2001 Boxster S
Discussion
Lithium Battery Update
Made an effort to use this car yesterday. Just to nip to Asda. It had not been driven for a few days. Started absolutely fine. I actually had to start the car twice as I was moving some cars around - both starts fine.
Also I wanted to check the tyres pressures with my little pump which works off the cig lighter but decided to do this once I got to Asda. I'm not sure how much current drain this creates but I did it with the engine off. Then got my essential groceries and again the car started absolutely fine.
In summary right now you would not know what battery was present if you used this car. Testing continues.
Also I noticed that the price for another battery the same has gone up by about 25%. Which is starting to make me think twice about buying another for my other cars.
I do have some ideas about making a better fitting system but these are all a bit pie in the sky when I have no garage to work in. I'd like either a sheet of alloy plate or carbon fibre to bolt in place where the old tray went. This would need to mate up to the original bolts jutting out from the car. It would also need some form of seal on the underside just like the original also. And then it would need some form of fastener for the new little battery, probably to lie on its side. Perhaps some form of velco strap.
I like the idea of being able to remove the battery easily so I can take it in the house for charging and just leaving the bonnet slightly ajar - so down but not clasped shut. Again probably a bit pie in the sky for now.
Made an effort to use this car yesterday. Just to nip to Asda. It had not been driven for a few days. Started absolutely fine. I actually had to start the car twice as I was moving some cars around - both starts fine.
Also I wanted to check the tyres pressures with my little pump which works off the cig lighter but decided to do this once I got to Asda. I'm not sure how much current drain this creates but I did it with the engine off. Then got my essential groceries and again the car started absolutely fine.
In summary right now you would not know what battery was present if you used this car. Testing continues.
Also I noticed that the price for another battery the same has gone up by about 25%. Which is starting to make me think twice about buying another for my other cars.
I do have some ideas about making a better fitting system but these are all a bit pie in the sky when I have no garage to work in. I'd like either a sheet of alloy plate or carbon fibre to bolt in place where the old tray went. This would need to mate up to the original bolts jutting out from the car. It would also need some form of seal on the underside just like the original also. And then it would need some form of fastener for the new little battery, probably to lie on its side. Perhaps some form of velco strap.
I like the idea of being able to remove the battery easily so I can take it in the house for charging and just leaving the bonnet slightly ajar - so down but not clasped shut. Again probably a bit pie in the sky for now.
Used the car again today.
Car was in shut down mode so needed to use the key in the lock to gain entry. Engine fired up absolutely no problems. I even used my electric pump first to add some air to all 4 tyres. This is powered off the cig lighter. So I did the air first and then started the car. Car feels very eager on the starter.
I am beginning to think this is a no brainer upgrade. As of yet I have experienced no downside.
I really need to invest some time and thought into replacing the standard battery tray with a more suitable lightweight replacement which can then hold the little battery in place.
I checked on eBay and the battery I bought has gone up around 20% in price. I paid £227 delivered. Price now from same supplier is £267.
Car was in shut down mode so needed to use the key in the lock to gain entry. Engine fired up absolutely no problems. I even used my electric pump first to add some air to all 4 tyres. This is powered off the cig lighter. So I did the air first and then started the car. Car feels very eager on the starter.
I am beginning to think this is a no brainer upgrade. As of yet I have experienced no downside.
I really need to invest some time and thought into replacing the standard battery tray with a more suitable lightweight replacement which can then hold the little battery in place.
I checked on eBay and the battery I bought has gone up around 20% in price. I paid £227 delivered. Price now from same supplier is £267.
This thread is great - and I've got exactly the same seat job to do (987 Cayman into a 986).
My old seats are full electric, and the new ones are 2 way (powered backrest only), so not sure how best to approach the wiring side.
Can I ask what you did about the plugs and whether you did anything to the airbags in the 987 bolsters?
My old seats are full electric, and the new ones are 2 way (powered backrest only), so not sure how best to approach the wiring side.
Can I ask what you did about the plugs and whether you did anything to the airbags in the 987 bolsters?
BS62 said:
Can I ask what you did about the plugs and whether you did anything to the airbags in the 987 bolsters?
Yes sure.Right now there is no adjustment. So I kept it simple. My friend has a 996.2 and he has copied me. But because he is a little bit less rash or gungho than me he worked out the wiring in his garage first before he installed the seats. He tells me it is pretty easy. There are 2 or 3 wires for the power to the reclining setup and thats it. I will check with him how he did it and report back. It might just be 2 - so plus and minus. Then as you press the button either way it sends the power to the motor in whichever polarity to get it to move the desired direction. I dont think it needs to be more complicated than that - assuming you buy basic seats with only rake angle adjustment.
As for the Airbags I have just left them well alone. My view with these things is always try it first and then see how it goes. So if I hated it I could revert back and sell the seats on if they had not been butchered too badly. I guess I'm still of that view. I dont see much value in butchering the Airbag as it causes me no bother left in there.
I am not ruling our going to an aftermarket seat and removing the 987 seats. The 987 seats are much much better but I am still a little cramped and an extra cm or 2 would make a big difference.
Thanks for the quick response 
My 987 seats look the same as yours - mine have manual forward/back/up/down adjustment and just powered back/rake
Like you, I don't much want to butcher either set of seats any more than necessary (would particularly like to be able to put the original seats straight back in if selling the car) so was thinking about making up some short extension wires with male/female spade connectors at each end.
All ears to a better way though! (I'm not mechanically gifted. At all).
My 987 seats look the same as yours - mine have manual forward/back/up/down adjustment and just powered back/rake
Like you, I don't much want to butcher either set of seats any more than necessary (would particularly like to be able to put the original seats straight back in if selling the car) so was thinking about making up some short extension wires with male/female spade connectors at each end.
All ears to a better way though! (I'm not mechanically gifted. At all).
BS62 said:
was thinking about making up some short extension wires with male/female spade connectors at each end
Yes this is what you need to do.I did some butchering of the driver seat buckle. I removed this form the 986 seat and transferred it over to the 987 seat. in this way the little plug on the wire fro the buckle just plugs into the wiring harness in exactly the same way. There is no wire on the passenger seat buckle. I dont seem to have any pics of this online but will try to dig some out from my phone.
Picture 3 shows the little white plug removed from the main plug of the original 9x6 seat. This is the one which runs to the seat belt buckle. So you remove the buckle with wire and plug and transfer it to the 9x7 seat. It is held on with a big 17 or 19mm bolt and has some little metal clips keeping the cable tidy along the underside of the seat. Then I just plugged this little white plug into the big socket of the car's harness and held it in with a zip tie. I think it works fine.
You may be able to use the original 9x7 buckle but I didn't want to risk an airbag light on. They are difficult to turn off.
You may be able to use the original 9x7 buckle but I didn't want to risk an airbag light on. They are difficult to turn off.
I moved this car yesterday and saw lots of mist inside as usual which was annoying. I decided to get dry it off so got out my chamois. When I went round and opened the passenger door I found a pool of water in the little cut out on the sill for the umbrella. I had a feel around and found some damp on the roof near the sun visor. So I think it is coming in between the hard top and the top of the wind screen.
Then today I found the bottom of the door card is damp so I am going to check the membrane first.
Then today I found the bottom of the door card is damp so I am going to check the membrane first.
ATM said:
I moved this car yesterday and saw lots of mist inside as usual which was annoying. I decided to get dry it off so got out my chamois. When I went round and opened the passenger door I found a pool of water in the little cut out on the sill for the umbrella. I had a feel around and found some damp on the roof near the sun visor. So I think it is coming in between the hard top and the top of the wind screen.
Then today I found the bottom of the door card is damp so I am going to check the membrane first.
Now I have damp on driver side door card too. Still can't decide if drips I see from around Sun visor area are just general condensation or it's coming in the hardtop. Then today I found the bottom of the door card is damp so I am going to check the membrane first.
ATM said:
I've got a ticket from Birmingham for driving through their clean air zone in this car. I assumed it was exempt because it is ULEZ. But they have still sent me a fine.
My Battle with DVLA to get this fixed has now reached an impasse. It seems that the docs from Porsche show my chassis number as WP0ZZZ98Z1S640444 where as all the DVLA docs have the chassis number as WP0ZZZ98Z15640444. I will repeat these below so you can see the difference more easily. It is 7 characters from the end. So it seems that the EUR status of the car's emissions is dealt with by one department and the chassis number type changes is dealt with by another.WP0ZZZ98Z1S640444 - Porsche
WP0ZZZ98Z15640444 - DVLA
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