porsche_newbie14

Apologies If I have posted in a wrong thread.

I have a 2006 Porsche 911 Cab which I have owned for a couple of years now. I was out of town for 5 weeks and I told a friend of mine to start the car for 5 mins every two weeks (to recharge battery) which he did. I came back last night and today while starting the car, I felt ignition hiccup. Which was a bit different from a normal start. After the delayed ignition car started but with a Check Engine light. "Visit workshop"
I am kind of worried since this is the first time I have seen the Check engine light and have no clue how to diagnose it. I kept the car started for a good hour and half so the battery gets back to normal. I turned off the car and started back again but with no luck. Same issue a slight hiccup and car starts with a check engine light. The car drives fine though.

- A little background on maintenance. I went for the 6 year Porsche recommended maintenance 2 months ago. Also I got new tires at the same time Feb 2013.
- New battery in Summer of 2010 after the first one died when I was away for a month.

I already spent a lot of money a couple of months ago on the maintenance and tires and don't want to take it to the dealer. I would really appreciate any help provided.

Thanks!!
Porsche newbie

LexVan

Check you gas cap. Make sure it's tight. Same for the oil fill cap. Simple stuff first.

Get the code read. At a place like AutoZone. As long as the CEL is NOT BLINKING. Report back.

Spiffyjiff

yeah, could be something simple as loose gas cap. get the OBD code read and post here. someone will chime in with what it means...

porsche_newbie14

Thanks LexVan and Spiffyjiff. I will check those and will confirm.

P.S 'The CEL is not blinking'

LexVan

That's good. If it starts to blink of flash. Shut down the car ASAP, and flatbed to dealership.

Crossfire190

How old is the gas? When mine came out of storage it ran a bit rough at idle until i got some fresh gas in the tank. I may have had a CEL that cleared itself too.

porsche_newbie14

The last time I filled up gas if I remember correctly was about 6-8 weeks ago.

fastm3

I had a check engine light on my '06 cab a couple of months ago. Turned out to be some cracked coils. My car started running very poorly though (very little power) after the check engine light came on, probably due to the engine operating on less than 6 cylinders. Since your car is running fine it's probably something else.

douvillier

6 to 8 weeks ago, you might have winter blend fuel in your tank and now the weather is warmer. First check the connections on your battery make sure they are tight and clean. Then go down and put some good Tier 1 fuel (Exxon, Chevron, etc.) in your tank. Also throw in some Chevron Techron in your tank before you fill up. You did not say how many miles the vehicle has, around 40k I would suggest new plugs and coils are needed. The CEL means you are a gross polluter (150% over standards), that is all it means. If it is flashing it means you are possibly damaging your Catalytic Converter.

Sexonwheels

I would suggest that you likely have a touch of a misfire . I would disconnect battery to clear the light . Then take the car out for a good half hour drive insuring its fully warmed up. You likely fouled a spark plug starting and idling the car and not letting it warm up fully. Also wouldnt hurt to go buy yourself a cheap code reader for situations just like this. Atleast you could pull a code and find out what system is causing the issue

porsche_newbie14

Sexonwheels, you are right. It was just a misfire from one of the cylinders. Here is the complete story.

So after LexVan and Spiffyjiff suggested that I should tighten gas and oil caps, I did that first thing in the morning. The CEL came back and did not change. I took the car to the nearest gas station and filled up the entire tank with Premium gas. The CEL came back with the sign again so I decide to take it to the closet Autozone. The guy at Autozone told me they will charge me $100 to run diagnosis but if I help him out he will be able to get me the code. We agreed. He gave me the code and explanation and told me nothing to worry about with this misfire and he will reset CEL for me and I should be good to go. Below is the code and description.

P0301 - Cylinder 1 misfire detected.

I gave him some money and was on my way. The car is driving fine and I don't see CEL anymore.

I live in a building with a mandatory valet service. I believe when the valet guy started the car after I came back in town, he didn't start it properly or let it warm as Sexonwheels suggested hence the misfire. I am glad all worked out great. The valet guy was holding his breath as well. Poor guy was very nervous.


Thanks LexVan, Spiffyjiff, Crossfire190, fastm3, Douvillier and Sexonwheels for your help and assistance. Without these helpful pointers and assistance I wouldn't have slept better last night.

One quick question. I travel for work most of the time. I hate to bug my friends to come and start the car for me when I am away for 3 weeks or more. It's looking like I will be away for a month again. Is there a good starter/charger kit that I can buy so the battery doesn't drain by itself? The parking garage does not have an outlet so anything portable would be perfect.

Sexonwheels

if you have no outlet your kinda stuck, next best suggestion would be to remove battery and take it up into your suite and put it on a trickle charger. Honestly that's a real pain in the ***. What i would do would be to just take your chances, the battery should still have enough juice after a month of sitting to fire the car up. If by chance your parked outside they do make solar panels that you stick on your dash and plug into a cig lighter to keep the battery topped up.

porsche_newbie14

Thanks!

dbv1

I got a cigarette lighter plug trickle charger from the dealer (Porsche brand, made in Germany to my amazement) for $80 IIRC. Get that.

dbv1

Oh yes, the coils and plugs on these cars aren't forever. Judging from the age of the car (you don't mention the mileage), you're due for a change. Porsche says change plugs every 40K or 5 years (IIRC). You should change the coils at the same time as they have a tendency to crack, die and cause misfires and check engine lights.