hbrewer

03 Boxster base, the shifter lights are blinking between 4 and D, will not shift with the steering wheel paddle's, but it does shift in auto thru 4th gear smooth as always with no slipping. Will not shift into to 5th gear. Any ideals? thanks in advance
H.B.

Macster

Almost certainly this will require a professional Porsche tech's expertise.

About all I can suggest is to following the directions in the owners manual disconnect the battery from the car and leave it disconnected a while. Afterwards then following the directions in the owners manual reconnect the battery to the car.

My thinking is a full power off reset of the Tip controller may be all that is needed.

Honestly though I don''t hold much hope this will prove to be the case but it is something you can try on your driveway. If afterwards the Tip continues to act erratic, exhibits abnormal behavior, my advice is to get the car in and under the care of a professional Porsche mechanic.

My 2nd hand info is because the Tip transmission is pretty much the same transmission used in other brands there are a number of shops that can rebuild these. My local Porsche dealer techs told me it was not all that rare to have an owner bring in a car with a sick Tip to have them remove the Tip and the tranny shop pick it up and rebuild it and drop it off and then they'd install the Tip back in the car.

hbrewer

Thanks Macster, will try that, The Aamco transmission shop said they could check it, that they worked on them a lot. The closest is 100 mi away, might be time for a U haul.

Macster

If you have to take the car in for the Tip towing is the preferred method. You want to avoid doing any real damage to the transmission and continuing to drive the car can certainly damage the transmission.

Does the shop rebuild *your* transmission or just take yours as a "core" and gives you a Tip from another car albeit "rebuilt"?

I would prefer to get my Tip rebuilt rather get one from someone else's car.

dr914

check the tire pressure as well

mikefocke

Flat-bedding is the only method that should be used, not towing. Many towing companies have an instruction web site specific to a vehicle. I recall seeing the AAA version years ago and it being very specific. PST2 or PIWIS will diagnose. The transmission is not an unusual one, Audi used the same. ZF IIRC.

Macster

I typed 'towing" but meant flat bedding. 'course, I typed "towing" and not flat bedding so good for you to catch that.

hbrewer

Thanks everyone, I will try the reset, if it doesn't work, will get a u haul trailer and haul it. Just got to figure out where to take it. If anyone knows a good place in Ky, would like to know.
Will check to see if they have the PST2 or PIWIS to diagnose.

hbrewer

I tried the reset by taking the battery cables loose, did not work. 4th gear light is still blinking. will be shop bound, when I figure out where to take it.

hbrewer

The local shop pulled the codes on car today, showed codes, P0798 pressure regulator 3, and P0778 pressure regulator 2, What am I looking at now??

Macster

If the local shop is where you should be it should be telling you what's next.

I have no experience with the Tip, but here's what I turned up:

P0798: Possible causes of OBD code P0798 Porsche
– Low transmission fluid level – Dirty transmission fluid – Faulty pressure control solenoid valve – Pressure control solenoid valve harness or connectors – Pressure control solenoid valve circuit is open or shorted The Error code is generally activated on detection of the following conditions: The P0798 Porsche is triggered when the ECM detects an open or short circuit in shift solenoid valves.

P0778: Possible causes of OBD code P0778 Porsche
– Faulty line pressure solenoid valve B – Line pressure solenoid valve B harness or connectors – Line pressure solenoid valve B circuit is open or shorted – Low transmission fluid level – Dirty transmission fluid The Error code is generally activated on detection of the following conditions: Engine Control Module (ECM) detects an open or shorted condition on the solenoid circuit.

Assuming the fluid level isn't low and the fluid is in reasonable condition and the connectors of the indicated solenoid valve is ok and the wiring shows no damage replacement of the solenoid valves might be called for. Depends upon how much these cost and the amount of labor to replace them. (Solenoids don't have to be cheap: The VarioCam solenoid in my 2002 Boxster cost around $700.)

If the Tip has to be removed and torn down to get at these solenoids it might be time to consider having the Tip refreshed.

For a Tip shop I'd be inclined to contact some Porsche dealer service departments around you and ask where they send customers with Tip problems. The local Porsche dealer techs told me they don't repair Tips and if the customer doesn't opt to replace a bad one with a new one -- and most don't go this route -- the customer chooses to have the Tip rebuilt. So the customer has the tech remove the Tip and a shop picks it up and rebuilds the Tip then drops it off and the tech installs it back in the car.

Brian in Tucson

An oil change on a tip is reasonably easy and cheap. My tip came back from changing the engine with those codes. And flashing lights. Resetting didn't do anything, but doing a trans drain, cleaning the pan & magnets, new filter and the proper fill did solve the problem on my 01 base. YMMV, but it might be worth a try. Certainly would be cheaper and more direct than automatically jumping into a rebuild.

hbrewer

Mcaster, the shop that pulled the codes, said he didn't go in them anymore, but giveme the codes. I called a shop that said they serviced and rebuilt the transmissions in those cars. He said they were in a lot of cars, they serviced. He told me that where it showed 2 pressure regs codes, that most likely it was bad ground or dirty connections. Not very offen 2 would go bad a same time. So will haul it to them this weekend if it don't snow. Will let you know what they come up with. Thanks guys!!

mikefocke

You may bet lucky. My son had a trans that the dealer said needed replacement. $$$. The car was a hand me down and cheap so I took it to an AAMCO shop. They replaced a sensor and he drove it for years after without ever having paid the 5x the dealer wanted.

These aren't that unusual transmissions. ZF IIRC and used in Audis of the same era.

Macster

Well, while two sensors at a time going wonky is rare making sure the ground connections are good and the connectors and connections are good I think is worth the effort.

My Mustang GT would turn on the CEL with an error code that pointed to a camshaft position sensor. I finally got tired of the CEL coming on and went to the trouble to find the sensor indicated. I unplugged the sensor connector from the wiring harness and then plugged the sensor connector back into the wiring harness connector making sure the connectors were fully connected. Afterwards the CEL never came back.