15 mins after getting home, I hop back in to go to dinner and the car doesnt even attempt to crank. Also none of the lights( suspension level, etc) will light up. As i tried to crank it i felt the brake pedal harden under my foot. Transmission and steering wheel are now locked. Waited a couple hours and same thing. Wont crank. Radio doesnt come on just the porsche logo in the dash.
Now my big problem, im parked deep into a parking garage in an extremely tight space.
So i have no idea how i would even be able to get towed to the dealer.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

Dead battery?

 

I dont think its the battery. I had just been driving for about an hour and a half with no issues. Stopped home for 15 mins and went back out to it and it wont crank. Headlights are still bright, alarm still works, power seats and everything else works.
Steering wheel and transmission are locked.

 

even though you just parked it in theory it can still be the battery, if your alternator failed while you were driving the car would then discharge the battery and when you parked it not enough power left to crank the engine.

 

i had something like this happen to me while I was out getting dinner in my 08 CTT as well.

It turned out to be the steering rack...I know, it sounds stupid, but I had those exact same symptoms. Turn the key, and nothing lit up except the Porsche logo. Headlights still work, you can call up AAA and ask for a load test on your battery like I did, but it all checked out and most likely will not be your problem.

Supposedly there's a motor or a sensor in the steering rack that can fail and it's pretty high up in the coding sequence when turning on your vehicle, so the dealer told me that when it fails all of a sudden, it'll completely lock out the entire car so that you can't start it up and drive off with a bad steering rack.

It's extremely costly to repair since they don't sell the electronic piece on its own, so you have to buy a new rack and have it reprogrammed with a PIWIS....dealer cost for me was about $4k.

Since your transmission is locked, if there's a way a tow truck can get to you, you're going to have to take apart the center console and release the switch to move the shifter into neutral, but with the steering locked, you're going to need to put the car on skates.

good luck, man!

 

Ughhh.. Thank you for the feedback. Seems from searching that its either steering column or rack. Really Hope its not $4k.
Ive got it in neutral and have a tow company with go jacks coming tommorrow. Hopefully we can push it out of the garage and get it to the dealer.
Thanks

 

Since you're in Boston, I'm assuming there are probably a few dealers in your area, the dealer in my area tried to rape me with the part price, so I called up other dealers in the area to see what they charged for the rack.

After finding out that my dealer put a huge premium on my bill (probably to pay for their recent renovation), I told the manager and got $1k knocked off my bill, or else that $4k would've actually been $5k......i HATE living in the bay area!

so just a heads up to check your invoice!

 

Okay.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

Try the spare key

 

Got it out with go jacks. Dealership is quoting $4800 for steering column and kessl computer. I know people have gotten it done cheaper (around 3k)
Anyone have the part numbers for the steering column?
Just curious what it actually costs.

Thanks

 

Go jacks in action. These were a life saver

 

hey, what a coincidence....my 08 CTT is also black, but yikes $4800 sounds like my original estimate!

I also saw people having it done for $3k on the forums, but I wasn't that lucky

 

If you are interested in a Used steering column or rack pm me.