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I ordered my Boxster GTS 4.0 in January and my dealer called on Friday to give me good and bad news. Good news is that it's finally arrived. Bad news is that they did the pre delivery inspection and picked up a PADM failure. They've ordered the part from Germany and it should get here in a week or two. I've asked if I can at least collect the car in the mean time and bring it back once the part arrives for them to fit, as the tension has been killing me, so I'm picking the car up on Monday.
Either way, my reason for the post is to say that I'm surprised that a brand new Porsche can ship with a faulty part right from the factory. Makes me wonder if I'm in for fun and games with this car or its just one of these things that happens. Being my first Porsche and having to wait so long for it already, it's slightly soured the experience before I've even got my hands on it. I'm sure when I collect it and fire it up for the first time, apart from the PADM warning on the dash I'll be a happy chap.
I picked up the car on Tuesday. The PADM disabled message comes up sometimes when I start the car, other times after 30 minutes of driving. Ultimately I've got the car now and am very happy, it's a beauty. When the replacement comes next week they'll give me something from their floor to drive whilst they get the job done. PADM issue aside, it's a freakin great piece of machinery.
Not common but it happens stuff that new stuff is DOA. About 3 weeks ago Toyota shipped a hub assembly that was defective to my shop. It was a bolt on part so no room for tech error. Went out to the front of the shop fine doing. Probably <1km of driving it and it a sound like a banshee wailing. Put it on the hoist and there is so much play in the hub I believe there may be missing bearings in it or even no bearings (it wrecked the brake rotor and pad). Some electrical stuff takes actually driving the car to register faults too. Had stuff register fine with scan tools, fine after a short road test. Customer drives it home and boom, fault pops up, so that may be why it didn't register until PDI, or they just figured PDI would catch it and it'd get fixed on the dealership level.
It's likely you won't have future issues, but there does seem to be a lot of people complaining about PADM failures.
Porsches are rated as one of the most reliable cars made. PADM has been installed on countless Porche 911s and Cayman/Boxsters for almost a decade (maybe others too?). Every now and thing something will fail when new. My four 911s over a dozen years have been super reliable.
Please don't let it get in your head and spoil your great car for you!
Don't pick up your car. The dealer was up front and if they had fixed it already at the port you would not have even known about it. You only pick up a new car just once in the time you will have it. Make the most of the experience, waiting a few days while it is grating on your nerves will make a better first drive experience when you drive off without a warning light. .You only get to enjoy the first drive off the dealers lot once.
Last edited by patdonahue; 07-25-2021 at 12:20 PM.
Not common but it happens stuff that new stuff is DOA. About 3 weeks ago Toyota shipped a hub assembly that was defective to my shop. It was a bolt on part so no room for tech error. Went out to the front of the shop fine doing. Probably <1km of driving it and it a sound like a banshee wailing. … Some electrical stuff takes actually driving the car to register faults too.
Yup —^. Called “infant mortality.” Back in the pre-986 days Porsche’s infant mortality rate was astonishing.
In hindsight it shouldn’t be surprising if infant failure rates are up.
I picked up the car on Tuesday. The PADM disabled message comes up sometimes when I start the car, other times after 30 minutes of driving. Ultimately I've got the car now and am very happy, it's a beauty. When the replacement comes next week they'll give me something from their floor to drive whilst they get the job done. PADM issue aside, it's a freakin great piece of machinery.
In the "old" days before PADM, it wasn't uncommon for people to get aftermarket engine mounts that were A) less-failure prone than the original static mounts which would wear out, and B) much stiffer to lessen the effect of the engine shifting in the bay during dramatic maneuvers - a sort of secondary shift of mass that you could sense. With PADM Porsche gave us the best of both handling worlds with engine mounts that are soft when you aren't pushing it but quickly firm up to keep the engine steady when you do.
On my second 911 I went with aftermarket performance mounts after I noticed one side failing (you could visually tell by the exhaust pipes noticeably sagging on one side). However, I didn't keep them too long since they transferred too much engine and transmission mechanical vibration/noise to the body and thus the cabin.
In the "old" days before PADM, it wasn't uncommon for people to get aftermarket engine mounts that were A) less-failure prone than the original static mounts which would wear out, and B) much stiffer to lessen the effect of the engine shifting in the bay during dramatic maneuvers - a sort of secondary shift of mass that you could sense. With PADM Porsche gave us the best of both handling worlds with engine mounts that are soft when you aren't pushing it but quickly firm up to keep the engine steady when you do.
On my second 911 I went with aftermarket performance mounts after I noticed one side failing (you could visually tell by the exhaust pipes noticeably sagging on one side). However, I didn't keep them too long since they transferred too much engine and transmission mechanical vibration/noise to the body and thus the cabin.
I believe that Porsche also uses this same tech. on some 911 models for the rear sub frame connection points.
This has me curious, is the GT4 and Spyder's rear sub frame hard mounted to the chassis? Anyone know.
In the "old" days before PADM, it wasn't uncommon for people to get aftermarket engine mounts that were A) less-failure prone than the original static mounts which would wear out, and B) much stiffer to lessen the effect of the engine shifting in the bay during dramatic maneuvers - a sort of secondary shift of mass that you could sense. With PADM Porsche gave us the best of both handling worlds with engine mounts that are soft when you aren't pushing it but quickly firm up to keep the engine steady when you do.
On my second 911 I went with aftermarket performance mounts after I noticed one side failing (you could visually tell by the exhaust pipes noticeably sagging on one side). However, I didn't keep them too long since they transferred too much engine and transmission mechanical vibration/noise to the body and thus the cabin.
Thanks for sharing gives me more insight much appreciated!
All 4.0L 982’s have active transmission mounts. The programming is probably different between the models.
Right, but what I was saying is that Porsche also uses those magnetic mounts for the rear sub frame on 911's . None of the Caymans have active sub frame mounts. Sub frame mounts are different from motor mounts and transmission mounts.
07-24-2021, 05:21 PM
PADM Failure Discussion
