deilenberger

Depends on if you have to be anywhere at a set date/time.

I've driven my '11 CTT cross-country (and back) but I had the Variocam adjusters replaced at my expense before I did that, just to avoid breaking down somewhere that the nearest Porsche dealer was 600 miles away.

I'm planning on repeating that trip next month actually, and given the choice of a bulletproof Lexus RX350 and the CTT - having driven both Coast-2-Coast-2-Coast, I'll be taking the CTT. The Lexus is bulletproof and BORING to drive.

Back to my point - I wouldn't do it just because having a major engine failure on a trip like this could become a major headache to deal with. I also had an extended warranty (still do actually..) but no confidence it would do me any good in rural North Dakota 600 miles from anywhere.

So - me being paranoid - I'd vote not to. But - YMMV and I'm sure you'll hear from other people..

2011_Cayenne_S

Hi,

Not so great news ... Camshaft Bolts snapped on my 2011 Cayenne S ... about 140 thousand kilometers on the car.

Never abused
Oil changes done every 7 thousand with Porsche Approved OIL's only, OE filters always used
Air filters changed couple times as well.

Car still at the dealer waiting for diagnostics but this is confirmed boroscope and , bolts snapped on BANK 1 so its visible, I was hoping after seeing codes from the car that it was sensor issue ... but I knew deep down ...

I wanted to have WC-22 completed but I was told that is not applicable to my car or neither recommended as preventive maintenance. ( I wanted to pay for it ) I have that on paper

I will keep you guys posted ....

altonj

Do a quick carfax and confirm your VIN was not (or was) part of recall... or email me your VIN and I can check for you.

deilenberger

I'm adding this to the thread on this problem. Your post will be moved..

deilenberger

It appears that you're in Canada. There are a number of people who have reported the failure in Canada, but unfortunately - no recall is in place there - so it's going to be an out of pocket expense for the owners.

As far as oil changes/filters - makes no difference to this failure. And WC-22 - when dealers were asked about it - if your VIN# wasn't on the computer as being covered for it - they tell you exactly what you heard. Thing is - mine was the same "doesn't apply" - but I insisted on having it done at my expense. They did it. Strangely they couldn't just send an order to Porsche parts for the WC-22 kit, they had to order each part individually. No package was available.

You might want to start gathering info from this thread and the one on 6speedonline of Canada cars that have had the problem. Then find what government agency regulates things like safety hazards (like our NHTSA) - and start working on getting them to recognize the problem and ask Porsche why they haven't issued a recall in Canada.

projekt-h

*Updated now that I'm not trying to type all this out on my phone:

Well, update 1, Their diagnosis says high pressure fuel pump has failed, which could throw the other fault codes. They flat out told me this morning on the phone they have not handled any vehicles with the cam bolt failure. Yeah, that's real confidence-inspiring....

looking at a $1600 tab for that, then once that's done they'll be able to dig deeper and see what else it says. Per them they didn't see or hear anything broken. Showed a slow cam timing bank 2 code, but likely due to fuel pump.

It'd sound a lot more possible to me that the cam bolt failed and that's not allowing it to drive the pump properly, if I wasn't getting occasional slightly longer-than-normal startup that I thought may be fuel filter I'm not sure I'd believe them 100%. No mention of a specified HPFP reading or code, though.

anyone else get this HPFP diagnosis with the cam bolt failure? Or ever have to replace a HPFP? I'm at 99,600 miles now for whatever that's worth.

Edit 1:

I need some others' experience here. When your vehicle exhibited the cam bolt failure, did it run afterwards, or was it completely not running?

They basically refused my request to physically inspect the bolts. I don't think they even looked at bank 1, under the oil cap (which I should have when this happened but that slipped my mind) and after asking them to physically inspect bank 2, which is the side they seem to be fixated on due to the codes thrown, they said they didn't because it would not be running at all if any of the bolts failed.

Edit 2:

I spoke to someone who actually knew what they were talking about, at the dealership I evidently should have had the car sent to. They've handled a few of these there, and said if it's a bank 1 failure it will throw a delay code on bank 2, and will run extremely rough. A failure on bank 2 will leave the car unable to run in most cases, as the HPFP is driven off of the bank 2 intake camshaft.

I'll be calling the dealer my car is at again in the morning, and more firmly requesting a visual inspection again, with photographs to show the condition of the bolts. I'm not one to let anyone play "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" with my money, especially with tasks I can complete myself. If they refuse or try to deflect away from my request again, I will be calling PCNA and seeing if they can help me come to a resolution (removed salty ranting that does no good)

projekt-h

Quick update from my phone, dropped by before I went to work to grab my radar and a few other things from the car, ask my questions in person, and told them everything I heard and read, so I looked at the bank 1 bolts right then with the S.A. and they were all intact and there. (What I was told by the other dealer that's done this before is if bank 1 fails, it'll run, but rough. If 2 fails it won't run at all) he also reassured me that if this is related to cam bolt failure, I won't be paying for the pump, so we'll see about that.

guess my foot is at least half in my mouth now. Ultimately, as long as it's fixed, that's all I care about.

2011_Cayenne_S

I just heard from service, that all bolts have been recovered.
and that they don't think that there was any other damage like valves

bweSteve

project-h, I don't think your foot was ever even in your mouth to begin with. You SHOULD be fighting hard for your position on this. Your dealership SHOULD be your advocate, and thorough lengthy conversation is where they can either shine, or fall short. If they take the time to talk about all possibilities, scenario's, and walk through the ramifications for each,.. then all expectations can be known, and thus no surprises. My own dealership here in MD is fantastic in this regard. Every time I am there, or speaking with them on the phone, they give me 100% focus, and ALL the time I need to discuss any & all aspects of car/problem & even my overall ownership experience. THAT is what makes the difference,... because when it comes time for me to "stand there" at the dealership, waiting my turn to speak to my SA, I am in FULL support of him giving the guy in front of me that same courtesy.

So you SHOULD get your turn with your vehicle & problem.

Anyway, I felt passionate about that,.. and wanted to write & tell you to keep after this. You will get satisfaction. Unfortunately for that one dealership, it may be too late with you. The final outcome will probably dictate that decision.

Good luck towards successful resolution & fix. You too "2011_Cayenne_S".

=Steve

projekt-h

Thank you, Steve. I guess I meant more so about some less than positive things I had said about the dealership. Perhaps they did look at bank 1 and knew that if bank 2 was broken it wouldn't run at all and that just wasn't communicated to me 100%. Either way, he was helpful and nice, and has been providing regular updates through the process. I'm hoping we'll be maybe a little clearer on communication going forward, and he may relay more exact technical information seeing that I'm someone who normally handles these types of things on their own. I also came home from work to a pretty sweet loaner waiting in my driveway.



Macan S, no idea what other details on it, haven't sat in it yet. I'm just happy to not be driving my M3 now, which is not really a daily driver car, especially when it's in the 30's-40's and it doesn't really have heat.

stas101

Uhuh. I wonder how can they tell if valves were not damaged? They can not turn the engine manually so its just their guess. I have been told the same thing when my bolts snapped and when i asked them they fed me some kind of test story , yah right. Its just pure luck now, just pray to all Gods its how they say it is otherwise with the speed of this recall you can be driving a loaner for a while LOL

F1CrazyDriver

I cringe every time i read this thread. Need to take a few pain reliever pills after reading this thread .
As of Monday of last week, i got my Cayenne S back from dealership.
I had the loaner for 4 months. They don't have a fix therefore they asked me to come pickup my car. Ugh... "the positive" of having the car back is i banged out the service interval for : intake air filter, spark plugs, pddc reservoir, serp belt, cabin filter, transfer case fluid and detailed the inside.

Car needs new tires, i have tpms sensors ready and debating weather to do transmission fluid flush.

Only caveat of all of this, my Cayenne S has 73k miles. All these failures from what i'm reading (maybe deceiving as im paranoid) the vehicles have between 70-90 miles.

If my bolts go, i'm not sure if should tell my wife to keep the vehicle running therefore it blows the motor and i do not have to worry about bent valves and dealer story that they checked and all is great but they really didn't check....

2011_Cayenne_S

did you have bent valves after all...?
they told me that they did compression test.

projekt-h

In my situation, I'm not sure I would complain too much.

Sorry they didn't get yours fixed though. I'm just hoping that if the bolts aren't failed right now, they won't let go before the parts are available. I don't want to deal with waiting on a loaner, and it's getting to that time of year where driving my M3 will be a sure no-go. My luck the bolts will be fine right now, but let go a week or so after getting it back.

deilenberger

A compression test, and a leak-down test are how you check, but to do so - the cams have to be turning as they're supposed to, which means the broken parts (Variocam adjusters) have to be fixed before they can even do the tests.

The other way to tell is to remove the heads, disassemble them and measure the valves in a lathe. That's what was done to mine after they mistimed my engine. Ended up needing 8 new valves. The intake/exhaust can collide. They normally won't collide with the piston crown on a turbo.. dunno on the standard V8 though (which has higher compression and a more domed piston.)

Both of my heads were disassembled, all new seals, 8 new valves, then reassembled, timed correctly this time, engine back in, and it's been fine for the past 20,000 miles. And my intake valves got de-coked.. which is a good thing (plus I got to look at my bores - no signs of any bore damage or erosion/galling.)

The problem engines are where parts of the bolts get into the timing chain gallery, carried around by the chain and break the sprockets and tensioners. That's when I think Porsche springs for a new engine. And that's why you want to be certain they found ALL the bits and pieces of the bolts.