sigh.. CEL - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

stateofidleness · 10-05-2009, 04:19 PM

so yesterday i made a quick run to the ice house after clearing the CEL to see if it would come back. when I started it, it BARELY started!!! what the... like OVERNIGHT my car went from fun as hell to omg i hope i don't break down...

so.. i drive it to work today and when i started it this morning, i see this big puff of white smoke! i know i know, but this isn't the normal white smoke, larger puff than normal, and it did the "sputter" thing like it was hunting for the right idle, then it normalized... still no CEL, idled ok i guess.

i've been reading a lot about the different possible causes and what all is involved with replacing certain items. im pretty sure i hear the "small hoover" sound at startup that is supposed to be the air pump, but one man's hoover is another man's "whirring" or "whining" so im not sure if it's the right noise..

How much would a new air changeover valve (exact name?), AOS, and electric changeover valve cost to replace? parts only.

also, i have read that the alternator needs to be removed for the air and electric c/o valve (ugh.. bad memories there) so how many hours of labor would replacing these 3 items take?

anything else I should have my mechanic check while he's in there?

vath2001 · 10-05-2009, 05:11 PM

996-605-123-01-M244 Change-Over Valve for Air Injection, 993 Carrera 2/4 (1996-98), $23.50 Pelican parts

993-113-245-01-M100 Cut-Off Valve for Air Injection, 993 Carrera 2/4 (1996-98), Each, $104.75 Pelican parts

But your description sounds a lot worse.

stateofidleness · 10-06-2009, 06:40 AM

I have a 2000
anyone know the EXACT part I need (a link would be awesome, not particular about vendor, just price)

I think I'm going to tackle the AOS myself and see if that fixes some of it...

I would like the AOS itself (the revised version if it will work for my car)
and possibly the tubes or other parts I might find myself needing during the install.

2000 non-S, 52k miles, Tiptronic

Thanks!

Topless · 10-06-2009, 02:48 PM

Gentle suggestion,
Use the TS flow chart and pinpoint the failure first, then fix the problem. Changing the AOS or the MAF might be fun but it will not fix air injection pump issues. Did you check for a blown fuse? Your manual will show location and fused circuits ID. It really could be that simple.

stateofidleness · 10-06-2009, 05:23 PM

opened it up tonight to see if there was oil everywhere and it isn't too bad.. i have oil here:

i'm having it looked at tomorrow and was wondering if it's safe to drive to the mechanic

stateofidleness · 10-16-2009, 04:58 PM

ok, so had some diagnostics ran, found out the oil separator was bad and had a vacuum leak... replaced the oil separator and now no more smoke and no more CEL's, BUT I still have a scary hunt for idle on startup...

tonight was the worst... started it (starts fine every time) and it started hunting right away, usually it will "catch" itself after like 5 seconds, this time it went on for a good thirty seconds and I heard some (hate to use the word "knocking"), but it sounded like the cars in the movies that run out of gas... heard it about 3 times (sounded like a "burp" or loud "gurgle" if that makes sense)

it only started doing that if i lightly rev'ed it to get the rpm's up.

mechanic said it might need some time after the AOS replacement to get back to normal.. but I had never heard my car make those noises before and the idle hunt was exactly the same as before the AOS replacement, just no smoke..

ONLY 53k miles!! WTF! i lose faith in Porsche's dependability a little bit more every day... when they're working, they're a blast, when they're not, it's the biggest pain in the ass.. and it seems like way more frequent than on other cars.. what gives??

stateofidleness · 10-16-2009, 05:00 PM

EDIT: could this also be caused by the MAF? I was going to attempt a "clean" before I had my mechanic do the AOS.. should I still do it? What is causing this wicked idle hunt?

Bladecutter · 10-17-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

ONLY 53k miles!! WTF! i lose faith in Porsche's dependability a little bit more every day... when they're working, they're a blast, when they're not, it's the biggest pain in the ass.. and it seems like way more frequent than on other cars.. what gives??

Its time for you to step away from the car and take a couple nice, deep relaxing breaths. You are getting wound up too much about the car.

Yes, it is possible that it is the MAF sensor causing the issue, BUT you would be better off if you first started by cleaning the throttle body, since you had an AOS failure, there is bound to be lots of carbon build up on it.

I am sure that once you clean the throttle body, your hunting will be reduced, if not eliminated. If you want, you can even buy some MAF cleaner, and spray it down, too.

I have a '98 with nearly 89k miles on it, which I bought back in February, and I've put on 10k of those miles myself. I just had to replace the MAF yesterday on my car, because it went bad, and set off the P0102 code, and I checked its functionality with my Durametrics program, and saw that it was out of spec. That cost me $180 to replace, but its the first actual problem the car has had in the 10k miles I've put on the car.

I'm just glad I bought the Durametrics tool back in the summer so that when I needed it, there it was. If you don't have that, you might want to invest in it, if you are mechanically inclined, that is.

BC.