MAGK944

1999 cab - Took the car out of a short 3 month storage, CEL stayed on but everything read correctly. Oil pressure good, 4.5 @ cold or hot above 2k rpm, 1.5 @ hot idle, 14.5v, coolant temp at mid point. I took it for long 40m drive. Started fine, idled fine, felt a little sluggish at high rpm. Next day drove it out of the garage and turned it off on the driveway. Went to start an hour later and it turns but doesn't fire up. Disconnected battery and tried again, turn but no start.

Took air filter out and checked for anything obvious, loose connections etc, all good. I don't have access to code read, is there any method to pull codes with the dash? Anything I should be checking?

Thanks, any advise appreciated.

kromdom

how old is the battery currently in the car? my GUESS is battery may be about to go. take it to your local auto parts store to get it load-tested.

MAGK944

Battery is about 3yrs old and had a battery tender on it throughout storage, turns the starter/engine fine. Shows steady 12.5v and when it was running 14.5v.

I am leaning towards coil packs but will have to pull some codes first.

Pac996

If the battery has a 36 on it for 36 months its time to change. If the dash votage gauge bottoms out where it is with the engine off it's low crank amps. The starter can suck enough amps dropping the voltage like is reflected on the gauge. With the low voltage and current draw of the starter the ignition coild don't have much to work with to fire up the engine.

Since it was just after running the car maybe the alternator didn't keep up with the current draw. Probably not your problem but running the a/c 365 days a year here its easy to notice the radiator fans can drop avialable votage by around 1.5 volt or so. Also, if you've added an audio amp some need to be configured so that they aren't on 24 hours a day even with the engine turned off.

So hows the voltage gauge look when cranking? Checked the battery water level? How olds the battery in its service life? Nothing wrong with having a fresher battery. Sure makes diagnosing an alternator problem easier with a definately good battery.

Imo000

Lets get the codes out first before start changing the battery or anything else.

You'll need code reader.

MAGK944

The gauge shows 12.5v before I turn the key. The engine turns very healthily. Doesn't seem like a bad battery it turns the engine quickly, ive tried it 4 times now and it still has a full charge showing, but as its 3yrs old I'll change it anyway. It's a Die Hard sealed battery so no top ups needed.

kromdom

free and easy to get your battery load-tested . if it fails the load test, then you have some degree of assurance that you actually need a new one. best of luck getting this issue sorted out.

MAGK944

Yep that's my next purchase tomorrow. Anyway of getting codes manually before then or any other diagnosis I could do now. I'd like to do what I can tonight.

I'm from the dark (transaxle) side of 80's Porsche ownership and am used to doing things without a code reader.

Imo000

No you'll need a reader. Only OBD1 systems can flash the codes out through the dash and the 996 is and OBD2.

CBR786

PULL out the fuse for the fuel pump then crank engine with out the fuel pump fuse if after several cranks it starts let it run for 5 to 10 seconds with out fuel pump fuse and as you feel car is gonna cut out re insert the fuel pump fuse quickly as it seems like it might have flooded with fuel...

This is a quick and easy way to clear the fuel flooded plugs then removing coil packs and plugs etc lol..

good luck all the coil packs cannot have died in one go ??

Dharn55

As it was running but sluggish at high rpm's and now won't start it may be fuel related. Check for flow, could be a bad fuel pump or the fuel filter is bad. It was stored for three months so the fuel could have started to degrade.

Also it could be the pulse sender. When these fail there is no fuel flow and the engine will turn over but won't start.

MAGK944

I put some Stabil (sp) in the fuel before storage so that should be ok. Good point about the pulse sender, it's on the flywheel right? Anyway to test or just replace?

One other question, can you bypass the fuel relay to determine if its bad? I'm so used to carrying a spare in my 944's never occurred I'd need one for the 996. Thx

fpb111

Do you smell fuel? Driveway on a hill? Is the tank full?

MAGK944

no, no, 1/2 full

Will read the codes tomorrow and report back.