jdcorbitt3

I bought the adapter for my P!G that was built in the 21st Century where all trailer lights are headed to LED. The started working, then last night towing my boat, the brake and turn signals stopped working and I got the dreaded Trailer light warning. I consider this car dangerous to tow with. In this century, I shouldn't have to even worry about an adaptor. If I bought a Chevrolet, Ford or Dodge, I wouldn't have this problem. I can understand a menufacturer having an issue, but most of them fix the problem in the next model year. Porsche has failed to do this. I would think this makes them liable if there is an accident while towing. I got my boat to the house and now have to borrow simeones truck to tow it to storage. This has permenantly soured me on the Porsche product. As far as driving machines, They are impressive. As far as quality and build, I question their recent designs. i have bought my last one, and hope to sell this one before I end up like Larry, unless Porsche does something to resolve these issues, not only with my car, but the fleet. It is one thing to use cheap parts from Volkswagon. All manufactures do that. but I consider failing brake lights, Which I have also had on a Jetta Diesel (Brake light Switch Failure) more dangerous than a stuck throttle (Toyota).

That is my Rant for the day.

John

mudman2

a copy and paste from history

ltc

Larry, is that you ?

Please let me know if he mentions the word 'lawsuit' ...

ltc

John,
LED trailer lighting and surge brakes ... not exactly the best combination, for several reasons.

BTW, you are definitely not about to "boldly go where no man has gone before"... I think the expression "Larry's been there, done that" would apply.

PCNA, PCNA Legal, and PAG are all aware of this issue. How far you want to take it and how much it means to to you is your choice.

Good luck and Godspeed.

Legal disclaimer: I never owned a 2004 Cayenne S, never had an issue with Beep "!" Check Trailer Lights and never filed suit against PCNA and PAG.
Larry did, he's dead and the Cayenne disappeared... that's all I know and was told by his widow.

jdcorbitt3

I don't like lawsuits. I personally wouldn't sue, but if someone ran into the back of me two nights ago, their atourney would go after the deep pockets, which are not mine.

I will probably Leave the P!G at the Chevrolet dealership when I pick up a Suburban. What is sad is this is my first experience with Porsche. The car I like is the Cayman S and I feel the quality is there in the Cayman S. Unfortunatly, with VW buying Porsche, I think the quality is going to drop. I am having similar quality build issues with my wife's Jetta. As far as an accident, I feel safe. As far as materials and electrical VW is bad. The trim pieces are pealing in the 06 Jetta. I did not like when the Jetta brakelights came on and didn't turn off. Turns out there is a factory recall on 05 Jettas, but not 06s. My 06 had an 05 brake light switch.
Monday, I meet with the local Porsche dealer to see if there is anything they can do. If not, then I see myself being liable if I tow with this car again and I am not willing to risk the life of someone behind me.

John

mudman2

2 words

xmas lights

s4for5

Did they set up your particular trailer lighting?
led lighting is often a challenge on a lot of cars not just porsches.
As far as getting sued?
I am pretty sure it's the drivers responsibility to make sure the lighting is working while towing not the manufacturer.
Using the factory module and standard bulbs I have been towing our boat every weekend all summer with no issues.
Do you unplug the harness before submerging the trailer lights?
I highly recommend that as a precautionary measure.
Drive safe.

jdcorbitt3

I used to unplug with incandesent bulbs, but once I started getting the LED there is no need to unplug as the lights are sealed and don't get hot. I have not put this trailer or boat in salt water yet.

It is the driver's responsibility to check the lights. That is what upsets me. I checked them and they worked fine. Then they stopped working. It is the randomness that is scarry on this truck.

I have been using LED lights for the past 10 years and this is the first car I have had a problem with. I read in the VW manual where you shouldn't use LEDs. I still don't understand why a manufacturer would build a car that doesn't work properly with a common technology. That would be like not being able to plug a new laptop charger into your house because it uses LED backlighting.


John

JFScheck

Do a search here - we have answers for you if you do want to keep using your Pepper for towing duties - if not then I'm sure a GMC\Chevy would be fine - but not as good as a "German Diesel" ;-)

leek

There is standard fixes, they put resistors in the pigtail or additional incandecent lights in the trailer to let the car know there is a load. I towed a 6000# boat with LED's over 1000 miles including several mountain ranges in the last 10 days. It is not an F 250 but it doesn't act like one either. I have had both.

ltc

1. PAG didn't design it, it was OEM'd from Westfalia IIRC...same for VAG (of course they're now the same, but I digress)

2. Find any reference in your owner's manual/documentation for "Check Trailer Lighting" or "electrical load/connections and or configuration)

3. They used a very simple (fixed) model for the trailer lighting load, one which does not work (well) with LEDs. As an aside, Larry did offer to fly to Germany, free of charge, and help them come up with some design changes....he died and the vehicle disappeared before he received an answer.

4. They are aware of the issue and it is officially not an issue since it is not documented, so there is nothing to complain about.
( you should be in the room when they mention that by plugging in an unapproved electrical load to the 7 pin Pollack connector, you may have voided all your warranty coverage for the entire vehicle .... you know, the 7 pin Pollack connector that does not come installed/configured/tested from the factory and that is installed (hopefully) by the dealer before delivery and it not mentioned anywhere in the owner's manual/documentation?)

5. We never had this conversation.

jdcorbitt3

I was at the dealership. Porsche knows about the problem. They say it is not their problem since I am the one who decided to buy a trailer with LEDs. They do, however have a fix. It is a $700 replacement module. I find it ironic that the 2011 Cayennes tail lights are LEDs.

ltc

Sorry to hear that somethings never change.

leek

I paid $25 for a trailer repair shop to put in two resistors into the Pollak plug. Works great now.

ltc

There are some drawbacks to that approach (if the resistors are on the trailer side plug), namely you can no longer detect if in fact you have lost trailer lighting.
Of course, if you install those resistors on the vehicle side plug, your Cayenne will always believe a trailer is attached/connected, and thus activate the secondary directional indicators on the dash MFD.

It was a nice idea extending bulb diagnostics to an attached trailer, they just didn't quite think it all the way thru in the beginning.