Last week I got a "check engine light...visit workshop" message. Light stayed on and didn't flash. Drove the car home 40 miles or so-----turned the car on and off a couple of times, and the light and the message stayed on.

Next day was going to go to the dealer....but driving about 10 miles the light went out. But came back the next day.

Left the car at the dealer. Talked to service and they asked me if I chipped or flashed the car and I said NOWAY ! (they said they didn't want me to lose anything).....I think they wanted to know if I did anything and I DIDN'T.

Service Invoice states (1327 miles in......BUT 1392 when I picked it up !!)

Fault P0019 crank shaft position related & P0300. P0304 & P0305 misfire faults. VAL & WRK LOG created sent. Tester #5. DME FC 0019 Crksht Pos related Bnk2 implausible.
P0300 Random Misfire. P0304 CYL 4 misfire detected. PO305 CYL 5 misfire detect. P0306 Cyl 6 misfire detected.

Proceed to erase fault memory. Drove test vehicle. Fault in DMEome back as 0019 crnkshft pos related to camshaft. BNK2 outlet camshaft.
Proceed to swap outlet camshaft selenoid valve BNK1- to- BNK2 for diagnosis purpose and possible poor connection.
Drove test vehicle---scan fault no longer present. Recheck doing active drive link. Fault no longer present. Test drove 3rd attempt, scan for fault in DME. No fault present Vehicle operates as per mfg specs at this time.

So they cleaned up some connections and resecured everthing or something like that.

Also on invoice under comments:
1ST RUN 1336 MLS
2ND RUN 1349 MLS
3RD RUN 1364 MLS
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When I expressed my shock of so many miles on the car, I was told, "The shop foreman did the repair, and they don't do it to joy ride.....they needed to do it to diagnose...and repair the problem.

They said the car should be fine. Champion Porsche....Pompano FL
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They also made sure the temperture sensor on the front bumper didn't touch the radiator (getting reading like 110 degrees ambient when it's like only 80)

Also, I didn't say anything, but my piece of junk smasung phone wasn't able to connect with the bluetooth before, but tried it again and was successful.

Opinions about the above.

Thanks

David

PS...car seems to work fine......other than them cleaning the car back up, and putting tire shire on the outside of the tire (grrrr !)

PSS...oh yeah the CEL origanially came on at a local autox like activity....driver improvement

 

That's a LOT of miles they put on your car. I'd be suspicious too.

I wonder how many miles it takes them to diagnose a CGT problem...

 

Given your description and the apparent intermittent nature of the problem I think their explaination
is plausible.

While the overall test miles are high, as you see they took the car out no less than 3 times, and drove it a reasonable distance each time to either cause the fault to reappear or to drive at least a distance where they would expect the fault to reappear if it were still present, seems like reasonable behavior
with an intermittent fault.

Admittedly the last drive is a bit longer, but I think they were just ensuring that the fault was no longer present .. would you have preferred to drive it away, and have the CEL reoccur?

 

It is not unheard of to put over 100 miles on a car to diagnose a CEL issue. You can hook up an OBD-II tool to give you codes but that won't always point to exactly what and how to correct the issue at hand. Can you imagine before cars had computers that produced CEL codes what a mechanic might have to do to figure out the problem if it was not totally apparent? That is where a damn good mechanic makes his/her money!

 

Before everything was computerized, they had fewer hard-to-diagnose problems...

 

Ok,
Seemed like a little much, but ok. Hopefully they didn't beat the snot out of the car, but then again I guess they had to run it a bit to see that it didn't reoccur. I guess if they didn't fix it right then I would be shelping it to the dealer back and forth and that would cost time and miles.

If the CEL wasn't flashing......then you don't think it damaged the car right ?

The car seems ok.

Before the car had 1300 miles on it, and now it has 1400 miles on it... (65 miles in service )....is the car used up and old now ? It still looks hot.

Tell me to clam down again....

I FOUND A MCDONALDS BAG UNDER THE FRONT SEAT ! (Just kidding)

 

I'd say it's 100 miles is far outside the prescribed diagnostic and well beyond any limit requiring the customer to consent. The observed 65 miles is just not reasonable. If they couldn't diagnose and resolve the fault inside 10 miles, they need to confirm with the customer that there's a bigger issue at hand.

From the notes you've given, I'd say the tech tested the car, drove it, tested it, had an idea, it worked and the car did not repeat the fault. Maybe ten miles. The other 50 miles warrant an explanation and having the regional service rep examine the paperwork. And you need to find another dealer.

 

When I take my Ferrari in and the service tech knows the car will need to be driven for diagnostic, he gives me the option to put on the miles. Sometimes I'm available sometimes not but I like the option. I had the RMS leak in my GT3 and the mechanic drove the car home overnight. It bothered me a lot when I found that out.

 

Ok ok, I know if I were younger and working on these cars I sure as hell would have lost several jobs by now due to excessive miles driven on customer's cars!

 

I think the mileage was justifiable per the service invoice description. I would say not to worry about it. Enjoy your car.

Regards,

 

it sounds like you had a lot of stuff going on there- but lets be honest if you're worried about the mileage in general, that's a lot smaller concern then "oh crap my engine is destroyed" or the alternative.

obviously anything that was "beat up" in that 100 mile tuning process is THEIR liability.

that being said- I wouldn't worry about it.

 

How long have you owned this car? If more than one month perhaps they felt sorry for the car and applied some sympathy miles?

Maybe you should make the effort to get to know the lead tech/service writer better to see if you feel more or less confidence in them? Discuss your concerns with them in an open minded, non confrontational manner.

Checking the in/out mileage on any of my cars, including my RS, has never even crossed my mind. I know my service writer and tech and totally trust them.

 

Regarding the GT3, was that in Colorado, and if so, which dealership?

 

Talked to the general manager, and some others today on a conference call. They explained the procedure, and about their 6 mile one way, and 6 mile the other way test loop.

They kept running and testing the car to see that the codes didn't repeat, after they basically just cleaned some connectors and reattached them.

Car is working fine....no codes.......

Feeling a little better about the whole thing....I appreciated the call from the gerenal manager so promptly.....I think I had valid concerns.

David

 

Whenever I leave a Porsche for service, my concern is not so much the mileage they'll put on it but their conscientiousness regarding oil temps and RPMs. Especially when the car is left overnight. I doubt they're as fussy as the owners about this sort of thing, given that they want to minimize the time spent on any diagnosing/repairs...