check engine message
 

i own a 2003 boxster and the check engine message keeps coming up when i drive it hard. The message goes on to say drive straight to service centre. I took it to porsche who linked it up to the computer and said it was a misfire on cylinder 1. and it could be down to dirt in the fuel line i was wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them. Porsche said it should be ok but it is a bit worrying. Thanks....

Do you mean the CEL was blinking versus just coming on and staying on?

no on the computer under the rev counter the led display. sorry only had it three weeks so dont know all the names of things . There is a light that flashes as well but it all clears it self when i switch off the ignition and switch back on again...

When the light comes on, does the car keep running well or start to sputter etc?

i didnt notice anything until i slowed down and stopped grinning then i noticed the flashing light and the scary message not what you want to see after you just had a back road blast......

My guess is O2 sensor!

Ditto!!

The "check engine" light deals with the emissions system so I don't understand the "go to the dealer immediately" part. It seems like 99% of the time the check engine light is a sensor or vacuum leak.

If you want to mess around with finding the cause yourself, there's a great tool I got for the OBD II system called AutoTap (no affiliation, just a great tool). http://www.autotap.com It plugs into the OBD II connector and reads the computer as you are driving. It reads everything in the system, including any fault codes and you can clear the codes when you fix a problem. You can record the whole driving session on the computer and study it later too. You can get it for a laptop or Palm and it was about $180. It helped me find a PVC leak in another car and has already saved me the cost of the tool.

Good luck! :cheers:

I appreciate this tip. I have been looking for a good analyzer to use on cars as a pre-purchase tool. Seems the Porsche will yield a "pre-CEL" code that signals something WILL be going bad soon, ie an O2 sensor.

If this tool will read these codes, it is just the ticket for me.

Thanks

:cheers:

If you only want something to read the codes and clear them, there are plenty of code readers on eBay in the $20-$25 range. Save yourself some $$$ unless you're going to do extensive diagnostics. I got one of those earlier, but it was not enough info for me to do diagnostics unless the problem was a sensor that gave a code.

Here's the difference between the two from my previous problem with vacuum. The regular code reader gave me a code of "Fuel Injection Circuit 1" and that's it. All of the injectors were working fine so I bought the AutoTap. With it, I could run the car and record the output of all of the O2 sensors, the fuel mixture and other settings. By watching the different sensor reactions when the car stalled I could see there was one area that was lacking O2 because the sensor after that point was wide open and it still stalled. Traced it back and found a cut in one of the vacuum hoses. Replaced the hose and it's been as good as new. :D