Completely my fault- the p-car walk of shame

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Yup,
took the 911 out tonight.
Hadn't driven it in 6 months. Went to pick up my daughter at horseback riding.
It drove great as always.

Stopped it at the horse place, got my daughter-
Went to start the car.
No love. Cranks but no spark. Nothing.


well. that's embarassing.

Fortunately, the guy next to me offered to help. Since we were going in same direction, he offered to take us home.

I sheepishly agreed, as the sun was setting and we had no cell phone coverage to call for help.

While driving back in his new bronco, he stated he was fixing up his 70's bronco with power assisted braking thingees, new efi conversions, etc..

What are the odds of a car guy?
Turns out he wanted a 911 too, but he's 6 foot something and couldn't fit in a 911, so he went in other directions.At size 12 shoes, his feet couldn't fit in the pedal position. I get it.

As for my car we discussed probable causes- most likely a loose wire on the ignition. We had checked the fuses.

One other option was the stuck fuel gauge at 1/2 tank. I always keep it full to compensate, but, the gauge was at 1/2. I ALWAYS keep it topped. It couldn't be empty? could it?

He drove me home. I drove back with 5 gallons of natures best- poured it in- and it started right up.

Tomorrow's project: Fix stuck fuel level sender.

God bless bronco drivers!

[dw1]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

Turns out he wanted a 911 too, but he's 6 foot something and couldn't fit in a 911, so he went in other directions.At size 12 shoes, his feet couldn't fit in the pedal position. I get it.

I'm happy to hear it was only a stuck sender. Makes me want to check my sender & gage.

On the size thing - I'm 6' 1" with size 11 feet and not svelte by any means and I fit into my '87 3.2 sunroof coupe just fine. I added the OEM-type extended hub steering wheel which helped a lot.

If the guy was looking for American car type of room, I don't think he'd be happy in any sports car, except maybe a 'vette or a newer 911 (which is, IMHO, more of a GT car than a sports car).

[911boost]

The whole reason I got into 911’s back in ‘01 or so was because at 6-4 I fit in them comfortably.

I’ve had a 3.2 Cab, 964T, 996TT and my current 997 and fit just fine.

Glad it was just out of gas!!

[masraum]

Doh! I ran my old 911 out of gas once, and I couldn't even blame it on the sender/gauge.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by dw1

I'm happy to hear it was only a stuck sender. Makes me want to check my sender & gage.

On the size thing - I'm 6' 1" with size 11 feet and not svelte by any means and I fit into my '87 3.2 sunroof coupe just fine. I added the OEM-type extended hub steering wheel which helped a lot.

If the guy was looking for American car type of room, I don't think he'd be happy in any sports car, except maybe a 'vette or a newer 911 (which is, IMHO, more of a GT car than a sports car).

Originally Posted by 911boost

The whole reason I got into 911’s back in ‘01 or so was because at 6-4 I fit in them comfortably.

I’ve had a 3.2 Cab, 964T, 996TT and my current 997 and fit just fine.

Glad it was just out of gas!!

I'm with ^these^ guys. Unless he's 400# or 6'8", he should "fit". I'm a bit over 6'1" and at the time that I owned my old '88 911 was probably 195-210#, and fit with room to spare. I followed that up with a '97 miata, then an '04 miata, and now an '08 boxster, and fit in all of them (the miatas were much tighter than the 911, but not remotely uncomfortable). And I don't think I've ever had the seat in any of those all of the way back, and for pants to fit well, I normally need a 35" inseam, so it's not like I have short legs.

[Bill Douglas]

It's nice when the problem turns out to be something simple.

[HobieMarty]

Gotta love surprises with a happy ending.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[LEAKYSEALS951]

That's funny about the 6 foot tall thing. I think the "American car size" thing is right on for him.
I just assumed the layout wouldn't work for big folks, especially the non adjustable steering wheel setup and such, but I'm only 5 10 so what do I know.

the dude did have some pretty big feet though, and even his new bronco didn't feel too spacious with him in it.

Either way, I was happy to wake up this a.m. with the car working perfectly fine. I was having dreams I was going to have to go in and spend the day refiguring out how I wired it up 10 years ago for the ignition. Much easier to pull the float/sender out of the tank and get it working again. I might even have a spare sitting around if I can just find it- Im sure it's right wherever I left it!

[porsche tech]

Leaky, not sure what 911 you have but if it’s equipped with CD ignition, I recall problems with the CD box when it is heat saturated…no ignition. Car sits, box cools and car starts back up. Hope the problem was just out of gas but if it happens again, check for spark. Just a thought.

[Tobra]

Had a Super Beetle with a fuel guage lile that from new. Filled up and wrote down the mileage

[flskala]

Hmmmm, I’m 6’3, size 13 shoe… never felt like I couldn’t fit in a 911 of any variant.

My friend had a totally restored old bronco. It was perfect. One day some guy flagged him down and offered him stupid money for it. He sold it to him and paid off his mortgage at the time.

Glad it wasn’t a more serious issue.

[cabmandone]

I learned on a trip to VA not to trust my fuel gauge. I ran out of gas about 2 miles from the station I was planning to fill up at. "I had plenty of fuel to get there"... NOPE I'm not sure if I've ever done anything more embarrassing than to ask someone if they had a gas can with my Porsche in their driveway. OOF.

[Mike Andrew]

Oh, how dumb we can feel sometimes. I suspect more than a few of us have had a Pcar walk of shame moment. They pass.

Mine was an ignition switch that decided to die on a road trip to my uni for a rugby reunion. I had to have my buddy push or park on an incline to get it started. I took some serious ribbing about the whole ordeal.(My teammates are a merciless lot)

On the size thing, I am 6'1", 190 ish and broad shoulders. No issues except I cannot wear running shoes or boots on my size 13 feet or I have issues with the pedals and catching 2 at once. Esaily solved with Topsiders.

[GH85Carrera]

My most embarrassing moment in my 911 was 20 years ago at the Hershey, PA Porsche Parade. It is a two day drive for me. Everything was fine the first day. As I pulled into the Hershey hotel, right at the front door to check in it was the typical madhouse of many dozens of people trying to check in. My 911 sat for 30 minutes in the HOT weather after a 2.5 hour stint. I climbed in and the starter just went clunk.

The Bosch starter was heat soaked and locked up. So I waved to some friends and asked for a push start in front of several dozen Porsche people. It fired right up. I went and parked to unload the car near my room. I unpacked and went back out to make a beer run, and it fired right up.

I fought that expletive deleted starter through two rebuilds. I finally gave up, and put in a high torque starter and that has been flawless in 110 degree heat drives of two+ hours, and in zero degree F temps.

[Baz]

On the last fuel pump replacement on the Silverado, somehow I bent the fuel sender, so it's not been reliable since. I keep track using my trip odometer. When I get close to 280 miles I know it's time to fill up. And reset the odometer.

As far as starting problems...seems to always boil down to gas or battery. Went through this with some of my motorcycles and then just the other day my 356, which now has a new battery and some fresh gas.

The cure for all this? Drive 'em!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Pulled the fuel sender this morning. I should have taken pics. It had some neat little wires that I managed not to mangle. There's a slight dent in it, which could have caught the float, but overall, the float would drop to the bottom and it registered on the gauge.
I put in about 4.5-5 gallons last night (it was dark).
At that time the car wouldn't start, the fuel was reading 1/2 tank. After adding gas, 1/2 tank. After fiddling with sender this am, still no change in gauge in situ- (1/2 tank) although lifting the sender out of the tank would cause the gauge to drop accordingly 1/4 tank 1/8 tank, etc.

Went to gas station and added 9 gallons to fill up- so 5+9= about 14 gallons, but I thought it took 15-16 or so, so perhaps tank not fully dry.

Been driving around all morning- still starting. I had replaced the original ignition with a new one Fireball? I cant remember. Seems to work, so will keep an eye on it. Still a bit stressful.

Now to go change oil in wifeys car!

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

My most embarrassing moment in my 911 was 20 years ago at the Hershey, PA Porsche Parade. It is a two day drive for me. Everything was fine the first day. As I pulled into the Hershey hotel, right at the front door to check in it was the typical madhouse of many dozens of people trying to check in. My 911 sat for 30 minutes in the HOT weather after a 2.5 hour stint. I climbed in and the starter just went clunk.

The Bosch starter was heat soaked and locked up. So I waved to some friends and asked for a push start in front of several dozen Porsche people. It fired right up. I went and parked to unload the car near my room. I unpacked and went back out to make a beer run, and it fired right up.

I fought that expletive deleted starter through two rebuilds. I finally gave up, and put in a high torque starter and that has been flawless in 110 degree heat drives of two+ hours, and in zero degree F temps.

Good to know if I need a new starter.
This reminds me a bit when one of the teeth had broken off my 69 911 flywheel. It would start fine- most of the time, until the wheel of misfortune would have the broken tooth line up just right, so the starter would just spin and not turn the engine. It would always do that at the most inopportune times! I'd have to get out and push the car in gear to spin the crank to a point where the starter could grab.

[Dantilla]

I'm 6-1.
When I put the race seats & harnesses in the 911, I need adequate headroom with a helmet, yet I didn't want to cut out the original seat mounts, as is common on long hoods, so I simply eliminated the sliders.
Put the seat where I like it, and bolt it in place. Saved an inch of headroom.

911 has never let me down.

The 944, however....
Leaving an Autocross, slowly driving out, and it's as if I turned the key off. Just quit.
Scratch my head for a bit, then....
Fuel pump relays are a known failure point in 944s, so I keep a spare in the glove box.
swapped in the spare, the car fires right up, and has been perfect ever since, and yes, I did have Pelican send me another for a spare.

[fintstone]

Mine had a stuck gauge recently (original 1974 sender). I took it out and sprayed some carb cleaner in it. Let it sit for a few and shook it up and down for a while until the float moved easily. Works fine again. A very simple device but can gum up.

[gregpark]

I need to do that with mine. When it reads a ¼ full i know I'd better fuel up. Don't ask how i found that out