FAULT ENGINE CONTROL POSSIBLE TO DRIVE
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AutoX
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 14
Likes: 1
FAULT ENGINE CONTROL POSSIBLE TO DRIVE
OK, so I've read every forum entry I can find on this here and on the other forums, but have not seen the symptoms my 2014 Base Cayman PDK 2.7 is experiencing. After some steady highway cruising at 80 mph for over an hour in 85 degree outside temps, the car experienced some increased revs (never above 4500) with loss of power. When I pulled over I could not grab a gear. The subject warning came on and Start/Stop showed disabled. Another warning said Reverse not available, which I confirmed. RPM would rev up, but no gear. Turned the engine off and on several times and eventually (after cooling a few minutes?) it went into 1st gear, and I was able to drive gingerly the 10 miles to the house.
I let the car cool for a couple of hours and then started it up with NO WARNINGS. Drove around the the local area for about 15 miles, experimenting with easy and harder driving. The car drove perfectly! No issues, no warnings.
Got up this morning and drove it to a local Indy shop, hoping to get the warnings read, but they were too slammed to do it today. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning and proceeded to drive home. About 4 miles from home while cruising at 35-40 mph the rpm's again started to slip, but I was able to stop/start and get going again, now more paranoid than yesterday. I slipped completely out of gear about a mile from the house, and after several start/stops, I again found first gear and limped home.
I called Porsche, and confirmed the car has about 45K miles, and is out of warranty. They looked up the vehicle and said it does have an outstanding recall for the “voluntary service #wf77 "replace tank leakage diagnosis"
My question now is if anyone else out there has experienced anything similar and have a final diagnosis? Should I go to my Indy appointment in the morning or cancel and take it to Porsche?
Advise and opinions welcomed! ~Wailer
I let the car cool for a couple of hours and then started it up with NO WARNINGS. Drove around the the local area for about 15 miles, experimenting with easy and harder driving. The car drove perfectly! No issues, no warnings.
Got up this morning and drove it to a local Indy shop, hoping to get the warnings read, but they were too slammed to do it today. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning and proceeded to drive home. About 4 miles from home while cruising at 35-40 mph the rpm's again started to slip, but I was able to stop/start and get going again, now more paranoid than yesterday. I slipped completely out of gear about a mile from the house, and after several start/stops, I again found first gear and limped home.
I called Porsche, and confirmed the car has about 45K miles, and is out of warranty. They looked up the vehicle and said it does have an outstanding recall for the “voluntary service #wf77 "replace tank leakage diagnosis"
My question now is if anyone else out there has experienced anything similar and have a final diagnosis? Should I go to my Indy appointment in the morning or cancel and take it to Porsche?
Advise and opinions welcomed! ~Wailer
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 3,418
Likes: 1,417
From: Orange County, CA
OK, so I've read every forum entry I can find on this here and on the other forums, but have not seen the symptoms my 2014 Base Cayman PDK 2.7 is experiencing. After some steady highway cruising at 80 mph for over an hour in 85 degree outside temps, the car experienced some increased revs (never above 4500) with loss of power. When I pulled over I could not grab a gear. The subject warning came on and Start/Stop showed disabled. Another warning said Reverse not available, which I confirmed. RPM would rev up, but no gear. Turned the engine off and on several times and eventually (after cooling a few minutes?) it went into 1st gear, and I was able to drive gingerly the 10 miles to the house.
I let the car cool for a couple of hours and then started it up with NO WARNINGS. Drove around the the local area for about 15 miles, experimenting with easy and harder driving. The car drove perfectly! No issues, no warnings.
Got up this morning and drove it to a local Indy shop, hoping to get the warnings read, but they were too slammed to do it today. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning and proceeded to drive home. About 4 miles from home while cruising at 35-40 mph the rpm's again started to slip, but I was able to stop/start and get going again, now more paranoid than yesterday. I slipped completely out of gear about a mile from the house, and after several start/stops, I again found first gear and limped home.
I called Porsche, and confirmed the car has about 45K miles, and is out of warranty. They looked up the vehicle and said it does have an outstanding recall for the “voluntary service #wf77 "replace tank leakage diagnosis"
My question now is if anyone else out there has experienced anything similar and have a final diagnosis? Should I go to my Indy appointment in the morning or cancel and take it to Porsche?
Advise and opinions welcomed! ~Wailer
I let the car cool for a couple of hours and then started it up with NO WARNINGS. Drove around the the local area for about 15 miles, experimenting with easy and harder driving. The car drove perfectly! No issues, no warnings.
Got up this morning and drove it to a local Indy shop, hoping to get the warnings read, but they were too slammed to do it today. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning and proceeded to drive home. About 4 miles from home while cruising at 35-40 mph the rpm's again started to slip, but I was able to stop/start and get going again, now more paranoid than yesterday. I slipped completely out of gear about a mile from the house, and after several start/stops, I again found first gear and limped home.
I called Porsche, and confirmed the car has about 45K miles, and is out of warranty. They looked up the vehicle and said it does have an outstanding recall for the “voluntary service #wf77 "replace tank leakage diagnosis"
My question now is if anyone else out there has experienced anything similar and have a final diagnosis? Should I go to my Indy appointment in the morning or cancel and take it to Porsche?
Advise and opinions welcomed! ~Wailer
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 442
Likes: 4
From: TX
2014 base Cayman here. Just recently while driving in 100F+ heat I randomly got PSM disabled and Start/Stop deactivated message show up on display and then a short while later Fault Engine Control Possible to Drive message. 6-speed so did not have any 'limp' mode type issues and car seemed to be running ok. Plugged in my Durametric and see the following codes:
P2317 - Ignition coil "F" Secondary Circuit, upper limit value exceeded
P0356 - Ignition Coil F Primary/Secondary circuit. No signal/communication
U0418 - Upper limit value exceeded
Next day when I went to start it, I still had the fault / check engine light illuminated on dash but then later in the day that went away and no issues or messages since, car seems to be driving same as normal. Called dealership still trying to get an appointment to get them to check it out as am under CPO warranty but searching online for those codes seems like it might be bad or marginal coil pack which seems to be a fairly common issue on this gen.
Hoping it turns out to be same for you and not something more major / costly!
P2317 - Ignition coil "F" Secondary Circuit, upper limit value exceeded
P0356 - Ignition Coil F Primary/Secondary circuit. No signal/communication
U0418 - Upper limit value exceeded
Next day when I went to start it, I still had the fault / check engine light illuminated on dash but then later in the day that went away and no issues or messages since, car seems to be driving same as normal. Called dealership still trying to get an appointment to get them to check it out as am under CPO warranty but searching online for those codes seems like it might be bad or marginal coil pack which seems to be a fairly common issue on this gen.
Hoping it turns out to be same for you and not something more major / costly!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,105
Likes: 28
^You have one or more bad coils. An easy fix. I’m thinking that the OP has a PDK problem, but hopefully not.
My personal theory on the coils is that they are susceptible to too much heat. I’ve had the problem occur twice on my track car and am careful to use sport mode for better cooling (also have a center radiator) AND be sure to cool the car down after a hot run. Sometimes this means driving around for few minutes after coming off track. In addition, the coil packs have been updated, so you could change them all out for the latest version, and do a plug change (I did).
My personal theory on the coils is that they are susceptible to too much heat. I’ve had the problem occur twice on my track car and am careful to use sport mode for better cooling (also have a center radiator) AND be sure to cool the car down after a hot run. Sometimes this means driving around for few minutes after coming off track. In addition, the coil packs have been updated, so you could change them all out for the latest version, and do a plug change (I did).
Rennlist Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 989
Likes: 34
From: New Jersey
2014 base Cayman here. Just recently while driving in 100F+ heat I randomly got PSM disabled and Start/Stop deactivated message show up on display and then a short while later Fault Engine Control Possible to Drive message. 6-speed so did not have any 'limp' mode type issues and car seemed to be running ok. Plugged in my Durametric and see the following codes:
Getting back on topic -- wishing good vibes to the OP it is not something that major. It doesn't sound like it, but keep us up to date please.
Thread Starter
AutoX
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 14
Likes: 1
So the consensus is that it is a coil pack problem. Strange, as they were just changed with new plugs about 3000 miles ago, along with new plugs. Done at a very competent Indy shop in Jax. Still think something is wrong with them that would not let the car find a gear?
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 3,418
Likes: 1,417
From: Orange County, CA
For the record, I don't think it's a coil issue. I'm leaning PDK and/or its control module or a bad battery or ground.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,105
Likes: 28
@Zip, flat6 has a clear cut coil problem. Your problem does not appear to be coil related to me at least. The possibility of a weak battery was mentioned and has merit. Are you still running on the original battery? All kinds of flaky behavior has been linked to battery issues.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
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Thread Starter
AutoX
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 14
Likes: 1
@Zip, flat6 has a clear cut coil problem. Your problem does not appear to be coil related to me at least. The possibility of a weak battery was mentioned and has merit. Are you still running on the original battery? All kinds of flaky behavior has been linked to battery issues.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
Last edited by zip; Aug 27, 2018 at 10:10 PM.
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 442
Likes: 4
From: TX
^You have one or more bad coils. An easy fix. I’m thinking that the OP has a PDK problem, but hopefully not.
My personal theory on the coils is that they are susceptible to too much heat. I’ve had the problem occur twice on my track car and am careful to use sport mode for better cooling (also have a center radiator) AND be sure to cool the car down after a hot run. Sometimes this means driving around for few minutes after coming off track. In addition, the coil packs have been updated, so you could change them all out for the latest version, and do a plug change (I did).
My personal theory on the coils is that they are susceptible to too much heat. I’ve had the problem occur twice on my track car and am careful to use sport mode for better cooling (also have a center radiator) AND be sure to cool the car down after a hot run. Sometimes this means driving around for few minutes after coming off track. In addition, the coil packs have been updated, so you could change them all out for the latest version, and do a plug change (I did).
FYI - those messages/warnings are normal for your car when it detects any issue with ignition. The PSM and Start/Start are automatically disabled. Porsche designed it that way. As you learned, the problem is coil pack related.
Getting back on topic -- wishing good vibes to the OP it is not something that major. It doesn't sound like it, but keep us up to date please.
Getting back on topic -- wishing good vibes to the OP it is not something that major. It doesn't sound like it, but keep us up to date please.
@Zip, flat6 has a clear cut coil problem. Your problem does not appear to be coil related to me at least. The possibility of a weak battery was mentioned and has merit. Are you still running on the original battery? All kinds of flaky behavior has been linked to battery issues.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
Readout of the fault codes should be done at the dealer unless you have a very good Indy shop that you trust.
Thread Starter
AutoX
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 14
Likes: 1
Final disposition . . . Porsche reprogrammed the ECU with all updates and all is well now. Old battery 'may' have been part of the problem as well. Replaced! All is right with the world . . . or so they tell me. I pick it up tomorrow with a slightly lighter wallet! 
Thanks to all who tried to help!
Thanks to all who tried to help!
Rennlist Member
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 3,418
Likes: 1,417
From: Orange County, CA
Final disposition . . . Porsche reprogrammed the ECU with all updates and all is well now. Old battery 'may' have been part of the problem as well. Replaced! All is right with the world . . . or so they tell me. I pick it up tomorrow with a slightly lighter wallet! Thanks to all who tried to help!
Thanks to all who tried to help!If the car is actually repaired and all they did was flash the ECU and replace the battery, it was the battery.
Thread Starter
AutoX
Joined: Aug 2009
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Likes: 1
Racer
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 282
Likes: 27
From: Seattle Area
Just to add to this electronics weirdness...my 2014 Base C with PDK had all sorts of strange things caused by a bad "Power Control Unit". Something that my dealer had never seen in a 981 before my car.
Symptoms were:
-Car randomly dying...but would always start right back up. This was the biggest issue by far.
-Windows randomly ignoring trying to move them up or down.
-PDK 'slipping out of gear' when accelerating from a stop. It would randomly go from 1st to neutral.
-The car would change gears on its own while in 'manual' mode.
Porsche was very good to me. My car was a full year out of warranty and they replaced everything for free. I didn't pay a dime. Not even for labor. After the PCU was replaced, no problems.
Symptoms were:
-Car randomly dying...but would always start right back up. This was the biggest issue by far.
-Windows randomly ignoring trying to move them up or down.
-PDK 'slipping out of gear' when accelerating from a stop. It would randomly go from 1st to neutral.
-The car would change gears on its own while in 'manual' mode.
Porsche was very good to me. My car was a full year out of warranty and they replaced everything for free. I didn't pay a dime. Not even for labor. After the PCU was replaced, no problems.