Porsche Newbie Questions

Hello - I just purchased my 1st Porsche this week; a 2013 911 Carrera S. It has 42,000 miles on it and in the couple of days that I've owned it I noticed 2 things that have me a little worried. 1: I smell coolant. There's no leak visible in my garage, but I do smell coolant. Even in the 94 degree day we had in Florida yesterday the temp gauge never moved from the middle, so it appears to be running well. 2: Sometimes when slowly accelerating from a stop it feels like the engine is running very rough. If I give it more juice it hesitates for 1/2 second and then I'm into warp speed - I just don't know if this is normal. Like I said, 1st Porsche, 2nd spots car ever, and also my first used car in 20 years. It's still under warranty so I'm not overly concerned, but I'd like to speak intelligently to the service tech. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats on the 911, great car. Since you have factory warranty remaining best idea is get it to the nearest dealer for checks. Did you buy from a dealer of private? If private you want to get your ownership registered with PCNA. The warranty book should have a change of ownership card. Coolant smell without a obvious leak could be the water pump. Do you have records for the car? Any recent work on water pump, thermostat? I've had water pumps replaced and the car smells of coolant for a while after. I've had several cars with this motor and haven't ever seen rough running. Depending on the model there is sometimes a bit of a "flat spot" in throttle response around 2500-3000rpm but subtle and not what I'd call rough. Any CEL or warning? usually serious issues will give a warning and throw codes. Also suggest check your maintenance book for the 40k service did the previous owner do the 40k service? Not certain about the 2013, but the 2012 model should have spark plugs changed at 40k. best of luck,

Congrats on the new car. Given you've only just purchased the car a trip back to the place you got it from or your local OPC to exercise the warranty is the first option. The water temperature gauges in Porsches are held back from indicatiing anything above normal until it's essentially overheating. Check to make sure your coolant cap is not leaking as this is a common fault. The rough running you refer to could be any number of things from a dirty MAF sensor to a coil pack breaking down.

I bought it from an exotic car dealer in TX (I'm in Florida), but not a Porsche dealer. I believe the 40k service was done last June when the car had 38,000 miles, but nobody can confirm that. That's what the computer was set to, so we believe it was done. They did the oil change for me before they shipped it. The coolant smell is only after it's been driven, when I went to the garage this morning it wasn't there. I'll bring it to the dealer one day this week and get their opinion. No warning lights of any sort, and I am not sure if the engine is running rough or it's me getting used to how it works. I came from a Maxima, so it's a whole new world! There has been no recorded significant warranty work done to the car, which is why I bought it with 40k miles. I had been searching for sub-20k mileage cars and then saw this one. It was priced well and had nearly every option I was looking for. I figured that as long as the factory warranty was valid (13 more months, 8k miles) I'm pretty safe. Thanks for the advice!

For 2. Running rough see this, Engine Stumble on Roll Out - ******** Discussion Forums , and this, Engine stumble/hesitation around 2500 RPM? - 6SpeedOnline - Porsche Forum and Luxury Car Resource , courtesy of Chows4Us when I was thinking about it. Don't know if they've found a solution as I haven't looked recently. If it's this it didn't really sound like a problem, just an annoyance as hinted at by the length of both threads.

I've owned a 2009 and the current 2012, MT and PDK respectively. I have experienced neither issue. As others said, get it to the dealer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for this link @Greywolf! It doesn't make me feel good that the problem exists, but I do feel better that I'm not alone with this annoyance and that it's somewhat normal. I am afraid that my car has more issues, passenger airbag light came on today - that's new. Smell is significantly less noticeable today, so that's a plus. Thanks for the help.

120 miles today and I think I overreacted about the hesitation. It's hardly noticeable and something that will be a non-issue as I learn the car. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Coolant smell can be the result of somebody filling or refilling it and spilling a bit onto parts that get hot later. I would still look for a shop with a pressure tester to get a second opinion. Small leaks on top of hot parts will never leak to the garage floor, but they might be there and get bigger.

Ok - here's another quirk / problem I noticed... The settings I set for display and audio (bass/treble etc) don't "save". I don't see a save function anywhere, am I missing something? I have the SportDesign steering wheel, not multifunction. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As a guess you might try resetting them and then doing a key memory save. I don't know how to do this on a 991. Might download the Porsche Good to Know app if that's an option for you.

Thanks - ironically I did the key memory save earlier today. I'll check it tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you sure it is still under factory warranty even though you purchased it from a non-Porsche dealer?

Why wouldn't it be? Only 3 years old.

If it were me, I'd take the car to a Porsche dealer and pay them a few hundred to inspect everything and fix anything that's needed. In the absence of evidence of prior service, I would also have them do the 40K service as well. Then you can stop worrying and enjoy it.

Now that I've had it for a week I am thinking the same thing. I actually have it scheduled for the 19th to look at the smell, which has subsided greatly. I don't know if they can determine if the 40k service was done, but if they can't I think I should probably have it done for the peace of mind. Thx! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If the service was done by a dealer it should be in the PCNA system tied to the VIN. If the service isn't registered in the system it wasn't done by a Porsche dealer so absent the actual work order assume it wasn't done and have it redone. The dealer can also give you info on the amount of warranty remaining. You can't go by the model year, it's tied to the in service date.

Thanks - I have come to the conclusion that if I can't get any confirmation that the 40k service was done that I will have it done myself. I know the annual service was just done before I took delivery, I probably should have negotiated the 40k in that also. I forget from where, but I did get the in-service date when I first found the car (5/4/2013). I'll get confirmation of that also.

Bringing it in next Thursday for the 40k service - I agree that the peace of mind is worth the expense.

So my 911S is in for the 40k service and a couple other things. I believe I'm spending more in this single visit than I have in cumulative services in the last decade. [emoji383][emoji383] At least I'll be able to sleep at night knowing everything is up to date. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just picked it up and everything checked out ok. The coolant smell was from overfilling and they actually drained a little coolant out to bring it to the correct level. Although I had a Cayenne as a loaner, there is no better feeling than jumping back in my 911. Thanks for everyone's input! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk