Hi Guys,
Getting ready to purchase an 01 996TT. Drives great, good records, and clean PPI. One note on the PPI is that the DME threw up a code P1117. I think this is related to a O2 Sensor. Diagnosing further is supposed to require "a couple of hours". No CEL light or anything. What do you guys thing... is this a red flag? Would it have trouble passing emissions (passed successfully a few months ago).

Thanks!

 

What does the seller say?

Dealer figures he has you over a barrel....

I am pretty sure this is a post cat O2 sensor heater circuit code- which is usually the sensor is just not connected. (the DME first heats the sensors up before it even looks at the sensor signal- if it gets an open on the heater circuit you get this code)

I cannot understand how the dealer got this one code, once, without a CEL. Did they say how many occurances of this code they saw, and when the last one was (in engine hours?) How many total hours on the engine.

Any chance there is a loose wire?

I am not too worried about this code- I'd be worried about the quality of the PPI you are getting.... just a P dealer going through the motions?

Careful body inspection? P dealers not uniform on that stuff, IMHO

GL

A

 

did you/can you speak to the guy that did the ppi ? its good idea to have a quick chat with the tech before he performs the ppi and then talk to him afterwards to see what he found, any good tech at a good edealer will not mind doing this, my tech was happy to do it, he enjoyed talking about it

 

Thanks for the feedback- they didn't say much about it other than if it wasn't causing a problem, not to worry about it too much. I'll try to check to see when and how many times it occurred (don't know if they keep that on record, wasn't stated on the inspection sheet). The sheet did note that the emissions system checked out fine.

Thanks.

 

IMO a PPI based on bringing it in and saying "do a PPI" and then getting back a checklist can be very lacking.

The service writer likely viewed this as an easy way to make a few hundred, just tossed the car to a tech and said 'run this quick', then when talking to you he gave you some bad news, but then tried to dissuade you from more investigation with "a few hours". COuld be nothing, but you need to determine what - if anything- is going on between the event and how it was presented.

I always advise that a PPI be the CPO checklist, using all the CPO criteria, PLUS a complete DME dump printed out.

GL

A

 

I don't know how the emissions can "check out" and still have a code!!!! Do they means 'all emissions parts we can see are there'... or 'no CEL lit'... A code for anything related to the emissions, CEL or not, is not "OK"

IMHO

A

 

I've been logging data recently on my car since I upgraded it, and this code appears sometimes. It gets stored, but apparently does not automatically throw a CEL.

The diagnostics will give you the specific time(s) in engine hours when the code was stored. Comparing that time to the current time lets you now how recently the code appeared.

It is for the O2 sensor behind the cat. It could be the cat, could be the sensor itself, or maybe something else in the combustion system. Does the car have an aftermarket exhaust? If so, 100 cell or 200 cell cats?

This code is not necessarily a show-stopper, but you should get more information about it before buying the car. It then becomes your problem. And Ard has a good point. I don't know about GA, but if you have to get a smog test before plating the car, you might have to fix it anyway.

I just replaced the ahead-of-cat O2 sensors on my car. It's a PITA, like anything on these cars, but really not that hard to do. Rear sensors are less expensive than the fronts.

Jon

 

I believe this code will set a CEL if it is seen consistently- so many times in a row, or so many starts. I usually check the pins/connections to the O2 sensors- at the sensor and any other place that might have been exposed to water.... (some BMWs have a connector block under the car that can come loose, not on the Ps) Our could be a heater coil in the sensor that is out of spec/beginning to fail.

 

Thanks very much- I'm going to follow up Monday when the service center reopens. Is it possible to fail emissions if there is no CEL on? I wonder if getting emissions checked right before purchase will be worth it.
Car has stock exhaust.
Thanks.

 

Ok, car will be back at the dealer Monday (to get some paint done on the bumper by the seller), and he'll specifically check emissions at that time.

I don't think the standard PPI explicitly checked for type 2 overrevs... is it worth me having this done while the car is in there? Haven't quite gotten a sense, from reading past posts, if this can tell me something that might be a deal breaker. The car is unmodded and I'm confident it is untracked. That last bit will hopefully change soon : )