Help! Engine Problems!

[bwillis]

This is a 98 boxster with 105,000 miles.

Saturday started it and started to drive off - CEL started to flash, car moved only slightly, banging from behind (my wife indicated that the exhaust was banging up and down.

Towed to Porsche dealership yesterday - they have spent approx 4 hours so far and not found the problem.

At low revs the car will drive, but when revs increase there is no power.

They have removed the exhaust and driven without it (it apparently sounded like a '70s VW bug!), but still same issue.

Any ideas I can suggest to them so I don't rack up too many more labor hours??

Thanks!!

[Loren]

If the CEL was on then there had to be fault codes. Ask them what the fault codes were.

Without the fault codes - everything is a guess.

[bwillis]

If the CEL was on then there had to be fault codes. Ask them what the fault codes were.

Without the fault codes - everything is a guess.

That's the weird thing - no fault codes!

[Loren]

Not possible - fault codes turn the CEL on.

[bwillis]

Not possible - fault codes turn the CEL on.

Called them again - they said there were just misfire codes

They are contacting Porsche

[Loren]

Seems they don't want to share much... who is the dealer?

What the codes are that are "just misfire codes" are still important. Are they all on the same bank (1-3 or 4-6) or both banks?

Are they 300 series misfires which are damaging to the cats? or are they 1300 series codes that are emission relevant?

[marky2006]

This is a 98 boxster with 105,000 miles.

Saturday started it and started to drive off - CEL started to flash, car moved only slightly, banging from behind (my wife indicated that the exhaust was banging up and down.

Towed to Porsche dealership yesterday - they have spent approx 4 hours so far and not found the problem.

At low revs the car will drive, but when revs increase there is no power.

They have removed the exhaust and driven without it (it apparently sounded like a '70s VW bug!), but still same issue.

Any ideas I can suggest to them so I don't rack up too many more labor hours??

Thanks!!

Hi, don't know if this is of any help.... but I had problems with the engine on my old Boxster - I didn't get banging from behind, but the engine wouldn't rev at all - it would just cough and splutter and then cut out. It turned out it was the airflow meter, might be worth checking?

[marky2006]

This is a 98 boxster with 105,000 miles.

Saturday started it and started to drive off - CEL started to flash, car moved only slightly, banging from behind (my wife indicated that the exhaust was banging up and down.

Towed to Porsche dealership yesterday - they have spent approx 4 hours so far and not found the problem.

At low revs the car will drive, but when revs increase there is no power.

They have removed the exhaust and driven without it (it apparently sounded like a '70s VW bug!), but still same issue.

Any ideas I can suggest to them so I don't rack up too many more labor hours??

Thanks!!

Hi, don't know if this is of any help.... but I had problems with the engine on my old Boxster - I didn't get banging from behind, but the engine wouldn't rev at all - it would just cough and splutter and then cut out. It turned out it was the airflow meter, might be worth checking?

Forgot to mention... the CEL was on as well.

[bwillis]

After 4 days of diagnosis at the dealership including setting up a fuel line bypass (sounds like surgery!) they have finally determined the problem....

So, turns out that I had had a defective MAF for a while (I had been cleaning it and that had been working for a while).

Because of this the DME had reprogrammed all its mappings to compensate.

They are replacing ghe MAF and all should be well.

[wvicary]

Wow... four days and they've narrowed it down to the MAF sensor. Would you mind posting the name of the dealer/repair shop so I don't make the mistake of going there.

[Chris_in_NH]

Wow... four days and they've narrowed it down to the MAF sensor. Would you mind posting the name of the dealer/repair shop so I don't make the mistake of going there.

i'm curious to know how much the dealership is going to charge him to replace the MAF. i'm going to guess $600.

for anyone else that has this problem, it is very easy to diagnose MAF problems if your car is running like crap (like the OP's was). you can simply disconnect the MAF's wiring harness (requires removing the engine cover) but leave the MAF installed. then remove the negative battery cable for at least 1 minute (have your radio code if you have a 97-02 Boxster) and then re-connect the neg battery cable. this will reset your DME/ECU and wipe out the settings that a faulty MAF has created. it will not damage the car/engine to run it without the MAF plugged in.

if the MAF is bad, when you disconnect the wiring harness and reset the DME, your car should run MUCH better. if you want to be absolutely sure the MAF was causing the problems, re-connect the MAF wiring harness the reset the DME again (via the neg battery cable) and if your car runs like crap again, you can be sure the MAF is bad.

also, a MAF is about the easiest part you can replace on the Boxster. it seriously takes about 30 minutes to do it, and 25 minutes of that is putting the car in 'service position' and removing the engine cover and then putting everything back. it is so easy, i had my 10-year old change mine. :lol:

dealers usually charge an arm and a leg to replace a MAF, so i thought i would let people know that you don't have to pay dealer prices for diagnosis and MAF replacement. the cheapest places to buy a MAF are Suncoast Porsche, Sunset Imports and AutohausAZ (www.autohausaz.com) with all 3 sources being under $300 for a new MAF. that being said, if your car is running OK and maybe you have a couple codes that point to the MAF, it may be more difficult to pin down the MAF as the cause. but if your car is running terrible, it is much easier to test the MAF by disconnecting the wiring harness/resetting the DME.

[Stefan]

I would have guessed a cracked ignition coil. That is a common problem on old Boxsters and causes the exact symptoms you report.