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Just got my new '98 986. What upgrades should I do?
Hi everyone
Thank you to everybody who helped in my search for my first Porsche.
I just bought a Guards Red '98 986 with 77k miles. It's totally stock.
I'd like to do some mild upgrades to improve its performance. What should I do?
The PPI revealed the need for shocks, pads and rotors. The top is also broken (cables around windows have separated from the fabric causing leaks) so I will have to get a new top.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Supplier links and catalog numbers would be great!
I would like to start doing my own maintenance on it but I have zero experience working on cars.
With all due respect, if you have zero experience working on cars you picked the wrong car.
Unless you have a fat wallet.
Performance? Not much you can do to squeeze more HP from the 2.5.
If you desire to wrench on the car.. it is fairly easy to maintain. There are a lot of great guys and gals who will respond to your every inquiry... so ask a lot of questions (after first you google the **** out of your inquiries so that you're not asking redundant questions. Use the search feature upon the forums. Oh, GO TO 986FORUM.COM as well).
Congratulations, the car looks great. You have already pointed out some must do issues such as the top, brakes & shocks and of these the brakes are a relatively easy DIY on a Boxster. Top and shocks are considerably more difficult without specialized tools and experience. The must do things that are imperative are to get the fluids replaced. Unless you have documentation that all oil, filter, transmission, coolant, power steering and brake fluid have been changed on schedule assume they are old and need refreshing. Fluids, especially engine oil, are the life blood of your Boxster.
Since you say you have zero experience you are about to enter a steep learning curve. In the overall scheme of things the early Boxsters are not that difficult to work on compared to many other vehicles but at this point you have nothing to compare it too.
Like Starter says, this forum and the 986forum have a wealth of information and great support. Remember, 'search' is your friend.
Congratulations, the car looks great. You have already pointed out some must do issues such as the top, brakes & shocks and of these the brakes are a relatively easy DIY on a Boxster. Top and shocks are considerably more difficult without specialized tools and experience. The must do things that are imperative are to get the fluids replaced. Unless you have documentation that all oil, filter, transmission, coolant, power steering and brake fluid have been changed on schedule assume they are old and need refreshing. Fluids, especially engine oil, are the life blood of your Boxster.
Since you say you have zero experience you are about to enter a steep learning curve. In the overall scheme of things the early Boxsters are not that difficult to work on compared to many other vehicles but at this point you have nothing to compare it too.
Like Starter says, this forum and the 986forum have a wealth of information and great support. Remember, 'search' is your friend.
I have a lot of experience in working on my cars. I bought a 98 Boxster with he idea that I would do ALL of the work. I have changed my thinking somewhat since I find that some of the work is difficult to do, not necessarily due to the item but a lot due to the access. The engine compartment is really difficult at times to access what you want to do. The negative is that if you choose to have a dealer do the work you are going to pay a bunch.
This is my 4th Porsche ( 2 914's, one 944 and now 986) so I pretty much knew the costs involved but a newbie might find themselves surprised. Regardless it is a great fun car and although I have a 4 door sedan (115,000 miles) and a pickup (250000 miles) I drive the 124,000 mile 986 all the time. Too much fun to forego. Good luck with your adventure.
Based on my experience with my 2002 Boxster and its factory shocks I would think the stock shocks would be the best choice if new shocks are needed. For my 2002 at one time I looked into the ROW suspension but the Porsche techs advised against this. Said while the ROW ROW setup was ok on the track on the street not so much.
A "bounce" test found the shocks at either end still had sufficient dampening to be considered ok.
My 2002 ran 317K miles on its stock shocks, so the stock shocks can last. Really the Boxster shocks are not that stressed.
Have to ask how it was determined shocks are needed? Even when I was talked out of the ROW I still asked about renewing the shocks and the techs talked me out of that too. Said as long as they were not leaking they were fine.
Brakes are not hard to do. If you have done brakes on other cars the Boxster is really not any different. When I did the brakes I would buy pads/rotors and the brake hardware kit from the local dealer parts counter. The kit comes with all the hardware to replace except IIRC the caliper bolts. These have to be ordered separately.
Oh, I had the factory manual to refer to but there is a Bentley Boxster manual that probably covers brake jobs.
If you plan on doing the work on the car I'd urge you look into a portable power car lift that you can use the lift the car by the factory sanctioned lift points or by the tires/wheels, just like the lifts in the dealer service bays. Being able to get the car in the air quickly and support it safely really speeds up the servicing. Almost all servicing is done from pretty much under the car. 'course, I'm not talking about a full professional lift but a portable one that when collapsed you can just pull in and park over.
What else? Oh, I removed the front bumper cover a couple of times to clean the radiator ducts. These collect lots of mostly plant trash. While my experience is this collection -- which can be substantial -- doesn't affect cooling it can lead to exposing the condenser and radiator to corrosion.
I did a brake/clutch fluid flush/bleed at least once. I bought some power bleeder. It is important the brake hydraulic system and if the car fitted with a manual the clutch hydraulic system (it shares fluid with the brake system) be flushed and bled every 2 years. I let this go just 2.5 years and while as far as I could tell the brakes were unaffected the clutch action was and this resulted in difficultly getting the car moving smoothly and difficulty shifting. After the flush/bleed the transformation of the clutch action and shifting was quite remarkable. I had always had the fluid service done every 2 years before -- the 2.5 years was the result of some distraction in dealing with taking care of my elderly parents -- but thought the 2 year requirement overkill but after my experience I'm a firm believer in 2 year brake/clutch fluid flushing/bleeding.
Did some oil changes, of course. No lift but backing the car up on Rhino ramps worked like a charm. The oil drains just fine even with the rear of the car elevated.
Transmission/diff fluid changes I let the dealer do. The labor was just 0.3 hours and I once in a while got the fluid at a discount. Transmission fluid is messy/nasty stuff, and that's when it is fresh out of the bottle. After being in service 60K miles or more)... Yuck!
Takes me 0.3 hours to just get it off my hands but the smell lingers.
For top work I had a shop fit a new top. The original one leaked after may be 12 years or so. Bought a GAHH top that was the same color as what was on the car. Go the top with the plastic window. I much prefer the original top's shape/silhouette with the plastic window. Also, the plastic window is larger and better positioned than the glass window. Last but not least the glass rear window complicates putting the top in the service position.
Had an automotive upholstery/top shop do the work. Was not that much money and the job was done right and the top fit perfectly and was really indistinguishable from the factory top. Just cost less than half as much as the factory top.
Engine air filter and cabin air filter servicing is easy. Had the plugs done at the dealer along with the O2 sensors. I replaced 2 MAFs. Dealer did the 3 AOSs. All of these services one can do and more it just depends upon what one wants to do. I am not a big fan of working on cars any more and I gradually drifted towards letting the dealer service department do all the servicing.
Big jobs I let the dealer handle.Water pump; fuel pump; coolant tank, AOSs; let an indy deal with a wheel bearing. Had a problem with the passenger side VarioCam solenoid/actuator and let the dealer and a very experienced tech handle this. Same when the CV boots developed cracks. Tech advised against half shaft replacement and instead cleaned and inspected the bearings and found them ok -- he said Porsche half shafts as long as the dust boots remain intact are very long lived -- so he repacked them with grease, fitted new boots and put the shafts back on the car. After around 50K miles no issues.
Check out the Bentley manual to see if it covers the work you want to do sufficiently for you to feel comfortable. You can of course supplement the info in the Bentley with what you can find out on line.
Thank you Brian! I have seen this book and now with your recommendation I will buy it now! Thank you and everyone for your good wishes and support.I can’t wait to get started.
Macster-your advice is priceless. I will take notes on your post and bring them with me when I go to the garage I just found- Road Scholars in Durham NC- WOW they are quite shop. I am excited to work with them to develop a plan for getting my car up to snuff.
Thank you to everyone who has responded. What a great community.
With all due respect, if you have zero experience working on cars you picked the wrong car. … If you desire to wrench on the car.. it is fairly easy to maintain.
That's kind of a mixed message.
The Boxster is a great DIY car. Frankly, with the possible exception of the 996 and the 914, there isn't a better P-Car for the DIYer. Porsches prior to the 986/996 were essentially hand built, and really not intended for the DIYer or even the average mechanic to maintain.
The parts are easily available, there are great books and a ton of YouTube videos out there, and there are always folks here and on 986Forums that can answer questions (make sure to try the 'Search' first). I've done a pile of work on my Boxsters and I haven't run into anything I couldn't take care of in my driveway with hand tools. Some of the repairs are a bit fiddly, like replacing the AOS, but they're all doable. I've done brakes, struts, control arms, tie rods, spark plugs, spark plug tubes, coil packs, the AOS, inner CV boots, wheel bearings, and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.
As for performance: Yeah, you're not going to be able to improve on the factory performance without doing a ton of work and replacement. You'd be better off buying an 'S'. But rather than do that, get the car looking the way you like (drop it a little, put on some decals and stripes, get different wheels, etc.) and drive it for a while. The joy of a Boxster isn't pure speed, it's a winding road on a pleasant day with the top down.
Most guys on the forum here (and on 986boxster.com) wrench on their own car. You will get the occasional city/condo dweller whose circumstances do not allow for wrenching on cars, so you will get a plethora of responses on where to go to get some work done.
In my experience, you do not need to bring the car to a Porsche-specific shop as most of the maintenance items you listed can be done by any competent mechanic, save for things like the IMS and a few other niche items requiring special tools, or specialized knowledge on procedures etc. Enjoy the car!
The Boxster is a great DIY car. Frankly, with the possible exception of the 996 and the 914, there isn't a better P-Car for the DIYer. Porsches prior to the 986/996 were essentially hand built, and really not intended for the DIYer or even the average mechanic to maintain.
The parts are easily available, there are great books and a ton of YouTube videos out there, and there are always folks here and on 986Forums that can answer questions (make sure to try the 'Search' first). I've done a pile of work on my Boxsters and I haven't run into anything I couldn't take care of in my driveway with hand tools. Some of the repairs are a bit fiddly, like replacing the AOS, but they're all doable. I've done brakes, struts, control arms, tie rods, spark plugs, spark plug tubes, coil packs, the AOS, inner CV boots, wheel bearings, and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.
As for performance: Yeah, you're not going to be able to improve on the factory performance without doing a ton of work and replacement. You'd be better off buying an 'S'. But rather than do that, get the car looking the way you like (drop it a little, put on some decals and stripes, get different wheels, etc.) and drive it for a while. The joy of a Boxster isn't pure speed, it's a winding road on a pleasant day with the top down.
Thank you for the confidence Sean! I was feeling a little intimidated by the first response but then I started watching YouTube videos and started to think I can do this! I will have my 13yo son to assist me (who is beginning to be intrigued by this car stuff) so I'm going to try to replace all of the fluids myself as my first set of projects.
Nothing will ruin your day faster than getting a wet immobilizer because your drains are plugged. Invest in a trombone cleaning brush, less than $10. Suncoast Porsche sells rear drain protectors, they're no doubt available elsewhere. Drain location diagrams are on the net. Clean drains are an inexpensive maintenance item often overlooked.
I am a fairly new Porsche enthusiast (2 years) and have learnt on the job outside on the drive in all weather. I love a challenge.
Best colour guards red. Looks similar to my 2001 3.2 S tiptronic. Just replaced all my radiators and condensers due to corrosion damage so fitted some brilliant black stainless front grills to protect them.
Another quick job you can do is to locate the front bonnet emergency release cable whilst your bonnet release is functioning. This might save you tears in the future.
The Durametric diagnostic tool has paid for itself pinpointing several problems I have experienced.
I attempt to diagnose problems myself then source the components and fit them myself or use a trusted local indie. This keeps the cost of ownership down.
Enjoy your driving experience!!
09-08-2019, 12:52 AM
Just got my new '98 986. What upgrades should I do?
