Possible Engine Problem.. pls help..

matt · #1 (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 10:18 PM

Over the past month I've noticed my cayman S engine has been having problems, the symptoms are:

* When first turning the car on and for the first 5 mins of driving it, particularly in 1st gear it is very jumpy at low rpms ie. when I put the pedal down it doesnt respond properly like there's some sort of delay. There is a similar effect when reving it in neutral too, it does not rev smoothly and evenly. Once the car has been driven for about 10 mins this problem goes away.
* Also when first turning the car on there is a very apparant smell of petrol that i'm sure never used to exist
* Finally, over the past few weeks in various gears and reving it in neutral I have heard loud knocks on several occasions from the engine compartment, almost like someone is knocking on the compartment from the inside.

In addition, I know that I shouldnt do this but I have been running the petrol tank very low on a number of occasions.

Any suggestions on what could be the problem and how to solve it would be much appreciated.

**K-Man S** · #2 (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 10:24 PM

I would say take it to the dealer ASAP and have them check it out, doesn't sound normal to me!

**beez** · #3 (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 10:37 PM

Yes, get it into the dealer ASAP and have them read out the computer - probably something wrong with the knock sensors or the mass airflow sensor.

brad

matt · #4 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 02:08 PM

Thanks for the quick replies.. took it to the service centre yesterday here in Dubai, they hooked it up to the computer and found that it was something to do with the mass air flow sensor. This was replaced within an hour and it appears to be working fine now! There's still a slight smell of petrol when starting it, but i'm presuming this is normal..

**gfspencer** · #5 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

There's still a slight smell of petrol when starting it, but i'm presuming this is normal..

I've never smelled gasoline (petrol) when starting my Cayman (or my old Boxster). Perhaps the smell will go away in a few days.

You will often see white smoke when you start a Boxster or Cayman . . . especially if you didn't drive too far on the last start-up. I don't remember a gasoline odor associated with the white smoke. By the way, white smoke is nothing to worry about.

**Gator Bite** · #6 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 04:26 PM

This has nothing to do with running your tank low on petrol (gas). Just a fluke bad part. Glad you're back in business. My guess is that the smell of petrol will go away. If it doesn't, I would suggest you speak to your dealer about it. It's not normal.

Enjoy...

BTW - Nice call beez. Hit the nail on the head.....