Larry Barca

My 98 Boxster with 50k miles purchased new starts and runs for 15 seconds, starts sputtering and stops. You can immediately start it right back up and it will repeat the process. I squirted small amounts of ether into the air intake box after starting and it will run as long as you care to squirt it. The fuel pump is running and the tach is working. I have checked the fuel pressure regulator for vacuum and fuel leaks and found none. I have not checked the fuel rail for pressure because I don't have the equipment. Anyone experience this before ?

Macster

If the engine runs then stops but can be restarted and will run as long as you supply fuel by squirting in this case ether into the intake the fuel supply is the problem.

When my Boxster fuel pump was suspect -- granted the engine did not start -- I borrowed a tech's bypass relay to eliminate the fuel pump relay. It was not the relay. The fuse was ok.

I flat bedded the car to the dealer. The tech confirmed the relay and fuse were ok. He disconnected the fuel pump from the wiring harness and supplied 12V shop power to the fuel pump. It did not run. He replaced the fuel pump and that was that.

In the case of your car I suspect the fuel pump apparently runs at engine start but then dies. A power off "resurrects" the pump and the symptoms repeat.

If your car's fuel pump was subjected to the above shop power "test" I suspect it would initially run but stop running shortly after.

NuttyProfessor

One of my buddies had this problem with his 99 Carrera. Doing the exact thing you describe. I told him to check the pump. The pump "was working fine" and I so I told him to then check the hoses around the pump. He checked the hoses and found that they had deteriorated over time. They were just sucking air. He replaced the hoses from a company that sells the submersible type of hose for these pumps and everything is fine again.

Larry Barca

Thanks for the reply. This application has flexible metal fuel lines that were in new condition when examined. The car will now start and run at idle without spraying ether. When hitting the gas pedal, the engine wants to quit but I can milk it up to rpms. Also getting a code of p1602 and reads CAN timeout- instrument cluster

Macster

At least in some (early) model Boxsters that P1602 is kind of a catchall error code. The P1602 and CAN timeout error and the engine behavior maybe unrelated.

Are there any pending codes?

What is the freeze frame code?

Have you tried clearing the error code and road testing the car?

'course, if the engine is not running right a proper road test is difficult.

Getting the engine running right would be my first priority. I'm still favoring a fuel supply (pump) problem. A fuel pump with flexible metal lines doesn't read like a factory Boxster fuel pump. Both the fuel pump from my Boxster and my Turbo had accordion plastic hoses/tubes. In my opinion, this casts further suspicion on the fuel pump.