SAD STORY of Dream to Nightmare: P2189 Fault Code: STALL w/ Warm Startup?!

Hi friends! As some of you know I have been working on my 06 Cayman for a while now (going on 6 months). I bought it with 25K miles and it needed what I thought was just cosmetic body work after a previous owners accident. I fixed the car up with the help of a local mechanic and body shop. It ran quite well for the first few weeks until I realized it was burning oil like crazy! After some investigation I pretty much got the WORST NEWS possible to a Cayman owner. I needed a new Heart Transplant!! Cylinder #4 was scorn on the inside and was causing my engine to burn oil. I had a few options to take. 1. Get rid of the car - kinda hard to do when I just fixed it on the outside and poured my heart and soul into what I perceived as a 'dream car' and one I would like to own for many years/miles down the road... = Not an option 2. Have Porsche Dealer replace engine with a new one - The master mechanic could't even give me a price for the engine and labor total out of pocket. He said it may take "more or less time" and gave me a rediculous figure from $20-30,000. Utterly useless and disheartening. 3. Buy a preowned engine - I went with this option. I bought one from L.A. Dismantlers with 12,000miles for about $10,000. It was a HARD pill to swallow but I hope it ends up being the right move. The above being said I took it to a very reputable and knowledgable Porsche mechanic that did the engine swap. He used all parts of the old engine except for the alternator . He used the new alternator and the cars computer was saying it had some type of recharge malfunction. After I called LA dismantler they said the Caymans came with about "10 different alternators." My mechanic replaced the old alternator back in the car with the new engine and the warning light went away so that seemed to remedy that problem. He said the engine swap went smooth except the wiring harness from the new engine was for a manual and he used my original wiring harness for my tiptronic car. He said everything was plug and play without any issues. On delivery day I was all smiles thinking my worries were well behind me. They were for about 35 miles and then a P2189 CEL appeared on my dash. :wall: I was like WTF! The code read "System Too Lean at Idle Speed Bank 2." My regular non- porsche mechanic that read the code for me said it was most likely some type of vacuum leak or something. I called the porsche mechanic up and he said to drive the car for a while to see if any new codes were to appear and if this one would go away. He said it was likely the computer learning the new engine and too se what happens over time. So I went along with this advice and continued to drive. I drove home and parked the car. I went inside the house for about an hour and came out to go to a friends place. When I attempted to start the car... STALL. :wall: Restarted = STALL :wall: Restart = sluggish startup and had to gas it to get it to run. It ran sluggish for a few minutes and then smoothed out. The P2189 CEL also went away. I seriously couldn't believe it!!! I was like I have spent so much time, energy, heart, and money and this car STILL isn't running right! FML I went to my friends and slept over. Woke up the next day to go to work and dreaded starting the car. To my surprise it started right up with no worries. I went to work and 13 hours later had to start the car. I dreaded the moment again but like before that morning it started right up with no problems. I thought my problems were behind me at this point and was taking a cautious sigh of relief. I WAS WRONG I went home from work, came inside for maybe 10 minutes and went out to grab dinner with another friend. Attempted to start the car, STALL. :wall: FCUK MY LIFE!!!!!!!! Stalled x2 and ust like before I needed to gas it up good to get it to start and stay started. It ran sluggish for a few minutes and then smoothed out just like before. I was like what nightmare am I living here??!?! I called the mechanic back the next day and went to drop off the car to him. He said he was going to look over the car from top to bottom and had done his own research on the fault code. We both came up with the same generic list that we could find: Possible fault causes - Incorrect main charge signal - Intake air system leaking - Fuel pressure too low - Volume supply of fuel pump too low - Mechanical fault in injection valves - PCV valve leaks - Cap of oil filler neck leaking - Leaks in exhaust system - EVAP canister purge valve mechanically faulty (hangs open) - EVAP canister purge valve output stage faults I was hoping it was a simple oil or gas cap that needed to be tightened but they already were. The mechanic said something funny that put another piece of the puzzle together. He said the car did the same stall thing to him when he gassed up the car before my first pickup but without any engine codes appearing and thought it was a fluke. MY SYNOPSIS: So apparently the car only stalls when the engine is warm. But WHY?!?!!!!!! I need your help!!! Anyone ever run across this scenario?! I am at a loss for words at this point! I don't know what else to do. If you have ANY THOUGHTS or things that would lead me into the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks to ALL in advance for your insight and help through my troubling time... If ever there was a hail-mary pass, I NEED IT NOW!!!!! Help me bring my baby back from the edge, Thanks again friends!

You've got the right readout for the code, but one time I saw this and it wasn't the oil cap that was loose (it was plenty tight), but rather the tube that goes from the cap to the engine had come loose at the clamp and was allowing too much of a leak. Tightening the clamp after repositioning the tube made it go away. I have no idea if this is your problem, but something to check for nonetheless.

Thanks K-Man!!! This is a good start to say the least! Appreciate it sir!

As I said may not be a help since your problem only seems to be happening when the engine is warm, but maybe the hose is loose and flexes more when warm or something, stranger things have happened...

ok finally some GOOD NEWS to report. After the mechanic took a re-look at the engine and did some more testing based on the CEL criteria he found two things. 1. There WAS a vacuum leak - Picture #1 shows where the hose that connects to what appears to be the throttle body piece was loose. 2. On the other throttle body piece (Pic #2 and #3) the inner flap was not functioning properly causing the air flow to be disrupted. He said the car automatically refused to start without the proper airflow. I deduce the expansion and contraction aspect of the flap caused it to malfunction somehow after the car was warm and heat applied to the part. I am not a car expert but thats just my thoughts. Either way we had my old engine sitting on the crate and were able to swap the larger throttle body piece and the vacuum hose was tightened. This is finally after 6 months allowing me to take a nice deep breath and sigh of relief. The car felt slightly sluggish before but I just chalked that up to be my own jitters with driving a new engine after my last one was scorn. I didn't want to push the car for the first 2000 miles at least. Now when it just basrely touch the gas there is INSTANT response from the engine. The car wasn't breathing properly before and now it too can take nice big deep breaths just like me. After the heart transplant of the new engine it is running quite smooth. I tested it for the last 100 miles in the last few hours and no hiccups what-so-ever. The CEL would come on for me right around the 30-40mile mark. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one but I think my dark cloud days are behind me! I also tested it on a number of warm stops and starts of varying times and it has delivered flawlessly with a quick start and NO STALL :dance: for once. Only time will tell over the next few days and weeks if the 'surgery' was a success but I feel really good. It was a tough pill to swallow a $10,000+ new engine and install but now I am back to feeling the way I did when I first turned the ignition. ELECTRIFIED and so happy to have my baby back!!! Thanks to KMan S and to the rest of the Planet9 family!! I hope this post helps someone else down the line if they encounter a similar issue. Have a good night everyone and safe/fun driving!!! :burnout: PS: and for ONCE in my life my engine oil level has remained CONSTANT at the 'Full' Level and I don't notice any engine oil burning smell coming from my tailpipe. My days of the scorn cylinder are distant memories THANK GOD!!! take care guys & gals!

Glad to hear things are finally looking good for you. Just curious, would you go through this experience again? Was it worth it in the end? Thanks and best of luck to you.:cheers:

During the course of it I would be lying if I didn't say it SUCKED!!!!!!! In hindsight, I would do it all over again. No amount of heartache so far can wipe away my SMILE and the joy it gives me. I almost love it more for making me work hard to achieve what I thought I already deserved. I got a good deal on the car and the extra 10K made me pay full price for what the car should have been valued initially if it didn't require any repair. So I am chalking it up to be a wash EXCEPT I have a beautiful new exterior finish and a brand new engine with only 12,000 miles. To me its a WIN in the end even after I thought I felt too defeated to continue. It's purring pretty just the way I like and hope it will do so for many moons to come. Thanks for the feedback!

I'm delighted to hear a happy ending to this story--congrats on the car and enjoy it

What a story! I wish you nothing but smiles and wide open roads ahead of you. :cheers:

Great result! Happy motoring.

Sad Story =>>> RESOLVED! Thanks for the LOVE you guys!!!!! It has been a long tough journey to get here and I thank all of those that stood with me along the way. We really have a great bunch of people on this forum that go the extra mile to help others and for that I am truly grateful. Happy Mothers Day weekend everyone!!!

Re: Sad Story =>>> RESOLVED! I'm so glad it worked out for you! Enjoy in good health :cheers:

What a saga you have gone through. I am glad everything has finally worked out for you.

Kudos to you for taking it so well. I'm glad things worked out for you and that you can enjoy your car again. I would not be so happy if I had to spend another $10K on top of the purchase price of my car to replace a crappy Porsche engine that lasted only 25K miles.

same problem with warm start. at first they changed my fuel pump - of course it won't help. now i know what is the problem, but i think it will be hard to explain anything to our stupid dealer...

I would love to hear how the car is doing now and if the story had a "happily ever after" to it months down the line. Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

I can’t seem to see the photos ? I’m having this p2198 problem now any help would be great

It’s because these threads you keep replying/bumping are seven and eight years old!

Old car old problem, but thanks for your help

To anyone chasing this issue it was the bank 2 cat that had some pinholes i took it to an exhaust shop, the chap was a really experienced welder and exhaust fabricator. Applied a new bead of weld around the end of the cat just before the downstream o2 sensor/ before the exhaust shield. These seem to become quite brittle and that was where mine was blowing. The bead was quite thick and pretty much factory looking. Filled any remaining holes. This Explained the readings above. I had actually taken it to an exhaust shop prior to all this happening, who supposedly checked for pin holes and told me that it been sorted before I took a trip down the rabbit hole. This put me right off the track of the actual problem. eventually after throwing money and time at the problem I ran a smoke machine on the topside and in the exhaust to look for air leaks, this gave it away that the first shop hadn’t fixed the problem in the first place. I wish I had gone to someone reputable the first time around.