charcoal filter: check engine light?

[93SHO]

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and I am grateful for all of the useful info on the site. My dads 2001 boxster frequently has the check engine light come on and then goe off a few days later. He took it to a porsche mechanic who said it was the charcoal filter. he said it will cause no harm if he continues to drive but that eventually he will want to get it fixed. The shop wanted $400 dollars to replace it but after checking out the forum i found write-ups on replacing the filter, it seems super easy but before i start ripping apart my dad's boxster i wanted to check if this was acutally the problem: could a bad charcoal filter cause a CE light?
thanks for your help.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by 93SHO

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and I am grateful for all of the useful info on the site. My dads 2001 boxster frequently has the check engine light come on and then goe off a few days later. He took it to a porsche mechanic who said it was the charcoal filter. he said it will cause no harm if he continues to drive but that eventually he will want to get it fixed. The shop wanted $400 dollars to replace it but after checking out the forum i found write-ups on replacing the filter, it seems super easy but before i start ripping apart my dad's boxster i wanted to check if this was acutally the problem: could a bad charcoal filter cause a CE light?
thanks for your help.

If your mechanic is saying a charcoal filter is causing a CEL then he shouldn't be a mechanic. There is no way a filter,which filters the air for the cabin could cause a CEL light. Take the car to a different mechanic,the end. If the CEL is appearing,there is something wrong,it doesnt come on for nothing.

The charcoal filter can be replaced in 5 minutes and $10 will get you a new filter.

[93SHO]

Yeah that’s what i was thinking but since i have yet to own a Porsche (i maybe buying my dads from him next year) I just followed what the mechanic told my dad but since he’s getting old maybe he misunderstood the guy. my guess would be a bad oxygen sensor but wouldn’t the light be on permanently?

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by 93SHO

Yeah that’s what i was thinking but since i have yet to own a Porsche (i maybe buying my dads from him next year) I just followed what the mechanic told my dad but since he’s getting old maybe he misunderstood the guy. my guess would be a bad oxygen sensor but wouldn’t the light be on permanently?

A CEL can mean soooooo much that I'm not even going to guess.

Pick up an OBD II reader, plug it in and get the codes,then come back and post;model year,tranny and mileage.

[Nick-NY]

The Mechanic is not talking about the charcol microfilter for the cabin, he is talking about the charcol canister for the fuel / emissions system. if there is a problem with the charcol canister it would cause a CEL.

[93SHO]

Thanks for the advice. i just talked with my dad again and it turned out it was the O2 sensors. however, after he had them replaced and smogged the car the CEL came on again for a couple weeks but then it just shut off and has been off since (for about a week now). could this be the computer adjusting, i know the prosches have super hi-tech computers, or is the CEL likely to come on again. the mechanic was not able to get any codes when the light was on...weird, i know.

the car is a 2001 5spd boxster with 55k.

thanks Nick-NY for the info on the charcoal canister. that must have been what my dad was talking about, not the charcoal filter!