Car will not start
 

2000 986S

Was driving to work, shifted into 2nd and noticed a loss of power. The car was not accelerating like normal. Shifted into third. Feels like its back to normal now. Brushed it off as this has started happening randomly although seldom with the 2nd gear in the past 2 weeks. Ten miles down the road after some slow traffic I speed up but the engine stuttered and started shaking for a few seconds so I released gas and started drifting to an exit and pulled over into a gas station. Shut the car off and sat there thinking of what to do. Decided to try power it back on as I don't recall any check engine light being on but the car would not come on. Ended up having to tow it back home.

Once home, I pulled out my OBDII reader and pulled codes P1126, P1133 and P1115. Did some reading online and ended up swapping out the crank position sensor, the left bank 1 oxygen sensor and sprayed the MAFs down with MAFs cleaner. Also swapped out new spark plugs while i was at it. Had the battery disconnected the whole 4-5 hrs while working on the car. Plugged it back in and started it up. The car took longer than usual to start but did start and then started hesitating like crazy as if it was about to shut down but eventually smoothed out and idled around 700rpm. I let it sit for half an hr and then decided to take it around the block. Felt okay.

Took the car to work again this morning and drove all the way there no problem. Never did go past 4000rpm because of steady traffic but did eventually make it to 6th gear going 65mph no problem. I admit i was a little scared to rev it high and have the engine shake and rattle like that again on me but it was driving okay. Got back to the car after work and now the same thing happened; it would not start. Decided to pull the battery and waited a minute, reconnected, no dice. Pulled the battery out and brought it to Autozone to see if its a dead battery but it was actually in very healthy shape according to them. Reconnected the battery and decided to disconnect the MAFs and see if that'll do anything. Still would not start. While having the top down in the prone position to access the MAFs i decided to drop it all the way as I was going in and out of the car and wanted it to be more accessible. Big mistake as now the top will not go back up. Ended up having to tow the car back once again..

Sorry for the long blocks of text but I wanted to get all the details I can remember down and see if anyone can help me figure out what else to look into. Long story short, car will not start. Swapped out the crank shaft position sensor, the pre cat bank 1 oxygen sensor, all new spark plugs, cleaned out MAFs, battery is good, top is stuck down.

At least no more CEL. What else should I look into? Completely at a lost. :(

Check your fuel pressure... Fuel pump could be going bad.

+1 Check the fuel pressure

So tach moves as it cranks? If so, sounds like FP. Just did that, pretty easy to test and swap.

I was able to get the top to go up tonight. Hand brake was probably not pulled up all the way last time. Also ordered a fuel pump relay since its a cheap part. I'll look into the fuel pump this weekend. I was at a lost of what else to look into so I really appreciate the advice! thanks

Easy to test that relay right now. Just needs a jumper wire. Same test checks the FP.

replaced the fuel pump, fuel pump relay and also swapped out the spark plug tubes while i was at it. put in over 100 miles so far. thanks for the fuel pump suggestions. it was definitely it