'02 Boxster S TLC.

[TrumpyAl]

Oh, and the obligatory superphoto version of the pic because it seems that there's some kind of unwritten rule that all car pics have to be in this format now ;-)

[jcslocum]

Originally Posted by TrumpyAl

Thanks for checking in. I'm standing here next to the car reading my multimeter's manual to understand if it can give me a millisecond reading on the injectors, or just a duty cycle.

p.s. 2016 is 75 minutes old here - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy new year to you too!!!

You will probably need a noid light to see of the injectors are getting the pulse. A volt meter won't react fast enough:

Part 1 -How to Use a Noid Light and Where to Buy it

Have you tried some starting ether in the intake to see if you get fire when cranked??? If you have spark, it might fire and show you have no fuel.

I would do a smoke test on the intake before you pull the manifold. I am also chasing a hard to start and think I have a vacuum leak. I will make this as shown in the video to check the intake and hoses:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRiK2HEA3QQ

it's a bit hard to start cold but really hard to start hot.

[TrumpyAl]

Oops, accidently posted this before it was finished so I'll try again in a few minutes.

[TrumpyAl]

OK, I need to pull my finger out here.

The poor thing has been sitting here for nearly a year now and this is getting somewhat unhealthy! IMS don't like that. And to make matters worse, I am going to move home some time in the next four weeks.

I would dearly love some information on my next move as I believe that there are plenty of (expensive) traps for the unwary punter. I will create some specific posts for each topic, but wanted to update here first - partly to help me collect my thoughts as life is very hectic and rather stressful at the moment.

So, to summarise...and update with recent information.

• Car is a MY02 986 Boxster S which has had a 2000 - 2002 2.7L put in place of the original 3.2L.
  
• The car came with two DME's, one marked 'original', and the other marked as 'New, imported from USA'. They each have the same part numbers, and both behave identically.
  
• It came to me not cranking, and I replaced the Ignition switch.
  
• The car was then cranking but not quite starting so I threw a set of plugs at it and refreshed the fuel.
  
• Still not starting, though it clearly fires on one or two cylinders it seems. It is blowing black smoke after cranking for a while so I know that I'm getting fuel and spark.
  
• I buy a Durametric unit and pull consistent Crank Angle Sensor codes so I replace that.
  
• Codes go away, but no change in behaviour when cranking.
  
• I purchase a workshop manual and the 101 Projects for your Boxster books.
  
• Disconnecting the MAF makes no difference.
  
• I've just very carefully refreshed the fuel again, and checked fuel pressures a couple of weeks ago and they check out 100% ok. I can even see the injectors firing as it cranks - the needle twitches as you'd expect it to at cranking speeds.
  
• Interestingly, disconnecting the fuel pump relay means that the fuel pressure gradually drops to zero - but at no time does the car start and run. Perhaps the plugs are already fouled by this stage so even if it does momentarily have a correct air/fuel mixture, it won't fire. Instead, it eventually settles into an even crank, as you would expect.
  
• Disconnecting the fuel pump relay and using an outside fuel source (e.g. aerostart) gives the same symptoms of occasionally firing, buit nowhere near starting.

So, I have one last check to perform before I'm planning to purchase a 2.7L DME/immobilizer/Ignition set for the car. This is to check that the camshaft timing is correct - a relatively simple task although I'd like to have the replacement plugs on hand first.

I've gotten very used to the idea of being a Boxster owner, it would be very nice to almost be a Boxster driver!

Al.

[jakeru]

Just a random thought and I'm no expert, but I wonder if the crank angle sensor ring is bent, with the engine swap history and all? I remember someone reporting doing a clutch job and flywheel (on a manual transmission boxster) and bending one of the metal fingers that the crank angle sensor gets a reading on, by accidentally dropping or not being gentle enough with the flywheel when it was removed. They reported that the engine did not run right (or even start at all, I can't remember quite perfectly), but they reported the behavior immediately and perfectly became fixed as soon as they pulled the transmission, identified the bent finger(s), and re-bent them to where they were supposed to be, and reinstalled.

Sure is hard to say it might be what's wrong here without the history, but seems hard to rule it out completely, and the engine swap knowledge presents an opportunity for it to have potentially been messed up. (I think on a tiptronic transmission, the crank angle sensor ring would be mounted on the flex plate - on a manual transmission boxster, its welded to the back of the dual-mass flywheel.

I'll see if I can find the thread and post here if successful. In any case, cheer and good luck! Ps - just looked closely at your thread, and noticed the car is really coming along so it will be a shame if you can't fix this "no start" condition!

Edit: I found the thread with the bent crank position sensor teeth - check it out! This jibes with the "bad crank angle sensor" fault code you said you got, AND the same no start/no idle behavior you report.
http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/56274-flywheel-differences-post440971.html#post440971

[TrumpyAl]

Thanks Jake, I found it.

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54799-99-keeps-flooding-wont-start-2-5l.html

This is a very interesting possibility. It's now at the top of my list.

When I say "thanks", I really mean it. The symptoms are too similar to ignore.

[TrumpyAl]

Well, I finally pulled the starter motor to check this possibility out and sadly it seems that this is not the issue.

This is what a Boxster Tiptronic flex plate looks like, out of the car...


And this is how mine all look. Nice and straight as far as I can tell.


I'll double-check them all tomorrow night and then button it back up as I'm moving home next weekend

[jakeru]

Checking those timing teeth through the starter hole looks easier than removing the transmission, but still quite hard. I'd suggest marking each tooth you inspect with a marker, to ensure you check them all. Also, suggest looking them very closely because I think in the other thread mentioned, if they're bent by even just 1-2mm or so, it could cause problems. It seems to me that just observing them casually, you might not readily notice if a few are bent only 1-2mm. I also have a hard time envisioning how you'd turn the engine over just a small amount when doing this, to ensure you aren't skipping some teeth - hence, the need to methodically mark them as you verify them OK. Then, you can turn over again and verify they're all marked.

Why do is think it's not worth dropping bent teeth as a possibility? The symptoms seem to indicate the teeth being bent or problematic, and you mentioned you already replaced the sensor. Another way you could verify the teeth being good is potentially by monitoring the crank position sensors's electrical signal, on some sort of appropriate measuring device, like the oscilloscope you mentioned earlier you were familiar with using, but just didn't have ready access to. That would give some confirmation, perhaps more reliably than inspecting through the starter hole, and not require transmission removal.

Sorry to hear you weren't able to quickly figure this out, but I don't think I'd give up just yet!

Best of luck and please continue to let us know if you make any further progress in diagnosing.

[TrumpyAl]

Thanks again for your input Jakeru. I didn't ever get to the double-checking part so I moved house without buttoning it back up. Comically, I moved 100m and it was all downhill so I actually physically pushed my broken Porsche from the old house to the new one! Yes, I did it in the milddle of the night so that my neighbours wouldn't line up and laugh at me :-]

I agree that I've not ruled this possibility out as yet. I was able to see the teeth from inside the cabin while I was turning it over via the bolt on the front pulley. I'm quite sure that I didn't go too far before moving to the engine compartment to eyeball the next set of teeth. And I used the timing marks on the front pulley as an indication of when I'd completed a full rotation. BUT, I need to measure the position of the teeth accurately, not rely on sight.

I plan to rig up an indicator of some sort, so that I know for sure if any teeth are even 1mm further from the sensor that the rest.

Access into the area behind where the starter is usually mounted is awkward, so if I'm not confident that will work, I may instead use the same indicator to enable me to accurately move one tooth at a time, and monitor the output of the crank sensor to see if it's changing state twice for each tooth. But that's definitely Plan B.

Fingers crossed!