Uh oh! First time ever, the Boxster won't start!

[Retroman1969]

I'm actually amazed that something like this hasn't happened yet seeing as how much I drive it.
Went out this morning, and cranks but won't start. Seems to crank slow and uneven. Video below.
http://youtu.be/aWVKpLH4cik

And I know cranking it that much is bad for it, but it started trying to catch so I wanted to see what it would do. The squeal is the starter which always makes that noise in cold weather.
It's not unusually cold, 35 degrees F, and it was starting and running perfectly fine yesterday. Hopefully it's nothing timing chain or IMS related. My first thought is fuel, and something like the crank position sensor.
Any ideas? Thanks guys!

PS: got out the other Boxster and took it to the Cars and Coffee to see how many would brave the cold....

Parked next to my friend's all original 1960 Electra 225.

And someone brought a new GT3!




And something you don't see every day. A Triumph Dolomite sedan.

[Jamesp]

You have spark, so it appears to be on the fuel side. It appears there is at least some fuel pressure or it would not hit at all, so that indicates injector pulse width or failing fuel pressure. As it happened so suddenly I'd start with things that affect injectors. Seems like the fuel pressure would have given you notice before degrading to this point. The CPS usually fails hot, and this failed cold. Have you unplugged the MAF and given it a go? I think it is a fuel mixture problem. There is also an idle control that might have failed. Try starting it with the gas pedal partially depressed and see if it catches and then dies at idle. My 2 cents.

[Retroman1969]

Thanks James!
It did try to catch with the foot on the gas, and even started once but died immediately.
Just went out and tried it again, and it's cranking evenly but with no attempt to catch at all.
Have not opened it up to unplug the MAF yet.

[Retroman1969]

Update on the update.

It was flooded.
My mechanic called me back and asked: "last night, did you move the car a few feet to put up Christmas decorations?"
Eerie! I did!
He stayed on the phone and instructed me to not touch anything and crank it until it catches, even if it takes over a minute. Then rev it once it starts and let it run for about ten minutes until it stops smoking.

Worked like a charm! And it took almost a minute of straight cranking.
It's apparently common on fuel injected cars to flood badly when they are started and moved just a few feet and turned off.
So.... There's the quick tip for the day!

[BIGJake111]

I've learned a while back that the box hates moving and cutting off and such, almost always leads to a little smoke.

Which just makes me wonder about the new stop start function.

[grc0456]

That, my friend, is good to know. I have a small garage and often start and move it a few feet to get at something.


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[boxxster]

This is the case with most modern cars. Up until a certain operating temperature your car is operating in open loop. This more or less means its ignoring O2 sensor data and just indiscriminately dumping a lot of fuel in until the engine warms up.

[grc0456]

Another day, another something new learned. I'm not much of a wrench, although I do what I can.

[Retroman1969]

I'll definitely be more aware of that now and act accordingly.
At least I know now that the car has a REALLY good battery in it.
Funny, years ago I don't recall having this problem with carburetors and vacuum operated mechanical chokes. Maybe my memory is faulty.

[78F350]

Good deal, glad that it was so simple to resolve.

Every time I move mine, and I do shuffle them around a lot, I make sure it runs about five minutes. Also, my drive to work can be as short as five minutes. I usually add some extra driving in to give the car a full warm up if I am not in a hurry.

[Retroman1969]

Yes, I'm going to have to remember to let it idle a bit, or take it around the block if I need to just move it out of the way or something!
I've never had this issue even on short runs, but I guess doing it twice in a row (moving it to access the garage shelving and then moving it back a few minutes later) exacerbated it by flooding it twice.

.....then of course the next morning I attempted to start it like 1600 times, each time flooding it a little more.

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by Retroman1969

Yes, I'm going to have to remember to let it idle a bit, or take it around the block if I need to just move it out of the way or something!

My father: son move your car so I can get to some things in the garage.

Me: okay ... *proceeds to go on a 30 min drive.

2 hours later

Father: okay you can move your car back, here I'll move it for you.

Me: nah I've got it. *proceeds to go on a 30 min drive then park the car in the garage.

[WillH]

Can't do that here without winter tires. I just put in neutral drop the handbrake and push it out of the way. It moves very easily

[BruceH]

I generally push it out when I need something in the garage. When it is time to put it back in, well, time for a drive!

[Retroman1969]

I'm still in the final stages of recovering from a back injury, so pushing it (or anything) isn't an option for a bit longer yet. I can barely push my vacuum cleaner.