dbeck

Hi All,

I recently bought a 2014 981 Boxster PDK with 42,000mi from a dealer in Monterey, CA. It was Porsche Certified a month before the purchase (for whatever that’s worth). The car has been CA kept by one owner it’s whole life except 1 year where it was in IN. It has had every X0,000 mile service and been serviced by Porsche dealers for everything except one oil change and one brake service.

I’m having a couple funky issues, I’ll list them here along with what I’ve found with my research. I took it to a trusted indy who has worked on the cars of multiple friends and has worked exclusively on Porsche for 30+ years for an oil change & inspection, everything seemed to be in order. He noticed the same brake squeal I did, but attributed it to aftermarket pads (front+rear) and rotors (rear, front OEM) which were put on it in 2019/@34,000mi.
​​​​​​
Here are my issues:

• First, I noticed brake squeal. This happens at all speeds, and is insanely high pitched. It starts after about 10-15 mins of driving, which is why I did not notice it during test drive or on the way to PPI. More or less, it sounds like I’m driving a dump truck. Sometimes under heavy braking it’ll cut out for a second. Not sure exactly what pads are on it, but they’re not ceramic. I’ve got enough brake dust to make a whole new brake pad. Again, the indy attributed this to the aftermarket pads/rear rotors.
• Second, I noticed a “gurgling” or “grinding” sound under firm braking for the last few MPH, ~15-0mph or so. The sound originates from the front right of the car, and I feel it a bit in the pedal. Here is a video in which you can hear the sound at the end. Listen as I come to a stop. You can hear all the squeals as I slow down down the hill too. I found a PCA thread that mentioned this could be an air bubble in the coolant system, but it sounds a bit mechanical to me too. https://imgur.com/a/44cuCSp
• Third, I have gotten a combo warning of “PSM Loss, Possible to Drive on Carefully” and “Start/Stop Operation Disabled.” You can see this on the dash in the above video. This has happened 3x in 4 days. It disappears upon restarting the car. First, when I was maneuvering and braking in a parking lot after a short drive, which took place about an hour after I’d gotten home from the oil change. Second, it happened while braking firmly at a stop sign after about 15 minutes of driving. Third, it happened while driving ~75mph on the highway coming home from work. On the 2nd two occurrences, I think I noticed the car/engine shudder a little bit when this happened - either that or I hit some rough road.
• Fourth, the car seems to vibrate/shudder a bit at idle.

I’ve been scouring the internet for answers to these questions, and I’ve found a few leads. One PCA thread attributes the gurgling when braking to air in the coolant system. Many threads attribute the warning lights to either a brake pedal pivot bushing (my brakes do not seem to get “stuck” while driving though) OR a failed ignition coil, which seems possible since I’ve noticed some shuddering at idle/when the PSM loss happens. Some threads attribute all of this to a pebble in the rotor, and my indy seems to think it’s just the nature of the beast - I hope it’s this simple, but none of the lights happened until after the oil change.

Do any of you have any experience with any of this stuff? Thanks for reading my long-winded post, just wanted to give as much info as possible!

Tommy L Garage

Well the first thing I would do is I would replace non-OEM rotors and pads for OEM. This is a performance car after all and I would not trust anything that’s not original. Track pads and rotors yes, but for daily driving I would stick to OEM.

I would also not trust the service intervals. Have your independent mechanic replace spark plugs and coil packs. I bet you they need to be replaced and that will fix the rough idle.

dbeck

Thanks for your reply, Tommy. I’ve got it back at my mechanic now - replacing all the aftermarket parts with OEM and he’s going to check codes for any cylinder misfires to see if there’s anything up with plugs/coil packs. Will post an update once I’ve got the car back!

Titanium5150

Keep in mind too, that a weak battery can cause the dash lights to come on.

dbeck

Update: Replacing aftermarket parts with OEM made it feel like a brand new car (surprise!) and I’ve got 0 noise from the brakes, at least not perceivable. The grinding turned out to be the pads too, the mechanic drove slowly around the parking lot with the brakes and gas on and SHEESH it sounded like someone was grinding a rock and a hunk of metal in a blender. The pads were Textar.

Mechanic also found that cylinder 3 had misfired, and then a LOT of dielectric grease on the spark plugs/coils when he removed them. He thought it may have been the problem so he cleaned and reinstalled them. I’m still getting the PSM Loss & Start/Stop warning lights just about every other drive, but coil packs are covered under my limited warranty from the dealer so he suggested I bring it there to get it done under warranty.

My last question for y’all - is the cylinder coil issue (which has confirmed caused ~5 misfires now) likely to damage the cylinders or catalytic converter? I have an appointment Saturday with the dealership to diagnose and replace them for free. I’m wondering if I can still do my 20mi commute each day (120mi total before the dealer visit) with the Boxster, or if I should borrow my girlfriends car until the trip to the dealer. It idles a bit rough still but within what the mechanic thought was normal.

Kitc2246

First is the car covered by CPO? A CPO car should not have these issues, in fact, a used car sold by a Porsche dealer should not have these issues. Have you contacted the dealer? If they followed the scheduled maintenance it should have gotten new plugs in 2018

Surprised your Indy says everything checks out. I would expect some of these issues to show up with a PIWIS or similar diagnostic and test drive by your Indy. I would pull and check each speed sensor when doing the rotors and pads based on the PSM errors you are getting. In my experience a bad coil throws a code. While not a maintenance item many replace coil packs along with the plugs since its no additional labor. You can't go wrong with OEM rotors and pads for the street. After market track pads are expected to squeal, some don't, but most do. Check the date code on your battery and tires. Anything more than six years should be considered for replacement.

dbeck

Thanks for your reply! The car was initially offered for sale at a Porsche dealer and Porsche Certified. It was transferred after a month to the Lexus dealer next door, and I found/bought it a few days after it was listed there. My PPI/indy had checked codes and not found any misfires, that seemed to coincidentally just start failing after the oil change, but he's found the codes upon revisiting. I'll have to ask the Lexus dealer if any CPO protection still remains, but I think since the Porsche dealer didn't technically sell the vehicle, the protections are void. My appointment with them is Saturday (just posted an update before I saw your reply as well).

Edit: Looks like submitting on mobile needs to be approved by a mod - my update should come through too. Replaced brakes, replacing coils under used car warranty from Lexus dealer on Saturday. Wondering if commuting in the 4 days before then is ok.

Kitc2246

Does the car have Sport Chrono with Sport and Sport+? There is a Stop Sale on 2013-2106 cars with Sports Chrono. There is too much nitrous emissions in Sport+ If so the Porsche dealer can't sell the car which is why they transferred to the Lexus dealer.

dbeck

Hi Everyone, I tried to send an update from my phone and it never went through
My mechanic replaced the non-OEM brake parts with OEM and the car feels/sounds brand new, so good call there! The aftermarket Textar pads sounded like a rock and a hunk of metal in a blender. Calipers were fine.
He also checked the codes and found misfires in Cyl #3, removed the coils and found a lot of old dielectric grease and he thought this might be interfering so he cleaned them up ... the coils are explicitly covered under the limited used car warranty I got for free from the Lexus dealership so he didn't want me to pay to replace them there if I could get them for free from Lexus. This didn't fix the PSM Loss/StartStop/Rough Idle issues though, I've gotten it on 2/3 drives since the brake replacement so the coil(s) must be shot. I have an appointment with the Lexus dealer on Saturday to hopefully replace them under warranty. I didn't get any of the lights or misfires until after the test drive, PPI and post-purchase fluid change so I think I just got unlucky on when they decided to fail..

I have one more question though - since I've gotten ~5 misfires now, I'm pretty hesitant to drive the car before the coils are replaced. How dangerous is this bad coil to my engine/cat short term? I'm borrowing my girlfriend's car now until I bring it to the dealer in 3 days, wondering if my level of "scared" is appropriate.

Kitc, The car doesn't have Sport Chrono or Sport+, only Sport mode. It was in inventory at the Porsche dealership for a month before being transferred next door (same dealer group). I am gonna contact Porsche as well and see if since it was so recently certified, if any protections from Porsche still remain. The odometer only changed by 9 miles between the listing at Porsche and the listing at Lexus.

Noah Fect

Others with more direct knowledge may chime in, but IMHO it's not a good idea to continue to drive it once it's known that a coil is failing. The raw fuel has to go someplace, likely washing the oil off of your cylinder wall in the process.

I'd recommend replacing all 6 coils, as they aren't that expensive.