mmcmilla

I have 1800 miles on my new '04 TT. I'll be taking it in to the dealer, but I'm wondering if anyone has ideas about the following: (1) There is a front end "clank" occasionally when going over rough roads or bumps. I took everything but the spare out of the boot, but the clank, which can be felt through the car and steering, persisted. (2) About once a day, when blipping the throttle at idle, the rpms will dip down to about 400 (instead of about 600)and the car stalls.

Anyone recognize either of these symptoms/problems? Thanks in advance.

PorschePhD

There are a couple of TSBs on the front support in the dash that rattle. I have also seen a few cars that the drop links or ball joints were bad or loose.

The stalling, not sure. The MAF does call that but is normally associated with other behavior

mmcmilla

Stephen, thank you. The front end noise is more of a suspension problem rather than a rattle in the dash. Perhaps it's the ball joint/drop link you mentioned, and I'll pass that on to the service writer.

ebaker

If the stalling occurs when cold the plugs may be fouling. The mixture is very rich when cold and blipping the throttle causes further enrichment.

mmcmilla

I continue to have stalling problems. Took into dealer; they couldn't find anything wrong, but "reset to factory specs." Stalling continued, always following a blip of throttle, then "feathering" clutch (e.g., pulling into garage, parallel parking, etc.).

Since dealer service, stalling persisted, usually about once a day. Kept a log for two weeks, and called Porsche service writer, telling him all details of stalling problem. He spoke with Porsche Factory rep/tech a few days later and told me, "Factory rep says this is a common issue with Turbos. For the first 5,000 or more, the rings are sealing. Until then, there's extra engine friction that can cause the RPMs to drop, followed by stalling like you experienced. Drive the car like a Turbo's supposed to be driven (i.e., aggressively), and the problem should resolve itself as the car continues to break in."

I have 3,600 miles in two months on my new daily driver. Does this advice make sense? Anyone have similar problems? My concern is a safety issue -- the car stalling in a situation when I need it running.

superyota

Did you figure out what the problem was with the low rpm/ stalling? How about the front end noise? I have both problems. Any help would be great.

mmcmilla

The clunk/thunk in the front end was a loose strut or something with the suspension. It was diagnosed and fixed easily with a trip to the dealer. The stalling, on the other hand, was never really fixed. The dealer told me that the factory service rep said it's not unusual for new TTs to stall occasionally when RPMs drop -- supposedly, the internals of the engine aren't all broken in and the friction pulls RPMs down to a point that the car stalls.

I've brought up the issue of stalling on 3 service trips, and there was always nothing they could do. However, it has improved with age/mileage. Now, with 17k miles, it rarely stalls. The most common scenario for the rare stall now is blipping the throttle while in reverse getting into a parallel parking space. Good luck -- if you have more question, let me know.

Brokenleg

I had a similar problem stalling when bliping the trottle on an older porsche (964). Several mechanics could not find the problem. It turned out to be the up graded air sensor I had installed was coated with a little dirt in the air intake. This is of course, is right where the MAF picks up its signal for fuel control. Cleaning the intake at this point solved the poblem. May have been and over oiled K&N filter element causing the problem. Not sure if this is a problem on Turbos, but easy enough to check.