I really need help!
 

I drive a 1999 Porsche Boxster (engine is located in the back of the car), it has 68,000 miles on it. And its a manual transmission.

Before this all happened, I saw a red light blinking by the temperature gauge, I asked my dad what that meant and he told me to just ignore it. Also, when I crank up my car, there is a red indicator pointing to my trunk, but after I start driving that indicator disappears.

I drove to work, and everything was fine (I go to work at 7:00 AM and leave around 4:00 PM). Came back to my car, got stuck in a huge line of traffic so I held the clutch halfway down and the brake all the way down and slowly crept up the line (Can't completely stop because the traffic is moving slowly). While at a complete stop for about 6 minutes, I smell a horrid odor. I look over to the right and see white smoke coming from the right ventilation of my car.

I got scared so I left the car there, and got a ride home from someone else. I came back, added water to the water dispenser and drove it home, and everything seemed fine. The red light blinking by the temperature gauge disappeared. But the red indicator with an image of my car pointing to my trunk still remained.

What's wrong with my car? Thanks ahead of time!

Yes, you do...and so does your father for telling you to ignore a temp warning light. :p

Flashing indicator means that the engine is overheating. Do a google search on causes and fixes. Don't drive it that way or you'll kill your engine(if you didn't already break something).

The other light is either the spoiler light (which should shut off after you start driving) or open trunk.

You have a mid-engine, not an engine in the rear

The flashing light means the coolant level was low. That's why it went away when you added coolant.

The red light "pointing to the rear of your car" is a speed sensor which is connected to the rear spoiler which goes up at 70 mph. It is supposed to come on when you start the car, and will go off when you move the car as it calibrates itself.

I'd have the white smoke checked out by someone who knows Boxsters. And, I would stop listening to your father.

I still smelled the odor but didn't seem to see any smoke.

From your description of riding the clutch (slipping it) in traffic that's probably the odor. It won't last long if you do that.

best advice - get rid of the boxster and get a bus / rail pass

Make sure your radiator fans work.

Here's a few questions for you...

When you saw the blinking temperature light, how high did the temperature get on the dial on the dash?

After you put coolant in the car and drove it home, did you notice any coolant leaking out on the driveway or garage floor?

Again, after you put coolant in the car and drove it home, did you notice any coolant under the carpet in the rear trunk?

When you're parked in the driveway with the engine at idle and the A/C on, can you hear the low speed fans running at the front of the car?

The first question relates to whether the engine overheated, which is a bad thing in an aluminum engine. The next two questions focus on whether you have a coolant leak. The last question relates to whether your radiator fans are working/

Make sure to read your owner's manual. Blinking lights on the dash warn you of serious problems. If you ever see the check engine light start to blink, stop the engine immediately.

Donner, I too drive a 1999 Boxster. If you haven't done so already, read the manual and seriously stop asking your Dad about your car. Or anyone else that tells you to ignore your dash lights, warning sensors, etc. Your manual will tell you what everything does and if you don't have one, there are MY (MY = My Year) 2000 manuals available as a PDF.

Also, do NOT ever hold down the brake and slip the clutch. Period. A manual transmission is not an automatic. Never will work like one either. Manual means ... you need to manually totally engage/disengage the transmission form the engine by briefly engaging/disengaging the clutch. If you do not follow this method, you will burn the clutch disk and possibly - most likely - damafe the pressure plate, dual mass flywheel, and throwout bearing. Which will mean 3~5K in damage to your car.

As for the overheating, there is a lot to be looked at in regard to possible causes. If you are not mechanically inclined, find a good Porsche mechanic and have him check out your car. If you have some skills, start with a search of the forum for the basics, look at Pelican Parts (Pelicanparts.com) web site for technical articles, buy the 101 book (unless you prefer to read most of it online) and the Bently repair manual for your car. If the temperaure did not reach the far right you may not have damaged the engine, but you still have a problem since it was low on coolant and adding water isn't enough to fix the problem.

BTW: In an emergency you can add any type of water, but you should then plan on a flush and fill (can be expensive) of the cooling system. Most cars, including Porsche, only recommend distilled water. Same goes for coolant. Stick with Porsche (Pink) if that is what is in there or use the same as the last fill.

I feel so bad for the car.

Really, this.

It's not that it a PORSCHE, it's any car. You don't ride the clutch/brake and not expect smoke/smell. You don't ignore flashing temp lights! You don't ignore low coolant. You GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO CHECK THESE THNGS, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FINE AND NO WARNING LIGHTS ARE FLASHING!!

You should have started with a Pinto like I did, so when you blow the motor like I did, it's in a Pinto, not a Porsche. Someone else would baby it and take care of it, and APPRECIATE it.

Do you even check oil, bro???

Go easy guys - we all had to start our breakdown experiences sometime...
At least Donner stopped the car and got a lift home - a lot of youngsters would have kept driving, ignored the ALL the warning signs and then felt the $$ wallet pain later in the day......

Donner - your not out of the woods yet, re read what was written above. If you are not mechanically inclined or are nervous about troubleshooting the problem, try and find a good Porsche shop in your area - I'm sure someone here will chime in with a likley repairer in S.C.

If told the TRUTH about this scenario and how it was treated and for how long, would you want this car for going rate? Will this be disclosed in the trade in, or at the resale? These things get resold. Next guy can baby it all day every day, but may never know it was driven for days / weeks / months with a CEL and high temp / low coolant flashing while the clutch and brake were ridden until they smoked for exactly how many miles? Then he / she (new owner) gets to deal with minor issue after minor issue, and reduced lifespan.

Not trying to beat anybody up, but it's the facts. It's his car to burn up, just don't sell it as some babied Porsche or one that was "driven hard" when it was "driven hot and smoking".

I'm going to echo the sentiment that you have made an inappropriate choice of car. You obviously have no idea whatsoever about how things work, and your old man is an idiot, plain and simple (what did you think a flashing red light means??). Unless you make a huge effort to educate yourself you are just going to destroy it. Even my wife, the most un-mechanical person in the world, would know better than to ride the clutch with the brake depressed. My jaw hit the desk when I read this! Why would someone as clueless as you not read the manual before operating the car? Why would you even have a car like this?

It is a real pity to see a nice car abused this way. I think the best advice for you would be to sell it to someone deserving and get yourself a Civic or Sentra with an automatic transmission.

MadMods lend his kid the car again?

... ... ...

I AGREE!!! GIVE THE KID A BREAK!!! HE IS ASKING FOR HELP AFTER ALL!!!

The Porsche 986 is probably not the best choice of cars for him but at least he came to this site seeking help. Hopefully he hasn't already done major damage and can learn from his mistakes.

Even though his Dad gave him bad advice, calling him an idiot is absolutely disrespectful!

We should be better ambassadors of the Porsche 986! Let's show some class and try to give this kid a little help!

:cheers:

+1 What Meat Head said

I guess it's easier to cry "help me. help me, hold my hand" than it is to to sit down and read the manual and take responsibility for your own chit.

I wouldn't cut the kid any slack at all. All the information he needs is at his fingertips but he chose not to avail himself of it. I am always very willing to help those that at least make an attempt to help themselves first, but I have no patience for this, much like I have no patience for people that ask questions that have already been answered countless times before because they're just too fkn lazy to use the search function and do a little research for themselves.

While the responses from both angles were to be expected, I would hope that Donner could learn a general life lesson from this experience.

1.) When there is a Flashing Red Light in the dash it is a Warning, heed it.

2.) When you ride or slip the clutch as he described, you will in effect ruin or severely diminish the future expected life of said clutch.

The fact that he received bad advice from the father regarding the light is somewhat reflective of the father's decision to set him loose in a Porsche that he wasn't appropriately prepared to nor experienced enough to drive. Poor choices have consequences.

Regarding the above replies, It is up to Donner to separate the wheat from the chaff, Good Luck. :cheers:

If you smell coolant, its most likely a leak, therefore causing your engine to over heat. The leak could be from an old hose line or cracked coolant reservoir or radiator. Have it checked out and do not drive the car if you see engine lights flashing and temperature gauges going redline.

Live and learn kid, alot of common sense goes along way, take the proper time to read about how your car works -you know the owners manual !

Best

Hey Donner,
If you live in the upstate of SC, Protech Motorsports in Greenville or Stuttgart Motor Werks in Hendersonville, NC are both good independent shops.

Donner, go to Google Books and download a copy of 101 Projects for your Porsche Boxster by Wayne Dempsey to your phone, tablet, laptop or PC. I would recommend you read the areas involving cooling and oil maintenance first. Neglecting these will destroy your car quickly.

Wow guys, this Porsche newbie has a lot to learn about these cars but we all were this dumb about them at some time.

My advice to Donner is to take the constructive suggestions and go get the car towed to a shop that knows about Porsches and can diagnose whats going on.

Donner, just know that you can not treat a Porsche like a typical car, it needs special treatment and expertise so as not to mess it up.

For example, you can not just put regular antifreeze mix in a Porsche via the collant fill cap if you have lost too much coolant. (Emptied the coolant tank in the trunk)

You need the right kind of antifreeze and then you have to follow the special proceedure to "burp" all the air pockets out of the coolant system.

So in any case since your not very knowledgeable about the Boxster its best you take it to a shop that is.

Continuing on with things gone wrong in a Porsche will end up costing you many times what the car is worth so your better off getting things looked at as soon as they happen.

Generally, if ANY of the RED lights come on it need Immediate attention and the amber/yellow lights can usually wait till you get home except for the "Check Engine Light"

As you can see us Porsche enthusiasts are quite passionate and it hurts our souls when we see a car in trouble and getting less than the full care it deserves :)

stop driving, have it towed to a Porsche dealership

I have a Boxster sitting in my driveway because of a bad mechanic who told me to ignore the flashing temp light after he had done repairs to the coolant system the day before. Don't trust anyone but a Porsche dealership.

If he was asking about the AO sep or the temp sensor in the grill it would be a newbie thing. But ignoring critical flashing lights, even if your dad said ignore them, even in a Hyundai is a lack of something basic. It's not about being a Porsche enthusiast, it's about using common sense and google. How do we suppose we all found this site? In dire trouble or to learn about prevent maint and learn the car?

My biggest issue is resale. If he told me those things I would pass. And this shows how ineffective the certified preowned Porsche thing is. If he gets all his oil changes how would they know this guy is driving like this under these conditions? Perfect excuse to eliminate / reduce how many IMS claims?

Tim

Bad advice. There are bad Porsche dealerships just like there are bad indies. Finding a mechanic you can trust can be a difficult chore (do the research), but well worth it. And they're definitely not all at Porsche dealerships...

If near Columbia, SC try Doc's Garage, I believe he's in Lexington

Oh, my.

Life rule #1; never ignore a warning, no matter what kind it is. Warning light, warning bark, police warning, etc., they all mean something.

Life rule #2; ask your mom next time. :rolleyes:

hah! in some cases very true. my mother taught me to drive a manual, since my dad could not and still can not...

I'm sorry. You can play the "we were all there once" card all you want. It doesn't change the fact that I feel bad for the car. I learned this kind of basic car care at the age of 16.

It's your Porsche. You bought it. You can do whatever you want with it. There was a guy that used his 911 as target practice. But it doesn't change the fact that you should be in an automatic truck. It may be disrespectful, but this is the internet. I don't represent the community when I say this, but you and your dad are both idiots.

Nice input.....:rolleyes:

I think you said that out loud, LoL.
Now the kid will never come back to ask anything! I know its the internet and all but lets have some ethics and be dignified gentlemen!

Best to the kid, I'm sure he'll figure it out.

We will see a LOT more of this in the future, my fellow middle-aged Boxster owners.

Our cars are getting dirt cheap to own. I doubt I could get $9000 for my car as it sits :(

This means a lot of young guys will buy them and not realize the high mileage, 15 year old Porsche they just bought is not a German Toyota MR2 Spyder...

Everyone's real tough when sitting behind a computer aren't they? Calling him and his dad names? Seriously? Grow up people...he F'd up. Some constructive help would be nice. Way to treat one of our own...

This forum is better than most, but as is the case on the internet, we eat our young.

If the op isn't a troll...

Always read owners manuals of any machinery that you intend to operate. You should at least know the basics. Have your car checked out...you can start by looking for oil in the coolant reservoir.

+1 on that

We were/are all clueless at one time or another. There are lots of things that I don't know. Somthing that may be common knowledge to me is not to others. I have always believed there are no stupid questions. As Randall stated, we are going to see more of this in the future as younger guys are able to afford a Porsche. I think it's great that they are able to get one of these cars rather than some econo box. There is a learning curve to everything.

I still say it's Madmod's kid. :)

Randall is correct on one front, as these cars fall in value and the threshold to Porsche ownership entry is continually lowered, get used to to these kind of posts. I had this conversation with a popular forum member a couple of weeks ago (outside of this forum), I referenced another car based forum that actually had a sticky labelled "FP=FQNM"; Falling Prices Equal Falling Quality of New Members. Forum veterans would post up transgressions from what they deemed violators, it got brutal at times.

Regarding the banter and admonishments back and forth from regulars over the original question by Donner (whichever side you are on, you gotta admit it was ripe with "dumbass") and replies it generated, I chuckled out loud when I went to his profile page and saw he hasn't logged back on since his second and last post. :p

Carry on.