Trying to get a "behavioral" idea on startups - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

stateofidleness · 01-22-2011, 11:16 AM

So, I'm always paranoid about not shifting out of park before the Air Pump has finished its ritual. Once the car idles down and the pump cuts off, I go ahead and take off... this usually adds a few minutes to my "quick jaunts".

Anyone else paranoid about that or is it safe to "get in and go" (of course keeping the rpms down till warm)

It may be a fluke, but I notice every time I DON'T let it do its thing, I get a CEL when I step on it (even when warm).

Thoughts?

rlbccb · 01-22-2011, 01:07 PM

I have the same ritual; it just seems that is not quite ready to be driven until the Air Pump stops. I know it is subconscious but I wait too

SeanZ4 · 01-22-2011, 01:38 PM

+1 here too! I know I may not have to but I always wait until it spools down before taking off. I'm not sure on the cel light though??

sean

Roy_Josef · 01-22-2011, 03:12 PM

What exactly does that air pump do anyways?

Dale_K · 01-22-2011, 03:14 PM

I don't want to stink up the garage so I put it in drive within a few seconds after starting it.

mikefocke · 01-22-2011, 04:05 PM

I get in start the engine, and then buckle the seat belt. Maybe I wait 10 seconds but I then drive off with RPMs below 2000 until the temp starts moving and 3500 until the temp shows every bit of 180, then every trip to 6k.

Since I delay not at all on any other car...

Jaxonalden · 01-22-2011, 07:35 PM

Air pump? You talking about the engine compartment fan? The car is a mid-engine and the engine compartment is very closed off. The fan you hear is simply there to ventilate out any volatile flumes that might accumulate and cause a fire. Waiting for that fan to stop before driving off has nothing to do with being drivable.

Now waiting for the temp gauge to register knowing the engine is warmed up is another.

stateofidleness · 01-22-2011, 07:36 PM

Nope, the air pump. It's runs on cold starts for a minute or two until the cats are warm.

clickman · 01-23-2011, 08:38 AM

You should be able to drive with the secondary air pump running without a CEL. Have you dumped your codes?

stateofidleness · 01-23-2011, 08:51 AM

yea, they're due to "Secondary Air Injection" faults (I have a lingering exhaust leak). not sure why not waiting on the air pump to turn off would increase the likelihood of the CEL, but I notice the correlation between the two.

Burg Boxster · 01-23-2011, 09:04 AM

.

What the he|| are you talking about? Real Porsche cars don't have any "Park" or "Drive" things to shift into or out of...

stateofidleness · 01-23-2011, 10:03 AM

they do on a DD in daily stop-and-go traffic while sitting in the parkinglotway, errr "high"way every day.... other occasions call for the "M"

clickman · 01-23-2011, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

yea, they're due to "Secondary Air Injection" faults (I have a lingering exhaust leak). not sure why not waiting on the air pump to turn off would increase the likelihood of the CEL, but I notice the correlation between the two.

There you go. Something in the secondary air system needs to be fixed. Fix that and no more CEL, and therefore no need to "wait" at startup.

stateofidleness · 01-23-2011, 01:03 PM

well the fact that there's a difference in exhaust 'levels'/'mixture richness' based on "waiting" or "not waiting" implies that it might be beneficial to wait, regardless of exhaust leak or not.

the fact that it throws a CEL tells me that there's different exhaust behavior if I don't wait for the air pump to do its thing. so i'm wondering if that "non-wait" behavior is harmful to the overall health of the engine/vehicle.

thstone · 01-24-2011, 09:30 AM

My understanding is that the air pump and secondary air injection are emissions related, not performance related.

What seems to be happening is that there is a problem in the emissions control system and you get a CEL if you try to drive off while the air pump is still operating to avoid the CEL. You've found that if you wait until the air pump stops, then the likelihood of a CEL is much less.

The bottom line is that the emissions system needs investigation/repair. Then there will be no reason why you can't drive with the air pump operating.

jbs986 · 01-24-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

My understanding is that the air pump and secondary air injection are emissions related, not performance related.

What seems to be happening is that there is a problem in the emissions control system and you get a CEL if you try to drive off while the air pump is still operating to avoid the CEL. You've found that if you wait until the air pump stops, then the likelihood of a CEL is much less.

The bottom line is that the emissions system needs investigation/repair. Then there will be no reason why you can't drive with the air pump operating.

+ 1 sounds like your secondary air system, here is a link to repair it. good luck.
www.nutrod.com/nutrod/home.html
just click on (secondary air system)