Considering buying a 987

tonyorlo · 08-14-2022, 08:15 AM

I was approached by a lady who is selling her sons estate with a 05 Boxster S. The car has sat for awhile, the car had some engine problems before it was parked. A local foreign car shop worked on it but it still had some issues. She’s an older lady who has zero car knowledge so I didn’t ask tons of detailed questions. She’s very honest and pointed out all the flaws that she knows about.

Battery was dead and the key was stuck in the ignition when I checked it out. I was able to get the trunk open through the fuse panel, and when I put a charger on the battery the alarm wouldn’t stop going off. I’m working in her little 1 car garage so I didn’t have any tools, but I’m going to go back and pull the battery so I can bench charge it. When I put it back in, do I need to do any steps to disable the alarm?

I’ve had a few 914s and I LS swapped my 944, so I’m very aware of the price of parts, and it’s a 3.2 so that adds $$$. I have the garage and the tools to tackle it, and there would be no hurry so I can sit on it while I gather parts.

I can pick it up for $3000, which in a worst case scenario I could sell a handful of parts from it and get my money back.

If I could get some advice on how to disable the alarm I’d greatly appreciate it. If anyone has any other advice or tips I’m all ears.

Thanks for any help!

JFP in PA · 09:36 AM

You cannot disable the alarm, if you try, the car will not run. If there is a problem with the alarm/immobilizer system, it has to be fixed. If it is just going off due the battery issue, it will stop when the battery is replaced.

tonyorlo · 08-14-2022, 12:36 PM

Disable was a bad word to use, I don’t want to eliminate it. I should of said clear it, or shut it off. After I put a good battery in it the alarm shouldn’t go off? If it does go off then that would be another problem?

I have read of cars that require the key to be in one of the lock cylinders and cycled after a battery has been re connected to turn the alarm off. I just didn’t know if this car requires something like that?

Thanks for the reply!

mistertate · mistertate's Garage

Yank the connector to the horn, which is near the battery on a 986, to make your life easier. Reconnect when you get everything thing else sorted. Such an annoying feature.

tonyorlo · 08-14-2022, 08:29 PM

Im ahead of you on that, I pulled it after listening to it for a minute.

Something else I needed to ask, with the key in the ignition the steering wheel is locked. Does it require battery voltage to in lock the wheel?

tonyorlo · 08-16-2022, 03:15 PM

Got the battery charged and the alarm cleared, steering wheel un locked as well. I thought it would of displayed the oil level below the fuel gauge with the key on, but it did. It also displayed a message, I should have taken a picture. (PSM error?) is what I think it said. I’ll have it home Friday so I’ll plug my scan tool in to it then.

Marine Blue · 08-16-2022, 08:31 PM

PSM error is fairly standard after a dead battery. It should clear itself.

Curious what the engine issues are, it could be minor or it could be as serious as IMS and or Bore Scoring.

Good luck, hopefully you can get her back on the road without too much effort or cost.

tonyorlo · 08-17-2022, 03:32 AM

The lady told me it ran, but was smoking bad so they parked it. My first step will be a compression and leak down test on the cylinders. I see cracked heads are a common problem, I Have a feeling that could be the issue. I really wish these cars had a dipstick, I did a little searching and I read there’s no way to install a dipstick. Earlier 2.7 cars had them though didn’t they?

For internal engine parts, where is the best place to source them? The closest dealer to me is 1.5 hours away, so I can’t just pop in and check stuff out. I would like to give them a call with the VIN number to see if they have info on the car.

masraum · 08:18 AM

987 did away with the dipstick. I did a bunch of research when I got my '08 Box S to see if it was possible to "upgrade/backdate." What I found was that there wasn't a spot in the 3.4L engine to put a dipstick. From what I remember, the base Boxster motor (2.7L) CAN be backdated with the dipstick from the 986. I can't remember if the 3.2 can be backdated or not since I was only concerned with the 3.4 (I think maybe it could since it was shared with the 986), and the only reason that I remember about the 2.7 was because I was grumpy that the base boxster could be upgraded, but not the S.

I have very few gripes or things that I would change about my car, but there are 2 items that are gripes - 1 inadequate gauges (I want a real oil pressure gauge and non-dampened, linear water temp gauge, and voltmeter) and 2 No dipstick. The only other mechanical functionality change that I'd make would be to get a torque biasing diff (Torsen/Quaiffe style).

tonyorlo · 08-17-2022, 01:48 PM

That sure does seem odd to me that the higher package car doesn’t have the ability to have a physical dipstick. I haven’t searched very hard, but just a few quick ones lead me to believe the 3.2 doesn’t have the provision for a dipstick either. The industry I am in, we have redundancy on all sensors, and usually a mechanical way to verify levels. It wouldn’t take very much for a float to get hung up, I know it’s no likely to happen being bathed in oil, but it’s still possible.

In my “toy or hot rod” vehicles I always have a good set of gauges for the oil water and volts. I really wouldn’t want to have 3 extra gauges in this car. Maybe a single digital gauge could be fitted somewhere and not look cheesy? I’m sure autometer or speedhut has a 2-1/16” gauge that can display multiple values.

Torque biased diff, is that like a limited slip in a domestic vehicle?