Why not take take it back tonthe guy that did thebwork then?

 

I'm sure he too wishes I could but it is impractical--he's 3,300 miles away and I am down here in the states for the winter.

 

After being threatened with frivolous charges and abuse of police power, I was able to get free of Lyle Pearson Porsche of Boise. It was only after I was out from the stress of that incompetency and extremely poor communications model (I'm talking about the service rep and their mechanic not communicating effectively.) that I was able to think clearly.

I think I have it figured out in part. Feedback is appreciated.

The auxilliary cooling fan(s) have not been running in a while. I remember hearing their hum as I walked out of the garage. They were still blowing to cool down my engine after I shut her off.

I feel like an idiot for not noticing this serious sign earlier. It was on the tip of my mind/tongue but under the stress and duress of service (if you call it that) at Lyle Pearson I could not access that thought fully and could not thing clearly.

In a positive note, the A/C work appears most effective. She cools much better than either of their loaner Mercedes and drives better, too!

She heated up when I was driving at maybe 10-12 mph in the cool evening looking for a parking space for the Lighting of the Balloons Ceremony. Truly this is intermittent and appears fan, radiator related.

Any ideas?

 

I'm not certain what triggers the fans running after engine shutdown - mine has never done that (it also has never gotten above 180F..) but - the fans should BOTH be running when the engine is running and the AC is on. At least that's what I've deduced from the service manuals and some posts on-line. One of the fans is linked to the AC compressor, but on the Cayenne the compressor is always engaged (unless specifically turned off with the ECON button), and it's output is varied to control the AC function temperature. The other fan which is the primary cooling fan may have a bottom-limit thermo control on it (won't come on until the engine has warmed up enough for emissions..) - but I am given to understand once it does come on, it should stay on. Dunno if it's a variable speed fan - but that wouldn't surprise me.

How a dealer could miss this rather obvious cause given overheating symptoms/complaint is beyond me, but I've learned never to attribute something to malice that could be explained by incompetance. Incompetance is the standing order of the day in many places.

 

Mine is a Turbo. The fans almost always run after I trun ot off and I suspect mine may have an additional fan over the non-turbo engined Cayennes. I'm just used to walking off and hearing that blowing but it stopped doing that.

Yes, incompetence, definitely!

 

The fan used to run prior to your coolant pipe replacement?

 

Indeed, the fans run, I assume, to cool the turbos and avoid oil caking. They always ran. I'm not sure when they stopped. I suspect a computer is bad or a temperature sensor that contols the fan(s).

The mechanic who did the pipe job is VERY experienced.

 

It's been a while since I checked in and updated. I went to another more reputable Porsche dealer. Their mechanic noticed my turbos were barely spooling up to 50% right away. Barely .4 bar. Half ppower! :-(

He found an error code and every time he reset it, when he started the car and drove it, the turbos went .8 bar and immediately the engine threw a code and throttled the turbos back.

We did not have time to do a leak down test on the turbos. I might have a bad turbo or a simple leak. However, I am going back this week as it will take at least three days for him to sort that out. This may be the reason my MPG is horrid!

He thinsk some anti-freeze may have splashed on an oxygen snesor cuasing the error codes.

He replaced the two "T" joints on the back of the engine and found one was already leaking! This after Porsche of Boise said "The factory did not recommend replacing those!" And Lyle Pearson Porsche failed to detect that error code! INCOMPETENT JERKS!

Since replacing those joints and refilling the coolant system, the radiator water temperature has remained rock solid just below the middle 160 line except for one time. I was going up a slight grade and the dirt road was rather washboard rough. So, I only went 10 MPH up it. The radiator needle went abnormally high (maybe 1/3 the way up to the 220 mark) and then cooled right back down.

Also, since that coolant "t" joint job, I have heard the auxilliary fans working. Very good. :-)

I have not towed yet, so I am not completely sure about my heating/cooling problem. The mechanic said he thought the radiator fluid had not been refilled properly.

I'm wondering if I still might have a problem, such as a sticking radiator thermostat. Anyway, I depart Sunday and we shall well how she does towing. And she goes back into the reputable Porsche dealership on Wednesday.

BTW, I weighted my rig and my trailer came in at about 6,700 lbs. About 1,000 pounds less than Porsche rates the Cayenne for towing payloads.

Thanks for your support and staying with me! :-)

 

man! those are some issues, wow. Glad it's finally kind of working out.
My fans stay on AFTER i shut the engine down too. My coolant temp usually stays around 180, once it starts to climb past that...I'm guessing an auxiliary fan kicks on and brings the temps back down to 180. But mechanical/clutch fans FTW for sure.

 

This morning my car is in the hands of competent technician. We discussed the matter and smptoms and hunches in detail including many tips from this thread on 6-speedonline.

She still overheats but I have managed that better by driving slower when needed. Turbos still only work close to 90% upon cold start up, but that's hard on an engine with diminished oil flow. After that the turbos barely touch 50%.

The first thing he's going to do is go after the error code and sensor. He's hoping that fixes the running hot as well. I am eager to have her running at 100% turbos.

Towing here, the first day out I averaged 11.1 MPG. That inlcuded a couple of passes and it was raining. But that is a far cry better than 8.6 MPG towing across town and 8.1 MPG from Kalispell to Boise.

Second day, I saw maybe 10.8 MPG and paid $4.41.9 per gallon of 92 Octane corn-free Shell in the middle of Oregon.

Third day I saw barely 8.9 MPG!

Nevertheless, my car will remain in the shop for three days or more and I'm camped in a posh exclusive new RV amp ground with about 100' between neighbors. Very nice.

This time I didn't get the BMW X5 loaner but an X3. That's OK. It's nice tasting new cars. I still, however, prefer mine.

 

FIXED!

At least we think so. Previous technician broke and jury rigged repairs to a breather hose and did not reconnect a wire that hobbled the turbos, made the engine run rich.

She roars again!

Service manager called me to authorize the repairs and informed me that the previous tech should reimburse me. I'm not sure how to handle that.

This scewed up my travel plans to hunt South Dakota and cost me a lot of wasted fuel and stress.

 

Glad to hear its fixed.

 

Glad it is as well - if you can post more details (location of the wire, what it was controlling, etc.) someone else might be able to use the info down the road.

 

Culprits were two:

One of the "T" joints on the back of the engine started leaking.

Broken manifold to the turbos and disconnected wire causing it to run richer and HOT!

PCNA did however cover the cost of repairs under the CPO warranty!

Went from 8.1 MPG to 13.6 MPG towing.

 

Glad you got it fixed, and actually covered under warranty. Too bad you had to go through that whole experience and deal with all the crap along the way. Hope you enjoy it now and down the road! What wire was disconnected? Its got me wondering what thats for?