Catharpin

I went to a local independent Porsche "expert" to code my exhaust. They did what I asked and said the exhaust was not installed properly. They were somewhat right in the fact that my vacuum line had come off the COV. I pulled the bumper yesterday and properly fitted all of the vacuum tubes. It still doesn't work. They said it was coded right because when you press the button you can hear a COV activate, which was true. When I had the bumper off I was able to ascertain that the console switch does not activate the exhaust COV, but rather the airbox COV, the one all the way in the back. How could they have gotten the wrong COV? My question is, do I take it back to them or just go to a dealer for the coding? If I go back to them do I ask for a discount to get it right? The COV for the exhaust is working properly, I can hear the valves open and close with the RPMs. I just want it to work properly without any drama or additional cost. Should I approach the shop and ask for it to be done correctly, or just go to the dealer and pay up for everything to be correct?

Cur

If you are 100% sure they did it wrong, it's on them to fix it.

Just be nice and diplomatic, explain what you saw, and how you came to your conclusion and ask that they fix it.

Don't demand it get fixed "right now", but ask that they can fit you in as soon as possible. You paid for it, it should be done right.

That said, "**** happens" and I've found that being reasonable instead of a Karen goes a LONG ways to getting things straight and maintaining a positive relationship with any business.

JimEb

I would tell them exactly what you just said. Say you ascertained that a COV is actuating with the PSE button, but it’s an airbox valve and not the exhaust valve.

I’d be suspect they finished a job and never verified it was completed correctly. Is the shop really busy or something? If they don’t seem eager to at least have a look at your concern here I’d take it somewhere else.

Catharpin

They did a great job, aside from the programming, and provided me with a full inspection report on the car which was very thorough. They said the exhaust wasn't installed properly and quoted me 5 hours ~$900 to figure out why it wasn't working. That lead me to pulling it apart to figure out what was really going on. To be fair, I did find the vacuum tube was disconnected from the exhaust COV. So it wasn't totally their fault...but they programed the wrong COV. OK here is my response. Let me know what you think.

Regarding my sport exhaust programming, I figured out what was wrong. I took the bumper off and made sure all the vacuum lines were hooked up correctly. If you remember, you could hear a COV engaging and disengaging when the sport exhaust button was pressed, and we thought the programming was successful. However, it was the wrong COV that was programmed to the button. I verified this by putting my hand on the COV when the button was pressed. The exhaust COV was not programmed to the switch. The COV that was programmed was the airbox COV, as I could feel it click when the button was pressed. The exhaust valves are working properly, they are opened below 4 MPH and then open again in the upper RPM ranges, so I know the COV is good. I would like to bring my car in again to get it programmed properly and my car working as designed. Please let me know when we can get this rectified. I would like to get taken care of as soon as possible.

Also, how do I make sure my airbox COV is programmed properly? What does that do?

GOTSPD2

When coded, what’s being changed via the piwis? Is it that the car now has a pse? If so, how could it be coded wrong?

Catharpin

I added a valved exhaust and new console switch. They code in the sport exhaust so the switch activates the exhaust COV. They coded in the wrong COV somehow, so the switch activates the airbox COV instead of the exhaust COV.

Porsche_nuts

Take it back to them and have them fix. That is what you are paying for.

Regarding taking it to Porsche to have them reprogram, chances are they are going to charge you for it.

RP4S911

I would just take it back to them and let them try again. If they can't then I would just bite the bullet and pay a Porsche dealer to figure it out, and move on so you can enjoy the darn thing in peace.

Catharpin

This is my plan, they said they would have another go at it. Not sure if they will charge me or not but I will let you know.

Bud Taylor

Is all the money for a full install. It took my guy (non porsche guy) 1.5 hours ($500). The dealer charged $150 to program button. They should agree to make it right for 0$

Catharpin

So I took it back today and they were not able to fix it. They say something isn't wired right in my car or the COV wiring is not connected properly, like the wrong COV is plugged into the exhaust COV wiring.
I looked up how the exhaust valve switching happens in the non-PSE Carrera S, and the exhaust flaps have 2 conditions that must be met for engine speed AND load. Engine speed > 3300 RPM AND slight, partial load acceleration ( air mass of 400 mg/stk). According the another thread here, this is also how PSE cars act when the PSE is not engaged.
They were trying to tell me that at high RPM there is so much vacuum that it could open the valves if I had a faulty COV, and that was what I was experiencing. I took the service writer out and showed him that I could bring the engine to 5000+ RPM (lots of revs) without the valves opening, if I was barely touching the accelerator, no load. So no, there isn't soo much vacuum at high RPM that it is opening the valves. I then showed him that when I put a load on, they did indeed open right at 3300 RPM, and close when there was no load. This tells me the COV is working and wired properly, and the vacuum lines/valves are connected and operating properly.
They said that programing PSE is adding the PSE code (176) and there is no selection of which COV it controls, this is true, but my button activates the wrong COV. Not sure what my next step is. I suppose I will pull the bumper again and check it all out. If I can't figure it out I guess my next step is to take it to the dealer.

jakermc

It sounds like you did the install work and all you asked the shop to do was the programming? The shop is correct, within the PIWIS all you do is click a check box to activate the program. There is no additional programing to choose a COV. This sounds like a hardware install problem.

As a shop owner, I can tell you trying to come in at the tail end of someone else's work can be a nightmare. The shop is asked to perform the final step, and when something doesn't work, they are blamed because no one ever believes the problem was created before the car entered the shop. Not saying that happened here, but hard for them to diagnose a problem when 95% of the work was done elsewhere. We politely turn down this kind of work, its rarely worth the hassle from a business perspective.

Bud Taylor

If there is the chance for the slightest bit of friction people shy away.

Shops want to plug in the odb2 part reader and replace part x. Anything else and your fcked. It is a simple setup. A qualified shop should be able to sort you quickly and with little cost. If im remembering my install correctly there was a vacumn line to run on the S and that was the only remotely difficult part. A cov can be checked in 2 seconds. The rest is holes and pipes. I would pay dealer the 150 to program correctly and then let them tell you it wont work.

jakermc

@Catharpin Any chance you have an update for us on what the issue was? What was discovered to be the issue?

Catharpin

@jakermc My plan is to go to the dealer and have them sort it out.