Accelerator Potentiometers

[OldBlevins]

Replacing the broken rear trunk cable looked to be more than I might be able to manage, so I took my 2000 Boxster S in to Advanced European in Kenmore. They fixed the cable, but as I drove away, the CEL came on.

I went back the next day, they pulled the codes (1219 and 1577) and said those indicate the two potentiometers that are part of the electronic acceleration assembly are not sending the same signal. The mechanics are quite perplexed by two things:

1. They don't see what they could have done during the cable replacement to cause this (and maybe it is a really remarkable coincidence, though the car has never had the CEL come on before during it's 30K life).

2. Ordinarily when those codes come up, the computer puts the car into what they call "limp mode" where it will barely move. That's to protect against runaway acceleration from a faulty potentiometer. But the car continues to run fine.

They cleared the codes, but the CEL comes back on in a few minutes. I have an appointment Monday for them to check it out further, but I'm hoping someone here has some ideas about what's going on here.