Hi guys, so I'm a bit frustrated. My car was running like a champ until about 800 miles ago. I had a very reputable Porsche shop do the 40K service (plugs, coils, filters etc.) Now supposedely the engine has to come down off the car, at least they told me it would. But after picking it up they said the engine didn't come down off the car and it was billed for 11 hours of labor at $110/hour. I still paid happily knowing who worked on my car.

Long story short, 2 days after picking up the car, it no longer made boost. I reported it to them and they said drop the car off. Turns out one of the hoses were loose and they reconnected it. They say they had nothing to do with it because they didn't touch it. I find that odd considering all of the work that had to be done. The car drove ok when I picked it up but it's not quite the same. Since then, I find the car doesn't make boost consistently. I know how this car drives and once in boost its freight train.

Here's a good example:
I had a Sunday morning enthusiast drive with a couple other guys. When everyone decided to pull hard and get moving I was in 3rd, it made full boost, then when I went into 4th, it backed down and barely made any. I popped open the engine bay to make sure there weren't any loose hoses and looked under the car to do the same. Didn't notice anything. Yesterday I was driving and it did the same thing, then it was ok again after a while, then it started again.

The kicker is there are no CEL lights at all so I have no idea what to do. If there was an error code at least I could try to diagnose it. Could it be a coupler or another loose hose. I'm just a little pissed off that I paid $1400 and my car runs worse than it did before.

Any pointers would be much appreciated. I love this car and it's almost a part of me, maintaining and ensuring its running and driving right is like religion. Thanks in advance.

 

My car was not making boost and moving like it should too. The problem was the FPR line that came off...

Take a look at this threads and check yours...

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-fpr-line.html
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-problems.html

 

Hi,

Since you indicated it was serviced...You may want to check the VTG actuator rods. Many times when service is done (especially plugs) the do not get them back on or correctly.

Worth checking.

Good luck,
DC

 

DC, thanks for chiming in on this thread. I was away in Italy on vacation until yesterday. Car hasn't been driven in a couple weeks but I started it up and it came to life in an instant upon getting home. I don't want to actually drive it until I sort this issue out. Do you have any pointers/instructions on how to troubleshoot the actuator rods?

 

Look below a couple threads to the 997.1 max PSI thread - the service action is posted in there

 

Ok so it isnt the FRP line, I checked it yesterday and boy was it hell to get to. I mean, it's reachable but you're pretty much flying blind and have to use a ton of hand-eye coordination. I'm guessing it's the VTG actuator like Rock mentioned.

To further explain, one of the scenarios that happened (this was a few weeks ago), the car made full boost in 3rd gear but was out of boost half way through 4th. Like I said, it's real sporadic. If anyone has a good tuner guy in the NYC/CT area, I'll have them take a look at it.

It will be going for an oil change on May 8th, and the shop that originally worked on it will take a look again but I'd like to have some options. I won't mention the name of the shop because I don't want to compromise their reputation over something that could be an honest mistake and be rectified. They've been in business for 30 years and their shop is museum quality. I'm not too pleased about the way it has been handled thus far, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

One thing is for certain, I will mention it after I take the car this time and there is a DIRECT correlation between them working on the car last and it's performance.

 

Check the plastic pipes each side that attach to the rubber pipes into the diverter valves on the turbos.

My car would build up boost then drop it all to minimal amounts each time and that was the cause.

I glued the pipe back in and never had an issue after with the VTG's.

 

If the did the plugs, they may have removed or loosened the turbos which may have pulled this out.

It also gave me a slightly higher pitched turbo whine as one was over boosting.

 

Thanks for the input and the picture. It helps a lot. I can tell this is under the car. Darn, not that I mind. I just need to get the thing on a lift to inspect it.

 

I did mine on the ground, I think I felt that it was not connected with my hand first then just used a jack and took of the wheel and lining.

This is the location of it and check it when cold, I made that mistake and burnt my hand.

 

Well now thats dummy proof, thanks for the awesome-er photos.

 

AIM Performance in NJ, ~30 mins from NYC and primarily deal with modified Porsches.

 

I had the same issue that is documented above by gofast.. In my case the car felt a bit slugish and I noted the boost was off.. the logs showed the same.
I did a boost pressure test and heard the hissing sound, which led me to the turbo diverter valve..

 

Is it missing, or just not building boost?

 

I spoke to Elvis from MPire Boys, he has a 700 WHP white 997TT they work on. He swore by them and the fact that you're mentioning it on the boards is more than enough.