artandscience

Has anyone added an oil temp and oil pressure gauge to the Boxster (2001 or later)? I was thinking of getting some white VDO gauges and mounting them on the A-pillar.

Makes me really nervous to just have idiot lights and I was wondering if any of y'all had done this and could let me know the relative difficulty? I would imagine that I just have to change out the sender with a 911-based unit? And then run output lines up to the cockpit?

thanks,
Stefan

chris_in_nh

1. i wouldn't put the new gauges on the A-pillar, but that's just me. i would make a blank for the gauges and mount them where the storage cubby is.

2. you could get an instrument cluster from a 911, but i know there are some things that you need to do to make it work. there are a few write-ups over at Renntech.org. just do a search in the Boxster forum. there are many people who have done the swap. and i must say that it looks pretty frickin' cool!

3. you can get a number of parameters from the climate control unit. here it is:

Porsche Boxster AC Diagnostics
(undocumented, unsupported feature)

The AC Climatronic unit is actually manufactured by Audi. There is some sort of serial data stream or CAN interface that allows the AC unit to display engine parameters. This works on 97-00 boxsters. Here is a list of what can be seen:

To switch from F to C:
Hold down the recirculating button then push both the temperature + - buttons.

To access diagnostics:
Hold down the Recirculating & Air up buttons for 5 seconds. The + - buttons go up and down through the list of "c" codes. The center vent button switches the left display between the "c" code and its actual value. Press the Auto button to exit.

I have yet to verify all these, this info was copied from wonderful people on PPBB!

0c - ERL
1c - Oil Temp?
2c - Inside temp. Sensor mounted in the aspirator assembly at the side of the dash.
3c - Outside temp. Sensor located inside the air inlet of the A/C unit.
4c - Outside temp. Sensor located in front grill of the radiator. The data is fed to the Climatronic from the instrument cluster. When not moving, the instrument cluster OBC temp display retains it's last setting until moving. This is to prevent heat emanating from the radiator affecting the temp. sensor. The A/C unit uses the lower of the two outside air temp values in determining fresh-air temp.
5c - Outside temp. (matches with OBC outside temp display)
6c - Coolant temp.
7c - Footwell discharge temp.
8c - Sun sensor (dash top)
9c - Sun sensor.
10c - Passenger compartment fan speed.
11c - Passenger compartment fan voltage.
12c - Temperature mix Flap command 1=COLD, 100=HOT
13c - Temperature mix Flap position
14c - Central Flap command
15c - Central Flap position
16c - Footwell/Defrost Flap command
17c - Footwell/Defrost Flap position
18c - Recirculation Valve command 1=OFF, 100=RECIRC
19c - Recirculation Valve position (feedback)
20c - Vehicle speed in kph, updating only once per second. (real speed, not speed+safety margin as in the speedometer)
21c - Engine RPM in hundreds. This too only updates once per second.
22c - ?
23c - ?
24c - Sun sensor, exterior lights switch & panel lights control (term. 58 & 58d voltage) - used for A/C panel display illum.
25c - ?
26c - ?
27c - ?
28c - Fan speed?
29c - ?
30c - Engine run time in seconds (255 max.)(=0xff)
31c - Timing counter
32c - Displays test
33c - Software version? Mine states 3.4
34c - ?
35c - Outside temp. from inlet sensor (filtered?)
36c - temp?

Tierce

wow, that's pretty cool. Is there anyway to change the temp from C to F within that menu? It's kind of hard to use C. We Americans are sooo backwards. But that's another discussion.

artandscience

Yep.. doesn't help me as I have a 2001 Boxster.

chris_in_nh

i imagine that you use the same button combo to switch from C to F as you do for F to C.

"To switch from F to C:
Hold down the recirculating button then push both the temperature + - buttons."

give it a try.

chris_in_nh

suggestions 1 and 2 help.

Tierce

Tried that. It changes the main temp display for the AC, but not the temps within the hidden menu.

chris_in_nh

so what you're saying is that you are able to pull these parameters from your AC unit, but that the parameters are in C? hmm, i didn't know that.

i would have thought that when you switch the AC temp from C to F, the corresponding menu parameters would also change. i guess that's not the case. there must be a way to do it.

Tierce

I've tried everything I can think of, but haven't figured it out. My AC panel has always been in Farenheit, (and I'd prefer to keep it that way), but yes, the hidden parameter are only in Celsius. And I can't exactly do the conversion quickly enough for it to be convenient.

originalmotorhead

Same here, I can only get Celcius on the AC display when I am in the diag mode to display the various stats you describe above. my car is a standard boxster, 2000 model. software version is 3.6.

Either way, it's cool that it works. now I can watch oil temp when I'm warming up the car.

Tom

artandscience

So I guess no one has done this, then? I did it on my 914s and I think it was a fairly common practice on them. If I do do it, I'll have to write a DYI. Sounds like a fun project for the winter.

A bigger challenge will be gracefully mounting the gauges. I'm thinking of building a double or triple gauge with 2 EGTs and an oil temp. Maybe just oil temp and voltage. Gotta see what's out there.