konakat

So I was thinking that instead of fighting this fuel rail and potentially cracking the hard lines welded onto the rail for the damper and FPR, I could maybe swap a late fuel rail since I think it seems to have a slightly better design. Would there be any gotchas with that swap? I can get one for $40 that includes a (probably working) FPR and damper.

mel_t_vin

So, where do things stand with your car? Is the old fuel rail back on?

konakat

I decided to put a late fuel rail on. Just received it and some fuel line so I can adapt to the late rail. I will update once i have those installed.

konakat

Well, I have now done a few short drives with no issues. I am going to tentatively say that the late fuel rail with a known working FPR and damper seems to have fixed my stumbling problem. I will slowly build up to longer drives to verify, but I just made it home from work with zero issues, whereas before I was limping by the time I got home. I wish I had a smoking gun component that I could point at and say "this was it", but it seems it must have been either the FPR or damper. I think my serious issues that started popping up recently were caused by broken injector connectors. In dealing with the new fuel rail, I discovered that the injector connectors were all broken and being held on with a glob of silicone (thanks PO). I have some replacements from Arnnworx ready to put on, but in the meantime just cleaning them seems to have been good enough. Thanks for all the help everyone, I hope this will be my last post in this thread.

mel_t_vin

So, when you say "known working FPR and damper", does that mean you put a new FPR/FPD on that salvaged rail?

konakat

No, they came with the rail and came from a running car. I have a new damper in my possession, but I'm a bit hesitant to mess with anything right now. Having a well-running Porsche is a foreign concept for me still. I might actually try putting the old damper back on at some point to try and confirm if that is the faulty component.

mel_t_vin

Okay, I get the whole "don't fix it if it's not broken" thing, but keep in mind, all you did was swap your 30-yo parts for someone else's 28-yo parts.

I'd definitely keep that damper on the shelf...and source an FPR to keep it company, as time/money permit. Happy to hear you're back on the road.

konakat

Car died again this afternoon. I've been running it a good bit in the last couple weeks so I thought I was in the clear, but it wasn't to be. It really seems that making quick stops while running errands or lots of traffic lights is related. Today I ran the car about 10 minutes, stopped for 10 minutes, ran for 10 minutes, stopped for 10 minutes, then started it again and it died after just a minute or so. It was much more abrupt this time, there was no stumbling, it just died as I pulled away from a stop sign. I could start it again, but it would only run a couple seconds before dying again. I still have the fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail and it was definitely not too much pressure. I'm starting to think it might be something in my DME, that's the only other thing I can think of that might slowly warm up and stop working that abruptly. While it was stopped I tried disconnecting one fuel injector to see if the driver was overheating, but that didn't help. I also jumpered the fuel pump relay to make sure that wasn't the culprit. Like usual, I was able to pick up the car 4 hours later and it made it home without a hiccup.

konakat

So my latest theory is that it could be an ignition switch issue. Perhaps the 'On' position contact heats up and loses conductivity, causing the car to die. This would help explain why I am always able to start the car, but then it dies again within a second or two after it is started. Has anyone heard of this sort of failure for an ignition switch? My searches reveal most failures are problems with the 'Start' position.