Hey guys,

I am desperately in need of some help, opinions, advice if any one has any to lend me. Earlier this afternoon I flew from Cincinnati to San Francisco to buy Porka's 03 996 TT. The car seemed to be running well while I was with him, making the transaction. After I left the city and got out of the traffic I decided to downshift and feel the boost. Well the car only boosted to 0.5 bar. Thinking this was odd, and after replicating it a couple times I contacted Mike (Porka) about the issue, was told he had never experienced anything like it before and was advised to turn the car off, fill the tank and try again.

So I did, and this time the car would only boost to 0.4 bar and hold there. The car feels sluggish, cruised at 75-85 mph fine for the next 6 hours. Aside from the boost issue the only thing I had noticed was a slight hiccup or hesitation that occurred randomly while driving every few minutes, but it was so slight that a bumpy road could mask it. I thought no big deal, the car still has warranty, it's probably something stupid simple. Then as I got off my exit for the hotel where I'm at tonight the car acted like. It didn't want to accelerate, didn't want to rev, felt like it was misfiring. Plain and simple, I don't know if this car will make the 1800 miles I have left to get home in this condition.

I checked the Y-pipe, and saw no obvious signs of a leak, but P cars are completely foreign to me. I am currently in a town called Elko Nevada, about 220 miles from Salt lake City. Does any one have any clue what could be causing this, or know of a fellow P car guy or show near here that may be able to help quickly?

I'm really stuck here, hoping I won't be stranded, so any help you can offer is appreciated. I tried searching, but it's hard to search with out a diagnosis so I am pretty much flying blind.

Thanks,
Nick
513-658-7330

 

You've got a boost leak or something related (bad DV valves or waste gates). Only a shop that works on turbo Porsches is going to have the equipment to figure out were it is. If it hasn't gone into limp mode it should be ok to drive conservatively to Salt Lake City. It's usually something simple but also hard to find. The drive from Elko to Salt Lake is not bad (just one major summit). Do not leave Salt Lake until you are sure everything is fixed even if you have to spend the night. The drive on 80 from there can be very challenging if winter conditions set in.
Strong Porsche

1045 S. State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Main: 801-531-9900

SALES HOURS
Monday-Friday: 8:30 - 6:00 Saturday: 9:00 - 5:00 Sunday: Closed

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPN_Gr53qiM

Here is a video I took of a 4th gear, slightly uphill pull to demonstrate how it's boosting.

Thanks,
Nick

 

Hi Nick, I think it can be also a crack somewhere, in one of the manifolds, y-pipe, intake etc... Make sure both metal ring fasteners between the airbox (air filter) and the engine are fastened tight (with a flathead screwdriver).
Can even be a dying MAF, when my MAF died my car also acted wierd and didn't boost, but since you have no lights on/errors I guess the MAF is not so likely.

I wouldn't do a long journey with the car acting like this, go into a Porsche dealer / mechanic to check the problem before continuing.

 

Thanks to everyone for the input and PM's. I've got the car safely at Strong Porsche in Salt Lake (Thanks Duane) getting it checked out. Hopefully this is taken care of today.

Nick

 

Awesome! Good luck, and keep us informed. I am constantly learning from this forum!

 

Good luck and hope it's something simple.

 

I bet the F hose popped off.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. Could it be the tune or bad gas?

 

Keep us posted on the results. Hope it is something minor. Don't leave SLC until you know it is absolutely fixed.

 

Well???

 

What did they find?

 

also interested in your progress, they can be intimidating when they're new (to you), was to me as well, good luck and safe travels!

 

Sorry for the delay guys, as you can imagine I've been pretty busy since arriving home. Strong Porsche was great, they identified the issue as the MAF but didn't have a replacement part so they helped me order one and arrange warranty at my local dealer. When I got there they plugged the car into the OBD port, didn't get any codes but it did take the car out of limp mode. I left there with the car running great with only a few hiccups in transitioning on and off boost. The car is now at my local dealer getting that taken care of as well as getting an inspection to make sure there are no other factors. One thing I did notice is that running 91 octane, which was all that was available until I entered Illinois was a likely cause to the initial severity of the issue and probably had something to do with the limp mode when combined with the altitude and temp changes when leaving San Fran. Once I was able to put 93 in the car was transformed into a more responsive, powerful, and smoother experience. I will post back as soon as I get the car back and let you know what was found and replaced and the result.

Again, thank you for your help with this!

Nick

 

Glad you got your car almost fixed.Good it was just the MAF