1999 Stalled and won't restart

[P-C]

Originally Posted by blue62

I don't think pulling the oil pan is going to tell you anything.
You need to start with the basics.

First what happened when it quit running on you out on the road?
Did it just die like turning off a light switch?
Were there any odd sounds?
Did it shake or buck?
Any smells???
Any smoke out the tailpipe?
Need to know what your senses were telling you when it died.
Anything out of the ordinary???

Second any modifications to the car????
How many miles on it?

Third Did you get a CEL or any lights on the dash when it died?

Fourth hook up a good scanner and look for codes and pending codes.
If you have a code or codes retrieve the freeze frame info.

Then you can go to things like verifying correct fuel pressure, pull the spark plugs and look at the conditon of them. oil fouled???? burned up??? things like that. they can tell you alot.
possible failed AOS???? I see lots of blue smoke in the video., correct ignition timing, correct valve timing, correct compression.

Follow basic diagnostic procedures.
Simplest things first work step by step to the most complex.

Oh ya which relay or relays did you replace or swap?
Have you had any previous problems with it?

Pulling your spark plugs is one of the first things I would do.
The smoke from the exhaust looks like oil smoke need to see the condition of the plugs.
Take a picture of them and post it if you can.
From what I see in the video they should show oil fouling.
If they are that will make the car run like crap.
When you pull them label them with the correct cylinder. Cyl1 cyl2 cyl3 ect.ect.
that way we know which cylinders and which bank are having issues.

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.

[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

[blue62]

So now that I have more info on what happened and have viewed the video I would rule out any issue with fuses or relays. The car starts and runs. So your getting fuel and spark.
From what you described and what I see in the video (the smoke). The issue is not transmission related it is engine.

From the smoke at the tail pipe it looks like your getting oil into multiple cylinders fouling out your plugs.

Draining the oil and looking at it and checking the oil filter are not bad ideas.
Any information you can get helps in diagnosing the issue.

But if you pull the plugs you can tell from the condition of them lots about what is going on.
For example.
If your problem is a lifter you will see a fouled plug on that cyl. the others will be good.
If you have something going on like a total failure of the AOS all the plugs will show oil fouling.
If your issues is say a chain tensioner pad and it has caused the cam to change timing your plugs will show it on that bank only.

If your issue is something like a failed AOS It could cause all your symptoms. That car will run like crap because the plugs are fouling out. No power, the engine will rattle and knock all kinds of things.

So I would for sure pull the plugs, if both banks show signs of oil fouling then I would look at pulling the throttle body and checking the intake for oil.

If only one bank shows oil fouling then that probably points to some other issue.

anyway pulling the plugs and checking there condition can tell you lots about what happened and the overall condition of the engine.
They will tell you if the issue is on 1 cyl. or multiple cyl's. 1 bank or both banks..

My thought on the Relay is that it was just a fluke. car will probably start with the old relay.

Also you said when you tried to restart the car out on the road that it seemed like it had no compression. So once all the plugs are out and checked you can do a compression test on all cyl's and get more info on engine condition.

Based on what you have said about what happened and what I see in a short video the above is how I would proceed.

Keep us posted I am always interested in outcomes