Thanks in advance for any feedback. This sight and it's helpful posts have saved me thousands! Oh yea and I enjoy doing it myself.
58,400 on a 2006 CS (manual tranney)
Initial cold start is taking long for the engine to fire. Car runs perfect after it starts. Battery was first obvious check. 5 yrs on the battery so I went ahead and changed it. Problem persists.
Note: I did replace the water pump and belt a couple weeks ago but doubt there is any coincidence. I'm a trouble shooter so I've been searching blogs with the symptoms and have come up with all kinds of possible issues:
-cracked coolant reservoir (somewhat 86'd this issue as there is no abnormal smoking issues nor is there evidence of leaks or low coolant)
-air oil separator (also likely not an issue as the plugs are not fouled and the car runs perfectly... after it starts)
-fuel pump relay (no clue to on how to determine if faulty... other than just replace)
-fuel pump & fuel filter (I actually had an interdependent service guy tell me this might be it. Could change it (Planet-9 post on how to do so) but would prefer more clarity as to if this is the culprit.
-clutch sensor (this one keeps popping up. Would be an easy fix. Curious because if the clutch isn't depressed on most cars and the Cayman it just WON'T start.. Could a faulty clutch sensor cause a delayed intermittent start?
Finally I show no suspicious Durametric fault codes... I DO have the "service in XX days" coming up when I turn the key but that's likely for the 60K service reminder.
Thanks again folks
Assuming the car starts normally on warm starts, I point at the fuel/filter. I had similar problems with an older 911.
Can you give a better description of "taking long for the engine to fire"?
- How long?
- Does it stumble/try to start, or just dry cranking?
- Do you have to try multiple times, or just takes a long time on the initial try?
Thanks guys. Dry cranking, 4 second count, maybe 5 at most. Not multiple attempts. I'm letting it turn.
I agree with kmaneh, a fuel issue. Sounds like the system is losing pressure when sitting and it's taking a couple of seconds to get it back up when cold.
Amateur next question... Is the fuel filter part of the fuel pump, i.e. when one changes the fuel pump they are simultaneously changing the fuel filter? I've got the thread on replacing the fuel pump but don't recall if changing a filter was a different / separate process. Hoping so. The process of pulling the fuel pump looks like quite a chore. Not to mention bridging the pump relay to drain the tank and dealing with excessive fumes. Guess I miss the old days of yanking the fuel pump on a 1967 Mustang. Certainly a different ball game.
Porschethisyear,
The fuel filter is part of the fuel pump which has to come out to get to the filter.
You might try replacing the temp sensor on the front of the engine. It has helped some hard starting issues.
Good luck,
Rob
Update to this issue / problem. Did replace the fuel pump and the problem of the difficult initial start is gone. Just to note this fuel pump had almost 59,000 miles on it. Thanks to all for your suggestions.
