Not sure what's happening - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

MCase · 06-23-2006, 10:05 AM

Like everyone always say, you all have are the most knowledeable crew when it comes to Boxster maintanence. So I would love some of your opinions on what's going on with my baby.

I bought my boxster in March and have never had any problems with it. I have a 2000 (non S) with 46k miles.

When I was driving home from work yesterday (about 3 miles) and as I accelerating out of a stop all of a sudden it seemed like the clutch wasn't engaged...I'm sorry I can't explain it any better than that. I immediatley pushed in the clutch and my dashboard lit up like Vegas!! Almost every light on the dash lit up. The car never died. I attempted to put in back into gear right away and it seemed a little jumpy to me. So I coasted in neutral for about 20 seconds and put it back into 2nd and it was fine for the ride home.

About 20 minutes after I got safely home, I jumped into the car to head to the gym...and this time it did the same thing except it happened about a block from my house. This time I shut off the car and tried to re-start. It took a few tries but it fired up again but I was too nervous to actually drive to the gym, so I took her back home. And she's been in the garage ever since.

I've read through so many posts now trying to find something similar. I'm thinking maybe it's an air flow problem. I'm hoping that it's not a clutch problem, but the though has crossed my mind.

I appologize for the long post, but I need a starting off point so I can drive my baby again.

My fiance is thinking it might be a vacuum leak somewhere but I'm not so sure.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!!!\

~Melisa

Brucelee · 06-23-2006, 10:32 AM

This is a good one.

Suggest you PM Doc Willen, he is known as the PorscheDoc.

He might have an idea.

Good luck.

MNBoxster · 06-23-2006, 05:30 PM

Hi,

If you're not sure what's happening - DON'T DRIVE THE CAR, DON'T START THE CAR! STEP AWAY FROM THE BOXSTER! until you have it checked by a competent mechanic!

I don't want to be alarmist, but your symptoms do not sound good. It would be too difficult to make a long-distance diagnosis based on your post. Then again, it could be something minor, which I hope it is.

The main thing is not to compound it by driving it. If your timing jumped or something broke, you could destroy the engine, so have it towed in and let them look at it. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Brucelee · 06-23-2006, 06:39 PM

Good advice Jim!

MCase · 06-24-2006, 02:43 AM

No worries. The car hasn't been touched since the problem began. I'm not taking any chances here.

I'm just praying that it is in fact something minor!!

PorscheDoc · 06-24-2006, 07:44 AM

Sounds like the car is going into limp mode. I would get it to a dealer asap and get the pending codes read.

spine911 · 06-24-2006, 08:42 AM

It sounds like you have a failing MAF Sensor(no power, poor acceleration, fluctuating idle, no starts-if MAF is completely failed)

MNBoxster · 06-24-2006, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spine911

It sounds like you have a failing MAF Sensor(no power, poor acceleration, fluctuating idle, no starts-if MAF is completely failed)

Hi,

That's certainly possible and maybe one of the better possibilities. But, a MAF usually won't throw all sorts of lights, just a CEL (and then not always) and this will usually stay lit.

From her description, I don't think you can absolutely go with the MAF, especially at $200 a pop (more if it's installed). It's better to get it on a PST2 and confirm the issue rather than throwing a random fix at it. But, you may well be proven right in the end...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

PorscheDoc · 06-24-2006, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spine911

It sounds like you have a failing MAF Sensor(no power, poor acceleration, fluctuating idle, no starts-if MAF is completely failed)

Yup, I will second that. If MAF sensor falls on it's face hard enough, the car will go into limp mode like being described.

A check with a PST2 for pending codes will rule that in or out.

spine911 · 06-24-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorscheDoc

Yup, I will second that. If MAF sensor falls on it's face hard enough, the car will go into limp mode like being described.

A check with a PST2 for pending codes will rule that in or out.

Diagnostics with PST2 will definitely rule it out...You can also go to your local Autozone and borrow their OBD II scanner and read whatever fault you have (remember that those "generic" OBD II might not read all your faults- but is a good/cheap way to rule out most faults before going to your dealer and start spending your $$$)another "not so definite" way to test a failing MAF(not a completely failed MAF) would be to disconnect the male MAF connector, you will notice that your acceleration will improve slighty when a bad MAF is unhooked.....Good Luck!

insite · 06-25-2006, 12:18 PM

you know, from reading your post, you mentioned that ALL The dash lights lit up when your car was acting funny. maybe your ignition switch is starting to go?

MCase · 06-28-2006, 01:09 PM

Ok, now I feel like a fool. I didn't give you all of my information apparently.

I just filled the tank up with gas earlier that day.

We've discovered that the tank has little or no extra room in the fuel tank for over-fill. So when the pump clicks...don't keep forcing more fuel into the tank. We were told that this causes fuel disruptions and can cause excatly the problem I had.

My fiance took the car out and drove it for awhile to 'waste' some gas and we drove it all weekend with no problems. Took the car to autozone to get the codes scanned, and it never threw a code. Drives like a dream again.

Stupid girl mistake of overfilling the tank.

Never again.

Thanks for the advice. I'm a very VERY happy woman to know that we don't have to worry about something more severe.

Thanks everyone