Klienes Kabriolett - My 2001 Boxster S

The SAI blower is mounted on the right side engine compartment wall. It's an electric blower motor that should be connected to a ~1" hose that goes under the intake to a valve.

The tube on the PS reservoir is just a vent tube. They usually bleed some fluid over time, so put the draining end low and away from where you don't want an occasion drip of fluid. If there is still some showing on the stick, it is not urgent unless you are headed to the track. I would not experiment with fluids. CHF 11S, 202, and other "European" hydraulic fluid types should work. Most auto parts stores have a bottle or two hiding on the far edge of the Power Steering Fluid shelf.

Pretty sure that's an overflow tube?

The pentosin can be found at your local auto parts store, at least mine stock it. There's an updated fluid, 202 I think. 
 

Mine is low as well. It's annoying to spend $20 on a quart when I'm sure I'll just need a tbsp. 

Welp, it's not the SAI blower. I disconnected it and the sound is the same. What else?

I heard it better on my computer at home. It's not a sound that I've had on one of my cars.

• 1) Not related to the belt or accessories.
• 2) Not SAI
• 3) The noise seems to follow engine RPM.
• 4) Engine runs smooth, no misfire or 'bucking'
• 5) Clutch pedal stays at the floor.

I'm thinking that the engine is fine and that it is related to the flywheel or clutch. Just a guess. Can you crank it by hand (wrench on the crank pulley) and listen?

It doesn't seem to sound like air rushing past a loose spark plug, but that happens to people from time to time.

Here's Pedro's procedure to bleed brakes and clutch: http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/Bleed_the_Brakes_%26_Clutch.html

Post the problem and video on the 986Forum, Rennlist, or a new "What is this noise" post here on GRM.

Thanks. After sleeping on it, I think the next thing I need to do is get the car level. I'm wondering if it has enough oil. I put 9 quarts in, but I spilled a bit, so maybe it's a little less? It barely shows on the dipstick, but again, the car is at about a 15 degree nose-down angle.

The other thing leveling will allow me to do is bleed the front brakes, then the clutch. Reading through that procedure, the one thing I didn't do (besides the front brakes) was press the clutch pedal down, I did all the bleeding with it up.

FWIW, I did post this on Rennlist yesterday, but no responses so far. Might try 986Forum.

I put the cheap pennzoil euro blend power steering fluid in mine and never had any issues. Clutch pedal definitely needs to be down to bleed properly.

The clutch pedal only needs to be down for clutch bleeding right? I did a full brake bleed some months ago without touching the clutch. No problems but Im curious if I missed something.

I want one of these, although the amount of problems some of them seem to have is a bit concerning.  But, I could do most of the work I have seen people have to do in the posts here, and it seems like a relatively small risk that if I buy one it will have a catastrophic failure to the point the entire car is junk before I have gotten ~20 days of going to work worth of entertainment out of it.  Probably better than 10 years from now wishing I had bought one? 

In reply to Tk8398 :

I'd go for one.  I think they are like a lot of cars in the internet age, most of the 'catasrophic, they are all going to fail, doom, gloom' out there is massive exaggeration.  Yes Tom and I are having some issues after pulling out trans out, but they are both probably relatively minor, we just need to trouble shoot them.  Honestly, the cars are easier to work on than expected.  Between the inside panel for access to the front of the engine, putting the soft top into the service position so you can get to the top, plus the access from below, they are pretty easy to work on.  All cars have some hard to reach things, these are no different.  Also the price of parts have been pretty good.  Lot's of smaller parts and ancillaries are shared with millions of other cars out there so they don't get a Porsche tax, unless you want to buy one in a box/bag that say's Porsche on it rather than Bosch, ZF or whoever actually make the OEM parts.  And they are pure joy to drive.

I did a bit more diagnosis last night. Turned the engine over by hand, and it felt normal with no odd noises. So I put the rear wheels back on and dropped it to the ground to level it. Turns out it was a bit low on oil, I added just over half a quart to get it to the top mark on the dipstick. I also added a bit of power steering fluid, but not too much. Started it up again, and I have the same noise. I did let it run for a minute or so, and it seemed to get a bit quieter. So I got my mechanic's stethoscope out and got out to try and nail down the source of the noise, and as soon as I got out of the car it was immediately apparent that it's not coming from the engine, it's coming from the transmission. 

So, next thing to do was to check the trans lube. Turns out that was about a half quart low, as well, with the car level. But that didn't fix the noise. I made another attempt to bleed the clutch, but it's pretty clear I'm going to need a helper. I can pump up my power bleeder, but the bleeder screw on the slave cylinder is such a huge PITA to reach, I can't shut it off in time.

So, I have a pretty major noise from the transmission with the car running, but in neutral and with an improperly-bled clutch pedal sitting on the floor. Any ideas?

I'm guessing there's something I'm not understanding but I don't see how time is a factor in the bleeding process? I remember it being annoying (mostly that I had to bleed a system I didn't specifically touch) but not that hard in the grand scheme of things.

[crusty old mechanic voice]Well, THEEERRRE'S your problem![/crusty old mechanic voice]

I tried one last time to bleed the clutch, and suddenly I had fluid leaking out between the engine and transmission. OK, something significant is wrong, so I went ahead and dropped the transmission again. Lo and behold, the clutch fork was completely out of place and the release bearing was just sitting on the input shaft rattling around. So, that explains the noise. And my efforts to bleed the clutch pushed the piston out of the the slave cylinder because there was no clutch fork there to stop it moving.

I have no idea how I managed to do this, it was all assembled right when I put the trans in, but somehow I did. Assuming I blew the seals out of the slave cylinder, a new one is on it's way along with a new release bearing. I'll make double sure it's all correct this time and put it back in.

PSA: If you need someone to find new and innovative ways to screw up simple automotive jobs, I'm your man. 

Oh dude, that sucks.  Just be glad it's so much easier to pull the trans out of yours.

Glad to hear that nothing serious was broken. Yes, taking the transmission back off is no fun, but compared to worries of a bad engine or transmission, that's great news.

AAZCD (Forum Supporter) said:

Glad to hear that nothing serious was broken. Yes, taking the transmission back off is no fun, but compared to worries of a bad engine or transmission, that's great news.

Yeah, honestly I'm pretty happy to have found the issue and have it be relatively minor.

Oh man! How'd you get the beans above the frank?

No wonder it was noisy. Is the slave supposed to go into the slot on the fork?

Trans is back in, clutch is bled, exhaust is on, and......

It sounds perfect.

Now to get the new tires mounted and attempt to remember how all the undertrays go back together and how the bumper attaches.

Well.... not so fast, Tom.

I got it all back together and on the ground today, and drove it. Put it in reverse, backed up a bit, clutch in, put it in neutral, clutch out, and the awful noise is back. berkeley.

I did drive it up and down the driveway a bit and it drove fine, shifted fine, etc. But when the clutch is out, it's loud as hell. The only thing I can think is that the throwout bearing once again popped out of place after I put it in gear.

I have neither the time nor the motivation to drop the transmission for a third time. I'm taking it to a shop. A man's got to know his limitations.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out well again, but I totally get taking it to a shop at this point. With my '04 I want to have the clutch and IMS bearing done this year. It's all work that I've done before, but for the time and trouble (and peace of mind), I am probably going to have it done at a shop. Work on cars for the fun and satisfaction. Have someone else do it when it's tedious and frustrating.

Oh, this car is just full of fun surprises. I went to start the car on Wednesday to move it out of the way to do some cleaning, and the battery was dead. It had been cranking kind of slowly, so I suspected it was on it's way out. So I got a new one, installed it, and tried again. Still dead, only this time the key kept turning in the ignition. I didn't force it or anything, it just kept turning. Threw a charger on the new battery and tried again tonight. Still nothing, but now the key stops at the normal spot again.

So.... ignition switch? And some other weird electrical gremlin? The new battery checks out fine and is fully charged. All the lights and everything work fine, but when I go to start it, it tries to turn over then stops. But the lights stay on. Starter?

And, after getting a few quotes, I decided I am going to pull the trans again. Don't need to spend that much!

Sounds like the ignition switch.  They like to break, luckily the part is really cheap.  I bought an "expensive" one and it was $30

docwyte said:

Sounds like the ignition switch.  They like to break, luckily the part is really cheap.  I bought an "expensive" one and it was $30

Yeah, I saw. Looks like I need to pull the old one first to get the part number so I know which one to buy. Cheap enough to just replace it and see if that fixes things.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

On my 996 Turbo there was only one to get, I didn't have to get the part number.  If it's the original one, Porsche put glue in the threads of the screws holding it in place.  You need to chip the glue out so you can remove the screws. 

Gotta say, not a ton of fun to jam myself underneath the dash to get that done.  I also had forgotten my glasses so I did most of it by feel.

It's dirt cheap because it's an Audi part. I've changed it twice now. Turns out the second time probably wasn't necessary as it was related to other issues. I've got a good one with a broken tab on if you want it.

docwyte said:

Gotta say, not a ton of fun to jam myself underneath the dash to get that done.  I also had forgotten my glasses so I did most of it by feel.

So I found out. Especially for a fat guy. I also found out that I don't have any screwdrivers short enough to fit in there to get the set screws out, so I ordered some really stubby ones.