All of a sudden my car sounds/drives perfect? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

So for a least 4-5 months of this year my car was making a funny high pitched sound on start up. It lasted about 30 seconds or so. I did some reading about it and it sounded like it was something to do with some kind of secondary air pump working on the cat to warm it up (I think I read about it on rennlist). I never got to record the sound even though I had been meaning to. The other thing that my car had always done was for the first minute or so of driving from cold it would be kind jerky if I moved up the gears quicky. Then a couple weeks ago I went on a 7 day vacation out of the country and my car never got drove. When I got back I started my car and the noise (on start up) had gone. It's now been 2 weeks and I have not heard the noise at all (it would happen twice a day without fail). Even the jerkyness seems to have gone. I read somewhere before that after a number of days of non driving, something in the ECU resets and on next startup the car "resets" and readjusts to the ambiant environment. I live up in Seattle. The weather has definetly got warmer after my vacation. Am I smoking crack or did "something" happen to my car whilst I was away?

BMAN How many mile you got on it? I get the high pitch whine at start up but goes away within 10 or 15 seconds. Mine is also a 2001, it's done that since I purchased it.. I have 87K. T

Maybe your brother in-law was driving your Boxster while you were away and it adjusted to his driving style I think it might be the polution controls making noise on startup to help reduce the cold emmissions but perhaps since its warmer they are not as active. The AOS also comes to mind since it had time to drain. It will be interesting to note if it comes back with colder weather or more driving. keep us posted. Being a California driver I can't say I notice any high pitch whine at startup, so perhaps the ambient temperature is a factor. Its been over 60F most mornings when I start up in the garage.

I get a "whirring" sound from the engine compartment after I start mine up (1997). It lasts about 30 seconds. It's been in the 100s in the Chicago area lately, so I'm not sure if that is temperature related, if we are talking about the same noise. I don't know what it is, but I usually wait for it to go away before I start driving.

Its either the warmer weather or the crack. Boxster's never fix themselves.

No whining noise after cold start-up means air pump is no longer working. I predict a Check Engine Light in your very near future.

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Not sure I agree. I didn't have the noise for the first 15k miles after I bought the car. It's been there for the last 10k or so.

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Do you think your air pump was not working for those 15k miles??

Well the car was originally from California so the warm weather might be making it a little nostalgic :-) It's got about 77k miles. I had the 60k service at 67k (when I bought the car). I get the car checked every 6 months when I change the oil. It's due soon so I'll get it checked then. Like I said the car has never felt better in the two years I've owned it.

ok the problem seems to have come back. I've posted the video here. Startup Issues with my 986 - YouTube You can hear the problem (it's like a high pitched vacuum cleaner) from about 0:05 all the way to 0:48 where it just suddenly goes away. If I rev the engine it comes back (this is new behavior). This is coming from the right hand side intake. I only hear the noise on startup and if the car has been sitting for a while. Trips to the shops i.e. frequently starting do not cause the problem It's usually first thing before work and then when I'm leaving work.. Any help appreciated. bobby

Secondary Air Injection Pump is the first thing that comes to mind, but that is not how they normally sound on cold start up. Have you taken your interior engine cover off behind the drivers seat to listen? Sounds have such a crazy way of resonating off of everything, it may help you more easily pinpoint the source. Good luck!

So yes it was the secondary air injection pump ... got one off of ebay ... $160. first time i'd ever cracked open engine cover and changed a part. easiest job thus far. car sounds perfect on start up! thanks everyone.

For future reference, the only thing that I have read about that shuts down after some time is the keyless entry. I believe it's 5 days, and after that you have to use your key in the door to unlock and turn the system back on.

Hi, I just started experiencing that startup whine. I have had my Boxster since October 2015 and I started noticing the whine about a month ago. From what I've read the outside temperature doesn't have anything to do with it. Other than the startup whine it is running perfectly. And, I am or maybe was planning on putting about 600 miles on it this weekend. Looking for advice from those of you with more owner experience. I do have another vehicle to make the trip, just would prefer the more fun one.

First make sure your secondary air pump is working correctly. It should run for about 90 seconds on a cold startup It is the Vacuum cleaner sound you hear. If there is also a high pitch whine when the air pump is running then you maybe hearing the Air pump's Bearing whining due to no grease. You can take the Air pump apart and re-grease the bearing. Mine has been Whine free for over 2 years since re-greasing

I have 29,000 miles on my Boxster and never heard the SAI until a couple months ago. I now get a whine for about 15 seconds on the first start in the morning. Appreciate the post and advise kk2002s. I'll take care of that is week.

Boy, you are right on about the time. I started it up and put a stopwatch on it and it went off after 97 seconds. Since I've only owned it since Oct 2015 I have not done too much to it myself other than oil & filter changes. Is Sec Air pump easily accessible? I may consider the re-greasing option. Thanks for your response. Oh, I should mention there is no noise after it winds down and then goes off.

I find that generally, if you leave something alone for a long enough time, the problem solves itself. I used to leak oil and coolant in my DD. I stopped adding oil and coolant and after a little while they both stopped leaking. Problem solved.

CoBeerToad: I noticed that in this thread you mentioned you're from the Chicagoland area. Has the insane humidity during a couple weeks this summer made your boxster act weird at all? I have noticed on a really humid day the car doesn't always start up right away, like it sounds like it's going to misfire but then at the last second it comes to life. Also, when in neutral or sitting in first gear with the clutch depressed, the car likes to actually rev itself without me giving any throttle. It'll fluctuate from about 500rpms to 1000 rpms, occasionally jumping all the way to 1200. This is when I'm just standing still at a stop light. It's so pronounced that a 350z actually thought I was trying to antagonize a race one time... Lol. I do know that I need a new o2 sensor but not sure if that even would cause something like this. Any thoughts or is it just a 16 year old car acting weird in the humidity?

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Very easy to get to. Right side, top of engine bay. Remove 1 hose, 1 electrical plug and 3 bolts. The Air pump uses 3 vibration isolators (2 threaded posts sandwiching a rubber piece) 1 of mine was torn. These Porsche isolators are about $25+ each but from Granger you can get a similar one for a couple bucks each Pump comes apart fairly easy. I used a Needle adapter on a grease gun to get past the bearings Seal 2000986s - This is not normal in any weather. You need to look into either MAF or cleaning your Throttle body and Plenum Tubes