I called the service department about my car and this is what I was told.


1) They think there could be some internal engine damage since they hear a clicking part, and according to the CE light the codes say there are misfires in the engine, or at least that's what I was told, I wasn't given the codes to verify for myself.


2) The car has had 346 revolutions of the engine beyond the rev limiter - now since I had it into their shop last Thursday for the airbag light (due to seatbelt swap) and the problem started on Saturday I have not even come close to the rev limiter during that period of time, so any of those revolutions beyond the rev limiter would be before this problem happened. I have NEVER missed a downshift, but I have bumped the rev limiter in sport mode before to see what it felt like. I think that chart that shows rev limiter bumping in sport vs. non-sport mode shows that in sport mode it actually goes beyond the 7200 mark bumps back down, then beyond, then bumps back down in a staccato fashion. We are talking 346 revolutions of the crank out of the millions the crank has turned so far.


3) The service guys says he doesn't know if the warranty will cover any engine problems since there are revolutions beyond the rev limiter. He is waiting to hear back from Porsche.


In my opinion it would be ridiculous for Porsche to try and disclaim warranty coverage for an engine that supposedly has had 346 revolutions beyond the rev limiter and where it could not be the immediate cause of the engine problem because I haven't come close to the rev limiter in weeks. The Porsche computer tells you how many revolutions past the limiter, I don't think it tells you the time and date of when those revolutions occurred. I think my service advisor is either trying to throw a scare into me or just trying to remain extremely cautious until he hears back from Porsche HQ on what do to with my car.


I doubt I hear anything more today, but if I do I will keep everyone posted. In the mean time, don't go over your rev limiter or someone might try to use that as an excuse as to why your car has a problem. [img]/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/sad_smile.gif[/img]


This could get ugly...

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K-Man S

You are correct that the rev limiter is higher than what the tachometer indicates. I swear I passed 7200 RPM, I think it was around 7300 or 7400, when I was in 5th gear at around 150+ mph. I never felt any engine fuel cut-off or retardation. This is all in sports mode.

Ken,


If you never missed a shift, it would not make sense for Porsche to disallow waaranty coverage, as the rev limiter is designed to prevent damage to the engine due to overreving on the upshift side. Also, 346 revs over the limiter - does that mean that it was 1 rpm over the limiter on 346 separate occasions, or 346 rmp over the limiter once ? Also, these engines have a safety margin; I would guess (and admittedly it is only a guess, but it is based on lots of experience with missed shift in cup cars) that our engines could safely rev to close to 8000 before any actual damage would occur. Please keep us informed as to the status of your car !

There is no question they have 'room to play' and the revs. They would never set it exactly at the absolute max. In any event, they can obviously use that to reneg on the warranty if they wish. Hopefully it's not anything serious, but if it is, Porsche should definitly step up to the plate and take care of it.

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K-Man S,

Thanks for sharing the information. I think for now we should keep a close watch on not exceeding the redline. Also could this problem be exclusive to sport chrono mode?

Russ

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Ken,

They've played this game with people for a while - tell you how cool the car is to drive on the track, and then push back at you when they find out you've actually used it on the track. My feeling is the local dealers try to prepare owners for the worst in these situations until they get some word from PCNA.

If you read the warranty carefully, they can deny warranty claims if they can prove you've used the car in competition, including autocross. A lot of PCA members with cars still under warranty in GGR, run under madu-up names so PCNA can't search the Web for AX results to prove they've used the car for competition.

It's a strange dichotomy that I know the PCA leadership is working on with PCNA and PAG to come to some sort of amicable settlement over this.

Good luck,
brad

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Isn't the rev limiter there to stop you from going over the red line? My undertsanding is that the red line is 7,300, and the rev limiter cuts in at 7,100 without sport mde and 7,200 with sport mode. Is this correct? There should be no way to go over the red line unless the rev limiter is faulty? I don't understand how Porsche could not warranty this. The car was used as it was designed. There are other sports cars with automiatic and tiptronic that change gear at the red line in sport modes. There must be room for error with the revs.

From the Porsche website:

'Your Porsche is built to take anything you can throw at it. Except for poor quality parts. Which means every genuine Porsche part has been designed by Porsche and rigorously tested under full race conditions.'


'Your Porsche is built to take anything you can throw at it.'

As long as you aren't in a racing/sporting event, that looks pretty clear to me. It may not be within the warranty manual; but the statement is pretty clear ...

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LL

The ECU is supposed to distinguish between hitting the rev-limiter (allowable) and exceeding the rev limit by missing a downshift (i.e. selecting 2nd instead of 4th gear at high speed - not allowable). They can't disclaim warranty work for the first type, imho...

I certainly hope they can distinguish between the two because then they will see that I have NEVER missed a downshift in the car, heck I have probably only hit the rev limiter a 1/2 dozen times at best in the entire life of the car, maybe only 2 or 3 times.

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K-Man S

K-Man-S, I can't help remembering the Dealership Disappointment thread that you posted and how that turned ugly. I hope that the dealership isn't holding a grudge ...

When it comes right down to it, warranties start at the dealership. That means that they can honor anything they wish. They generally have enough clout with the manufacturer to have them see things their way, unless they abuse their clout. Its like that with any sales/customer relationship.

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The search tool is your friend. It is very
likely that your question has already been
answered countless times.Very,very likely.
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Cayman S - a portable amusement park

- 2006 Cayman S
- 2003 Dakota SXT
- 1963 Studebaker Avanti, R2, 4-Speed
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LL