Stategy for Dealing With Engine Problem - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

KevinH1990 · 10-02-2006, 04:07 PM

Near the end of my commute of about 30 miles, I stopped to refuel. The car was hard to restart and then ran rough the rest of the way. It also stalled when I stopped for a traffic signal. Then the check engine light flashed a few times and stayed on. It also felt like my brakes were not getting any boost from the power brake unit. My car is a 2000 base with about 34k miles on it. I purchased it in March after a good PPI.

I got the car in my driveway and turned it off. It seemed like the back of the car was hotter than normal although the temperature gauge had not moved past the 8 in the 180 degree mark. I also thought it smelled like something was burning.

I'm planning to find a good independent Porsche mechanic with the proper diagnostic tools and have them check it out. Here are my questions:

1. Should I drive the car to the mechanic or should I have it towed?
2. Anyone know a good independent mechanic in the Richmond, VA area. (I used Krynock to change my spark plugs, but he said he didn't have the software to read the engine code.)
3. Any ideas of what this problem could be?

Thanks in advance.

10-02-2006, 04:15 PM

Kevin, I don't know! Sorry to hear.

How low were you on fuel? Could you have gotten a bad tank of gas??

CJ_Boxster · 10-02-2006, 04:19 PM

Goto Autozone and have them scan it with there ODBII scanner, its a free service they do. write the numbers down and tell us what they are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH1990

Near the end of my commute of about 30 miles, I stopped to refuel. The car was hard to restart and then ran rough the rest of the way. It also stalled when I stopped for a traffic signal. Then the check engine light flashed a few times and stayed on. It also felt like my brakes were not getting any boost from the power brake unit. My car is a 2000 base with about 34k miles on it. I purchased it in March after a good PPI.

I got the car in my driveway and turned it off. It seemed like the back of the car was hotter than normal although the temperature gauge had not moved past the 8 in the 180 degree mark. I also thought it smelled like something was burning.

I'm planning to find a good independent Porsche mechanic with the proper diagnostic tools and have them check it out. Here are my questions:

1. Should I drive the car to the mechanic or should I have it towed?
2. Anyone know a good independent mechanic in the Richmond, VA area. (I used Krynock to change my spark plugs, but he said he didn't have the software to read the engine code.)
3. Any ideas of what this problem could be?

Thanks in advance.

Brucelee · 10-02-2006, 04:32 PM

If it were me, I would NOT drive it. I am a cautious type and we are talking about a ton of money if you guess wrong about driving the car.

IMO.

Good luck.

ohioboxster · 10-02-2006, 04:43 PM

Thats how my brakes acted when I had a vacuum leak. Put it in service mode check for vacuum leak. If it sits and idles and the converter(s) turn cherry red its a vacuum leak.

KevinH1990 · 10-02-2006, 05:52 PM

I'm hoping a vacumn leak is less expensive to repair than some other potential problems.

The last four times I refueled (always at the end of my 30-mile commute) the car has taken two attempts to restart. I hope I didn't miss a signal of a possible problem.

I'm planning to have the car towed for repair. I have AAA, and there is no sense in asking for trouble.

Thanks for the advice and empathy.

Adam · 10-02-2006, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

If it were me, I would NOT drive it. I am a cautious type and we are talking about a ton of money if you guess wrong about driving the car.

IMO.

Good luck.

Sage advice. Get it towed and let us know the outcome.

KevinH1990 · 10-05-2006, 04:32 PM

I had it towed to Lufteknic. The MAF had failed and caused too much fuel to be pumped into the engine. That set off several other problems including a vacumn leak and an overheated catalytic convertor. They replaced the MAF and it ran great on the way home.

Paul · 10-05-2006, 05:05 PM

Change your oil please, it's probably full of gasoline...

Brucelee · 10-05-2006, 07:48 PM

Ditto on the oil and the filter.

Good decision not to drive the car.

Crisis averted.

Score one for the good guys.

djomlas · 10-05-2006, 08:10 PM

yea good thing u didnt drive it there.
glad it all worked out ok

btw, how much was the MAF?

ohioboxster · 10-06-2006, 03:30 AM

I drove my car with the maf disconnected one day to test it. You guys may be over reacting. Probably if the cat over heated it was actually running lean.

MNBoxster · 10-06-2006, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohioboxster

I drove my car with the maf disconnected one day to test it. You guys may be over reacting. Probably if the cat over heated it was actually running lean.

Hi,

Actually, an overheated Cat can be symptomatic of either a Rich or Lean mixture, but more so a Rich one. A Rich mixture can send unburned fuel into the Cat where it will combust considerably raising the temp of the Cat as well...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99