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knackered boxster/local independent?

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Hi all,

my 2000 2.7 wont start. tried to start it on saturday but no joy. it sounds as if it wants to but wont. (i'm not very technically minded) anyway, a friend of mine is a mechanic and he says it has no compression and must be the timing belt. OK, i thought, the belt was changed at 48000 miles and should still be under warranty but i am told that it was the DRIVE belt that was changed and the Boxster does not have a timing belt, they have a chain which is not a serviceable part. i'm told that if the drive belt went that the car should still start , i just wouldn't have any power steering.

is this right? anyone any other ideas what it could be?

i'd like to take it to an independent but don't know any near to the Darlington area, can anyone point me in the right direction?

cheers
 
The Boxster (and 996/997) does not have a timing belt, it has a timing chain, and if this broke there would be lots of nasty noises for a short while, probably followed by no noise at all...

The belt is indeed just the "accessory" belt, powering (if I recall) the water pump, alternator, air con, and power steering.

I'm not sure who is in your area (the nearest I can think is Hartech all the way down in Bolton), but there must be some good independants nearer.

Was it firing at all (or did it sound like it was trying to?), or just turning over?
 
thanks for your reply Mark,

it certainly sounds as if it is trying to start. no nasty noises and it still sounds the same when trying to start it as it did the first time it wouldn't.

as the car didn't actually start up i presume the timing chain wouldn't snap?? (or is that my ignorance?) i'm using the analogy of a bike chain where i would have to start to ride it before it snapped.

i have no doubt that whatever it is with my luck it will be very expensive.

carl
 
If the timing chain had snapped we would be into a piston-hitting-valve situation (hence my comment about nasty noises!) so I doubt that would be what has happened.

It may be something like the control box not sending the right signal.

Just a thought - the passenger side carpet isn't wet is it? The Control unit is under the passenger seat (in RHD cars) and it can get waterlogged if drain tubes under the hood are blocked.
 
Is there not an independant in Newcastle. Tom Ferguson? Sorry never used him, but he gest good reviews on Pistonheads..
 
Mine has done this twice in the last 4 years. Both times after I started it from cold to move it out of the garage, again a few hours later to move it back into the garage. The following morning it fired very briefly then the engine management system seemed to decide it was likely to damage the catalyst and shut off all the fuel. The starter cranks away and literally no sign of life, and no smell of fuel. The first time this happened it was stretchered off to the OPC who couldn't find anything wrong by the time it got there. The second time I realised what I had done the previous day, so I left it for the day (borrowed my wife's car!) and when I got home it fired up first time - albeit with clouds of evil-smelling waste gases. Since then I have seen several articles (mainly Honest John in the Telegraph) telling people with all sorts of cars that this is likely to happen under the circumstances I have described, so don't do it! He says all modern fuel injection systems just behave like this. Moral? I now go for a blast round the block if I just want to move the car when cold. Since then no problem.
 
Mark - no dampness around the passenger seat area.

Brian - thats interesting although mine will not start at all. i presume once yours started it has been ok?

cheers

carl.
 
ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

Well that's a relief - the ECU is v.expensive...[&o]
Click to expand...

Doesn't anyone repair anything these days [&o] I understand ECU's can be successfully and economically repaired but obviously not via an OPC [:eek:] Google ecu repairs uk and see a whole new world
 
The symptoms are just like a battery on the blink. I know it's a bit simplistic, but have you tried jump starting from another battery ?
 
ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

ORIGINAL: mossy

Mark - no dampness around the passenger seat area.
Click to expand...

Well that's a relief - the ECU is v.expensive...[&o]
Click to expand...

I'm probably being thick here, but isn't the ECU in the rear luggage compartment against the bulkhead, or does water run down past it and end up under the seat somehow. The alarm unit is under the passenger seat though.
 
Richard, you are correct.
I'm getting things mixed up... Someone had an alarm soaked a few months back and I got mixed up.

Related to that - a plea:

If we have a real Porsche Mechanic who would like to field the technical questions I'd be very grateful. All I know is what I pick up, which is no substitute for real experience.
 
Mark - the immobiliser is in the alarm control unit under the seat, so that's probably why you are relating it to a starting problem.
 
well guys i have had the problem sorted. i contacted a company called Redline Racing from Thornaby who came and picked the car up about an hour later.

the problem though is a bit mysterious. they tell me that the engine was flooded and the engine was very dirty. this is why there was no compreession in the engine. What we cannot work out is how it was flooded. They cleaned the engine out, the spark plugs were cleaned and refitted and they replaced the air filter and it appears to be running fine.

i did find out though that my Mrs has been depressing the accelerator when starting the car up, i have absolutely no idea why although i only became aware of this after the problem had been sorted. She mentioned it to the mechanic when she collected the car who (she says) said that that would not have caused the problem.

i thank you all for your help and i'm pleased it was not as bad as i first thought.

mossy
 
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