Newbie Owner with questions

[guenzak]

I am the proud new owner of a '98 Boxster. It is the first Porshe I have ever owned and after 1 week I am thoroughly in love with it. Unfortunatly it did not have an owners manual and over the course of the week a few questions have come uo that I cant figure out. I was hoping maybe you guys could help out. Sorry there are so many but I am lost without the owners manual.

1) When I test drove the car I tested the top and it worked fine. It is winter here so I haven't had any reason to use it but just for the hell of it I wanted to open it in my garage today and it wouldn't open. I was in park, latch open, windows went down 1/3 of the way. Pushed the button and nothing. Not even the sound of the top's motor. Am I missing something? Is ther a fuse for the top that could be blown?

2) To the right of the climate controls there are 3 switches. The top one is the door locks, bottom one is for the top, but I can't figure out what the middle one is for.

3) Down in the drivers side foot well on the left I noticed a little rocker switch. When I used it a tail rose on the rear of the car. I have never seen a Boxster with one of these up? Is it just a rear spoiler?. Does it only go up manually or does it pop up at a certain speed?

4) When I start the car the indicator light for the rear trunk being open stays on until I start to go forward then it goes out. Is that supposed to happen or is there a problem with the trunk switch?

5) When the car was idleing in the garage as I tried to figure out the issue with the top not working I smelt something that smelt a bit like antifreeze. The temp guage was fine so I didn't think much of it. When I turned the car off I walked aroung back and noticed about a 1/2 cup of yellow fluid had flowed out the back from under the engine. Is Porsche antifreeze yellow? I looked under and did not see a drip. I even started the car again and there was no dripping. Could it just have been a bit too full and overflowed a bit?

6) Can anyone tell me where to get an owners manual?

Thanks a lot for any help you cam give me wit any of these questions.

Mark

[Samurai75007]

(3) Your intercooler is on that switch it will raze up around 60-65. Or you can hit the switch.
(5) Antifreeze is mostly green. Did you have the air on? That may be it.
(6) E-bay or your local Porsche shop.

Don’t know about the rest sorry. You might wont to find a specific Porsche forum for more. Try flat-6.net

[neo the hacker]

WorkshopManuals.co.uk, or E-bay, Maybe able to do something on your manual, if not then dealer it is. Your rear spoiler should lift at around 55mph i think, but it may not be the same in the USA, as are speed limits 70mph. As for the drip, the AC can drip when running, could be that?. Not sure on the rest, hope this helps.

[HB.]

If you haven't got the answers to your questions yet here you go, sorry I just joined a couple of days ago.

1. First you might want to check the fuse box to see if it's not blown, it's located in the same place as the rear spoiler switch. The top's motor could have went bad and needs to be replaced. Mine stopped working for about a week for some odd reason, but now it's fine. If water some how got into the top's motor, that would have caused it to short.

2. The middle switch is for the rear defrost.

3. The rear spoiler will raise by itself @ 75mph then lower once you reach 50mph. If you manually raise the spoiler but don't reach 75mph, you'll have to manually lower it again if you want it to be down.

4. That is normal

5. From what I've been told from the Porsche dealership is that late model Porsches don't use the green anti-freeze. I had mine replaced, and it was a clear liquid.

6. I own a '99 model, but I was able to get a pdf of an '03 model if that helps

Congrats on the buy and enjoy the ride.

[Porsche_Daddy]

LOL, that Samurai dude said it was an intercooler! You are exactly right about the rear spoiler H.B. It's a cool little thing isn't it. Quenzak, I assume you have a tiptronic car since you mentioned it was in park, but if it is a manual, make sure the parking brake is engaged or the top won't work. Other than that, I don't know. H.B. , just curious, how is the middle switch a rear defrost on his 98 and your 99 boxster? Glass rear windows didn't come out until 03. Oh, I'm not sure what the yellow fluid is, but I would be worried.

[HB.]

Originally Posted by Porsche_Daddy

LOL, that Samurai dude said it was an intercooler!

I laughed at that too when I first read it

Originally Posted by Porsche_Daddy

H.B. , just curious, how is the middle switch a rear defrost on his 98 and your 99 boxster? Glass rear windows didn't come out until 03.

Good question cause I thought the same when I bought mines knowing it had a plastic rear window. That's what the dealer told me when I was test driving the car. I've always questioned if that was true or not. Maybe I should try to find out if he was right.

I like the spoiler function, I just didn't like it in the footwell so I re-routed the switch to one of the blank plastic slots across from the top switch. Some people think it's cool, others don't, but I didn't like looking at those blank 3 slots, so I made the switch.

[Porsche_Daddy]

[quote=HB.]

Good question cause I thought the same when I bought mines knowing it had a plastic rear window. That's what the dealer told me when I was test driving the car. I've always questioned if that was true or not. Maybe I should try to find out if he was right.


Your dealer is either full of shit or doesn't know what he is talking about. I don't know what that switch does in your car..but it is definately not a rear defrost switch. It could be just a dummy switch because the dash on the boxster and 996 are very similar.

[shconer]

I belive that the emergancy brake maust be engaged for the top to open or close.

[sixpack1963]

You find an owners manual on:
http://www.cannell.co.uk/Manuals.htm
For free!

[TECH911]

for your top problem, when you pull the e-brake up, does the light on the dash come on the dash. If not, the switch for the e-brake is bad. The top will do nothing if that switch is bad.

[vr986]

Been trolling looking for answers on the topic of stereo upgrades for 2003 boxsters (regretting Porsche's decision to go optical, thus locking out practically all aftermarket solutions). Now trying to judge the feasibility of upgrading a 2001 boxster's rear window to glass (the reason I've been consider the 2003). Have accumulated enough info that I can actually offer an answer of my own...

Regarding the mystery of the rear-defrost switch on a plastic-backed Boxster: it's there because all hard tops have the defrost. Take a look in the left rear area, behind the driver's seat (US) -- there should be a little pigtail into which you'd plug the hard top's defrost harness.

[vectorspecialist]

u guys relize this thread is two yrs old

[dugdale]

I would suggest you to check that in the google search. or you can check in this link if it helps you.
http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/how-to...ar-owners-manu...
Online Ferrari Store