dantm

I've had a 2006 which has been stored on and off and has accumulated little miles over its life. Driven yearly in the summer, services have generally been up to date, oil change every 5K miles or 2 years max, etc. etc.

Now that I got it out of storage for the summer I think it may be time to go over the entire car. Since at the current age there is no service recommendations, what do you guys suggest? Any particular areas to look at?

Thanks!

Slngshot

tires aged out?
oil every year miles be damned.
main drive belt
plugs
air/cabin filter
brake fluid flush

minimum those.

M. Essaie

I have the same car with 50,000 miles. I've had it for two years and the maintenance history is absolutely zero. I've done all the things listed on the previous post and would add perhaps a quick visual on the water pump - beyond that, drive the living daylights out of it and wait for something to break. Mine runs like a top and everything works - speculative maintenance is over-kill for cars as bullet-proof as these.

Cabin filter - mine looked like a block of mud from a ziggurat so well worth looking at. Takes 5 minutes.

Zirconocene

Take a look at your accessory belt, those are cheap and easy to change. Coolant is not a forever fluid and time does it no favors, so you may want to think about a flush to keep internal corrosion to a minimum.

Otherwise, I agree with what's above, driving the thing will be the best you can do for it.

Cheers

dantm

Thanks guys I'll get on this based on your recommendations...I scanned the car with a Launch X431-type unit with Porsche capability and got a bunch of issues which I'll list here and then address one by one.

fatmike

Spark plugs AND coil packs
Clean your drains (free). Prevent a back-up that soaks your cabin.
Gearbox fluid
Change drive belt (easy), and check all of the spinning things while you do it (water pump, etc)
Engine air filter
Cabin air filter
Brake fluid

Good luck!

/

dantm

Here's the list of items that came up on the scanner:

DME (Digital Engine Electronics) 4 problems exist
1.P0197 Oil Temperature Sensor --- Below limit value -- Problem (a) the oil level sensor will be changed
2.P0196 Oil Temperature Sensor --- Signal implausible -- Problem (a) same as above
3.P0461 Fuel Level Sensor --- Signal implausible -- Problem (b) had this issue before changing the gas cap first and monitoring
4.P0455 Tank System Major Leak --- Exceeded limit value -- Problem (b) related? Monitor after changing gas cap

PSM (Porsche Stability Management) 1 problem exist
1.C140 Communication Instrument Cluster (Display) --- No fault symptom available -- Ignore for now as it may be scanner related (this is a Launch X431 unit)

Air Conditioning 1 problem exist
1.8023 Outside Air/Recirc. Air Flap Motor --- No fault symptom available --- Will test the re-circulator system as well as AC through the various settings as I hear this is a way to tell whether it's the actual motor

Instrument Cluster 1 problem exist
1.9113 Oil Level Sensor --- No signal --- Problem (a) above, should go away (?)

GATEWAY 1 problem exist
1.C140 Communication Instrument Cluster (Display) --- No signal --- Ignore for now as it may be scanner related (this is a Launch X431 unit)

POSIP (Porsche Supplement Impact Protection) 2 problems exist
1.C152 Communication PSM Control Unit (Drive) --- No fault symptom available --- Not sure about this one?
2.C140 Communication Instrument Cluster (Display) --- No fault symptom available --- Ignore for now as it may be scanner related (this is a Launch X431 unit)

AWS (Advanced Weight System) 1 problem exist
1.8A01 Front Left Sensor Implausible --- Signal implausible --- Problem (c) possible sensor in the front bumper (or under the seat?)

Front-End Electronics 1 problem exist
1.8042 Front Luggage Compartment Unlocking --- Signal implausible --- Problem (d) latch microswitch needs to be changed

PAS (Porsche Access System) 1 problem exist
1.8005 Terminal S --- Below limit value --- Not sure about this one


Even though this looks like a disaster the car runs perfect, smooth, etc.

jmanbball

Honestly, I'd just clear the codes for now and run it for awhile. See if they show back up. I have a feeling most are from just sitting and the battery voltage getting a little low.

Slngshot

if you disconnect the battery, you always get a dozen faults.
drive the car a few dozen feet and they go away.

if you get repeat codes after that, then it’s time to address.

dantm

These codes are persisting after driving the car...will start to address one by one.

After addressing the main ones I'm thinking I get a sanity check at the dealer where if they do an Oil change hopefully they go over the entire car and give me a quote for fixing issues that is higher than the value of the car ;-)

harveyf

I'm curious about the oil temperature message.
I have a 2006 Cayman S. Cold, I will automatically get an oil level reading when I first activate the key, after about a 10 second delay. When the engine is warm or hot and I shut it off, say to fill the tank, when I turn the ignition back on I will get a "countdown" value displayed. This value can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. My understanding is that the same sensor that is measuring the oil level also has a temperature sensor built into it. There is software logic that prevents the oil level measurement until the engine/oil temperature meets certain parameters. I say all this because if the oil temperature part of the sending unit is not communicating, then there may be a related problem with the validity of the oil level reading. Not being alarmist but I would move this up to the top of my list to at least discuss with your dealership service adviser. This software logic can be very confusing. Indeed, just one year later (2007), you can't read oil level on a cold engine, it has to be warmed up. So make sure anyone you talk to about this knows the details of your 2006 car, versus the later ones. I have both a 2006 and a 2007 so I speak from experience.
BTW, replacing the oil level sending unit will not be trivial from a labor standpoint. It is buried under the inlet manifold. If I was going that far into the job, I would replace the fuel injectors at the same time. They can become "balky" with age and potentially generate mis-fueling errors that can burn out your cats. Go to Youtube and find the Tony Callas video on "fuel trim".

If there is any doubt about your oil level, consider doing an overnight drain, and then add exactly the amount shown in your owners manual, less 1 qt. Check the oil level on your dash gauge and see if it is low, as expected. Gradually add your last quart, 1/4 quart at a time, and see if the gauge follows suit. Unfortunately, once these cars are full and/or overfull, the gauge does not go past full. So again, as the car is new to you, it would be good to understand how this works on your car. It is not rocket science, you don't need a dealer to do this. It is a good first project for you and your car.

dantm

@harveyf that's a great tip...I did the last oil change myself to the T with all torque numbers, correct oil, checking level, etc...the oil sender is now throwing codes and it does not measure the oil level but there are zero drips from the car and it's only gone ~2K miles since the last oil change so I don't think there's a risk to burn that much oil even in the worst case.

And your description of the oil measurement is spot on, I wasn't aware it's a temperature sensor but it makes perfect sense. I think the idea was that if engine is cold then after 5 seconds the reading is good enough, and it would display immediately. If the engine is warm then it would wait 5-10 mins (I forget which) for the oil to 'settle' before saving the reading. I think it's more of settling of the oil back in the tank rather than cooling off since that would not happen in a few minutes.

Agreed with you on the procedure, it seems a pain in the a...also good tip on the injectors - also I guess the top of the intake manifold has these rubber gaskets which become brittle and should be refreshed.

iflyjetzzz

I was unaware of that. I just looked through the owner's manual and it didn't mention cold vs warm engine.
I've got a manual 2007 Cayman S and the oil reading that I get cold matches what I get when it's warm. When it's cold, it does a 6 second countdown. When it's warm, I'll get a countdown anywhere from 6 seconds to ~30 minutes (not sure that it doesn't exceed 30 min; I don't watch the long countdowns).
The countdown starts automatically when I put the key in ... I wonder if I have a very early 2007 variant.

harveyf

@iflyjetzzz Yes, it is very puzzling. I have both a 2006 and a 2007 and they are definitely different, at least on mine. I have a lot of factory literature and have not found any good discussion. It has been discussed on forum threads. On my 2007, what was really a gobsmack was that after doing the rebuild, with the battery disconnected for months, it started a 60 minute countdown clock. I did my initial oil fill, leaving some out, turned on the ignition and the emergency flashers, and went away for an hour before I could get a reading. Sheesh!

iflyjetzzz

@harveyf , that is very different than my 2007. When I go out to my car (cold, or even warm after it's been shut off for, say, 10+ minutes), it does a 6 second countdown for the oil level. And I really don't notice any difference between cold and warm levels - it goes to the same bar ... occasionally off by one bar, but mostly exact same bar.