Engine just stopped running …

My 2000 Base has smelled of unburned gas the last few days when started cold. No dash lights were present.

On Saturday, I was in Park and idling while checking directions and the engine went dead. I sat for a moment and restarted the car without issue. 2 minutes later as I pulled away from a stop sign the engine went dead again. I rolled back into a spot along the curb (fortunately without any contact with the cars behind me) and tried to start the car again. The starter whirred, but wouldn’t start.

I tried the jumpstart battery - since that was the only solution I could fix, but no dice.

I called AAA and while waiting 3 hours did a lot of googling. CPS maybe?

When the car was offloaded at my mechanic - who is away racing, the car restarted.

I left it there and will await his prognosis.

Thoughts?


Andrew

Some things to check...
- crank position sensor -- car will not fire while cranking if it can't determine the crank position
- fuel pump relay (in driver side footwell panel) -- no fuel delivery if bad
- fuel pump -- same

The fact that it's cranking would eliminate the starter & battery from the usual suspects.

The fact that it died while idling might tend to take the CPS off the suspect list, as I think it's only used when starting.

There's a Schrader valve on the fuel rail that can be used (carefully!) to verify whether fuel is being delivered & to check the pressure. (It'll spray in your face if it's pressurized and you test it. It retains pressure at least for some time.)

Best is to do a scan with a PST-II or Durametric to see what's stored.
It could still be a CPS that acts up when hot (I've see that a few times).
And as Trygve states it could be a fuel issue (pump or relay).
I'm sure your mechanic will figure it out.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 315,000+ miles: [garage.pca.org]
[www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

I thought I'd post a follow up.

The first time I dropped the car off at the mechanic (well, the tow truck driver did), there were apparently no engine codes to work with. My mechanic said, "we can try replacing things, but ...". So we chalked it up to a fluke and I drove it home.

Unfortunately, I drove to Philly and had the car die again as I was waiting for a light to change to pull into my destination. So the car died in the left turn lane (bad) but at least it died after I got off I-95 (a major road). I had it towed again to my mechanic.

Again, the car started upon unloading from the flatbed.

This time the engine did throw codes and the issue was with the crankshaft sensor.

$331 with tax + $151 AAA tow + tip later and the car is running fine.

Perhaps, since I hope to keep the car forever, I should increase my plan level with AAA .

Andrew

I have had a crankshaft sensor go on my '05 Pathfinder, and the issue showed up similarly - a stutter and die at a light, but it restarted and I got to my mechanic's shop. It was not overly expensive.

You should be good to go with a new one.