would get flat spots after sitting over night. After 10 minutes of driving, they would go away. I do have 48K on them now and there's still some life in the tires. For some reason, this car does well with tires.

I had some Pirelli PZero's on my 996 non-turbo. They felt good, but wore out fast. I ran 275/30/18's on the back with wheel spacers and 225/40/18's on the front (Michelin PS). Surprisingly, it was a good combo.

I do have to say that the best set up was with the factory Michelin PS's on my Boxster. 265/35/18's on back and 225/40/18's up front. When the Dunlop's are done, I may shell out the money for some Michelin's.

Happy motoring!

Sorry to hear you had to pay for the labor. When my engine blew, I had 23K miles on my Boxster. Luckily it was still under warranty and Porsche did all the work under warranty.

They told me that the retrofit was done, but I've heard others complain about the IMS failing again. I have 38K on my car now and I listen for the "death rattle" at times - I still have a worry that my engine will fail. I was told that these engines can be rebuilt, however I was advised not to do it. I was also told that a Porsche engine will run in the $15K range, so basically the car is worthless.

I do love driving my Boxster and on a daily basis, I prefer it over the 911. The 911 is a lot of fun to drive, but I can't behave and I don't want another tickets on my record. I sold my 911 a few years ago and when the buyer was driving away, I almost chased him down and cancelled the deal. Silly, huh?

I was just following a thread about the IMSB failure and one guy was stating that the root cause may be the shaft's OEM bearing, which is a sealed bearing. The seals break, lose their lubricant, and then what is left of the seal starves the bearing for oil.

His solution is to use a CH bearing without the seals. His claim is there is enough engine oil to keep the unsealed bearing lubed, so using a better bearing without the seals may be a solution.

The good news is my engine, being a dry sump split case engine, appears to not have that issue in the first place (The GT3 engine apparently directly lubricates these bearings), but should it grenade for whatever reason it will be much more expensive to rebuild than the standard 996/986 engine.

Hero,

Yes, the IMS problem is from the bearing. The seal goes and the lubricant exits. I've heard 986/996 have this problem in the earlier versions, but my '03 and the poster's '04 have had the same problem.

I was told that the only test is to rev the engine when cold and listen for the rattle. If you hear it, shut the engine off and tow it to the shop. As long as the bearing hasn't come apart, it's fixable - put the retrofit bearing on. If it came apart, there's going to be bits and pieces of material in the crankcase.

When my engine blew, it wasn't dramatic. Just heard a crack noise, followed by a the sound of a dragging tailpipe. The engine was sluggish like a catalytic converter blockage. When I got to the office, I checked the oil and it was clean and full. Dropped off some paperwork, but on restart, the check engine light came on and the engine was very sluggish. I drove it back to my other office, parked it in the parking garage and noticed a puddle of oil under the engine. Porsche towed it to the dealer and as suspected, the intermediate shaft shot through the block.

That sucks, big time.

My understanding was the engines were made with the wet sump because Porsche recognized most of the street cars never were tracked, so as a cost saving measure the engines were not designed to the same robust standard that previous generations were.

That, and being a new design (water cooled) left them with some deep teething pains on the learning curve.

Unfortunately, it left a lot of people holding the bag.

On my 944 i just removed the latch and replaced with hood pins. Looks bad but gave me security and gives that racer look.

I love those cars. A little maintenance heavy, but an excellent car nonetheless.

Which year?

I never wanted a Porsche (I see them as an extension to someone's nether regions myself), and if it were possible, this blog has just reinforced my thoughts even more to not wanting one.....

I have hated them since I found out how labial some of their chassis are and that some need engine replacement/complete rebuild, before they have run 100,000 miles.....

I was simply never rich enough I suppose too......

I have been a sports car fan since I was in grade school. I bought my first sports car (used Triumph TR-4a) after leaving high school and have owned at least one ever since.

I really don't care what people think of my choices in cars (or anything else for that matter) as I bought every one of my cars for myself and not for anyone else.

My latest drive is my only car and Porsche was really the only manufacture that can stand up to be daily driven and provide a very good envelope of performance.

I really don't know where you are getting your information from, but Porsche enjoys the highest customer satisfaction rating of any car. Like any car manufacture, there are always problems, but in general, these are isolated issues.

The 996 and 986 models are probably the weakest links as that was the change from air cooled engines to water cooled production engines.

Being in the computer industry for many years, working with car designers for many different marques, showed me the weak spots of many cars, not just Porsche.....

By the way, I like Triumphs too, the TR4A-IRS being one of my favorites. I even rebuilt a Frog eye Healey from a rust bucket, to a magazine front page picture article many, many years ago.....

By the way, you misunderstood my post, I said I dislike Porsches, not that I disliked sports cars. I also dislike the company and the way they handle their customers and their stupid prices....

The Apple company of cars maybe (I dislike Apple too by the way....)

I admire the way they have hoodwinked the suckers public into believing that the cars are good and worth the prices charged, now that is good marketing.......

If I had had the cash, a Triumph would have been really great....family came first and a great lack of spare time...

I can still set up twin SUs or twin Strombergs better than anyone I know even today!!!

Yeah, I used to use a rubber hose, one end in the ear and another at the throat of the carb to balance them. Some times! True British tradition. :)

I went from Triumphs, to BMWs, and then in 1988 I bought my first 944 Porsche. Been with the marque since then. Transitioned to the 911 back in the late 1990s. That's when my maintenance costs went way down. Bought a '90 Carrera 4, then a 993 C2, and now the '04 GT3. All bought used.

I really do not see a substitute other than the Corvette, which is amazing car for the money, but not really a sports car, but more a muscle car.

I don't want a sports sedan, so the number of true sports cars (the TR4 being the standard) available is slim. I think the new Porsches are too much luxury for my taste. Even the new GT3s have too many creature comforts and electronic SOS computers. Yes, they track faster, but less engaging to drive.

Hero, sounds like you have had some nice cars. The 993 is such a wonderful car - I love it. Your 996 GT3 is a great car also - a track car for the streets! My friend had a 993 Turbo that he's not going to let go of - I'd like to take it off his hands. Another has a 996 Turbo he bought from this guy who went nuts with the engine - well over 600 hp!. It's hard to get the power to the wheels and it's been expensive to maintain. He just put a new clutch in and he has around 25K miles.

I have heard that the Boxster 2004 had an engine problem. I wish I could confirm that because I'd go back to Porsche. I will keep you updated. My research continues about my 2004 Porsche Boxster. I drove her 2 hours back to my home without another incident, YAY! Body Shop hunting tomorrow.

Go to the Rennlist forum and sign up.

That group is the most comprehensive list of people for Porsches there is and ever was.

There is no better place to start your research.

1985. Also had 2 Triumph spitfires.

I would imagine that all those last comments and many of the others before have now properly demonstrated to most here (but not all) as to why not to buy a Porsche!!!

Unreliable and expensive to keep on the road in many cases and that has been true for many, many years.....and I truly believe that it won't change much for the foreseeable future either.

I disagree. I owned a 1967 912 and a 1970 911 Autostick. Both were maintenance nightmares and I got rid of both due to the terrible cost to keep them on the road - If I knew better, I would've stored them in my garage!

My newer 996 and 986 have been much better, though neither has been what we would call reliable, if we're comparing them to Japanese cars. Then again, neither has any Mercedes, Audi or BMW I've owned. I did have some pretty good luck with a couple Jaguars - yes I still own one and the other was pretty trouble free.

Just so you understand, the people who buy these cars fall into two sectors. One is the person who can appreciate the quality and performance. The other is the one who wants the badge in the garage or so others can see what they drive.