A few interesting observations from a road trip today of around 200 miles.

A week ago, I started my car after having not driven it for a week. Immediately I got the dreaded ABS and PSM fail, Drive to Workshop message. I OK'd it and kept driving. I pulled over and restarted about 4 different times and the warning kept coming back. I ended up at work, checked and aired up my tires. They were 6-10 lbs lower than recommended pressures. I got the message once more. Stopped, restarted my car and the message did not recur.

So today I drove and did an errand. It's a warm clear beautiful Fall day just perfect for a long drive in the west desert and a 65 MPH 2 lane sparsely traveled road. To get out of the city I took a road up a canyon that meandered up and over a mountain pass. It was very narrow with lots of tight spots and some places barely wide enough for one car. At a point where a truck came around a bend, I had to stop, back up to a point where the truck could pass. This happened a few times. At the summit the pavement ended and it turned to rough graded dirt. The speed limit was posted at 10 mph for several miles. Anyway, interesting and an adventure for sure. Over this mountain range we picked up on a 2 lane desert highway and followed it for an hour or more just enjoying the car on a lonely road with little traffic. At 70-80 the car felt terrific and I could take my hands off the wheel, no shake, no pull, just straight ahead tracking as it should be.

At one point we stopped and checked a map and decided on our route. We'd head for a certain metro area and have dinner. We ate, it was good. And we made it home just before dark.

My average MPG was 23.5 for this trip.

My highest speed attained was 114 MPH passing a car

I was generally traveling between 65 and 102

I made a couple hard accelerating dashes from stopping to about 75 mph

My wife was with me and prefers I drive conservatively with her in the car.

The car was very comfortable for me and road very well. It is RWD only, has KWV1 suspension and is lowered about 1 3/4" F & R, HD rear adj sway bar in #2 position. 100% stock motor.

No ABS or PSM warnings on the trip at all or since airing up my tires a week ago except once just after doing it.

 

i bet. nice trip, it sounds like. for me, i would avoid any roads with a 10mph suggested limit upon which i'd encounter trucks forcing me into reverse.

i'm not in a city ( least not one in which lebowsky is welcome ) but i did run with several sport bikes momentarily today also making me wish i had taken another route, beside the mulholland snake lol.

 

Next time I'll take my Subaru Crosstrek over that mountain pass. First time in years I was actually worried a redneck in his giant lifted truck pulling a side by side on a trailer was going to be whipping around one of those blind corners going too fast and hit me head on. I did see a guy on a Sportster and a CBR on the rough dirt section and it looked like they had their hands full.

I tried to start my Gixer this morning early but the batteries toast, even on a tender.

 

I just did 1,000 mile trip down to LA and back (Went the really long way; kept driving small roads between the 101 and 5). Still can't get express how much fun this car is and how capable it is. Even got thrown down a dirt/gravel detour for about 10 miles where I followed a construction truck and Raptor doing between 40-60 the whole time. At the end, they had a very puzzled look.

 

That warning typically points to MAF or even vacuum issues. Hard to say without a code check. I just replaced my MAF sensor when I had the same warning - all good after that.

 

I got the dreaded warning the first time after I fit new rear tires that were ever so slightly taller. I then fit new fronts that matched in revs per mile. I know fronts should be slightly taller, but my new ones were the same. I then played with ride height and rake angle. The warning would come and go, appearing randomly. I then had an alignment several months ago and the warning never returned except when the air pressure was a bit low.

Apparently, running other than N spec approved tires with slightly different circumferences, even though they appear fine can trigger this warning as well. When I get the warning, ABS is disabled and I can skid the tires when stopping abruptly.

I'm familiar with replacing MAF's as I replaced one in my Boxster and 2 in my previous 996. This is not an MAF related issue with my car, I checked it the first time it happened.

 

ha! I swear ya.. my ol bonnie flat tracker runs capacitor discharge and i ditched the battery loooong ago. given that the prince of darkness aka lucas once powered my electrics

anyway... best time of year to drive the toys! even if we do have maniacs in front and behind us cheers

 

How old is the battery? New the can tolerate lack of insufficient driving to keep it charged up but as the battery gets older regular use with enough driving to replace the charge lost just sitting and starting the engine is critical.

The starts followed by short drives probably just added insult to injury. The long drive might have got the battery recharged as much as driving can but the battery may need some attention from a battery charger/conditioner to desulfate the battery plates.

To keep my 2003 Turbo battery topped up -- using a battery charger/maintainer is not feasible where I live and park the car -- I drive mine 2x a week for my work commute of 30 miles for a 60 mile total drive albeit separated by 8+ hours. This helps keep the battery topped up.

 

The battery that won't crank is on my '07 Suzuki GSXR. It sits on a maintainer just like my TT and Boxster. The battery is 2-3 years old, I only road the bike< 20 miles last year, didn't license or insure it either. 996 and Boxster batteries are fine.