B Chester

I am seeking sage advice from other Boxster owners regarding a dealer service suggestion. I have a 2003 Boxster S, with 13,700 miles. Its a garage queen, but when I do drive it, I do warm it to full operating temperature before I open it up. I've had it since it was new and had it serviced annually at the dealership where I bought it. They are suggesting that with the current annual service, that I also consider replacing the spark plugs and also the Serpentine belt (with the rationale that they get old and brittle and should be changed after 6 years or 60,000 miles). I declined both suggestions at this point due to the low mileage, but at some point, those items would need to be addressed. I know the dealers need to push services to stay in business, but its hard to know what is truly needed. Any thoughts?

racer

To me, the car is 7 years old. Belts aren't designed to last forever, and it is cheap insurance against a possible failure. If you plan to keep the car a longtime, and use it as little as you do, TIME becomes more important than miles in the care/upkeep/replacement of certain items. Fluids and rubber items (belts) are one of those items to me. Spark plugs should be done as well imho. Had the brake fluid flushed recently?

Jaak Lepson

Agree ^^^^

smshirk

I agree to, but I would find a good independent mechanic. You save a lot of money, and they make way less mistakes, IMHO.

BostonDuce

The rationale behind changing the plugs at that time point is the possibility of the plugs freezing in the heads- not for electrode wear.

The belts (and all rubber) are subject to ozone oxidation.

Any delay of suggested intervals is a roll of the dice. But some rolls have better odds than others .

BD

Sputter

+1

Dave H.

so you take a ratchet, crack them loose and retorque them. take them out and put a drop of copper anti-seize on them if you want.

spark plugs are 48k miles, not 15k miles. this is just the dealer trying to take your money.

inspect the serpentine belt yourself. look at it where it takes a hard bend around a pully. no cracking? leave it. see some cracking? change it yourself, it's easy. serpentine belts don't have that much tensioner load on them to begin with. they have to get really bad before they fail.

next thing they'll tell you your brake pads are bad from not being used.

do your 15k service and drive on...

Macster

If you're going to the trouble of gaining access to the plugs to loosen then then retorque them -- not advisable -- or even remove them completely, clean the threads on the old plugs, give them a touch of anti-seize, then reinstall them, just putting in a new plug represents very little additional cost.

I'd rather throw plugs away with 15K miles (though more than 4 years on them) than run the risk of having to have buggered threads in a head that then needs repairing.

And about the same goes for a belt. By the time you gain access to belt to remove in order to give it a proper inspection looking for missing sections of the any of the ribs or other signs of distress like a sharp edge on the belt (that could be an early warning of possibly a water pump going out) might was well spring for a new belt. The cost of the belt is just a few dollars.

Plus the older the belt gets the more likely it can fail catastrophically which while it probably won't result in any lasting damage will probably come at an inconvenient time.

I'm sure the few bucks saved by stretching (no pun) the serpentine belt's life will be mighty comforting to contemplate as one waits for a tow truck to remove his car from a busy freeway shoulder to the local dealer to have the broken belt replaced.

Sincerely,

Macster.

BostonDuce

Gotta watch out with the anti-seize.

It changes the torque values and some manufacturers do not want anti-seize on plug threads.

I agree that it stings to throw money at what seems like frivolous, low/no result maintenance, but as Macster said, if you decided to access the plugs, which is 95% of the battle with Porsche's, at even $10/plug just put in new ones.

BD

GMS

Porsche stated not to use anti-seize for the spark plugs for a long time.

Torque settings for new plugs (30 + 3 Nm) and r/r old ones (25 + 5 NM) are different.

Dave H.

$10 a plug? the OP asked about the dealer doing the work. my dealer and indi mech quoted $30 a plug ($180 for spark plugs - that's nuts) and 3 hours labor. that's more than a "very little additional cost"

do it or don't. you don't need 48k spark plugs at 13k.

Charlie C

Agree on all counts, especially the brake fluid. Should do that every 2 years. Also, you didn't mention oil changes but I'd have that done at least once a year, regardless of miles driven.

Oh, yeah, and get out and drive that baby!

THXBABE

Buy the parts and do it yourself. It is very easy.

Just take a picture or draw yourself a diagram of how the serpentine belt loops around the pulleys

mikefocke

I had my 60k done at 4 years and 42k miles because I was a new owner and wanted to be sure that everything was right and I knew where everything stood in terms of preventative maintenance. I have had a very very reliable car in the 4 years and ~16k miles since. I also took it to a very knowledgeable Porsche mechanic who set cars up for racing. I had belt, brakes, rotors, plugs, fluids, alignment and a complete inspection. Expensive, yes. Knew I was going to do it before I bought the car and factored that into the offered deal price.

Your option. Do you have to do it...no.

How old are your tires?

B Chester

Thanks all. I bit the bullet and had it done. I can't argue with rubber deteriorating over time, and I don't have the time to do the plugs or the belt myself. I also did the brake fluid flush. The tires are actually seven and half years old, and I know they're on borrowed time, so those will be replaced soon. I've been chastised by all to drive it more, including the service department and the guy who sold it to me 6 years ago. On the flip side, the tech said that the underside of the car was as clean as he has ever seen for a six year old car.