[mtb50]

Originally Posted by P-C

Ok, this post and your last one were great and I owe the group some better information, starting with the car in question.

It is a '99 that I purchased from 78F350. Completely stock, 95k miles, completely reliable up until this incident.

I left a friend's house and made it about 5 miles to a highway on ramp. As I was accelerating onto the highway, I lost drive suddenly after I shifted from first to second. I didn't notice any bad noises or smoke, but I was also looking ahead and listening to music so I can't guarantee that those symptoms were absent. I tried shifting to third and then back to first because it felt almost like second gear wasn't engaging. There was no shaking or bucking that I recall, just a complete lack of thrust.

The first thing I did when I stop was look under the car for a loose cv axle because it initially felt like a transmission issue. After I saw nothing out of the ordinary including no fluids dripping, I attempted to start the car. It seemed to just turn over with no combustion whatsoever. After I got the car home, I swapped in the pink fuel pump relay from my 996 and the car started as the video I linked above shows. The motor would run if I held down the throttle, but would die fairly quickly as soon as I released it. The smoke doesn't really bother me as I understand AOS issues can look much worse than they are, but the mechanical noises sound BAD in person. This makes me hesitate to try starting it again.

I tried to read some codes yesterday as an initial diagnostic action. I didn't get any codes and the check engine light was not on. I want to try the relay from the 986 in the 996 to make sure that it is bad. I think my next course of action with the Boxster is going to be looking at the oil filter and draining the oil through a strainer. If this is a really bad thing, I would think that is the best way to find out.

If there is no shrapnel at that point, I'm really not sure how to proceed. I don't have a fuel pressure tool, but I can certainly check the plugs. I think we've ruled the immobilizer fuse out, but I can definitely check the other relays you mentioned in your first post. Replacing the AOS never seems to be a bad idea with these cars, but I'm hesitant to order one before I know whether the engine is toast.

I just now noticed the video. It sounds like a loose lifter but I don't think that would cause the smoke