Simran Ahluwalia

Hello Porsche enthusiasts,

I would like your help with sorting this out. Here are the relevant details

1. 2019 Cayenne Base model
2. The car starts up fine, but engine dies after driving less than half a mile.
3. Engine doesn't start up right away, but if I try to give it a couple mins, car starts up fine and drives without issues
4. Has happened randomly 5-6 times in the last 8 months or so but no engine light etc.
5. Has only happened after driving 500 yards to half a mile, but never on the highway and never at any other time.

Took it to the dealer, and the tech thinks that the auxiliary fuel pump is bad, and to fix that the entire fuel tank will need to be replaced. Cost $8000!!!
I don't think it could be the aux fuel pump because the car drives fine and I've driven it to where the fuel line mark doesn't even show multiple times. If the aux fuel pump was bad, there's no way the car would drive below the half tank mark.

Has anyone seen anything like this happen? Can anyone provide any guidance as to what to do?

Thanks to everyone who can provide any ideas or thoughts!

Sim

drcollie

I'm just taking a stab at this.....no hands on experience.

If your Cayenne is out of warranty, take it to an Independent Shop that works on Porsche. The Dealer is the most expensive place to be out of warranty and they are biased towards replacing entire systems rather than components. Fuel pumps are usually serviceable without replacing the entire tank. They are for sure on the prior generation Cayennes, here's a tutorial on those earlier models.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

These are complex vehicles with a lot of electronics that can make the vehicle *****. "Guessing" at an $ 8,000 fix is not good enough, has to be a for sure and even then I doubt you need the entire fuel tank. Good luck

Ron.s

On my 2023 Cayenne their were two fuel pumps, both in the tank, I believe. My “low side fuel pump and control unit” failed and they drained the tank and replaced them under warranty…per description on my work order. That’s on the V8 but it doesn’t make sense that one couldn’t replace any pump, it’s a maintenance item at some point.
If you don’t find an Indy locally you might check nearby cities or another Dealer to verify that you need a complete fuel tank assembly.

Simran Ahluwalia

DrCollie, thanks for your reply! I guess I'll ask and see if any forum members on here are from the DFW area and can recommend a good Indy shop to take this issue to!

Simran Ahluwalia

Ron,

Apparently, according to my dealer, the issue is with the 'low side' or auxilliary fuel pump that basically pumps fuel from one of the two 'saddle fuel tanks' to the other one. However in my case, they are saying the only way to fix it is to replace the entire fuel tank.
Do you recall what symptoms your car was having that they then were able to correlate to the fuel pump being bad?

Thanks,
Sim

Ron.s

A slight blubber at startup; a warning that the stop/start function was disabled; another warning that I don’t recall what it was. None of those triggered an immediate diagnosis. My car was in the shop for 6 weeks for several other things and the Dealer Tech was communicating with Germany. I think the blubber that I reported lead them to the fuel pump eventually.
As I mentioned my low side fuel pump was replaced along with the control unit with no mention of the gas tank being replaced. I just double checked the work order.

Shuga

If it's out of warranty find a good independent. It does sound like a fuel pump issue, however I highly doubt that they would need to replace the whole gas tank...

mdrobc1213

Agree had a similar issue with a BMW 550i back in the day and dealer replaced both fuel pumps without a full tank replacement. I would find the nearest Indy shop in my city or close by and have a talk with them...bet the whole gill gets cut by at least 30-40% or more. Especially if its out of warranty. GL