Greetings everyone,
I just picked up my first 996. It is a 2000 C2. The first time I filled the car up with fuel, the engine had a hard time starting. It took several attempts but it finally turned over and fired up. Car had plenty of power and ran ok. The problem didnt occur when I just shut it down and started again at other times. It only happens when I fuel the car. Also, I do smell exhaust in the cabin very briefly at times but it goes away.

Being new to a 996 I dont know where to start. Please tell me I am not doomed?!

 

Perhaps you are over-filling it. Perhaps.
I do not recommend filling it until fuel is spilling out the filler tube. I would bet you are NOT doing that, but a suggestion anyway. If you overfill, it blocks the breather system. Then once the system has burned down some gas it has air in it and can better flow from the tank to the motor. Only fill it to the first click-off and see if that changes things.

Overfilling would also explain the smell.

This topic was discussed at length a few years ago, so do a seach under "overfilling" (OWTTE).

 

Yep. Haven't had the hard start problem, but you can over fill it. I just hate wasting gas.

 

Definitely not overfilling. I filled up 5 times during the trip home with it yesterday. I filled at a 1/4 tank every time. I even tried different octane and each time was the same deal. I am used to 944 smells so I dont know what I am smelling. It is intermittent and appears even on the highway between gas fills. I might have an exhuast leak or a bad cat. I still cant get my mind around the hard start only when gassing.

 

You are most likely doomed. Doomed to most likely be a Porsche fan forever but you are not doomed otherwise.

Hard starting... Since the car is unknown to you I'd suggest you look at the battery and then at the charging system to ensure the battery is ok and the charging system up to snuff.

If you satisfy yourself the battery and charging system are ok...

Then then the next thing to consider with hard starting after fueling is this is probably hard starting from hot.

So, if you drive the car as you have before, pull into some place relatively level, and then shut off the engine and even open the fuel tank cap but do not add any fuel, does the symptom still appear?

If so, this suggests a possible leaking fuel injector or injectors or a lack of fuel pressure (which can be exacrebated by the leaking injectors) and hot engine start or a problem with the fuel vapor recovery/tank vent system.

However, there is no CEL, so the fuel vapor recovery/venting system is less suspect, but not entirely in the clear either.

Unless you are prepared to delve into this more deeply on your own my advice is to take the car to a qualified shop for professional diagnosis and repair.

To provide you with a bit of motivation -- using fear the best kind of motivator... -- if the injectors are leaking, this can wash oil away from the cylinder walls and result in accelerated cylinder/piston/ring wear along with increased dilution of the engine's oil supply, none of these are any good for the engine, in the short or long term.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Thanks for the advice Macster. The symptoms do not appear after normal start and stop, hot or cold. It is only after putting fuel in. If the car starts normally otherwise, would a leaky injector be less suspect? I hope. I am going to pull codes tonight to see if that might give me a clue. There is no CEL. I have found an old thread that referenced the regeneration valve or the evap canister purge valve. I will be taking it to my indy no matter what. I am curious to what the codes will tell me tonight. Fingers crossed!

 

As Macster sugested.
Try stoping and just opening the fuel cap.
Does it still do it?

 

Then the vapor recovery/fuel vent system is suspect. A knowledgeable tech with a PST2 or PIWIS (abbrevs. for Porsche diagnostics computers) can exercise the vapor recovery/tank vent system and check some electrical values, vacuum/pressure values and id the source of the problem.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Ok, tried opening the gas cap with motor running. The symptom did not replicate itself so it is only when motor is off and fuel is added. Time to start calling some indy's in Jacksonville to see what we can do.

 

Update on my hard start after fueling issue. I ordered the Regeneration valve from Pelican Parts as I suspected that might be the issue. I never had a CEL until yesterday about an hour before I changed the part. My reader showed the code to be the regeneration valve. Weird timing that the code popped up right before I changed the part. Anyhow, I changed to part last night without an issue. Very easy to do. This morning I headed to our PCA Concours show and stopped to fuel up for the first time since changing the part. After I filled up, I nervously started the car, hoping that the hard start would not reoccur. I am happy to report that she fired up normally and all was well in the world. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

 

That's great! Congratulations. Glad it worked out for you.

 

Nice. Glad you found and replaced the culprit. So, do you like your 996 better now that you solved the problem?

 

Often a symptom causes the driver to drive the car less, for shorter periods of time, and this change in driving does not give the DME time to run all its tests so the check engine light doesn't come on.

In your car's case this is what happened and the last trip was long enough that the DME finally had time to flag an error or perhaps the failing part got so bad the conditions were finally bad enough the DME flagged the error.

Regardless, glad to read you found and solved the problem.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Coming from 944 land, I am still getting used to the differences in power and handling of the 996. I am loving this car more and more every day. I will soon start the journey into fiscal hell when I start modding.

 

The important thing here is you got back to us on this.
We will all learn from your trouble.
THANKS!!