hawk993

Hello,

My CEL came on as soon as I got the car (the car is a 96 993, was sitting there for awhile, no one driving it) and was reset by my local Porsche shop
who said it was probably due to the fact that the car was not driven for awhile. The CEL just came on again, my local shop is out racing and the diagnostic computer is with the race cars, so I went by Auto Zone. Auto Zone checked and reset my code for free it was the "0410 Secondary Air Injection System". I read a couple of other posts and this seems to be a common problem with the 993.

My question/concern is...should I just keep reseting the CEL or is there a real underlying problem that should be taken care of? My shop wants me to drop off the car next week and they will diagnose the problem, but from the threads I read, it appears to be a really common problem and a lot of people just reset the code and have no problems.

I just got this car, so I am not sure what to do. This is my first 993. I just don't want to drop off my car and have work done to the car if it will not resolve the problem.

Any ideas?

Chuck

DC from Cape Cod

Search the archives - this topic has been covered extensively.

In short, you can band-aid it or fix it completely ($5K). If you band-aid it, it probably won't pass emissions in your state.

max911

did you buy the car from a dealership or private party??
did you have a PPI done??


read the other 253 posts too !!


sorry to hear that you are hit with this problem as soon as you bought the car. the fact that the light came on "as soon as I got the car" makes me think the seller misrepresented the car. And, if you had a PPI done, did they check for codes?

good luck,

max

hawk993

I bought the car from a private seller based on a recommendation from the shop where I have had my 928S serviced for the last 2 years. The car has had all the recommended services done on it and documented in the warranty book. The car had just had more work done on it, it is in excellent shape, the seller had bought a new 911 and wanted to sell this one. It appears that this is a common problem with 993 from all the post I have read and it might be best to just get the OBD II diagnostic tool and reset the code from what I am reading. The car runs fine, we do not have smog inspections in this state.

Randy M '96 Silver 993

I am a SAI CEL Survivor. I too received my first CEL about 170 miles after I bought it. PO never saw it. Codes at PPI were fine. I took my car to Hergesheimers in Southern California www.herg.net and they flushed out all the ports to remove all the carbon buildup. It has been about 5000 miles and NO CEL!! The flushing was under $1K and they said mine was pretty bad. YMMV.

As far as getting the code resetter, I got the $100 Kragen special and it was OK for a while. I was just tired of resetting every couple days.

Good Luck. There is hope without spending the $5K to $10K quoted on all the other threads!

FisterD

Thanks for the info Randy.
I took my car back into the place I bought it from, and they contacted Hergesheimers. They apparently got the procedure from them, and are currently putting my car through it. Hopefully I will get the same result as you. They are doing this under warranty,since I got the CEL as soon as I drove my car the first 80 miles.

JasonAndreas

Does anyone know if shops that perform PPIs are checking the OBD2 readyiness codes or are they just checking for fault codes? Call it a hunch but I have a feeling we are going to see a LOT more people with brand-new-to-them 993's with SAI codes within a few hundred miles of purchase. If shops aren't checking that readyiness codes are set maybe they should add that to there list of things todo.

Randy M '96 Silver 993

Jason, you bring up a good point. It is another thing to ask about.

flash1034

Just an FYI, I was told by California DMV that they have now updated their SMOG software and the Porsche readiness code problem causing all the cars to fail is a thing of the past...FYI...thats what I was told.

Flash

Laura

Flash, We are making calls as I type, because as of yesterday readiness codes were still an issue for passing smog. This has been a real pain for our '96 customers.

David '96 993

Laura,
Keep us posted. My car will not pass and I have scheduled a flush for this weekend so that I may drive my car legally with tags.

Do you know anything about what has been discussed regarding just resetting the code and going through the readiness cycle without flushing the ports?

flash1034

My unddrstandingis that the software has been modified and its not an issue anymore. However, request to see a DMV referree and they will pass you on the smog because they are aware of the issue. Thats what Ive been told...God I hate the DMV'.....!

Randy M '96 Silver 993

David, there is a readiness cycle that the car can be put through in the archives. Also, there is a shop here in Costa Mesa that can get your car ready to pass smog by resetting the codes and the making sure the comp. is ready. There is a Smog Check just around the corner. Ask me how I know, I had to do this when I bought it!!! But I am sure a lot of shops can provide the same service.

hawk993

So...is the consensus that it is just a emissions thing and that it is better to just reset the codes than to spend thousands of dollars at the shop for something that is not going to damage your car? Provided that it is not required to pass state inspection in your state, as it is not here and my car just passed inspection.

Laura

Readiness codes and carbon blockage are two separate issues. Many cars are not passing smog because of readiness codes not being set but do not show any errors for the secondary air injection problem, or any other faults. This is usually caused by an interrruption of power supply (dead battery), These cars can go to the referee station and receive a waiver or have the readiness flags reset by following the procedure located in the factory manuals. Both can be time consuming. In SoCal the referee station are located at selected community colleges and an appointment is usually a week away.

Severe air injection problems cause the CEL light to come on, aftermarket computers can reset the light but if the fault is still stored in the computer, you will not pass smog here in CA. I have a car in right now that pops the code as soon as the car is driven 10 feet. No amount of resetting and clearing is getting this pass smog at this time. A car that has just recently popped a fault code for secondary air injection for the first time may be reset, codes cleared and passed at a smog station.