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YOUR RESEARCHHelp! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
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coolant tank leak
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Reported cause
I had the same problem with my 2001, it turned out to be a coolant tank leak.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
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Leading evidence: 'coolant tank leak' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'coolant tank leak' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check engine is a warning' (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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The generation of codes is a simple function and no scanner that I have used has ever had a problem displaying them.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Use with a laptop vs
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Only caveat with that one is that it is to be used with a laptop vs.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Check engine is a warning
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Suggestion
On other cars check engine is a warning that the emissions system is faulty check o2 sensors or somethibg like that.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Check intake connections
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Suggestion
Before anything, I would check intake connections for leaks, exhaust system for leaks, clean the throttlebody and runn a few tanks of gas with fuel injector cleaner in it.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Check intake connections
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Suggestion
Before anything, I would check intake connections for leaks, exhaust system for leaks, clean the throttlebody and runn a few tanks of gas with fuel injector cleaner in it.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Clean throttlebody and runn a few tanks of gas
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Before anything, I would check intake connections for leaks, exhaust system for leaks, clean the throttlebody and runn a few tanks of gas with fuel injector cleaner in it.
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
Recommend porsche independent shop here in houston -- viking motorsports
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Suggestion
My airbag warning light came on recently after a steering wheel replacement DIY, so I took the car to a well-recommended Porsche independent shop here in Houston -- Viking Motorsports -- to have it reset (great folks, BTW).
Help! Does the engine light come on at 20,000 miles?
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38 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
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Hi all,
a few weeks ago you all helped me out by giving me some pointers for my trek across america. Well im almost to Los Angeles and the check engine light came on- either exactly or within a mile of turning 20,000. The car is running fantastic so im thinking its just a routine service light. Can anyone confirm before i drive the last 200 miles?
btw, I will post an amazing diary of my trek across some of the most amazing places in America in a few day. What a way to break in your first Porsche.
On other cars check engine is a warning that the emissions system is faulty check o2 sensors or somethibg like that. P-car should be the same. Someone will tell you if i am wrong
The engine light DOES NOT come on to signal service at 20,000 miles. Like riad said, it is an indication that something is wrong with the emission system. Get your scanner out and read the codes.
If you can pull the code and post it here you would have an answer in minutes as to what the code is/means. The CEL is NOT a service related lights (as 1999 already stated).
there are still some codes that are proprietary to porsche and cannot be read by the generic scanners out there,
that said, in conjunction with some of the online databases, they are helpful in getting a home diagnosis to sometimes simply problems.
Most, if not all, generic scanners will report ALL codes generated by the computer, whether the codes are generic or proprietary. They won't necessarily give you an accurate description of the code, but the number is there and correct. The generation of codes is a simple function and no scanner that I have used has ever had a problem displaying them.
Ok got a scanner and got some codes, 3 of them came up actually:
P0150
P1124
P1126
The book that came with the scanner only identifies 0150 as O2 sensor malfunction. Anyone know where i can find the Porsche codes for this?
I erased the codes and after starting the car the engine light remained off.
anyone know these codes?
thx!!
The P0150 indicates a bad O2 sensor on bank 2. The sensor before the cats. The P1124 indicates that the O2 sensors (bank 1) and P1126 (bank 2) have reached their RICH threshold which means the engine is running extremely LEAN. Before anything, I would check intake connections for leaks, exhaust system for leaks, clean the throttlebody and runn a few tanks of gas with fuel injector cleaner in it. You are either getting too much air or not enough fuel.
Be careful at WOT with this condition as a lean engine can be fried pretty quickly. If your scanner has the ability to display the O2 sensor readings., let us know what all four are reading while idle and what the MAF flow is. It would also be helpful to know what the seconday O2 sensor read at WOT. (at any speed)
Thanks for the info- Im wondering, could the fact that the last 2500 miles I have driven over 6 days in all sorts of terrain, up and down mountains, through kansas, deserts etc... would the computer try to compensate and so this is all a "blurp" in the system now that i have reset?
My plan is to get it to the nearest dealer and have it looked at in the morning.
Good one Jim....that's the one I got last year. Works great. Only caveat with that one is that it is to be used with a laptop vs. a PDA. I prefer the laptop application so I went with it.
Stoopid noob suggestion here, but if you don't put your gas cap on right, I think it triggers and emission system fault and the light. Any chance that was the cause?
I was considering getting a scanner as well, although I don't know much about what fault codes a scanner can or can't read. My airbag warning light came on recently after a steering wheel replacement DIY, so I took the car to a well-recommended Porsche independent shop here in Houston -- Viking Motorsports -- to have it reset (great folks, BTW). For some reason, all three of their scanners couldn't even read the fault code at all, much less resetting it. I ended up having to take it to the dealer. I was in a hurry, so I didn't get a chance to inquire further with the technician. Is this a strange case, or is there actually a limitation on what codes scanners can read?
FWIW oddball O2 sensor codes can also be caused by a tank of bad gas or, the use of some additives. I had a weird one on my GT3 which after the dealer reset it never came back. They didn't understand the code (dduno which it was - sorry) but Tech support in Atlanta suggested the possibility I wrote above.
Codes can be caused by anamolous conditions and never reappear. On the other hand if there is a fault the CEL light will come back in after some miles and it would be wise to visit the dealer. A loose gas cap or a loose oil filler cap (they do get loose and unscrew themselves on early 996s) will make the CEL light up.
rgds,
with faults like that I would clear them and then drive the car, the faults should reappear quickly.
the 0150 should reappear instanty as that is a circut fault . IF it does not i wold ignore it for now
the 1124/1126 indcate a vacum leak. The best way to diagnose this would be if you had acces to a scanner to show the adpataion numbers or the fueltrim numbers but in a pinch you can check it all without
check the oil cap is it on tight?
with the car running take off the oil cap does the engine run diffrent?
Check the fill tube for cracks where it bends ( the accordian part)
next check is more involved you will need to lift the car.
on the drivers side at the back of the engine looking up past the trans is the oil seperator, there is an rubber acoridain hose the runs from the seperator to the engine its about 3 inchs long. stick you hand up and feel the hose, if it feels gummy or you can feel a hole or theres oi leaking there then yu have found your leak.
iff al thouse check out then your probaly going to need to take it to a shop that can smoke check the intake system and find the casue of the leak.
clearing the misinforation
gas cap will not casue a light for o2 adaptaion, it will casue a p0455 p0454 tank vent major/minor leak
very rare for a bad maf to casue lean faults
99% of the time bad mafs casue the car to run way rich p1128/1130
poor fuel pressure could casue those faults, but porsche engines are very sensitive to fuel pressure and if the car runs and pulls hard over 3000 rpm, your probaly ok on the fuel pressure
an exhuast leak could cause one of those faults, but the chance that both sides started leaking at the same time are slim to none.
I don't think so.
I took my car from San Diego to Michigan and back, and went up and down mountains, deserts, plains, rain, sleet, and even snow (freak September snow-storm in Colorado) - at 95mph - and didn't have any fault codes pop up. I have 100k miles btw.
You didn't sate the year but these are the Porsche OBD Codes for DME 7.2 2000-2001.
P0150 Oxygen sensor ahead of TWC, bank 2
P1124 Fuel pump relay output stage
P1126 Oxygen sensing adaptation, lower load range, bank 1
My first guess would be a bad 02 Sensor. My advice is to spend a few dollars and buy the Durametric software which will run on your laptop. Best program for the money if you don't have access to a PST2 which is the Porsche tester. It will diagnose every system in your car and allow you to reset any codes you may get including airbag and alarm. However, it will not let you access the alarm module however. The great thing about the Durametric is allows you to graph and read the actual output of all the sensors not just read the cade. This way you can see what is actualy going on. The cost of one misdiagnosed componet will offset the cost of the software.
http://www.durametric.com/default.aspx
