Vino

Since this is now becoming a more common issue, I think we need more details on prevention and why the coating on the pistons, for whatever reason is melting off and creating havoc on the cylinder walls.
Someone also mentioned oil starvation causing the scored cylinder wall but the oil was plentiful in the sump, was there loss of pressure or faulty oil pump?
Hopefully none of you did the magic 20k first oil change that was 1st recommended by porsche when the Cayenne was just introduced. I think they now have it at 10k or 12k and once a year.
How long have some of you used the Mobil 1 0w-40 before switching? The 0w-40 from my understanding turns into a 30 weight and from the UOA's I got back from samples I sent in, there is some major fuel dilution in that oil after 3k miles. The wear #'s were terrible as well but treanding down so I stopped doing it at 15k.

Is there a TSB on this issue?

Our CTT has 22k on the clock running Lubromoly 5w-40 with "0" oil consumption and whisper quiet at idle, it's changed once a year.

What happened to Porsche52, he kept many of us in check or at least gave us a heads up with good detailed explanations.
I'll call a reputable dealer next week that I trust 100% and see what's going on with these motors and hopefully get a more detailed explanation...

Kenrik

Are these issues Limited to the V8s? what about the plain old "Cayenne" I had been looking to get a Cayenne S as they can be had in the low 20s.. But there is no way I'm going to purchase a 20k car that might need a 10k engine...

Really my question is... is the V6 safe? how is the reliability of the vanilla Cayenne?

An engine failing at anything under 200k miles is just UNACCEPTABLE to me. I have always gotten at least 200k out of my cars.

mudman2

My car went in to dealer last night for service and state inspection. I asked them about this subject. "since 2003 they have change the engine in 2 vehicles". They regard the engine as almost bullet proof.

User 4221

The experience seems to be spotty. My dealer had never seen a Cayenne engine issue until now.

When the shop foreman met other shop managers at a tech school in GA for PCNA, he counted approx 12 engine replacement engines from about 3-4 dealers. Again, the problem is predominant in the northern states. My car started life in MN for its first year.

mt-sfo

I wonder if the oil consumption issues in the 2011+ v8s will lead to more of this is in the future

s4treg

My dealer in CO said he'd seen a few engine replacements on the CS, but this was the first Turbo he'd seen with it.

As for oil, I can't say I watched my oil like a hawk, but I would spot check it every 3-6 months, and yes there were times where I would have to add a quart. If I'm at fault with that type of care, then call me guilty.

hahnmgh63

I think Porsche is ridiculous with the oil change interval recommendation for normal use. It is a high output engine that will be hard on its oil. There is no way the oil will last for 20K. Show me a positive oil analysis for oil that has gone 20K in a Cayenne and by the third oil change at that interval I guarantee that it will show iron, copper, etc... of increasing levels.

yeldogt

It would be interesting to learn exactly what causes the failures -- Don't fully understand the "piston transfer" situation.

Considering the lubrication qualities of current oils and the ability of the OE filters to clean the oil of any particles - I can't see how a CS engine driven normally is going to have an engine problem cause by the oil in under 100k.

My dad had a good friend that was on one of the Mobil 1 development teams starting back in the 70's. The oil really never failed -- it was dirt and water/ fuel contamination that cause the wear. Better filters and metering of the fuel injection fixed two of the problems on most engines. If Porsche says this is a worn cylinder problem -- I wonder if water vapor is a problem with some of the V8 engines in cold climates?

hahnmgh63

Without going into the removal of most of the ZDDP recently from oil, in general oil today is much better than say 20 years ago. But today's engines are also much harder on their oil than engines from 20 years ago. 60's muscle cars put out maybe 350HP (SAE NET, not Gross like they used back then), 70's were terrible, with fuel injection by the 90's we had alreay surpassed the muscle car era's HP but with emmission & driveability. Now are 4.5ltr motor puts out more HP in S or Turbo form than a 440ci (7.1ltr) Mopar or a 454ci 7.3ltr Gm Big block, and about equal in TQ, the Turbo surpasses them by a fair amount and gets better mileage, better emissions, better driveability, and believe it or not, better reliability(in most cases). Yes, our engines, and most high performance engines are fairly hard on their oil. Now, should we get into a ZDDP debate? Yea, for the first time in history our oil quality has decreased. But ZDDP is more of an extreme pressure lubricant and I wouldn't think it would be the cause of most of the current problems. Here is a quick wiki on ZDDP for those that don't know what I'm talking about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_dithiophosphate

Smerj

Ok all, so I've now brought in a lawyer to escalate the issue within Porsche. To recap, I have a 2004 Porsche Cayenne S with only 66K miles and learned very recently (after the engine started to shake) that I have a scored cylinder and that the only way to remedy this is to buy a new engine from Porsche which will cost $16K. The car has been under regular maintenance since I bought it (as the original owner) but is unfortuantely out of warranty. I ran this issue up the ladder all the way to Porsche NA in Atlanta and the only thing they are willing to do for me is to offer to pay for half of the engine, which would reduce what I would have to pay out of pocket to $10.5K. Now I don't know about the rest of you Porsche owners, but forcing me to pay $10.5K to fix a problem on a car that only has 66K miles and a Blue Book value of $20K or so is ridiculous. The car has had all of the Porsche-suggested maintenance services since it was purchased and has been garage kept all that time. I searched the web and found several other people (thanks for this forum) who have had this same issue (low mileage '04 Cayennes with scored cylinders), so I know it's not related to how I treated my car.

In any event, please visit my Facebook page (link is in the quote above) and post your issues on my wall. Hopefully someone at Porsche will pay attention.

Thanks

mudman2

I think the comedy act you will now see will not make you laugh

Smerj

LOL. Well we've got to try whatever we can to get some results. I've already gotten several emails and posts to my facebook page of similar problems with the 2004 Cayennes. One person even went so far as to tell me that they think it has something to do with the wrong coating used on the cylinders, which was changed after the 2004 model year.

suzoom

Hi everyone,
I'm sitting her reading this thread, and finally, I've had enough. I just need to chime in. This is ridiculous. There is clearly a problem with the manufacturing of older Cayennes. I just purchased a 2004 Cayenne and same problem -- scored cylinders (3 of them). So I need a new engine, and now I'm fighting with my 3rd party warranty company. But seriously, shouldn't Porsche have to fix these? Shouldn't there have been a recall???

Thanks,
Suzoom

mudman2

Which warranty company did you use ?

You must have been warned about 03/04 alpha/beta models before you purchased so you bought with your eyes open. These cars can be expensive to maintain, I should know I have had an 04 from new.

Sorry for your bad luck and my lack of sympathy but unfortunately @#$% happens sometimes.

suzoom

The warranty co. is western general. No, I wasn't warned about 03/04 Cayennes. If I had been, I wouldn't have purchased one. Anyway - Porsche has been making engines for a lot longer than it has been making Cayennes, so I am surprised that there would be such a major problem, like engine scoring, on even a first or second year Porsche, period.
That being said, I realize that I made the purchase, and now I am in this situation, but I am trying to research the issue, because it just seems strange that all these Cayennes with low miles are having the same major problem.
If it was a manufacturing error, then I need to know that. Then the @#$% that happened will at least have a root cause and maybe I can help others right this wrong situation.

Thanks,
Suzoom