Macster

Ok, fuel pump replaced along with some gaskets/seals, filter, fuel pump relay.

I thought I grabbed the invoice this AM but I grabbed some info I had on a 991 Carrera S for sale and some papers on my Turbo's trade in value, etc.

So working from memory the cost of the fuel pump replacement came to a bit under $1500. About $500 in parts and about $1000 in labor with a $150 discount.

Have to admit I don't know what the labor rate is at the dealer. Used to be $150/hour but then it went to $165/hour and it may be even more now.

(May be my own fault its gone up: Some time ago talking with the GM and he told me he had more service business than he could handle. Before I could think I blurted out that's a sign it is time to raise prices. Dumb.)

The tech already had the tank buttoned up before the SA could get back to him with my request the siphon hoses be replaced.

We talked about this subject when I picked up the car. He said in all his years he's never had to replace these and he spoke with another very senior tech and he said the same. He's never had to replace the siphon hoses.

Yeah, I know there have been reports of these failing and I don't doubt the reports but I'm not about to spend who knows how much more money to have these replaced with no indication from the techs I deal with that it is necessary.

I wondered how much "handling" the hoses got when the pump was replaced and the tech said the siphon hoses are pretty securely located/held and there is no twisting or having to pull on them to disconnect the hoses from the pump so the risk of damage to the hoses is nil.

So, I got the car back with the old siphon hoses still present. We'll see how these hold up going forward. When (if) one fails I'll deal with it then and have both replaced. But until that time comes, if it does come, I'm not going to worry about it.

Ok I know some will beat me up with what I was charged/paid but I have no real alternative to having the car worked on at the dealer. All dealers in this region are pretty pricey so going to Walnut Creek or Fremont is not an option as their prices are similar if not higher. (Santa Clara or SF dealers are even more expensive. Comes from the humongous salaries paid around here.) Also to use those dealers I would have had to rent a car and that would added to the cost. When the car failed to start all dealers were closed, no rental car agencies open at that hour so I would have faced leaving the car at dealer 40 or more miles away from home and facing a cab ride of who knows how much to get back to the local dealer to pick up my Boxster. Then there is the cost of when the car is ready to pick up getting back to the more distant dealer.

There are no indy's around I trust to work on my Boxster let alone my Turbo. I used one indy in the area for a few things with my Boxster early on when I first moved into the area but when the owner told me he was going to use 15w-50 oil regardless and would not accept customer supplied oil because he claimed he needed the mark up on the oil he supplied to "break even" I decided to not use his shop any more.

So, hold off on the any comments regarding the cost. If you live in an area where you have an indy that will do the same work for $1.98/hour and toss in the parts for free and you are happy with the work rejoice in your good fortune.

(It is expensive here but since I have returned to work in March of 2015 I have managed to save around $125,000. While my salary is not humongous I'm not at the poverty level either. While I do not relish the large Turbo repair bills I'm fortunate my salary is, well, pretty good.)

Ok with that out of the way the good news is with the new fuel pump the Turbo engine starts better.

Before it would crank sort longish like maybe the battery was low or bad, but this behavior persisted to the point if it had been a low battery or battery going bad I would have known it long before the fuel pump quit.

The engine has a crisper sound at cold idle.

I've only started the engine a couple of times from dead cold so nothing conclusive yet but the cold start misfires have not shown up. I need more cold starts and cold idling to really know for sure these are in the past though.

But another odd behavior is definitely missing. Before when backing out of my parking space at home or work after a cold start and with little idle time often as in almost always after backing the car up and releasing the gas pedal the engine RPMs would zoom up to near 2K almost like I still had my foot on the gas. This is not longer occurring.

The engine's bit of a stumble when taking off from a stop is gone, too.

In an attempt to "address" both of the symptoms above I tried the E-gas calibration procedure with no change/improvement.

So with the fuel pump replacement it is kind of like when I had both the plugs and *coils* changed. While the coils were not acting up the engine ran better afterwards. (The plugs were 10K miles from being due to be changed on miles and previous plug services have not had any effect on how the engine ran, so I attribute the improvement to the new coils.)

Same with the fuel pump I think. Even before it failed it was operating sub-par and this was accounting for the untoward behavior.

So the good news is the engine runs better after the new fuel pump.

And now for a bit of bad news...

Left the house this AM to speak with the tech about my Boxster -- in the shop for a P1128 error code (turns out to be nothing serious some leaves in the intake up against the plastic mesh just ahead of the MAF) -- and just a few blocks from the house thought something from a passing car got kicked up and bounced off my car.

Turned out to be the driver's side headlight washer cover (that chrome thing) came loose and blew off the car. I turned the car around and drove back and parked the car and walked up and down -- in the rain -- looking for the cover but couldn't find it.

You don't want to know how much a headlight washer replacement cover costs.

Hosewater2

About $65?

http://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Inf...kaApyuEALw_wcB

FRUNKenstein

Yeah, but Macster's dealer charges $4,000 to install it.

(just kidding, buddy)

dprantl

Would replacing the fuel pump yourself not be an option? I understand not wanting to undertake difficult/heavy/dirty repairs, but this one is really a pretty simple DIY with no heavy lifting or grime to worry about.

Dan.

Turbodan

I replaced the fuel pump on my wife's Touareg last year (common on Cayenne's as well) (very easy btw)they crack for some reason. then I found out this year they are a recall item
Macster; glad you got your car fixed, but I heard from your other thread that you are not in love with the 996 turbo and want to trade for more modern...hopefully that feeling passed now that your car runs well

powdrhound

Replacing the fuel pump on a TT is probably one of the easiest DIYs you can do on the TT. It's about as difficult as changing the oil on the car. If you can pretty much screw in a lightbulb, you can change out a fuel pump as it takes about 30 minutes if you have 1/3 of fuel or less. If you have a full tank and you need to siphon fuel out, add about 20 minutes.

Sorry to say, but if your dealer charged you close to $1000 in labor, they seriously raped you. That must have hurt, especially considering I see no KY mentioned on the parts bill.... No bueno. I would have a serious talk with the service manager over this one.

atlzhp6m

powdrhound beat me to it.
Won't leave any negative feedback on here, just going to say I'm sorry.

Quadcammer

yes, this is not about the hourly rate, this is about them claiming it needed like 6 hours of labor for what is an 1.5 hour job, including the diagnosis, getting it into the shop, etc.

At least they didn't charge over MSRP for the pump.

mffarrell

I used Kahlers in Dublin a long time a go when I lived in the BA when Denny owned it. He was my next door neighbor and well known in the Porsche world. I understand he since sold the business and retired in AZ.

I am not sure about the work they do now with the new ownership.

"02996ttx50

im sorry but that labor charge is bordering on “fraud”. At least you saved a hundred on the part. 🙄

T10Chris

I bet they gave you a great valuation on trade-in and price for a new car too.

manimal

Mac, sorry to hear about your troubles.

At the risk of piling on, I find it hard to believe that you can't find a good indy in the Bay Area. I'm sure your time is very valuable, but it seems worth a few extra hours drive, if necessary.

PaleAle

If you need a good indy in the Bay Area go see Farhad at Import Connection in Campbell. He's worked on my '02 TT and '06 Cayenne and has been great. Any Indy that tries to talk me out of something is a precious commodity. I just talked to him about a mod, that he would do, and he said "Why? Your car is perfect. Don't touch it!."

I've blown coolant lines on both cars and he repaired both (pinned the TT). He's also replaced CV boots, put on headers, done brake work and, because it was there, oil changes. I seriously could not give a better recommendation.

greencalex

As another reference point, my car died on the road, and I had little choice but to have it flatbedded to the local dealership.

Dead fuel pump; $600 in parts, $600 in labor. But I am up in NH, so my guess is that the difference in labor cost is just a matter of rate; i.e., it sounds to me like the "book rate" for this repair is pretty high, regardless of what an DIY time-commitment might be.

So I echo the sentiments of the OP; if you have an economical independent, count yourself lucky...