system fault light!
03-09-2012, 12:39 AM
#16
Nordschleife Master
Interesting to me is the fact that I have waited for years for my first new Porsche and must say that thus far this car has spent more time in the dealers garage than my previous THREE sports cars combined which were a Miata (3 years) , a Honda S2000 (2 years) and a C6 Corvette that I owned for six years.
I still love my 997S, the best of the aforementioned lot but I sure hope this nagging problem can be put away now.
Thanks for the input.
I still love my 997S, the best of the aforementioned lot but I sure hope this nagging problem can be put away now.
Thanks for the input.
03-09-2012, 04:28 PM
#17
Drifting
If there is an intermittent short or some other device that you might be using that isn't on at the dealership, it is hard to detect. Mice chewing on the wiring at your house but not at the dealership...some loose cable just touching here or there. Its a pain with those intermittant faults.
I've had issues with the seats, where the bolsters will fully inflate on their own on occasion (happened 3 times in 3 years). I get in and thing 'why is the seat so uncomfortable?". Pressing the seat memory button causes the system to restore the proper inflation level. Dealer, of course, cannot reproduce the issue.
Generally, if you cannot reproduce the problem at will, its very hard for a technician to work the problem. Hopefully they find something this time. Let us know what it is.
I've had issues with the seats, where the bolsters will fully inflate on their own on occasion (happened 3 times in 3 years). I get in and thing 'why is the seat so uncomfortable?". Pressing the seat memory button causes the system to restore the proper inflation level. Dealer, of course, cannot reproduce the issue.
Generally, if you cannot reproduce the problem at will, its very hard for a technician to work the problem. Hopefully they find something this time. Let us know what it is.
03-13-2012, 01:03 AM
#18
Racer
Report
A call to the dealer late this afternoon gives me some solace. I am told that I had a "bad battery". This will be replaced under warranty. I assume that the battery had a bad cell, but I still wonder what would have triggered the "System Fault" exclamation and message. My only concern is that the problem seemed intermittant and I am not sure I have ever witnessed a bad battery exibit itself intermittantly, but we shall see.
Further note: If I include the weekend nights spent at the dealer the Porsche just passed my 1975 Fiat X 1/9 in nights spent at the shop
.
I am having some additional work done and will pick up the car later in the week. I am having the Sport/Sport + programming added to my car.
A call to the dealer late this afternoon gives me some solace. I am told that I had a "bad battery". This will be replaced under warranty. I assume that the battery had a bad cell, but I still wonder what would have triggered the "System Fault" exclamation and message. My only concern is that the problem seemed intermittant and I am not sure I have ever witnessed a bad battery exibit itself intermittantly, but we shall see.
Further note: If I include the weekend nights spent at the dealer the Porsche just passed my 1975 Fiat X 1/9 in nights spent at the shop
. I am having some additional work done and will pick up the car later in the week. I am having the Sport/Sport + programming added to my car.
03-13-2012, 02:11 AM
#19
Definitely interested in how the sports programming develops. Maybe start a new thread. Low voltage made my PDK transmission emergency light come on. Surprised it took so long to diagnose a "bad" battery.
03-13-2012, 04:07 PM
#20
Drifting
In todays electronics driven cars, which have definite advantages, the side effect is that they are indeed very finicky to un-even power. When voltages are out of the proper range, electronics can get into some funky states and get confused. A good reset with a proper batter should clear it up.
03-19-2012, 11:17 PM
#21
Racer
Update: One more week
After having my System Fault light diagnosed as a bad battery early last week, I left the car to have Sport/Sport + programming installed.
On Thursday of last week while testing the Sport/Sport + installation the car "threw a code" according to the call from the dealer. Now they are convinced that I have a "bad" module and they will try to determine what is happening. The first effort is to reflash the....? whatever. I am convinced the bad battery diagnosis was just a knee jerk reaction because of the obvious low voltage that was probably reading upon testing of the battery upon the cars arrival at the dealer. I had made a point of telling them that I was getting the fault message even after keeping the car on a trickle charger over night. No one listens any more.
A call earlier today indicates that the reflash was not successful and testing over the weekend and today is an attempt to determine why a module might be "waking up" (their words) and putting a heavy draw on the battery as well as which module might be acting this way. This only happens when the car is shut down and the alarm is armed and even then it is intermittant. Some days do not register a problem at all. It seems that they can record this activity in some way and have now transmitted the recording of the information off to Porsche to see if someone there has any ideas. I am amazed that these cars can record overrevs, but can't show the problem area in this case.
As I am three days away from two full weeks in the shop, I am beginning Lemon Law research. Again, the car is a 2012 977C2S with 3500 miles. I have thus far been very easy to deal with as I have other vehicles at my disposal, but I am losing patience.
Anyone out there seen anything like this?
After having my System Fault light diagnosed as a bad battery early last week, I left the car to have Sport/Sport + programming installed.
On Thursday of last week while testing the Sport/Sport + installation the car "threw a code" according to the call from the dealer. Now they are convinced that I have a "bad" module and they will try to determine what is happening. The first effort is to reflash the....? whatever. I am convinced the bad battery diagnosis was just a knee jerk reaction because of the obvious low voltage that was probably reading upon testing of the battery upon the cars arrival at the dealer. I had made a point of telling them that I was getting the fault message even after keeping the car on a trickle charger over night. No one listens any more.
A call earlier today indicates that the reflash was not successful and testing over the weekend and today is an attempt to determine why a module might be "waking up" (their words) and putting a heavy draw on the battery as well as which module might be acting this way. This only happens when the car is shut down and the alarm is armed and even then it is intermittant. Some days do not register a problem at all. It seems that they can record this activity in some way and have now transmitted the recording of the information off to Porsche to see if someone there has any ideas. I am amazed that these cars can record overrevs, but can't show the problem area in this case.
As I am three days away from two full weeks in the shop, I am beginning Lemon Law research. Again, the car is a 2012 977C2S with 3500 miles. I have thus far been very easy to deal with as I have other vehicles at my disposal, but I am losing patience.
Anyone out there seen anything like this?
