I’ve watched the videos. Unloading the spring clamp of the large hose at the bottom was easy with a pair of needle nose vise grip pliers. The hard part is the hose that most get access to via the top after moving cables around. I dont like that approach because in my opinion that’s putting too much tension on those cables. I can reach the the squeeze points of that bottom hose from the bottom of the car and get the hose backed off enough so that the clips are not holding anything but then can’t move the hose any further back. I’ve got my daughter pulling the hose off from the top, while I’m on the bottom squeezing and pulling off. We didn’t get it and my hand is tired. We’ll try again tomorrow. This is a PIA job!

 

That doesn't bode well for me, I've got the part waiting in a box for some decent weather. Hope it works better tomorrow.

 

Are you going to reuse the bottom bellows and clamp?

Bet not.

So why be so delicate? Reach in... cut off the bellows... pull out the old AOS... remove old clamp... install new AOS. And if you don't know what is the blue-clip-clamp... look it up.

The AOS job is one of the graviest. Good luck.

 

A tech replaced mine and it’s leaked ever since so I need to fix it. Plus my top vapor line attachment clamp is broken so that too.

Replaced the one on my wife’s 01 Box recently. Took a couple hours as I’m slow and getting to it was half the project.

A set of spring clamp tools plus the blue clip clamp are your friend. IIRC, jacked up, took off passenger rear tire, took off clamshell, took off some bits on the top.

IMO, not a really bad project.

 

Having never worked on a relatively new Boxster I can't be sure... but I think that a big part of the problem is that the plastic hoses are so hard and brittle that they difficult to work with. I had to cut and rebuild the hose at the top of the AOS. See post #7 in this thread.
http://986forum.com/forums/performan...re-engine.html

 

YES, although it was my clip ends that broke and not the middle of the hose. I now have a vacuum leak that is triggering a CE light.

 

LN sells a tool that's supposed to make removing the top & mid plastic hoses easier.
I haven't tried it yet since I only found out about and purchased it after I'd done my last AOS, but one of these days...
Yes, the blue clip is great to have for re-install.
I had a spare and a buddy of mine was playing with his clip before his AOS install and accidentally deployed the clamp.
I traded blue clips/clamps with him and reset the clip/clamp myself.
It was not an easy task, so don't play with it until you're ready to deploy!

 

Thanks for the good advice and I'll ignore the bad. My Boxster is a 97 with 49k mi. I think that mid hose on mine is not as flexible as it once was and that is making the job difficult if not impossible. I'm going to try again tonight after my fingers have recovered.

 

Heating the offending part with a hair dryer or heat gun can help get back some of the flexibility. The fix mentioned in the link in my last post has worked well for me, so I would not be shy to cut the hose and reattach it with the silicon hose. That's what I would do... I take no responsablity for others decisions!

 

[QUOTE=elgy;18516047]Heating the offending part with a hair dryer or heat gun can help get back some of the flexibility. The fix mentioned in the link in my last post has worked well for me, so I would not be shy to cut the hose and reattach it with the silicon hose. That's what I would do... I take no responsablity for others decisions![/QUOT

"cut the hose and reattach it with silicon hose"???? Are you nuts? There's barely enough room to get your fingers in there much less cut a hose without damaging something else and then repair that hose. We must be talking about two different things. Also, from what I see the best procedure is unique to the model of 986. I'm certainly not going to be intentionally cutting hoses.

 

[QUOTE=Bush Pilot;18516391]Yes some of my hacks are a bit nutty... but that's half the fun! I just went out and looked at the engine I have on my engine stand and I see the hose you are referring to and I see that with the engine in the car and the stiff old plastic that could be a challenge. Good luck... have you tried heat?
(I won't tell you the alternatives that started going through my head as I looked at that hose and tried to image getting at it in the car.

 

Soooo…I got’er done a few minutes ago. And I’ll admit that I did end up cutting the large hose at the bottom with the big spring clip on it. Even though, it appeared that I had the spring clamp fully compressed, it just wouldn’t come off. I did get the mid hose off with fresh hands and fingers and that is reached from the bottom BTW as is said in the Pelican Boxster book. I recommend removing the right rear wheel and lowering the car to the point where when you lie on your left side, you can reach into the abyss and do the work. It's too difficult to support your body while doing the work. The AOS comes out through the top. Going back in is more straightforward but take some time to make sure you have the large hose at the bottom fully seated prior to pulling the blue release clip. Enjoy and do t let any body tell you that this is easy. If you get frustrated, stop and get a cup of coffee and come back to it.

 

congratulations!

first time i replaced the aos, i swore that i’d pay someone next time.

second time i replaced the aos, i took two motrin and swore (a lot) that i’d pay someone next time.

third time, i paid someone. i’m a slow learner.

 

Honestly, based on the competence of mechanics in Tucson AZ, I wouldn't let anyone other than myself do this job. There's opportunity for someone trying to rush to put unnecessary strain on cables and connectors that could come back to haunt the owner in the future and there's no way to prove that the fault was initiated by a mechanic doing the AOS. I haven't dealt with the Porsche Dealer mechanics yet but suspect that they're good since the dealer here is one of the top Porsche restorers in the country. The indy's around me that I've let work on my cars leave me with a feeling of just having gone through a "shakedown" when I walk out.

 

I did part of the AOS through the wheel well, and part from the top. It was fiddly, but not hard. I remember the top hose was difficult to get off, but it popped off eventually.