urban2k

Hi Guys,

1st post! Quick intro: Been lurking here for a couple of years now. After my e92 M3 I decided I wanted to get my dream car so ordered a manual 2015 991.1 C2 with all the perf options selected. Probably not as fast as the M3, but handling was on a different level. Started autocrossing and participating in DE's with the local PCA chapter and got hooked big time. I recently upgraded to a CPO 2015 GT3 with 6K miles. I wanted to wait for the 991.2's but figured I had no chance getting a 991.2 GT3 allocating as the sales associate started laughing even asking about it. I consider my self a hard-core manual purist, so the switch to PDK was tough even though on paper it made sense if you care about lap times . I must say, best choice ever - if I ever get a new GT3 it will be PDK again. I'll probably get a GTI to get my manual transmission fix.

So the reason I wanted to post today is that I got the dreaded "Engine Control Fault" message while auto crossing, followed with a "reduced power" warning message. It happened around 8500 rpm's in second gear just when it was trying to shift to 3rd gear and I slammed on the brakes to set myself up for the turn. Coming back to grid, turning the car on and off made the warning message disappear. Next run, the exact same thing happens at the exact same spot! This time the "Engine Control Fault" message no longer went away after restarting the car. Luckily it wasn't in limp mode so I could drive home. I posted the video on youtube ( ) the CEL happens around :23 mark. What do you guys think? Will this lead to the dreaded top end rebuild? This is an "F" engine with a build date of 03/15.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

bronson7

Sorry to hear about your engine control fault. I'm sure you've seen all the long threads on this topic, so I would make a trip to your closest dealer. I'm sure they've all heard about this issue by now. Best of luck and keep us posted.

robmypro

Good for you...cough...I mean sorry to hear that! Take it to the dealer. They are going to run it through the protocol most likely. That means...

1. They change a couple of parts.
2. You drive it to see if it happens again. It most likely will.
3. Then they drop the engine and send the Porsche mother ship some pics.
4. You either get a new top end (heads, cams, etc.) or the grand prize, a new "G" engine.

With any luck the cylinders are scored and you win the grand prize. If you do, I will be jealous.

Good luck. BTW, to optimize the process pick the car up early enough to flog it a time or two to get the message again. This way you can drop it back off at the dealer the same day. With this car, every day counts.

urban2k

Good advice I'll make sure I'll do that. Isn't it funny how we hope its the misfire issue so that we can finally move beyond that?

I did get my 2 year service done (sparkplug replacement) 2 weeks ago. Stuff always seem to happen with great running cars after you do some scheduled maintenance. Oh well. I'll post when I find out what happened tomorrow.

robmypro

Yeah, getting past this issue under warranty is my goal. I do my own service, but every time I go to the dealer I find things not right. It's life!

Keep us posted. Also, if you can get some pictures of the top end that would be great.

CALSE

Sorry to hear OP. I am a recipient of the "G"rand prize but in my opinion I don't think the problem is really resolved. I wish I had the 991.2 motor. :/

robmypro

Well, until we learn more about it.

bronson7

Please fill us in why you feel this way.

tstafford

Maybe. The GT cars are highly tuned and most of them have had some sort of issue - they haven't been as reliable (seemingly) as the "normal" Porsche sports cars. I suspect the .2 GT3 will have something of an issue. Porsche will work thru it, fix it and do the right things - they always have on the GT car problems. Assuming the new car will be bulletproof isn't reasonable IMHO.

urban2k

Just heard back from the dealer: CYL 4 misfire. They replaced the spark plug, so it's now "running ok and not misfiring at this time", so all ready for pick up... I'll be running it hard this weekend, that's for sure.

R.Deacon

Hey Thanks for sharing the update, GL and safe weekend fun !

bronson7

Great news.

robmypro

Taking my GT3 to the drags tomorrow. Hoping to win the grand prize.

urban2k

It appears I got some solid advice earlier. Taking my car through some of the backroads, the first opportunity I get to rev it towards redline in second gear I got a violent reduce of power (feels like you're hitting redline), many warning flashes and finally just the good old "reduced power, driving permitted". I explicitly asked my SA if the tech pushed it to redline in second gear. The response I got was "the tech went to the upper rpm's, could not reproduce it so its all fixed". Yeah right. Car's going back to the dealer first thing on Monday.

I actually had to educate my SA on this particular issue. She did find a bulletin and said there were two path's to follow: One is just trying to change the coils and plugs and see if it goes away. The other path was if it persists that eventually results in the top-end rebuild or engine swap. Does anybody happen to know this particular bulletin? I'd like to know what stage I'm in, if you know what I mean.

Also, this time when I restarted the engine the warning message disappeared. I hope they can still see the errors when they pull the logs though.

bronson7

Looks like the top-end rebuild or new engine for you. It's a blessing before warranty is out.