I am a new owner of a 2004 Boxster. I am having a problem with both keys. One will pop the trunk and the frunk....but not lock/unlock the doors. The other will only work in the door, and the ignition.
I have replaced batteries in both. Any tricks or after-market fixes? Any idea what a dealer will charge for new keys?

 

That both keys work the Komfort stuff: Door locks and trunks; suggests the key ID is present and correct in the car's security system. (The starting is controlled by a separate RFID "pill".)

Got a couple of ideas...

One would be to following the guidelines in the owners manual disconnect the car battery for a bit -- 15 minutes -- to force the car's electrics/electronics to go through a full power down.

Another would be to do something similar to the keys. In a few cases I've encountered malfunctioning keys and a battery replacement didn't help was to reverse the battery in the key for a bit: Just remove the battery flip it upside down the insert it in the holder then remove it and flip it right way 'round and insert it in the holder.

This removes residual power from the electronic circuit in the key.

You can probably get the same results by removing the battery then pressing a button which will activate the electronics and hopefully remove all residual power. Trouble is sometimes a circuit will detect a low power condition and go into a low power/sleep mode and the button press is not recognized thus has no effect. This may be why reversing the battery works.

If none of the above helps then best I can offer is a tech probably needs to query the security module -- using a Porsche diagnostic computer -- for any error codes and from these get a good idea as to what's going on.

Oh, I just remembered I had one key that would not work something: Doors I seem to recall; and I somehow came to the conclusion it was a bad button. I happened to have a spare non-functioning key and had a technician at work transfer a button from this key to the key that was otherwise working. This involved some soldering work and the technicians here are experts at this.

The button swap worked and the key resumed full function.

 

 

You are welcome. Glad you got the issue sorted out.

Now new Boxster owner drive your car.

Oh, be sure you keep those cabin water drains free of any trash build up. And after a wash or if the car is exposed to the rain check the door bottoms for dampness.

My 2002 Boxster had its door membranes fail -- these are wear items, failing due to age -- and let water from the wet side of the door to the dry side. Fortunately I caught this before any real accumulation of water occurred and before any water flowed out the door into the cabin. Replacement of these membranes is the only real fix.

 

Thanks Macster!
Can you advise where the drains are? I have heard of this issue, and I want to stay ahead of it. Also, anything special I should be looking for on the door membranes?

Did my first oil change this past weekend. Pretty straightforward.
Next I need do find out why my door speakers aren't working.

Love driving my Boxster though!

 

The front drains are accessed by raising the front trunk lid and removing the plastic covers that are located up against the base of the windshield and on either side of the battery. The battery cover may have to come off too. There are two maybe 3 catch basins (one located at each "corner" and I seem to recall one located in the "middle" close to but not quite under the battery box) and a drain hole for each one. There should be a drain hose to carry the water down to a spot where the water can drain out and not end up flowing onto any part of the car.

The rear body water drains are accessed by putting the top in the "service position" -- essentially lowering the top to the point the clam shell is as wide open as it can get which has the top up and pointing forward and up at a fairly steep angle. But there are other steps you have to do before you can raise the top into the service position so consult the owners manual.

The rear body water drain basins are located at the bottom of the cavity that is exposed when the clam shell is raised on either side of the back of the top under where the clam shell arms are.

While the body water drain system may not appear all that sophisticated it is important this system remain intact, as it came from the factory. As the car moves down the road the arrangement of the drain hose, its opening, how far down it extends is intended to create a low pressure area to encourage any water that enters the drain basin to continue to flow down and out. If this is messed with positive pressure could be present at the drain opening and this could prevent water from draining and cause it to back up and overflow.

If you find any trash in the basins/at the hole or even in the drain tube be very gentle. You do not want to damage the basins (they are made from I think a styrofoam like material) or dislodge the hose/drain pipe from the basin.

You can help keep these basins free of any trash. Avoid parking under trees/shrubs that shed plant litter, leaves, seed pods, etc. When you walk up to the car pick of any leaves that have fallen on the car especially any around the base of the windshield. Avoiding parking under trees/plants also helps reduce the frequency of bird mess getting onto the car.

This stuff is rather toxic and should be rinsed off ASAP. It is not friendly to paint or the top. While the canvas cover helps protect the rubber sheet underneath which seals the top and the cabin from the elements any bird mess that leaks through onto the rubber attacks the rubber so rinsing this off with just plain tap water and lots of it helps prolong the service life of the top.

Whenever I raised the trunk lid I'd look around for any leaves that managed to get down under the trunk lid and onto the plastic.

For the door membranes all you can do is check for any signs of moisture/dampness along the door bottoms after a car wash or after the car has been exposed to rain. If you find dampness that is almost certainly due to the membrane leaking.

I used to change my Boxster's oil. I used a set of Rhino ramps and backed the car up on the ramps to give me room to work under the car. I did a test of sorts the first oil change and took the trouble to raise the front of the car level with the rear of the car and no extra oil drained from the sump.

I had a spare filter housing and would get the clean one and put a new o-ring on it -- be sure it seats properly in the o-ring groove. I'd put the filter element in the housing, fill the housing with fresh oil and smear some fresh oil on the threads and the o-ring then start the housing by hand to ensure it didn't get cross threaded then hand tighten it as far as I could then used a torque wrench to properly tighten it.

I used a new sealing ring at the drain plug too. You might find it worthwhile to buy a hand full of these at the Porsche dealer to have just in case. When I bought the filter at the dealer parts counter it would come with a new o-ring and a new sealing ring. It is also a good idea to have a new/spare drain plug. I had both a new plug and washers in the center console.

Be sure you insert the 8mm tool bit all the way into the drain plug's tool bit hole. The fit is pretty good and what can happen is as the bit is inserted it meets with some resistance which can have the unsuspecting believing the bit is fully inserted when in fact it is not. When the drain is loosened this partially inserted bit twists in the bit hole some and damages it. Then when the bit is reinserted it can't go all the way in and when the drain plug is torqued more damage occurs. The next time when you go to remove this the tool bit can "strip" the hole and then you have to work to remove the plug. (This actually happened to my car when under time pressure to leave town on short notice I elected to have the oil change done at a quick lube joint. Then after the trip and I had the car in the dealer's service department to get its oil changed the tech found the tool bit hole damaged as I described above and had a heck of a time removing the drain plug which had to be replace. The dealer parts department had no spares on hand but the tech had a used one he loaned me. I ordered two new ones and when they came in gave him one to replace the one he gave me and kept the 2nd one in the car console.)

 

Thank you so much for this info! I will heed your advise and order an extra oil drain plug and a couple extra crush washers.
By brother in law has a Boxster and the water drains got plugged with hemlock needles....which caused some water issues for him. I will inspect my car now that I know where to look.
I am really enjoying my Boxster, and hope to take good care of it.
Please don't hesitate to give me some other maintenance advise, as I am eager to learn more. Have you done any other work to your car?
I am going to take my door panels off next, as my speakers are not working. At some point, I may consider replacing the shifter mechanism. I understand there are some great kits out there. There is nothing wrong with mine (so why screw with it?) but I drove a Honda S2000 and was really impressed with the beautifully short and tight shift.

 

No longer have my Boxster or my 996 Turbo. I sold both cars late last year. (Now I drive a Dodge Challenger Hellcat and a Mini JCW 2-door hatchback.)

All I did for the Boxster and a time or two for the Turbo was oil/filter changes. For just the Boxster I removed the front bumper once to remove the trash from the radiator ducts, and replaced brake pads/rotors a couple of times. I did one brake fluid flush/bleed using a power bleeder setup I bought.

I gradually moved away from doing my own servicing as I moved and where I moved too I didn't have a place to work on the car and plus had no time to work on cars.

The Boxster shifter -- 5-speed -- was just great. I drove the car 317K miles and the shifter was never a problem. With my Turbo the shifter broke and it was fixed under CPO warranty. The only experience I have with replacement shifters is the Porsche tech told me rather than replacing the 996 Turbo's shifter with another shifter like it to use the newer 997 shifter. I agreed and the 997 shifter was great. For the Boxster I don't know what's available in the shifter world.

Basically all I can recommend is use an approved oil, the right viscosity. That is if you live/drive where it gets cold Porsche says to use "0w-40". Even though there are a number of 5w-40 approved oils and even one 5w-50 approved oil for use in these engines for use of the car in cold climate requires 0w-40 oil.

Change the oil/filter "often". I found 5K mile oil change intervals right for my usage and climate/region. Perform other services at least following the schedule Porsche provides. I chose to change the oil/diff fluid more often than 90K miles. I had the brake/clutch fluid flushed/bled every 2 years. (The one time I let this go 2.5 years the clutch acted up and shifting was crunchy. While the brakes/brake hydraulic system appears less sensitive to the past its change by date brak fluid the clutch hydraulic system appears sensitive to fluid that is past its change by date.)

Plugs, engine air filter, cabin filter, all need changing on schedule.

Look over the spot where you park the car any leak sign.

When you are under the car servicing it give all the various leak places a close look with a bright flash light.

If you hear a "strange" noise investigate it ASAP rather than continuing to drive the car, run the engine.

Take it easy on the car, the engine, until everything is up to temperature. After a spirited drive drive the car more sedately to give the engine/drive train time to shed the considerable heat load.

Use the A/C once in a while to circulate refrigerant and compressor oil to keep the o-rings healthy and the A/C system operated at optimum and leak free. I never had any A/C problems with either my 16 year old 317K mile Boxster or 15 year old 161K mile Turbo.

I stuck with approved (N rated) tires. I got 20K miles from the rear tires and double that from the fronts. If the wear becomes uneven across the tread face -- notably on the rear tires the inside edges wear more than the outside edges -- my experience is that is an alignment problem. With proper alignment tread wear across the tread face of both tires of both axles should be even.

Watch tire pressures. Buy a good tire pressure gauge and set the pressures cold and check the pressures -- cold -- every so often.

Keep the car clean inside and out.

Use the car.

As often as you can.