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YOUR RESEARCHHelp - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
Reported or suspected cause
ignition coils
Reported cause
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Help - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
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Leading evidence: 'ignition coils' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'ignition coils' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check /clear codes and have the app' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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1
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Reported cause
Turned out to be a bad VarioCam solenoid and actuator.
Help - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
Repair i continued
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
After the VarioCam solenoid/actuator repaired I continued to drive the car and it now has over 266K miles.
Help - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
Replace with new ones, i did notice a smoother idle
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
After I replaced with new ones, I did notice a smoother idle.
Help - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
Check /clear codes and have the app
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Suggestion
You can check/clear codes and have the app running all the time while driving.
Help - engine light popped on - is my engine fried?
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Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
37 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Hey -
My engine light popped on my 996 C4S tonight and it started to run very rough. Enough so that I pulled over and parked it, and walked home.
Of course, the f*cking PPO ran out ..... 30 days ago. How do I know if the check engine light is a dead engine versus something else? The car was serviced a few months ago at a Porsche dealer.
I am now panicked that I have a dead engine; what do I do ?
thanks in advance
You need to get an obdii reader to read the error code(s) first and go from there. The simplest case is a cracked coil, in which case you will have a buch of misfire error codes.
Some auto parts places will read the code for free, or get your own code reader. As others have mentioned, could be 1 or more bad coil packs that would cause rough running. Don't despair, all is not lost.
If you have a smart phone...buy a obd2 bluetooth(12 bucks) and DL torque app(5 bucks).
You can check/clear codes and have the app running all the time while driving. You can monitor live temps(coolant, intake, etc etc), o2 sensor values etc etc
Given the engine was running rough enough that you parked the car and walked I would advise you to not run the engine any more.
My advice would be to get the car flat bedded to a qualified shop (dealer service or indy) and have the cause of the CEL id'd.
The code or codes associated with the CEL will go a ways to helping diagnose the problem.
Or if you want buy an OBD2 code reader and read the codes yourself. You can do this without starting the engine. Do not erase them just yet.
Post the codes here and someone will fill in the blanks.
But my first choice would be you get the car to a qualified shop.
Knowing the codes is not going to cure the problem. Someone's going to have to get his hands dirty to fix the problem, even if the cause is something relatively benign as one or more bad coils.
Added: Oh I do not think the engine is fried. If it is any consolation fried engines usually go out with more drama.
But the engine may be close to being fried. I do not mean to scare you but to impress upon you the importance of not running the engine again but instead to have it looked at by an expert.
Good luck -- similar thing happened on our 525i wagon last year. Running so rough I thought it had to be timing belt or something major. Luckily, just a faulty ignition coil -- $150 later back on the road. Cross fingers...!
must be spring, mine went off today as well. Car runs fine though, most likely something minor, run the codes and take it from there I would not panic until you have something to panic about.
Got a CEL on the day I pulled it out from winter storage. P1531. Possible actuator failure. Had it reset just to see what would happen and it came back the next day. Code had come up before I stored it but after the 60k service it disappeared. Car runs fine. Will need to do some further investigating. Problem is that emissions is due in a month so need to get on it quick.
Best of luck.
So in NYC trying to track down an indy to read the car
The fun on this, is the 2 year CPO literally ran out two weeks ago ... hence my panic. It sounds like its not a disaster; but the problem wasnt the light going on ... but that the engine started to sound horribly rough (which is why I pulled it over and walked home)
When I get the code read; I will let you know
thanks!
The CEL coming on concurrent with the engine running poorly is always the time to err on the side of caution. Shut off the engine first and ask questions later.
I've had the CEL come on in my Boxster more times than I can remember -- weak converter mostly -- and seeing it come doesn't faze me but the one time I pulled into the office parking lot and the engine started running rough -- after a 30 mile highway drive with no drama -- and though the CEL wasn't on I got a bit worried. A rough running Boxster engine with approx. 230K miles on it will bring the worry.
Turned out to be a bad VarioCam solenoid and actuator.
Okay ... it was the coils
YAY!!!
I think the warning light on plus VERY rough engine totally freaked me out.
Now the question I dont want to ask .... but how much should it cost to fix the air filters, spark plugs, coils + a tow?
Thanks guys .... you are all awesome!!!
A whole bunch less than an engine. Seriously though, if you have a relationship with a dealer, preferably the one who CPO'd the car, and you are a few weeks out of CPO warranty, it wouldn't hurt to ask them to help you out. PCNA gave me a new engine and although the car was a CPO car at one point, it had expired over two years prior and under a previous owner.
+1. I got a rear seat belt replaced covered by the dealer even my car was a few months out of the original factory warranty. All depends on the service advisor.
Get a service kit and do it yourself, if you have the tools and time available. There is ton of information on here (rennlist) that will give you all the information you need. For more information on our kits
Click Here.
You should probably do all coils at the same time as it will only be a matter of time before the others go bad as well.
Even for people that have a lot of miles on their cars, it is worthwhile to replace them. Case in point, my car started to idle slightly rough and I mean very slightly rough which I just attributed to the poly engine mounts I installed. I never got any check engine lights so didn't think anything of it. I had to replace some leaking spark plug tubes and figured I would also replace all plugs and coils while I was in there. After inspecting my coils very carefully, I found 3 out of the 6 had some very fine micro cracks. Not enough to set off the CEL but just enough to not make them perform 100% efficiently. After I replaced with new ones, I did notice a smoother idle.
The cracks are not the problem but the moisture that get inside the cracks and shorts out the coil. If you can seal up the cracks, the coil will be fine even in the biggest downpour. Ask me how I know.
Cracks when they get big enough could arc causing issues as well. Moisture doesn't necessarily need to be present. I agree you can just reseal them but I don't like band aids like that personally on something like this.
Yeah; I did all the coils, spark plugs, etc.
Ended up paying $800 -- but the folks also brought it to their shop and were pretty helpful.
I agree that engine light + sudden extreme roughness in the engine = instantly turn off the engine (just incase). At the end of the day, you were all right and it was just the coils. Heck, I am just happy to have my car back .... Ive had it now for over two years and EVERY time I turn the car on; it makes me smile
As always, thank you Rennlist contributers!!!
