PTSFX

I’ve got a 2010 Cayman S that’s my track car. I normally drive it once per week to work (45 miles roundtrip) just to keep it moving as it’s not heavily modified. Was recently on vacation for two weeks and when I came back it threw a passenger side airbag fault, right side blinker fault and transmission emergency run error and the PDK was shifting sluggishly.

Bought the car used so not sure how old the battery is. Figured it just needed a drive so took it to the highway for an extended drive, shut it off, no more issues other than the turn signal. Got a new bulb for it, but didn’t solve the problem. Not a huge deal so figured I’d look into that later.

Took it to work twice the next week and had no issues with the passenger airbag or PDK. Went to take it to work yesterday, and the passenger airbag warning is back along with now an oil level sensor error. It starts to measure the oil, but anywhere between 5-10 seconds left the error pops up.

Put a new battery in it, but all the same error persist. Have a track event on Saturday and the car drinks a little bit of oil, so if I can’t get this sorted I’m out of luck, so throwing up a Rennlist Hail Mary…

Eric Kessel

Have you ;checked the voltage while the car is running? Should be over 13.5 volts when running.......

-Eric
09 CS

PTSFX

Yes it’s 14.4

PTSFX

Just heard back and it’s some sort of CAN bus communication issue that requires more diagnosing, so no quick/easy fix. They’re coming up with a plan to properly diagnose, so this weekend is out. I’ll try to remember to update the thread when I get more info…

PTSFX

Quick update - they are replacing the oil level sensor, but I’m not optimistic that’s the actual problem - or at least not the total problem. Stay tuned…

hueyhoolihan

sounds like they're starting to throw parts at the problem. not a good sign, as i gather from your last post.
one of the easiest things to do would be to check the battery ground connection. it can wreak havoc if loose AND create intermittent problems that are the devil to track down because there ain't no code for a bad ground AFAIK, although there's probably one for "low voltage".

PTSFX

All connections checked out, that’s where we started. Worried it’s a DME gone wild at this point.

hueyhoolihan

i suppose sitting for two weeks COULD have drained the battery and that COULD have scrambled the memory in the ECU, but a simple refresh would have been one of the first things the mechs would have tried i would think...but maybe not. it's not like it can't happen...i bricked my windows 11 computer the other day by blindly booting over and over with no monitor....i knew better...

looking forward to the final episode!

PTSFX

Oil level sensors replaced and that fixed it, so that was a real problem. Still have the CANbus communication issues, but they warned that going down that path could be a deep and expensive rabbit hole. Current thinking is to pick the car up and drive it around for a few weeks as my next event is late January.

hueyhoolihan

good to have that fixed. but i would not be satisfied until i figured out why so many electrical errors while just sitting for a couple weeks. doesn't make sense. i would suspect some sort of common cause with a charger or something. IDK.

PTSFX

Agreed, but given it’s a 12-year-old track car with 105k miles, so I don’t have a whole lot of interest in spending thousands of dollars to have it diagnosed. The dealer themselves weren’t really suggesting to go down that path…

PTSFX

What I hope is the final update on this. Picked up the car tonight after the dealer replaced the oil level sensor and recoded my instrument cluster (the TPMS was missing since the PDK was replaced about a year ago) and I once again can check my oil, see my tire pressure, and every warning light is gone!

hueyhoolihan

just a guess... but i suspect the battery went dead when it sat for a week or two and part of the ECU's memory lost its mojo.

PTSFX

It does seem far too coincidental to not be somehow related. Suppose the oil sensor dying might have just been a coincidence since it was a week later. Just hope we’re good moving forward….