especially the interior.
My Boxster has been "talking" to me, beeping once in a while when lock the car. I checked the trunk lid and the center console lid but they were always secure and upon a second lock there was no beep.
But with the rain we have had -- nothing to write home about -- I was worried about water in the cabin. I had checked the drains a while back and found some leaves but removed them and the drains were ok. This AM after some running around when I locked the car it beeped again and this time not being on the way to work or just coming home from work late I decided to check for water under the seat. The area under the seat was dry -- thank goodness -- but the passenger side door bottom under the speaker was quite wet. Ok the door membrane has failed. I thought for a bit and dug out my Boxster reference on removing the door trim and it didn't read like too bad of a job.
Never satisfied with just one reference though, I searched online and found a much better DIY guide at the Pelican site.
Printed out the instructions and the pics and ran by the auto parts store and picked a nice set of plastic pry tools, blades, etc.
Disconnected the battery.
Immediately ran into a problem plucking the badge out of the air bag cover. I won't bore you with the long version but I managed to lift a corner with a small metal blade enough to get one of the plastic ones under the thing and out it came.
The other fasteners were ok but the one inside the door storage bin was a bit of a problem. It got better when I removed the door grip rail which gave me a straighter shot at the screw. But I turned and turned the thing and it never came out unlike all the other screws.
Finally I grabbed a pair of pliers and pulled it right out. It was loose just being held in by the material through which it fits.
The door clips were not a problem but I forgot the screw under the door handle. After that I had the door panel off.
Sure enough the panel was quite wet at the bottom. 'course, I knew this before I had removed the thing. Thankfully, no signs of water elsewhere in the door, which is kind of a puzzle.
The door membrane looks ok but I do not know what one really should look like.
There was no water anywhere else, though. I removed the rubber plugs on the bottom of the door and there was just a few drops in one. No water I could feel with a finger reaching the holes.
Since the air bag has to come out to remove the membrane -- which I want to replace just to be sure -- I gathered up all the hardware and reconnected the battery and reset the window limits and will take the car over the dealer Monday to have a new membrane ordered and installed when the new membrane comes in. At the same time I'll let the tech know where the water was and ask if this is "normal" or a sign of a leak that hopefully the new membrane will address.
Removing the door panel wasn't too bad, but I sure don't like messing with these things. And another problem is -- and I should have reminded myself of this before I started -- is I have no place to work on the car so even if I wanted to do the membrane replacement myself I have to leave the car sitting -- outside -- until the parts come in -- then hope for a good day next weekend and the energy to want to tackle the car again.
Thankfully the passenger window works as does the door lock -- the inside handle is disconnected though -- and the car doesn't beep at me when I lock it and all the interior lights go out. So the car is secure and I can drive it the mile and a bit to the dealer Monday AM and leave it. Probably since it is supposed to rain again tomorrow and maybe Monday I will park it under the carport out the rain and leave my other car outside. Needs a wash anyhow.