engine light flashes 3 times, car misses CEL on, then no code gets sto

[kts]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

Edited August 1, 2013 by kts

[bBunny]

welcome to the club. mis- fires seem to be getting common on these cars now. They're 14 years old. Yes, there are codes stored by now. If you can't get to a shop with a pst2 or a PIWIS, try and find a shop with durametric software.

There are numerous threads up on this forum specifically about CEL's, codes and common ignition, coil, plug problems on 996 cars.

The starting point for diagnostics usually are:

coilsplugs

connectors

fuel trims

ground straps at battery and from engine block.

gremlins effecting wiring. ( yes, rodents do crawl up into our cars and chew on wires ).

And, of course , this forum has some very knowledgeable folks to reach out to. ( Loren , in particular )

[kts]

welcome to the club. mis- fires seem to be getting common on these cars now. They're 14 years old. Yes, there are codes stored by now. If you can't get to a shop with a pst2 or a PIWIS, try and find a shop with durametric software.

There are numerous threads up on this forum specifically about CEL's, codes and common ignition, coil, plug problems on 996 cars.

The starting point for diagnostics usually are:

coilsplugs

connectors

fuel trims

ground straps at battery and from engine block.

gremlins effecting wiring. ( yes, rodents do crawl up into our cars and chew on wires ).

And, of course , this forum has some very knowledgeable folks to reach out to. ( Loren , in particular )

I assume then these three are the only scanners that could find a code that is not showing up with the OTC or (autozone brand) scanner?

thanks, like I siad light is not on now, car is not missing, and no codes came up when car turned back on after hooking up scanner.

now to try and find a shop someone in NE georgia, im over 65 miles out of atl up here!

thanks again!

[Silver_TT]

Just because the CEL isn't illuminated doesn't mean there isn't a code stored. I would definitely try scanning for codes using a PIWIS/PST2/Durametric. If you're 65+ miles from a shop I would definitely invest in a Durametric.

[JFP in PA]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

[kts]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

something like this? http://www.auto-tool-shop.com/porsche-piwis-tester-p-235.html

[Ahsai]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

something like this? http://www.auto-tool-shop.com/porsche-piwis-tester-p-235.html

Try Durametric. Much cheaper at $250-ish

If you use an Android phone, you can get a $15 OBDII bluetooth scanner and the $5 Torque App. Leave the scanner in the car and plug it in as soon as the CEL is ON. It sounds like you had some misfires that cleared out by the time you tried to read the codes.

Edited August 1, 2013 by Ahsai

[JFP in PA]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

something like this? http://www.auto-tool-shop.com/porsche-piwis-tester-p-235.html

A real PIWIS cannot be purchased, only leased, and starts at around $17K for the first year.

[kts]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

something like this? http://www.auto-tool-shop.com/porsche-piwis-tester-p-235.html

Try Durametric. Much cheaper at $250-ish

If you use an Android phone, you can get a $15 OBDII bluetooth scanner and the $5 Torque App. Leave the scanner in the car and plug it in as soon as the CEL is ON. It sounds like you had some misfires that cleared out by the time you tried to read the codes.

it definitly did not set a hard code that the typical obdIII scanner could see. car shows no codes off two different scanners, I will contact Durametric today and see if they can read any pending codes or codes not hard set. wow its been a while since I did any of this (pre '95)

[Silver_TT]

Refer to JFP's post #5 -- this doesn't have anything to do with "hard set" codes. It probably has to do with generic OBD II scanners not being able to read some Porsche-specific codes. In my opinion, owning a Durametric is a must-have for this reason...and as Ahsai said, it's possible you had misfires that have since cleared in the DME. For this reason also a good idea to have a Durametric on hand.

[JFP in PA]

I have been to two different places trying to get a code after this happens

car runs fine, all of a sudden engine light will flash 3 times fast, engine starts missing, car quit once, but both times it has happened I was able to get into a parts place once and a shop once, they put scanner on no nodes, but by that time car stopped missing and light was off

any ideas, it felt just like a cyl miss. do I need a special scanner to see it there is a held code? one scanner was at a autozone, the other scanner was a OTC scanner

thanks, it is 120 miles Rt to dealer

car is a 2000 996 non Turbo, 2 wheel drive, manual trans

It is not uncommon for a generic or "global" OBD II scanner to not see some codes on Porsches; you need to have it scanned with a Porsche specific scanner such as the PIWIS or Durametric system.

something like this? http://www.auto-tool-shop.com/porsche-piwis-tester-p-235.html

Try Durametric. Much cheaper at $250-ish

If you use an Android phone, you can get a $15 OBDII bluetooth scanner and the $5 Torque App. Leave the scanner in the car and plug it in as soon as the CEL is ON. It sounds like you had some misfires that cleared out by the time you tried to read the codes.

it definitly did not set a hard code that the typical obdIII scanner could see. car shows no codes off two different scanners, I will contact Durametric today and see if they can read any pending codes or codes not hard set. wow its been a while since I did any of this (pre '95)

Porsche uses a fairly unique programing system in their DME, which is why a lot of systems have trouble reading codes. Even systems designed for VW and Audi, a sister company of Porsche, cannot read or clear several types of codes on a Porsche. Because of this problem, it is also not unusual for non Porsche specific systems to read codes that are not real as well.

[jjb7]

Buy a Porsche specific reader. I own an AutoEnginuity. It sounds like low fuel pressure. Then the fuel pump catches up and all is good. My Volvo did this to me. A pain to diagnose because it was intermittent.