Help, Boxster wont take Fuel,(filling up) very confused....

[PcarDave]

Guys,

Heading out to my sisters house on Thanksgiving, we stopped to fuel up the boxster. I started pumping gas, and it immediatly started spraying out of the nozzle. Almost as though there was somthing in the filler preventing the bulk of fuel to pass into the tank. Thinking it was a problem with the pump, I moved the car to another pump and had the same problem. The car had maybe 1/8th tank of fuel. Once we got the car home, there was a slight burning smell, as though the car was running hot... but the guage was showing a normal temp.

I was literally sprayed with fuel.. had to go home and change cloths and cars to get to my sis's house about 3 hours from home.

Got any ideas? Im still very confused on what the heck happened... seemed right out of the twilight zone.

David

[Cassiebox]

Sorry to hear, and unfortunately I'm in a similar boat right now too. It's a tank venting issue. Hopefully your car is a MY'00 or newer and it might just be a simple fuse. Mine unfortunately is a '99 so it's not applicable. From the research I've done thus far, it could be a couple of issues.

If '00 or later, in a quiet garage, take off gas cap and insert finger in to hole pushing filler flap aside. You should hear a click when the flap is 90 deg turned. If not, check fuse E6 (IIRC on 986 - but check fuse guide) to see if it's blown and replace as needed to solve. Blown fuse won't allow the ORVR (vapor recovery system used on '00 and later) to turn on - might also tape up the cell phone connector behind center console as it's the same circuit - could be grounding out causing it to blow. If fuse is good, it could be the solenoid, wiring or a problem w/ the charcoal canister. For '99 and prior, could be dropped line in the tank from sending unit, blocked vent or another issue that I haven't found or solved yet. I understand it's best to get car looked at by tech w/ less than a 1/4 tank of gas in it in case they need to work in or drop the tank to remedy. This apparently is a known problem and I think there might be more than one TSB on it...

Mine at this point is full and almost in winter storage so I will have to wait until spring to examine/diagnose further. Please keep me posted w/ what you learn. Thanks and good luck!

[PcarDave]

Sorry to hear, and unfortunately I'm in a similar boat right now too. It's a tank venting issue. Hopefully your car is a MY'00 or newer and it might just be a simple fuse. Mine unfortunately is a '99 so it's not applicable. From the research I've done thus far, it could be a couple of issues.

If '00 or later, in a quiet garage, take off gas cap and insert finger in to hole pushing filler flap aside. You should hear a click when the flap is 90 deg turned. If not, check fuse E6 (IIRC on 986 - but check fuse guide) to see if it's blown and replace as needed to solve. Blown fuse won't allow the ORVR (vapor recovery system used on '00 and later) to turn on - might also tape up the cell phone connector behind center console as it's the same circuit - could be grounding out causing it to blow. If fuse is good, it could be the solenoid, wiring or a problem w/ the charcoal canister. For '99 and prior, could be dropped line in the tank from sending unit, blocked vent or another issue that I haven't found or solved yet. I understand it's best to get car looked at by tech w/ less than a 1/4 tank of gas in it in case they need to work in or drop the tank to remedy. This apparently is a known problem and I think there might be more than one TSB on it...

Mine at this point is full and almost in winter storage so I will have to wait until spring to examine/diagnose further. Please keep me posted w/ what you learn. Thanks and good luck!

Man, thanks so much! I thought there would be a 1 in a 100 chance someone would know about this... I'll post once I learn more. I guess Im lucky in that its a 2000 S.(should have put that in my original post)

David

[PcarDave]

So I tested the evap solenoid that triggers when you push the flap inside the filler and it appears to trigger fine. Hear a click right under the finder by the filler.

Anyone have any advice on what to check next? Any TSB numbers I should check?

David

[geoff]

You should still check fuse E6 to make sure it isn't blown. I used to have a problem with fueling, and after I taped up the phone connector behind the center console my problems refueling became much less frequent. At some point after the 2001 model year, Porsche started taping up the connectors from the factory. It was discussed here a number of years ago

[ajacpril]

I am experiencing the same issue now and wanted to check how you managed to get this resolved.

So I tested the evap solenoid that triggers when you push the flap inside the filler and it appears to trigger fine. Hear a click right under the finder by the filler.

Anyone have any advice on what to check next? Any TSB numbers I should check?

David

[jmcnp]

I am experiencing the same issue now and wanted to check how you managed to get this resolved.

So I tested the evap solenoid that triggers when you push the flap inside the filler and it appears to trigger fine. Hear a click right under the finder by the filler.

Anyone have any advice on what to check next? Any TSB numbers I should check?

David

See the following post:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...=0&p=102009 under "Car is on empty, but won't take gas". They refer to a TSB:

TSB 03/99 2015