boolala

I know that there is a lot of contrary opinion about this but I, personally, would stick to the break in schedule. Having done so I've been rewarded with a car that has not used any oil in 8400 miles and runs cool even in 95 deg stop and go traffic. Maybe that's a coincidence but why gamble when what I have done seems to have worked?

Hope you get your car back soon.

nkhalidi

My experience has been that if a couple coilpacks go bad, the car runs poorly. If they all go, then the car won't run at all. Personally, I wouldn't make the dealership "take the car back" if a problem like that happened to me.

And it did: in 2002 I purchased a new 9-5 Aero. Car had 20 miles on it and all of a sudden, the shifter wouldn't engage ANY gear. R-1-2-3-4-5, nothing. Just flopped around. Had it flatbedded to the dealership, they gave me a loaner for a day, turned out a clip was missing (or something like that, I don't remember exactly), car turned out fine. No need to get all riled up. I guess some people are just more nitpicky than others. But I won't suggest that you get an Acura or Lexus instead of a Porsche, that would just be rude

AeroSmith

Thanks for the input guys. And thank you PTEC, I'll mention that possibility to my service guy.

Don't worry, I'm keeping the car. I'm sure this will be fixed. She really runs great. I love everything about the car. If something like this keeps reoccuring then I may have to reevaluate things.

As far as driving, break-in etc. you all can draw whatever conclusions you like. But given that the last half dozen cars I've bought new, prior to this 997 (including a 996, three SAAB turbos, an AUDI twin turbo and a GMC Yukon), have had zero problems in their warranty periods I conclude that this is bad luck. And none of those cars ever burn(ed) oil. In general cars seem to run well for me.

I drove this car by the book for 500 miles. I didn't hit redline until 750 miles. And even then I hit it gently in higher gears. I didn't slam into it in first or second. Frankly, if a Porsche (of all cars!) can't handle hitting redline at any point in its life I don't want a Porsche. But my experience with the 996 tells me otherwise.

When I find out I'll be sure to post the actual problem and fix.

NoSubEDU

Now that I think of it, the variocam idea sounds spot on. Hope it gets fixed asap!

Porky

I wouldn't worry about red lining! I have thrashed a 997S in the first 100 miles - redlined it ALL DAY long! Its now on about 5000 Miles and runs perfectly - its not MY car BUT, the owner has several and wanted me to go crazy in it : ) I have also thrashed (almost to death 2 brand new 996's and 1 X 986 and 1 X 987) No problems with any of them! Just for you info, I have been requested to hurt the cars - great job : )

BUT, in my own cars I NEVER redline them because I keep them for at least 2 years

OCBen

Talk about Porky's Revenge.

Bill - Chicago

The 4,200 rpm limiter hint only in the US manual. The UK and German manual does not contain it. I am assuming that this is also true in the rest of Europe. You can drawn your own conclusion on why PCNA decided to add it here.

AeroSmith

LOL, well I certainly don't thrash the **** out of my cars. But it's nice to know Porky can and they take it. You work for Porsche, Porky?

I just heard from my service advisor. Today they can't seem to replicate the problem (misfires). They saw it yesterday right after I brought it in though. They have their best tech on it (been confirmed by independant sources). I mentioned the variocam solenoid theory. I mentioned my high speed runs over the weekend (the computer misses nothing he says). They're emailing back and forth with the factory trying to get a handle on this before they release the car back to me. They may change the oil because misfiring can cause bubbles in the crank case? Oh well, maybe I get a free oil change out of the deal. I'll report back when I have some more info (and hopefully the car).

AeroSmith

Yep, I know that to be the case. It's one of the reasons I abandoned the 4,200 limit at 500 miles. I put more weight on no short trips and not exceding 4,200 RPM for the first 5 minutes of driving.

TT Surgeon

I think the breakin is BS, still sounds like an electrical problem to me, or possibly some ECU/X51 interface issue. Good luck.

jcf7

As one the has "suffered" a bunch of "minor" problems, including replacing the engine(!), I tell you not to worry about the Blue Zoomer. They will fix it and you'll have plenty of great miles ahead. Relax.

That said, we should all be concerned about the amount of minor problems. The poll taken a few weeks ago, although not scienctific, showed almost 20% with big problems and close to 40% with some problems. This is my first Porsche and I am surprised that at this stage of the game and at $80-110k the cars are delevered with so many defects.....just a thought. I'll still buy another one when my lease is up......

jcf7

sorry, make that almost 10% with large problems, not 20%. In any case, 10% is a lot....and almost 40% with some problem sounds very high to me.

Cogito

Not terribly knowledgeable dweiser asks if it could simply be a tank of bad gas?

AeroSmith

I'll be damned if I didn't think the same thing. Filled up with Chevron 93 the day before this occured. Maybe they had some funk growing in the tank.

I also topped off the oil with M1 0w40 the day before this occured. Gauge was showing .8 liters low and I added exactly .8 liters.

I told my service guy about both of these little tidbits.

baboou

For what it's worth, Finn on Speedline.com had a similar problem that was diagnoised as possibly a bad coil pack or bad coil pack connection.