Hi all -

After a long hiatus (nearly 3 years) I'm back to 6speedonline. I recently purchased a '13 C4S back about 10 weeks ago and have been enjoying every minute of it since.

Until this morning...on my commute into work this morning, the engine shutoff while I was waiting at a red light to get onto the highway. Then again, when I slowed down to a stop when pulling into the garage at the office. Finally, between pulling into the parking garage and actually parking, the engine shutoff 4 more times. Each time, I had to put the transmission (PDK) back into P and restart the engine...only to have it die again...and again...and again.

The dealer came with a flatbed this morning and took it back to the service dept. Several of the technicians took it out and were unable to replicate the issue. In addition, they did not see any error codes or anything else that would indicate the issues that I experienced this morning. They even checked the gas in the tank to make sure it was good.

Has anyone else experienced this issue or heard of others having a similar problem?

The dealer wants to return the car before diagnosing the issue, which has me very nervous. I'm afraid of being in the middle of traffic and being unable to move. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Here's a quick picture - I promise better ones soon (pardon the mess in the garage too):

 

This might be a stupid question but did you disable the start/stop function?

 

Haha - not a stupid question. Should have mentioned that in the OP.

I've had the auto start/stop turned off since the day I took delivery.

And the issue was more than just the engine shutting off - it was the engine along with all of the electronics, etc. As if I had fully turned off the ignition.

 

Sorry to hear that... It makes me worry too because I received my C4S about 2 months ago. The only thing that I have heard is the gas level being inconsistent to the sensor - I have always kept my car above 1/4 full in the tank. It sounds like the dealer checked the gas levels.

Other than that, I have no other suggestions.

 

Sorry to hear this problem. It's hard to buy any car and have it fail you much less a $100K+ one. Don't forget to have them write a work order and declare what they did to try to fix it. If it occurs again, check the warranty book to see the number of times that has to happen in your state before you can take it to arbitration. I had to do that with a Honda Accord and it's easy, but does take some time. And call PCNA asap.

ChuckJ

 

+1. Highly recommended!

 

Another C4S dying...
Do you recall your fuel gauge reading at the time? Full.. 1/2 .. 1/4 ..?

 

I had the same thing happen to be. But it turned out to be a problem with the fuel sensor on the C4(S) models. Which Porsche just came out with a software update to fix. Had it done yesterday.

 

Where can I get this software update? I'm having the same problem, but possibly worse, on a 3 week-old car, even in Sport-Plus mode, which cancels auto-stop. The dealer has seen the car three times and is at a loss. I showed them this thread, and they say they know of no update.

 

Dealer did the software update for me last week. Porsche came out with the patch the week before. Tell your service rep to check with PCNA. Seems to have fixed my fuel gauge problem.

 

Thanks for your message. I'm confused. Was your "fuel gage problem" the disease or just a symptom? My problem is the inconsistent stalling/restarting with auto-stop deactivated, like in the original post in this thread (a full tank of gas wouldn't fix it). Did you have that stalling problem, too, which was then traced to a "fuel gage problem" as its source? Which dealer did you use for the software update? Maybe I could call them and have them talk to mine.

 

My 13 C2S does that as well. Sometimes it starts and runs fine. Sometimes I have trouble starting it and the it dies all the time.

 

Apologize for not posting an update - got caught up in things due to the holiday.

As for my C4S, the problem was never officially diagnosed. I too referred the dealer to this thread and they were unaware of any issues related specifically to the fuel sensor. They further explained that these software updates are sent to them by Porsche, but that they are not told what, specifically, they cover. The dealer did contact PCNA and inquired about the issue - no leads.

At the end of the day, my car was in the shop for 5 days without really much resolution. I've been driving it for the past 4 days and haven't experienced this issue again. Will be sure to post about it, if it happens again.

Apologize that my experience didn't lead to more answers - please let us know if you learn anything new. Feel free to PM me, as well.

 

I have a hard time believing that the dealerships don't know what the software updates do. Another reason to rethink the whole manufacturer dealer relationship thing.

Porsche should be the Apple Store of "dealerships" at this point. instead it'll be Tesla who leads the charge.

 

The update is tied to a specific VIN/model and they either have something for your car or not. There doesn't seem to be a yes, this is an issue and "a fix is in the works." I suppose this is for liability reasons and clearly there are issues they know exist but it isn't worth it to them to do the fix. I don't think they are any different from any of the other gazillion manufacturers on the planet in that regard.

With regard to a specific patch...I have seen it both ways from Porsche...one where they know what patch does and others where they don't. Usually the ones where they are fuzzy involve the PCM. Even then with the PCM I have seen sheets where they list what the patch covers.

I had an issue with a BMW where they could not find out why the car was dying at stops and they went through a process of replacing sensor after sensor. Just couldn't find the why. No patches were outstanding, no fault codes could isolate the issue. Just kept dying though. Finally swapped out the car.