HPTJI

2009 Turbo, 8500 miles, check engine light comes on while driving. Dealer checks it, says it was a fault in the cam, unsure of cause -- maybe some dirt in the oil. No reason for concern. Re-sets everything, performs the annual service and I am off to get the car inspected. Car fails the state emission test because the car was not "ready". Told by the dealer and inspector to just drive the car for a few days -- perhaps up to a week -- and then re-inspect. SHould pass no problem. Sound right to you?

Land Jet

Yes, I was told you have to drive 50 miles to clear the system. 997TT may be more but it will reset.

Macster

Actually, there is reason for concern. No way a right running 09 should trip check engine light at 8500 miles and for a cam fault?

You should get nearly 10 times that number of miles and never see a CEL unless you leave the gas cap off.

Be sure you get service department work receipt paperwork that clearly shows what the error code was and when it appeared in case this a sign of something serious that takes time to develop.

The car is covered by an emissions warranty that can run up to 8 years, 80K miles maybe more depending upon which state you reside. However, the automaker is not responsible for all emission related faliures, only those that cost above a certain dollar amount. If car out of new car warranty and spark plug or even O2 sensor results in emissions non-compliance you have to pay.

If converter fails though this is covered cause these are expensive enough (over $1000 and can be quite a bit over) that they are covered by automaker and its emissions warranty obligation.

A bad camshaft position sensor may not be expensive enough to be covered. Not sure if labor cost plays a role in the cost amount that causes something to be covered or not. Converters are expensive to buy but require normally just an hour or two of labor.

Otoh, a camshaft postion sensor or VarioCam actuator or some related piece of hardware is pretty cheap, relatively speaking to buy, but the labor cost can be quite high, if to get to the part and and replace it the engine must come out of the car.

The drive the car for a few days right. When error code(s) erased to extinquish the CEL this resets the readiness monitor results. It can take some driivng -- 30 miles or so -- for the engine to experience the necessary operating conditions for the Ecu to flag these readiness monitors complete.

Sincerely,

Macster.

David Sapp

This is strange. My check engine light also illuminated at 8500 miles on my '07 Turbo. This was just after I returned from the two year service where the oil and brake fluid was changed. Thinking the tech had not tightened everything correctly, I naturally thought the dealership was at fault. I returned the car to the dealership on Wednesday (a 100 mile trip) and they indicated to me that there were numerous faults showing on the computer read-out. The car also started to miss under load as I drove back. The dealership called Atlanta for assistance, but being the day before T'giving the office was closed. The dealership is at a loss to explain what happened but they have lots of possible causes; anything from a skipped timing chain to a cam sensor. Given that you also had this problem at the 8500 mile mark, it may be more than just a coincidence. My car was an April 2007 build.

Macster

Sorry to read of your troubles. But it is interesting. Be sure to post updates.

Wish you could post fault codes, error codes. Might provide a clue. Timing chain skip unlikely cause most of the time this results in valve/piston contact.
Could be VarioCam actuator failure though.

Come Monday though dealer will likely know.

Best of luck and please update when you know something.

Sincerely,

Macster.

TT Gasman

Missing under load may also be a symptom of fouled plugs or even bad gas. We recently had a few gas stations selling regular gas marked as premium. Sometimes a can of Techron, off the shelf at Chevron, can do wonders (worked great on my 996).

David Sapp

The mystery has been solved. Dealer error. I still don't know if I am getting the straight story but the dealer is taking the blame. The service rep says there was a recall to lubricate the turbos (this was confirmed by another dealer). It seems some owners were complaining that the turbos were failing to reach full boost and Porsche thought extra lubrication would cure the problem. Anyway, my dealer forgot to reset the computer correctly after completing the work and the car went into "limp home" mode after several restarts. The service rep says this is the mode used at the factory while shuttling the cars around. Sound plausible to you?

I'm mainly concerned that it's fixed correctly. By the way, what should I ask the dealer do to "make it right" for the punishment of driving an Impala since Wednesday? How about a nice short shift kit?

Macster

Explanation sounds plausible.

There is a limp mode, several in fact, but I do not know if this is engaged while cars at factory or at any other time by someone outside of the car with a diagnostics computer. Limp mode is as best I understand it selected when the engine controller or the e-Gas system detects a serious problem and can't rely upon expected inputs to determine fueling, etc.

To permit some limited operation the engine controller selects limp home mode which limits the amount of torque the engine controller will allow, limit the rpms the engine can obtain, and in severe cases -- I've read -- even disable individual cylinders in some order to restrict the amount of heat load generated and that has to be shed. I've never heard of anyone attempting to prove this and while I had a chance, two perhaps, to see if it would work I never trusted it to work, but instead shut off the engine to avoid possible overheating.

About all you can do is continue to use the car, as you would, and be super attentive to any untoward behavior and of course another check engine light event.

As for being compensated for being subjected to having had to drive an Impala you have my sincerest sympathies. I had one on loan nearly a sweek and it is not a very nice car.

But I've witnessed new car owners who've suffered severe downtime with their new car seeking to some compensation from the dealer to make up for the loss of use of their vehicle and been turned down with the service manager at least claiming he is unable to offer anything. I couldn't help but overhear one of these exchanges one day at a dealer when the car's owner wanted the dealer to make his car payment (or lease payment) for the month he was for the majority of the time without his car due to no fault of his own.

I withdrew to outside of the service deparment waiting room to avoid the blow up as I overhead the service manager deny this request and then had to inform the irate car owner that he didn't even have a comparable car to give him as a loaner, didn't even have a Porsche but could possibly get him into Mercedes loaner later in the day or no later than the next day.

Give up the seeking compensation line of thought.

Instead, think happy thoughts and concentrate on putting this incident behind you and begin instead to focus on enjoying the car.

Sincerely,

Macster.