Bummed: getting towed
 

I went out to dinner with my wife. On the way I started to pass a car an - suddenly no power then power to spare. Weird. But the car appeared to be fine and no repeat of the issue. Parked. Had dinner. Now can't start the car. I can hear a whine from the gas cap area when ignition turned to start position. The engine hits 1000 RPM at initial start then drops to zero. Regardless of petal position. So fuel pump or crank position sensor? Any bets one way or the other?

I'll guess fuel pump because usually the first symptom appears when the pump has to pump a lot of fuel when accelerating.

Hope you get it fixed soon!

Got home and it started. Ran a bit rough and engine above the 100 degree mark.

I'll try it again in the morning. I'll probably buy a fuel pump and replace it this weekend regardless as I thought about it when I changed my water pump hoses. You know how it is ... Think about it but decide to wait until you need to replace it to save time, effort, and money ... Then wish you had of done it when you were there already. :)

Car started just fine this morning too. Guess I'll do a bit more research and see what I can find, but expect I'll be putting in a new fuel pump just for piece of mind and to eliminate it as a suspect before I go drive the **** out of it again. :)

Sounds more like a gas tank venting problem. There is a good thread about this on Renntech.

Always possible. I'll check out the thread on the tank venting, but I've never had an issue filling it up and when I opened the gas cap to listen to the fuel pump it didn't make any difference.

After researching a bit more though I decided I'd check the Crankshaft Angle Sensor (or CPS as I've seen it referred to as well) first as it seems the 1999 Boxster seems to have a high incidence of this being the issue on a hot start failure compared to fuel pumps. Aside from that, looks like the sensor is easier to replace and less expensive than the fuel pump.

I still plan to perform a fuel flow test if at all possible. But I have to buy my parts tomorrow before the weekend (Porsche is closed on weekends) so am looking to purchase the sensor locally if possible. Otherwise I'll have to order it and wait until next weekend.

There is a possibility that the fuel filter may be clogged. From the symptoms you describe, it sounds like a fuel delivery issue. If you can do the fuel delivery test, that may give you some indication of where the problem may be.
I had a Volvo 1800ES that constantly clogged up the fuel filter with water. Once that happens, it would barely pass any gas to the engine.

Thanks. I thought of that too, but discounted it. Or at least put it on the back burner until I can test the fuel flow. Main reason I think it is the CPS is because of the stutter I encountered while passing. It felt just like I lost the ignition system (i.e. no spark). I found at least one other instance of a 99 with the same symptoms with the CPS repalcement resolving the issue.

So, I do plan to buy a CPS if possible tomorrow and repalce it on Friday. If nothing else it'll give me a sense of security to drive my car again. Just hope it's not a false sense of security. :)

Had you recently filled up the petrol tank?

My wife did ealier that week. I was out of town and her car had a crankshaft seal leak (fixed under warrenty) so she drove my car that week. Maybe I should note she had to stop short one time at a light (low speed) and staleld the car. It caused a 1531 CEL (passenger cam adjuster). I reset it and the CEL did not return. Possibly could be related.

She filled it at the local Chevron. Same place I always use. You thinking bad gas or overfileld and flooding the carbon canister. The carbon canister issue has occured before and would throw a cell. I learned from that experiance not to go that extra push of the pump on a fill and have not had the issue occur since then.