Another visit from Roadside Assistance
08-27-2014, 10:36 AM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Another visit from Roadside Assistance
I'm still fuming a bit this morning. As noted in a previous thread, just two weeks ago, I had an unscheduled problem when the serpentine belt on my C2 broke, then was towed in and fixed. Folks here on the interwebz, along with a couple of knowledgeable friends all told me to have the dealer techs MAKE SURE that nothing driven by the belt was flaky, as it seemed unusual for the belt to just snap at 35K miles.
I asked several times, and the SA at the dealer insisted that nothing else was amiss, the belt just broke, and I was good to go again.
Well, last night I'm heading to the grocery store after some dinner with friends. It's a nice night, so windows down and sunroof open. As I pull into the parking lot, I smell something weird and notice steam coming from behind me. I pull into a spot and yes, it's my coolant dribbling out from under the engine and the steam rising through the engine cover vents. The failure must have just occurred as no warning lights came on and neither the analog or digital temperature gauges had started rising above normal yet. I'm going to guess water pump.
Of all nights to pick, I had forgotten my cellphone at home. The grocery store let me use their courtesy phone to call Roadside Assistance, and thinking it would be pretty quick, I didn't bother to call anyone else. I called in around 8:30 and was told the wrecker would be there by 9:20. At 9:45, I go use the store's phone one more time, and they tell me the service should already be there. He finally arrives at 10:45!!!
By then I'm livid. The wrecker driver says he won't take me home (I'm about 10 miles the opposite direction from the dealer) so I use his phone to have Roadside Assistance call me a cab. If there's any silver lining, a cab pulled up almost immediately and waited while I watched the guy load my car.
And that's another thing. I'm not a prima donna but it seems like no one can drive a manual car anymore and the guy didn't understand the electronic parking brake at all despite me explaining it with him at the wheel. It took the guy a couple of false starts before he finally smoothly drove the car onto the flatbed.
I haven't gotten a call yet from the dealer but this has severely affected my confidence in both the dealer's service and the car itself. At dinner, I was talking about maybe driving the car to Colorado next week on a spontaneous vacation, not sure I will trust it now. Anyway, thanks for listening, I will update once I hear from the dealer.
I asked several times, and the SA at the dealer insisted that nothing else was amiss, the belt just broke, and I was good to go again.
Well, last night I'm heading to the grocery store after some dinner with friends. It's a nice night, so windows down and sunroof open. As I pull into the parking lot, I smell something weird and notice steam coming from behind me. I pull into a spot and yes, it's my coolant dribbling out from under the engine and the steam rising through the engine cover vents. The failure must have just occurred as no warning lights came on and neither the analog or digital temperature gauges had started rising above normal yet. I'm going to guess water pump.
Of all nights to pick, I had forgotten my cellphone at home. The grocery store let me use their courtesy phone to call Roadside Assistance, and thinking it would be pretty quick, I didn't bother to call anyone else. I called in around 8:30 and was told the wrecker would be there by 9:20. At 9:45, I go use the store's phone one more time, and they tell me the service should already be there. He finally arrives at 10:45!!!
By then I'm livid. The wrecker driver says he won't take me home (I'm about 10 miles the opposite direction from the dealer) so I use his phone to have Roadside Assistance call me a cab. If there's any silver lining, a cab pulled up almost immediately and waited while I watched the guy load my car.
And that's another thing. I'm not a prima donna but it seems like no one can drive a manual car anymore and the guy didn't understand the electronic parking brake at all despite me explaining it with him at the wheel. It took the guy a couple of false starts before he finally smoothly drove the car onto the flatbed.
I haven't gotten a call yet from the dealer but this has severely affected my confidence in both the dealer's service and the car itself. At dinner, I was talking about maybe driving the car to Colorado next week on a spontaneous vacation, not sure I will trust it now. Anyway, thanks for listening, I will update once I hear from the dealer.
Last edited by mtbscott; 08-27-2014 at 11:08 AM.
08-27-2014, 10:52 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
Sorry for your troubles.
Keep us informed as to what they diagnosis.
Keep us informed as to what they diagnosis.
08-27-2014, 11:12 AM
#4
Nordschleife Master
I'm still fuming a bit this morning. As noted in a previous thread, just two weeks ago, I had an unscheduled problem when the serpentine belt on my C2 broke, then was towed in and fixed. Folks here on the interwebz, along with a couple of knowledgeable friends all told me to have the dealer techs MAKE SURE that nothing driven by the belt was flaky, as it seemed unusual for the belt to just snap at 35K miles. I asked several times, and the SA at the dealer insisted that nothing else was amiss, the belt just broke, and I was good to go again. Well, last night I'm heading to the grocery store after some dinner with friends. It's a nice night, so windows down and sunroof open. As I pull into the parking lot, I smell something weird and notice steam coming from behind me. I pull into a spot and yes, it's my coolant dribbling out from under the engine and the steam rising through the engine cover vents. The failure must have just occurred as not warning lights came on and the neither the analog or digital temperature gauges had started rising above normal yet. I'm going to guess water pump. Of all nights to pick, I had forgotten my cellphone at home. The grocery store let me use their courtesy phone to call Roadside Assistance, and thinking it would be pretty quick, I didn't bother to call anyone else. I called in around 8:30 and was told the wrecker would be there by 9:20. At 9:45, I go use the store's phone one more time, and they tell me the service should already be there. He finally arrives at 10:45!!! By then I'm livid. The wrecker driver says he won't take me home (I'm about 10 miles the opposite direction from the dealer) so I use his phone to have Roadside Assistance call me a cab. If there's any silver lining, a cab pulled up almost immediately and waited while I watched the guy load my car. And that's another thing. I'm not a prima donna but it seems like no one can drive a manual car anymore and the guy didn't understand the electronic parking brake at all despite me explaining it with him at the wheel. It took the guy a couple of false starts before he finally smoothly drove the car onto the flatbed. I haven't gotten a call yet from the dealer but this has severely affected my confidence in both the dealer's service and the car itself. At dinner, I was talking about maybe driving the car to Colorado next week on a spontaneous vacation, not sure I will trust it now. Anyway, thanks for listening, I will update once I hear from the dealer.
I'm sorry to hear you're having to go through this...AGAIN.
It's too late now,but depending on where you live and how far another dealer is from you,one can consider going that route.
Dealers get paid well for warranty work,but as far as I know,they get paid a flat rate,so technicians can make more money if they finish 2-3 jobs in the time that was allocated for your car. That way,they don't bother taking the time to check anything : belt broke,everything " looks " ok,put another belt and let's see what happens...
Good luck getting it fixed for good this time!
08-27-2014, 12:04 PM
#5
I think you should stay with the same dealer.
Before they touch your car, ask for a meeting with the shop foreman.
Depending how that meeting goes, decide if you trust them or want your car towed to another dealer.
Usually it takes a come back before any dealer gets 1/2 way serious about fixing a car.
I suspect the shop foreman will personally oversee the car this time.
He wont want it to come back again.
Before they touch your car, ask for a meeting with the shop foreman.
Depending how that meeting goes, decide if you trust them or want your car towed to another dealer.
Usually it takes a come back before any dealer gets 1/2 way serious about fixing a car.
I suspect the shop foreman will personally oversee the car this time.
He wont want it to come back again.
08-27-2014, 01:04 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Spoke with the service manager, car has not made it in yet (Roadside Assistance providers takes them to their own storage lot overnight, then bring to dealership before noon.) He's tracking that down, but meanwhile is sending a shuttle over to pick me up to retrieve a loaner.
He also says he will reimburse my cab ride last night, and seems to be concerned about the return visit after recent repair.
He also says he will reimburse my cab ride last night, and seems to be concerned about the return visit after recent repair.
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08-27-2014, 01:19 PM
#8
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That sucks. My bet is a bad tensioner or pulley.
08-27-2014, 01:24 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Why would that make it leak water? I'm thinking either water pump (driven by belt), or my tech friend said maybe the thrown belt nicked a water line that has now developed a leak. It wasn't gushing water out, but noticeable enough to smell and leave a puddle. It stopped pretty much once the car was turned off. When the car was restarted to load on the flatbed, I think it leaked some more.
08-27-2014, 01:35 PM
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Why would that make it leak water? I'm thinking either water pump (driven by belt), or my tech friend said maybe the thrown belt nicked a water line that has now developed a leak. It wasn't gushing water out, but noticeable enough to smell and leave a puddle. It stopped pretty much once the car was turned off. When the car was restarted to load on the flatbed, I think it leaked some more.
As bad and as frustrating as this is, look on the bright side, you won't have to pay for the 60,000 mile/6 year belt service as soon, if ever during your ownership, unless you keep the car that long. If the water pump is replaced, same thing, you may never have to replace during your ownership again. I'd proactively replace the water pump every 6 years, regardless, as preventive maintenance, just like replacing a sump pump on your house prior to failure. The cost of failure is just too high compared to proactive preventive maintenance. But that's just me.
08-27-2014, 02:14 PM
#12
Nordschleife Master
Sorry to hear, but not really that surprised. I just don't think Porsche does a good job at preventative maintenance or proactive trouble shooting. The good part is they are paying for the cab ride and picking you up for the loaner. But it still sucks that this happened after you just got it back. Hopefully they fix it with no other complications.
08-27-2014, 02:17 PM
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Sorry to hear, but not really that surprised. I just don't think Porsche does a good job at preventative maintenance or proactive trouble shooting. The good part is they are paying for the cab ride and picking you up for the loaner. But it still sucks that this happened after you just got it back. Hopefully they fix it with no other complications.
08-27-2014, 11:32 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
As of a few months ago none of the three dealers in Houston had even changed a set of brake pads!
08-28-2014, 10:43 AM
#15
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Update: I can feel the cynicism already, but here goes. First the manager called me yesterday afternoon and told me they've been working on the car and it is NOT leaking coolant anywhere. He asked me how much it leaked the night before and I told him enough to smell and create steam, then leave a puddle under the car. It DID appear to stop once the car was turned off. It smelled again when restarted to put on the flatbed but I don't think anymore fluid came out.
He says they evacuated/refilled the coolant during the last repair for the belt. Protocol for any work affecting the coolant system would be to do this, then pressure check it for leaks. He says due to the intricacy of the 991's system and distances between components, it's not unusual that it would be overfilled a bit when recharging. Their theory then is that the car basically "puked out" its excess coolant through the overflow tank or cap. By the time he called, they had pressure checked the whole cooling system and there are no leaks anywhere, although they are not/can not check the cap itself while doing this. Therefore they have ordered a new cap and will put that on when it arrives and continue testing the car for overheating and/or leaks. He reiterated that the serpentine belt recently replaced, and all of the components it drives including the water pump, are operating as expected.
He went on to say that it is a very serious matter for them to have a car return to the shop after a recent repair and they will make sure that I am confident that the car has been properly diagnosed and fixed before returning it to me. I mentioned that just a few hours before the incident I had been discussing driving the car to Colorado next week and before doing that, I needed to believe it could be done incident free.
Bottom line, I am not happy to have to send the car back, and the performance of Roadside Assistance was abysmal (and he says they are looking into that as well), but I feel like they are truly trying to rectify the problem and are sincere in their desire to make things right. I will update when I hear more but it sounds like I probably won't get it back today yet.
He says they evacuated/refilled the coolant during the last repair for the belt. Protocol for any work affecting the coolant system would be to do this, then pressure check it for leaks. He says due to the intricacy of the 991's system and distances between components, it's not unusual that it would be overfilled a bit when recharging. Their theory then is that the car basically "puked out" its excess coolant through the overflow tank or cap. By the time he called, they had pressure checked the whole cooling system and there are no leaks anywhere, although they are not/can not check the cap itself while doing this. Therefore they have ordered a new cap and will put that on when it arrives and continue testing the car for overheating and/or leaks. He reiterated that the serpentine belt recently replaced, and all of the components it drives including the water pump, are operating as expected.
He went on to say that it is a very serious matter for them to have a car return to the shop after a recent repair and they will make sure that I am confident that the car has been properly diagnosed and fixed before returning it to me. I mentioned that just a few hours before the incident I had been discussing driving the car to Colorado next week and before doing that, I needed to believe it could be done incident free.
Bottom line, I am not happy to have to send the car back, and the performance of Roadside Assistance was abysmal (and he says they are looking into that as well), but I feel like they are truly trying to rectify the problem and are sincere in their desire to make things right. I will update when I hear more but it sounds like I probably won't get it back today yet.