Strategy for Dealing With Possible Engne Problem

[KevinH90]

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.

[evansaero]

Sorry to hear about the car

I would give these guys a call...

Lufteknic

804-359-9393

www.lufteknic.com

I droped by there shop to see if I wanted to use them in the future.

It seems that most people like me come to them after we get pissed off at the dealers.

[insite]

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.

i had a very similar experience with a bad tank of fuel.

[KevinH90]

Thanks

Someone had mentioned Lufteknic to me and I couldn't remember the name.

[Respirologyrc]

Just like "insite", i too had this problem. I noticed it immediately after i filled my car with cheap 89' gas (i was being cheap and wanted to see if i could notice a difference). I drove the car around until i spent all the gas and then filled it with 94' octane never had the problem since. Funny thing i noted also was that i could hear my rockers also---I will never ever put **** gas in my car again!

[01boxster]

Just like "insite", i too had this problem. I noticed it immediately after i filled my car with cheap 89' gas (i was being cheap and wanted to see if i could notice a difference). I drove the car around until i spent all the gas and then filled it with 94' octane never had the problem since. Funny thing i noted also was that i could hear my rockers also---I will never ever put **** gas in my car again!

lol..i m suprised u acutaylt ookt aht chance of ruining ur engine......i would have just drained the tank and put 94 in=)...

lol

[rsfeller]

Just like "insite", i too had this problem. I noticed it immediately after i filled my car with cheap 89' gas (i was being cheap and wanted to see if i could notice a difference). I drove the car around until i spent all the gas and then filled it with 94' octane never had the problem since. Funny thing i noted also was that i could hear my rockers also---I will never ever put **** gas in my car again!

lol..i m suprised u acutaylt ookt aht chance of ruining ur engine......i would have just drained the tank and put 94 in=)...

lol

Why would it "ruin" an engine?

I've driven my share of cars over the years that require higher octane and all modern cars seam to have varible knock sensing timing to adjust to the change in octane. Obviously fuel may suffer as well as preformance...but I'm not sure I would understand why the engine would be ruined? Is there something unique to the porsche engine?

Shawn

[KevinH90]

It was the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor. The MAF had failed and allowed the fuel mixture to become too rich. This set off some other problems including a vacumn leak and an overheated catalytic convertor. I have a new MAF and the car ran fine on the way home.

Lufteknic did a good job. It is a nice shop and the folks running it are great. Not deadly cheap, but it's a Porsche.