holy crud! this is not what i was expecting after 1 month back

2003 C2 I put fuel stabilizer in (ran it for about 15 minutes to let circulate), filled tank to 90%, over pumped my tires, took the battery out and put on a tender while my car sat for a month (about 31 days). I turned it on today, no problem. I start driving it to work taking it super slow not pushing it (its cold). I notice that in the freeway 6th gear, it holds fine if i'm not pushing on the gas, but when i start pushing to accelerate, the engine crudders... best example is a shopping cart with a screwed up wheel. I thought it was just grime and it'd go away. i continue driving to work, exit freeway, and notice now its even worse, and soon the check engine light comes on. my heart is pounding. i keep driving to work, accelerating slowly, then i notice at a red light that there is a weak clicking sound with the engine, like a chk chk chk chk chk chk rhythmically increasing when i gas it. also the car vibrates ever so slightly while at rest in neutral. i got to work. turned it off. i'm afraid to turn it on again. WTH is happening? should i start it to drive to a mechanic? anyone know a INDY in Philadelphia? no way i can afford dealer repair. help help help.. please if you know what's going on call me.. PM me for my number. I've never been so scared haha :\

Quotes source post: 10078194

With these cars you have to pay to play, unless you are a Porsche mechanic youself.

doughtery automotive service in west chester,pa is a great place just outside philly. they are a top quality shop that knows these cars really well. they are less$$$$ than a dealer but still not cheap.

why would you add a fuel stabilizer for 30 days of storage?

while i look after my car a little compulsively ,you read these posts and shake your a head a little! these cars are not these fragile things were making them out to be,yes you should prep the car for long term storage,notice i sed long term,start the car sometimes,a trikkle charger is a good thing,maybe even take it out for a ride! its not going to fly off the road skidding into the trees because you have summer tires . these cars are built like a brick s#!@% house. remember the majority of info on these sites are great and lots of good tips,but alot of over kill as well,so read everything with a grain of salt,and careful when adding additives to the vehicle! remember use your car! it will thank u for it!.

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Straight to the nitty gritty... Why the hell would he add it in the first place for only a month of parking.???????????? I suggest drain/syphon most of the **** out of the tank if you can without running the car any further, then top up with new gas. Disconnect the battery to get rid of the CEL, reconnect, pump in the radio code and drive it again. Thats only I M H O of course.

If you have ticking, it prob gonna be a lifter bled down from sitting. Obviously if you have a check engine light on,you're gonna want to run the computer to get the code. If the code is something innocuous you coul idle the motor to give the lifter the opportunity to to pump back up. I laid my car up for a couple weeks during the summer while doing some maintenance/upgrades and ran into the same prob.

It could also be a bad ignition coil. Get a code reader.

As others said, you need to understand what codes are being thrown. If I had to guess, it sounds like multiple misfires. This could be due to bad gas (surprised the stabilizer would do that, but possible), failing coils, or multiple other reasons. You'll either need to dig into it yourself or take it to a shop. If you can't afford to maintain these cars you may want to consider alternatives.

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oh? you base this on what?

Quotes source post: 10078194

While you will probably save some money on the hourly rate, and dealers usually charge more for parts, in the end the price difference between an independent and the dealer is not that great. The only real way to save significant money on repairs is to get parts from Sunset/Suncoast and do the work yourself or with the help of friends. Your post sort of tells us this is not an option... There is no low-cost version of Porsche ownership.

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I agree, you can save money though by getting the parts your self and then having the indy or dealer do the labour. The indy is slightly cheaper but I found they will charge you the same hours on book even though it doesn't take them that long to do it.

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Only if you want the radio to work......................

No u don't need radio code for 2004. I've d/c'd the battery all te time and even my presents were remembered. But Wth is a lifter? Lifts what? I thought fuel stabilizer was good? Prior to leaving it last month, it was running in tip top shape.. I doubt spark plugs/ ignition went bad over 30 days of sitting but I don't know any better.. HELLLPPP :\

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Having added fuel stabilizer, shouldn't be a problem. 30 days of sitting and with a cracked coil will cause rust. Rust will cause ignition issues and mis-firing. Mis-fires will cause the check engine light to come on and running the engine while it continually mis-fires could cause other problems. Knowing the error code would help a lot.

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Jumper makes a gd point. If you have a significant crack in a coil the ticking you hear could be spark arc to a source of ground. In my case it was a lifter that bled down. It did pump back up after running for a while but I didn't have a CEL come on either. You can scan the ECM with a cheapo handheld. I use a simple auto zone scanner, it won't do nearly the things a durametric can do but it is enough to scan the codes. Stay calm it's prob not a big deal.

crap in the fuel filter? or "water' in the fuel?

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That's what I was thinking as well. +1

I know a couple of the Ferrari guys who have added Stabil to their fuel then mixed it with BG44k or some other additive and the stabil has turned to goo in their tank. I don't remember the details but they both said it was ridiculous to get out. Did you add something in addition to the stabilizer?

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Are you talking about the oil warning red light? Edit: oh red light at a semaphore. Sounds like a busted coil pack and you're misfiring on one cylinder. That or whatever you poured into the tank is total garbage.

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Check your garage for signs of pack rats/mice. They could have gotten into your engine compartment and done some damage. Doesn't take them long and 30 days is plenty.

i added Stabil... I've added stabil before it didnt do any harm (but i never let it sit for 30 days) We dont have mice (not to my most current knowledge and i looked last night in engine compartment and i didnt see obvious damage). I will be going to autozone to buy a decoder today after work and figure out what's up. which one should I buy? also, will it kill my engine to drive like this for a couple days? this is my DD

Stabil won't harm your engine. Is the check engine light "Drive to workshop" or is is flashing red? If the latter, DO NOT START THE ENGINE.

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I would not start/drive the car with the symptoms you described in your initial post. I notice that in the freeway 6th gear, it holds fine if i'm not pushing on the gas, but when i start pushing to accelerate, the engine crudders... best example is a shopping cart with a screwed up wheel. i continue driving to work, exit freeway, and notice now its even worse, and soon the check engine light comes on. i keep driving to work, accelerating slowly, then i notice at a red light that there is a weak clicking sound with the engine, like a chk chk chk chk chk chk rhythmically increasing when i gas it. also the car vibrates ever so slightly while at rest in neutral. And no matter how good our intentions, us little Rennlist kids are not going to be able to diagnosis this problem for you... and it does not sound like you have the skill set to do that yourself. Do yourself a favor, bite the bullet and pay $150 to a good shop - or the dealer - and find out what is wrong. Pronto.

^ this.

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+1

So u won't believe what happened. Get to my car after work tonight in fear. I turn it on.. Normal. I don't expect it to continue. I slowly back out. Accelerate and see its normal. Still doubtful. CEL doesn't come on.. Basically car is back to perfectly normal - no sounds, no stuttering, no CEL, NOTHING! I went to autozone to see ehat the CEL was for and their machine said "zero codes" Any ideas as to what happened?

Gremlins!

+1 for a cracked coil case. It got wet and when dried up, it sarted workimg fine. If it happened once, it will happen again....it ALWAYS does. Also, get it scanned with a better reader. Once a CEL is thrown, it is saved in the memory, even if the light goes out later.

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Just WAGs.. Not sure what effect gas stabilizer has on fuel octane rating. I note the engine was having issues in 6th gear and it could be you were just lugging the engine a bit. Under low rpm large throttle opening this is prime time for detonation. Could have been some stratification of the fuel too. I'm not sure all fuel stabilizers are any good or bad. I've never used any. A cap gas could have developed a small leak or possibly even an oil filler tube cap. They're old and sitting around one month there's a bit of o-ring shrinkage and a leak. A real problem if the engine is cold since an air leak at this time adds air when the engine is least able to tolerate a lean condition. The engine might not be out of the woods yet. I like the mice idea. I mean I hope that mice have not been at the car but the circumstances fit. Car is parked up symptom free. One month later - which is really not that much time for fuel (provided it was reasonably fresh to begin with and of the proper seasonal blend if seasonal gasoline is used where you are) but plenty of time for mice to do their thing -- then right off the bat problems. The only thing against mice is the symptoms went away. Not much you can do now with no error codes. Just pay particular attention to the engine and if it starts acting up again shut the engine off and get the car to a proper shop. You want those error codes.

wet coil dried out cam actuator stuck, put car in limp mode - became "unstuck" variocam plus lifter stuck in "down" position - the center plungers can get stuck fouled spark plug - cleared just watch for it again, and be ready to get the code when it (if it) does it so you can fix whatever caused it free fixes are good - have a glass of wine and smile

Cool, if this is it.

There will def be codes logged from the earlier misfires; get a proper reader and pull them.

Yes, it takes, IIRC, 10 starts with no faults to clear CEL and possibly codes. Some possibliites: Check or have checked, battery water levels and voltages. Any tender can overcharge or toast a battery, even the smart ones. They are not really that "smart". If you literally, just removed the battery tender, and then started driving, that may have been it. I use them periodically over the winter, but never for more than a day once battery shows full charge. If battery was affected, then driving it may have caused the alternator to continue to affect it, and possibly boil some electrolyte. Letting it sit for a while (the whole work day) allowed it to equalize and voltages are somewhat normal. I agree, it sounds like ignition issue, similar to what happened to me when I first got the car 5 years ago. I drove it for 3 days, no issue, then what you described happened to me twice, cel went away, then finally happened again, worse than before. All it was, in my case, was a loose ignition coil, not bolted in. BTW, no fuel filter in the MKII cars.

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Why did Porsche eliminate fuel filters for the MKIIs? How does the car prevent debris from clogging injectors?

A lifter lifts the valve open as the camshaft actuates/rotates in the engine. Spark plugs and ignition will not go bad in 30 days but the fuel is less than desirable. The plugs are trying ignite the additive you put in the gas tank and it not as volatile as gasoline.

Actually the lifters don't really lift anything on there or many other DOHC engines. They push the valve down, not lift it.

some fun reading - they are actually called Tappets common shop name = lifter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_tappet

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The filter is still there but built-in with the fuel pump enclosed in the fuel tank.

I agree with earlier posters that this sounds electrical, and is probably not going away forever. I have used Dougherty in West Chester for my 996 maintenance and highly recommend them for this or any other job. Suggest you plan to have it looked at before the next emergency.

Quotes source post: 10079888

I'm thinking that since KrazyK now has tons of extra time on his hands he found your car at work and fixed it while you were inside.... :-)

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was wondering WHEN someone would say something about it

Instructions on stabilizers and other additives mention having the fuel level down a certain amount then pour in additive and then top off with fuel to assure the added gas mixes the additive. Filler necks don't arrange themselves to mix gas. A low level of fuel assures the additive will be stirred when adding gas. Lots of injector and engine cleaner stuff is oil bases heavier than fuel and requiring to be stirred up off the bottom. How much fuel was in your tank before fuel additive? Could of been your only problem. Just in case you pay time and money into tryin to track down the cause and it was just the additive surged out of a crease in the tank and overwelmed you engine.

I vote phase separation or settling of the stabilizer that caused an injection of "nonflammable fuel" to foul a plug(s). Which cleared up with remixing while driving thus transmogrifying the "fuel" into something that would burn. Get the engine good and warm then run it up to 5 or 6k under load a couple of times. Are you due for spark plugs?

It could also be a bad ignition coil. Get a code reader.

MAF sensor got cobwebs on it? Caught the squirls sleeping and sucked in their pajamas? Anything loose on the intake plastic? If you haven't treated for water and the srts maybe the additive absorbed all the gunk into the fuel at the bottom. I've seen water look like a gel on the bottom of a tank shifting around when the tank is moved. Like always we all always love to give you the maximum amount of things to check Air, fuel, ignition. Do the simple checks first like air filter, maf sensor cleaned and such. Nice to hear it cleared up.