boxster newbie

my 97 base boxster, has been tempermental, in hot weather. so did the water pump, no vanes broken, looked okay changed anyway, 160 degree thermostat , in houseing, installed. ran fine for several trips. was disapointed that heat gauge read the same as prior to job. then it started to ocasionaly redline the gauge. imediatly pulled over to cool down, has happpened twice. bad thermostat???? rather than get another 160, from the same supplier, i am thinking to go back to stock 180 in a different brand.. to avoid a bad rub of these. any thoughts

paulofto

Overheating like that is often caused by air in the system. How did you burp the air out after changing the thermostat and checking the pump? With the engine in the middle and the rads out front there is a big chance air is trapped in the hoses and or the rads . I’d use an airlift to properly ensure all the air is out and the proper amount of coolant is in the system. Also, are your fans kicking on low and high when they should?

boxster newbie

ran car heaters, on at an angle with, expansion cap off for awhile. overheat, did not happen for 2-300 kilometers . wich makes me suspect a bad thermostat. will try burping the system again.

boxster newbie

have ordered the airlift tool, but in the mean time, i switched out the 160 thermostat and housing with a stock 180, no change . still gets hot also spat a PO115 code for coolant sensor? have one on order as well. pretty frustrating. .. when burping, the system some say turn the heaters on, to open valves. while others say AC, should be on?

dr914

I agree, bleeding the system is not easy but critical to keep the engine cool. You HAVE to correctly bleed the boxster cooling system!! Your problems will probably then be over

boxster newbie

well here we go again. new stock 180 thermostat same overheating. got an air lift tool. drained the block, as they work better on an empty system. ran air lift, held proper vacum, no problem, filled coolant back up using tool. same overheating. am now wondering if the new gates water pump, impeller is slipping on the shaft. new pump and gasket on order, and the saga continues. when i have it instaled and again pull vacum with the tool. will double check that rad hoses to front have colapsed as well as rear, and will refill.

Starter986

Why did you get the Gates WP? Were they out of Pierburg pumps?

boxster newbie

got tired of bosch, high prices, and thought gates to be a reasonably good brand. am pulling the water pump today , when its out will lock the pulley and see if the impellor is spinning, on the shaft .

TheMattMan

After all the work you've done, I'd be more suspicious of your radiators or your fans at this point. When does your car normally overheat? Is it while you're stopped at a light? Does it happen when you're cruising on the highway or when you're sitting in traffic? Are you hearing the fans turn on when you're driving? My 2000 Boxster S will run a bit hot (creep up to the third black mark on the temp gauge) when its +95 degrees F outside and I'm stuck in traffic with little air flow through the radiators. I recently replaced my water pump, thermostat, and flushed the coolant, and even after that, the temps will still creep up on hot days, so I doubt any of those things are the issue. My current hypothesis is I just need to clean all the dirt and leaves out of my radiators, but since the temp gauge still gets no where near redline, I haven't worried too much about it.

boxster newbie

car ran warmer when under ac load. 90 degree weather didnt help. but the problem developed after the thermostat and water pump swapout. ran over hot at highway speed, had to be babied home light on the throttle . this led me to suspect components . thermostat has been eliminated, with going back to stock 180, next will be the water pump inspection and replacement . beyond that i will suspect a cracked head. although there is no oilcoolant cross contmination. and using the air lift a vacum is held.

Starter986

My tempoerature was rising and, after a "heated" run to Big Bear and back a couple weeks ago, checked my fans. Driver side fan wasn't working. Passenger running only at high.

Purchased a couple used fans... plugged them in this morning... both work.

Double check those fans. Jump the relays. Do some testing.

Best wishes.

boxster newbie

i am not a good electrician. i believe there are four relays fan related in the drivers dash area? do you remove one at a time. and wich tabs do you jump.

rbhinvt

The easiest thing to do is swap two identical relays and see if that changes things. If you have the electrical diagrams they will show you where to find the relays for the fans. They are either in the trunk, drivers side, or next to the fuse box up front. There are 4 relays, two for each fan, one for each stage.

I don't have my schematics handy so I can’t direct you to the right location right now.

I suspect that the the problem is the ballast resistor, however. The easiest way to figure it out is to use a 12volt power supply (I.e., a car battery) to test the fan in place. You need to disconnect the fan from the circuit (connector in wheel well)and test at the connector.

See this YouTube video. This was really helpful for me for testing and repair.

rbhinvt

Found schematics online. The fan relays are in the driver side footwell. Sockets 19-22.

boxster newbie

moving forward on the case. have removed my new 700-800 kilometer water pump generic brand to discover the impellor split with vanes broken.. saw another post about this that it was a common problem for awhile with volkswagen as well.