Does anyone know how to replace a starter on a 2005 Cayenne S? I've done minor things like the brake pads, oil change and battery, but the starter will be a first on this vehicle. Any help, or diagrams anyone could give would be great.

Thanks - Justin

 

Justin,

Find a writeup on coolant pipe replacement.. skip the part about the pipes (unless yours haven't been done - if not I'd combine the jobs). Get to where the pipes are still installed and they can see the starter. Then try removing the starter (after disconncting the battery..) Supposedly it can be replaced without the pipes being removed.

BTW - the starters usually fail because they're in a pool of coolant from leaky coolant pipes..

 

Awesome - really appreciate your help. I'll look for that diagram. thanks again.

 

Hey, news to me about the coolant pipe issue...started reading about it. I've never seen any coolant leak problem, so that's a good sign. Was this an issue with the 2005 as well? I can tell the starter needs replacement because sometimes it's over-starting and making the flywheel go a little longer...just like the noise when you try to start a car when it's already started. Wondering if I could replace the coolant pipes myself....thanks for your help.

 

The Cayenne's have issue with the coolant pipes 05-07 because they used plastic so the system needs to updated to metal it comes in a coolant pipe update kit if you haven't done this you probably will need too.

 

I just saw the detailed DIY on the coolant pipe replacement along with the pics you posted. I will be doing both at some point. Thanks for your help.

 

That is probably NOT a starter issue. The Cayenne has Porsche's wonderful auto-start feature. Turning the key and releasing it activates the starter, which then continues to run (with no input from you) until the ECU has decided the engine actually has started. It does this on the first-try to start. Repeated tries without turning the key to off - the additional tries work as a normal starter system would.

It was this sort of problem that I had when I had "balky starting".. there is a rather detailed thread at: http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...ing-any-ideas/ that documents my search for a fix - and what the fix finally was. In my case - the fuel rail was loosing fuel pressure when the truck was shut down - and that caused a delay in the starting sequence. The engine would partially start - but not run fast enough for the ECU to turn off the starter.

The diagnostic that finally pointed to the cause of the problem was testing the fuel pressure at the fuel rail (trivial to do on a Porsche V8), and seeing what it did on engine shutdown (it should maintain 2-bar almost indefinately - mine was dropping to 0 in 10-15 seconds.) Fix was a new fuel filter (which has a semi-undocumented check valve in it that obviously wan't working.)

Meanwhile - the cooling pipes - your call, do you feel LUCKY? It appears to be a case of "when" not "if" then fail. I replaced mine before I took an 8,500 mile drive from the east coast to west coast and back. It was pricey, but it's hard to put a price on peace of mind.

Good luck with it!

 

Actually, '03-06, there was no '07 Cayenne. And it's only on the V8 models.

 

This is great information man - thank you. I just hit 90,000 miles the other day, so I'm going to have to start preparing for replacement of the coolant pipes for sure, and while I'm in there, I'm going to change the starter regardless since it's there - with a Bosch. I've found the thread where someone found the coolant pipe kit for $400 so I'm hoping it's still available. I might have to take it to a reputable place here in Austin and have them do the coolants because it sounds pretty intense, but I'll see. Thanks again for the info - huge help. I'll keep you posted.

 

Make sure the $400 kit comes with ALL the parts - the kit I bought was missing little things like the intake gaskets, several seals, etc. By the time I added those the $400 kit cost $600.