Son of a.....

[Milo2361]

So here i am, driving down the road about 30mph, and the light ahead is red so i take it out of gear to let her coast to it and all of a sudden my Tach was reading 0...
popped the clutch, it started for a second and dropped to 0.
put in neutral turned key - turns over and wanted to start, but nothing. just brought her home tonight (literally just now 2:30 AM)

I've read a few threads and from the sound of it it might be a fuel filter problem??? let it cool down before i tried starting it again while it was where i parked it ---- it turned over then fired up for about a half a second then died again. any other suggestions besides fuel pump? perhaps a clogged fuel line? bad fuel filter? i hope im on the right track - - i also hope it isn't the fuel pump and just some freak incident..... $342 i would like to keep in my pocket....

[Rich Lambert]

Fuel pump relay? It's the red one. They've stranded me in 2 different SC's.

[billybek]

Pop off valve seated in the airbox? Fuel, spark?
Green wire to distributer?

[Starless]

Same thing happened to me. Same year too. See if it will run by giving it gas when you try and start it. And see if it keeps on running while you give it gas. Mine would stay running as long as i kept on the gas. As soon as I let off the gas it would die. Turned out to be a vac. leak.

[Milo2361]

All right I'll try the above suggestions. When it first happened i thought "oh no problem it'll start right up" wrong. then i thought, "well crap what if I'm out of gas? maybe my gauge is off"(was pretty sure that wasn't it because my trip meter was only at 240 mi, and it was showing about 1/2 tank)
I also read about the pop off valve being an issue like this so that was the first thing i checked(after my buddy got me 2 gal of gas just to be sure lol )
also tried putting my foot on the gas and that did nothing.
I'll check the relay, spark and probably the fuel line or something today when my dad gets back from my brothers house - replacing a fuel pump relay looks alot more friendly than a fuel pump!($26 vs $342....)

thanks for the suggestions this place is the greatest!

[ToddM]

P robably the fuel pump.. and BTW.. the cost of the pump by our host is FAR cheaper than from Porsche and it's the same exact part. I wouldn't expect a fuel pump to last much over 2 1/2 decades. This is also pretty straight forward to replace.

Of course, test the relay first.

[GothingNC]

Swap a black relay with the red & see if it starts.

[Paulporsche]

Try separating the segments of the prongs in the relay. Check the relay fuse and wiring too. Make sure the round disk like plugs under the steering wheel on the dash are in tightly. Check vacuum lines. Try starting by lifting the sensor plate.

[jbrinkley]

A bad battery can cause this also. At least for me it did, a long time ago. Just like you describe.

[red911sc]

Hey guys,

I had heard you can tell if it is your fuel pump if you do not hear a "whine" when you turn your key on. Is it possible to still be the pump or relay if you still hear the "whine"? Milo are you hearing a "whine" when turning your key to the run position?

[Milo2361]

When i checked the car in the dark last night i checked the fuses and all that jazz but it turns out i missed the simplest little thing - - the wire that goes to the fuse for the fuel pump..... wow.... talk about feeling like an idiot - - 30 second fix ....


when i turn the key on (w/o starting it) i hear the high pitched whine ---comes from the engine bay somewhere---but the fuel pump is located under the gas tank --- any connection between the 2?

[red911sc]

The high pitch whine you hear coming from the engine bay is the CD box which is part of the ignition system.

[Rich Lambert]

Good deal.

Nothing's better than a free and easy fix when you suspect something expensive! Plus, you've added new knowledge to the data bank. That's something I wouldn't have thought to look at.

That said, last week as I was finishing up my trunk refresh I went through and tightned down all the screws on the fuse block.