2000 Boxster Dying while driving... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I have a 2000 Boxster with ~67k miles. A few months ago I was stopping at a red light and the engine just died out. Completely shut off. It took me 10 minutes to get it started again. It wouldn't start up right away, I had to push the car to the side of the road, wait 10 minutes, and then it would start up. Lately it's been happening to me every time I drove it. I live in Florida where the heat is pretty high. I noticed in the morning it would drive ok but in the afternoon/evening it would die about 10 minutes after starting up and driving away. I'm at my witts end on what this could be. My local dealership said they don't know whats wrong and can't reproduce it. I have an automatic yet it feels like it stalls out when braking up to a light or sitting idle at the light. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I've checked the oil, I've checked the coolant, I've checked everything a normal car owner could check yet the problem is getting more frequent.

Did you actually take the car to Porsche of Orlando or just talked to them on the phone? It sounds like MAF - but it could be numerous other causes.

At that mileage, the fuel filter is probably ready to be replaced. Have you done that? A clogged filter may cause those symptoms. I replaced the filter on my 19k mile '01 the other day and I couldn't believe the amount of dark gray crap that spewed out of the thing. I'm not sure if Boxsters are susceptible to this, but some of my previous cars had similar symptoms to yours when the plug wires/coil packs were dried out and cracked, which lead to arcing (mainly causes hesitation, but occasionally killed the car for a bit). It's more noticeable in humid weather, and I think FL would qualify as humid. Other than that, I don't know. Good luck.

Sounds like an electrical problem. Could be a wide range of things from failing ignition switch, bad relay(s), shorting wire somewhere in the harness, or even a failing MAF sensor as previously stated (but I don't think that is it), etc. Was this car ever in an accident?

The car's never been in an accident, and I took it to the porsche dealership in north orlando twice for this with them saying (both times) they are unable to reproduce it so they don't know. My ignition switch is faulty, it's broken (loose) but I don't have the $600 to fix it right now. I fail to see how the ignition switch (which when turned, cranks the engine) would cause this. But then again I'm not a mechanic. I have not had the fuel filter replaced in quite some time.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// The ignition switch on a Boxster can cause all sorts of weird issues that you normally wouldn't even associate with the switch so you should definitely try fixing that first. As far as $600, even not being mechanically inclined you can probably do that yourself for $20-25 which is just for the cost of the actual part of the switch that you need and not that entire assembly piece that the dealer would be charging you for along with the monsterously inflated hours to change it out. If you can't do it yourself, maybe you know someone who could do it for you or even an independent shop would probably do it for 1-2 hr of labor which is still going to be a lot less than the stealership. Here is a link from Mike Focke's site showing how-to replace the switch and exactly what you need. http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/ignitionswitchreplacement

^ | | +---- what he said! Replace your ignition switch. If you were nearby, I'd offer to help you do it... but we live about 1,000 miles apart. There has to be someone on this forum (near you) that could help you do it and learn to be more comfortable about doing your own maintenance. If you want to continue to enjoy your Boxster without going broke, you really should learn how to do your own maintenance work. Good luck!

I'm having the same issue, my mechanic suggested a bad MAF, oxygen sensors, or possibly a vacuum leak.

I would be curious as to what was the issue if you get this fixed. Please post back once it is fixed. I don't want to waste money on mechanics and would like to be able to put them in the right direction.

Honestly the couple of mechanics I've consulted have led me onto very different paths and have tried to use scare tactics to make me spend more money. I've ordered oxygen sensors and am going to clean the MAF first to see if there is any effect. If this isn't the answer I'm guessing its a vacuum leak and I'll go from there. Are you getting any codes? I have a manual and it only dies now if the car has been running on idle, sometimes when I've been idling for a very long time and other times just randomly.

In general today's engines all work the same, they feed data to a computer and when one sensor is starting to go the car does silly things like you mentioned but the sensors are still within specs so they don't throw a check engine light. Google "car dies when stopped" and you'll see what I mean, everything from a bad vacuum hose to the Mass Air Flow sensor. Find a good mechanic and describe your problem. He/She doesn't need to be a Porsche mechanic just one that understands how to troubleshoot. My guess it that most likely it's one of the following: MAF - dying when coming to a stop and idle "hunting" issues (up/down, up/down) Coolant Temp Sensor - rough idle issues at either warm or cold O2 sensor - bucking when running at a constant speed on the highway and several more general symptoms that I can't think of right now but any good mechanic can educate you. If it was my car, I'd first replace the ignition switch (DIY) then tap on the MAF when the engine is idling. If the idle changes, replace the MAF. Then search on this forum and then I'd post the WEB for someone that has software that can read what the computer is doing. Keep us all posted Good luck. -Steve

UPDATE: After taking my car to several 3rd party shops, shopping for the best price on my ignition switch, I found a garage called Zotz ( http://www.zotzgarage.com ) here in Orlando. They replaced the ignition switch and also found the root cause of my stalling issues. Bad crankshaft sensor. So they called me up to tell me the costs and all together, both switch and sensor, under $500. I'm stoked! I told them go ahead and do it as I was expecting repairs well over $800. To all orlando area porsche owners, Zotz Garage is the best!

ill second that one zotz is the place i used to live and work right down the street.

Total amount spent at Zotz Garage was $351.53!! for Ignition Switch and Crankshaft Sensor. Not only did they get it all done in one day, but I was greeted by a blonde bombshell upon dropping my car off (Hubba Hubba). Zotz is now my garage of choice as the dealership was quoting me $600 for the switch and probably another $300-$400 for the sensor.