Hey folks, I'm a new joiner although I've been on the site for a while now. I'm pleased to say I picked up my midnight blue 08 CS just over a week ago. I'm not so pleased, however, with my experience this weekend.
You see, after a week of subjecting the car to my 8-mile stop and go commute, I figured a road trip from my home in DC to NYC this weekend would be a nice way to get some easy highway break-in miles on my new baby. At first everything was going great - light traffic, open roads, and the car felt like it was loosening up a little. Then I get to the backup before the Lincoln tunnel to manhattan, which was at least a couple of miles long. I'm on the clutch, off the clutch every 10 seconds as traffic creeps along. I'm sure some of you can guess what comes next...
After the toll booth, I finally make it into the tunnel, where traffic is creeping along at about 10-15mph. Relieved, I make the shift to 2nd. Only the clutch decides to stick to the floor. It's engaged, so I'm moving, but I realize I cant operate it and so am praying that traffic keeps moving at least long enough for me to get out of the tunnel, where there is a shoulder. But of course the car ahead of me comes to a stop, I have no choice but to do the same and promptly stall. The gear level sticks in 2nd, I cant restart the car, and am blocking an entire lane. After a good 3-4mins of angry honking and new yorkers shouting unrepeatable profanities, I manage to muscle the stick into 1st, turn the ignition and give it enough gas to get going. As soon as I'm out of the tunnel I pull over and call roadside. After a two hour wait the tow truck arrives. Long story short the car is being towed to manhattan motorcars this morning and will hopefully be fixed and sent back down to DC this week.
Has anyone experienced the same issue?? My car had a grand total of 400 miles on it (200 of which were the drive up that day). I'm a capable driver and had been babying the clutch during the break-in. Love the car, always dreamed of owning a porsche, just a little frustrated as you can imagine.
Sorry to hear about the trouble - it can ruin a day, that's for sure. If you've been reading the forums for a while as you said, then I'm sure you've read about similar problems. Odds are it's a bad slave cylinder. Do a search on "clutch" and you'll find oodles of stuff to read. It could also be a loose shift linkage cable, or the loose flywheel bolt problem, but the evidence points to a new clutch slave cylinder in your future.
brad
Oh god. That sucks. Looks like Porsche may be on the cusp of a serious problem.
This happened to me a few weeks ago, while on Tourist Delivery. I made it 107 km. That's 67 miles.
It turned out to be a bad slave cylinder. Car drove and shifted fine after replacement.
That is absolutely crazy! Not a good way to begin your ownership experience. I hope Manhatten Motorcars gets everything all sorted it.
What the hell, two years since the introduction and we still have clutch issues?
-Pete
Yeah - that's not acceptable. There's almost no worse place in the world to break down. After all that profanity Manhattan Motorcars should pay for a couple therapy sessions.
DF.
You'd of thought that Porsche would be more vigilant over quality control concerning the transmission after all those loose bolts. I wonder who makes the slave cylinders for them. Hopefully it's just a bad batch.
yeah, I can imagine that was stressful, hopefully it all gets sorted out soon. I had my car stall in traffic, and it wouldnt start for a few minutes, and people behind you get frustrated quick!
When I picked my car up at the factory, I met another couple from California that were also there to pick up a tourist delivery car, a 2008 Boxster S. After our vacations, we spoke on the phone to compare notes. We didn't know it at the time, but during our discussion we discovered that we were simultaniously on the phone with Porsche Road Side Assistance complaining about our clutch pedals being stuck to the floor.
I was on the side of the A-8 headed to Munich, he had just crossed the border into Switzerland. I discovered my failure when we hit a traffic jam that required cluth use. He discovered his when he crossed into Switzerland and pulled over to purchase a highway travel permit, also requiring clutch use.
hoya- First off, sorry to hear about your bad experience. It seems to have happened in probably the worst location in the United States for that situation. I fear that (with any vehicle) all the time in the Lincoln/Holland Tunnels. It does seem to be a bad batch as this crept up quickly. You have an amazing car and once this oversight is fixed you will see and experience how awesome this car is. Stick with it and WELCOME to the club....
Right I had seen some mention of the issue on the forum, Gator I think your story came to mind. As soon as the pedal stuck to the floor I knew I was toast, I was just praying to make it out of the tunnel.
New Yorkers being who they are, I got some colorful comments. Here I am, a young guy in a fancy car, temp tags still on, stalled and frantically trying to work the gears. "What, Daddy's car not working for you??" was one that sticks out...
LOL!!!! That's classic!
WOW--i feel good, nothing to report wrong on my car so far 1683 miles--317 more miles to red line
I'm starting to think it's a problem with break-in. My break-in was about 100 miles. It was just impossible to contain! I haven't had one problem since then
I think we've found the solution! No more break-in periods! Just drive it like you stole it straight out of the lot. Your car should be fine with at least 10 minutes of spirited driving everyday
Happy motoring!:banana:
Sorry but I cant help myself here....did anyone notice that he said this was a 2008 Cayman?????? 2008!!!!!
I have read several people mentioning this problem, and I dont mind, and expect a few issues with a new model..... I would expect the bugs to be worked mostly out by second year (2007) and ALL major issues to be worked out by 2008!! ESPECIALLY all issues that leave a new customer stranded. I just cannot fathom what the hell I would have done to someone at Porsche if this would have been my very first Porsche experience ever! It might well have turned me off for life!
All I am saying is that this is TOTALLY unacceptable. No excuses, no ifs and or buts....nadda. Is there nothing that can be done....to force Porsche hand to actually fix this once and for all? This is NOT a case of a bad batch...etc. (and sorry to use the "force" joke here...when in realty, this is a SERIOUS issue.
I am glad you are safe however. The tunnel is no place to be stranded.
I share your frustration and anger. I personally think it's ridiculous that Porsche can't or won't bother to solve these clutch problems once and for all. Bad batch, yeah right. The batch spans many years.
Personally, I don't believe that Porsche deserves the status that they have achieved with J.D. Powers in regard to initial quality. I have been thinking about this long and hard, and, if or when I receive a survey, I am going to tell it like it is and slam them for the fact that my car broke 2 times in its first 2 days. Hey, I want to see Porsche win those awards just as much as the next Porsche fan, but I am not going to be dishonest. I hope everyone else who has suffered due to this, before they recieved their survey, will do the same thing. Maybe if they loose their standing on J.D. Powers, their hand will be forced. (Sorry, couldn't resist using the phrase, it does fit....)
Sticking clutch pedal!!!
Amen Brother!!!! With 1950 miles on the odometer, while on my first weekend trip to the NC mountains, my clutch pedal stuck to the floor. The next morning at an overlook it stuck again.
When I returned home and did a search on this forum for "sticking clutch pedal" I was extremely dissapointed that this situation has continued for so long.
If I had done the same amount of research on this car that I had done on other brands of automobiles I would have uncovered these kinds of flaws with Porsche's quality control.
With my current opinion of this manufacturer, I would not buy a Porsche Cayman S if I had it to do again.
I hope my dealer can correct the problem and change my opinion of Porsche products.
I certainly agree with the sentiments of the previous posters, Porsche as selling defective products and something needs to be done. I've spent hours in the last few days yelling at Porsche NA and my own dealer, making formal complaints, etc.
Has anyone who's experienced the problem made a complaint to the NHTSA? I'm sure that losing the ability to shift gears while in motion could be considered a "safety defect" under their guidelines, and enough complaints would make the NHTSA force Porsche to issue a recall.
For what it's worth, Manhattan Motorcar's service department were very helpful and got the car turned around quickly, it is being towed down to DC today (on Porsche's dime, apparently yelling paid off).
Did Manhattan Motorcar fix the issue or are you letting the local dealer work on it?
Hoya, I agree with your sentiments about this defect becoming a possible safety issue. I just finished filing a complaint with the NHTSA here:
IVOQ - File a Complaint
Pete - Manhattan fixed it as they were the closest dealer to where I broke down, I bought the car at Tysons Porsche here in the DC area. MM got it on Monday afternoon and had replaced the clutch master cylinder by Thursday morning. Not bad considering they had to get the part from the NJ wharehouse. The service guys there (Keith in particular) were very helpful, I would recommend them
I've also just submitted an NHTSA claim, I'd recommend that everyone else who has experienced the same problem do the same.
Hoya, can you clarify which clutch cylinder was replaced? The master cylinder is the one at the clutch pedal. The slave cylinder is the one at the clutch(rear of car). Thanks.
Manhattan said they replaced the master cylinder and sleeve, not the slave
One of the problems that occur causing the problem not to be solved is how much attention the manufacturer pays to finding the root cause of a problem caused by a supplier made part. For example, there have been a huge rash of slave cylinder failures in the C4 Corvette. Turns out the problem was the manufacturer was installing one of the rubber seals upside down and the seals weren't symmetric. Problem was eventually found by an independent repair shop that specialized in transmission repairs. So even though GM was selling them, they didn't worry about the failures.
Granted this was hitting cars at the tail end of warranty or out of warranty but the message is the manufacturer didn't pay attention 'cause it was a cheap part.
You would think Porsche would pay more attention to this. NHTSA complaints will force that if enough people complain.
Damn.....New York presure is the worst kind.
Sorry to hear about that experience. Please give us an update on what went wrong in your new Porsche.
That sucks, mine has been trouble free. I do enjoy lincoln tunnel though (late at night/very early in the morning with no traffic & cleaner air, I drop the windows and just listen
)
I also just put my first 2007 miles on my 2007 Base Cayman and
the only issue that I have had to date was with the tire pressure messages going off stating the the tire pressue was too low (do to a abnormally cool morning in Phoenix Az). One I got used to manual shift every day has been a dream comuting to and from work.
My previoius C5 Corvette was a real POS It was in the shop every month.
Transmission twice, differential, fuel pumps, computer, steering column lockup, a/c issues on and on and on.
My cayman is 1000 times more interesting to drive, even with considerably less HP.
I only hope this cayman continues to perform as it has.
John Phx Az.
I feel your pain. (It's the slave not the master)
LA is not quite NY but I was three plus hours from home when it happened to me. I was in the slow lane going down hill or it would have been ugly.
From other thread:
"Brought mine home to San Diego from Rusnak in Thousand Oaks (nice people) yesterday and had the same issue on the freeway in stop and go traffic 18 miles into the trip. So, that was not from "Launching". I'll tell you that was not a good feeling. Lucky I was in the slow lane just thinking about how glad I don't live in LA. "
"Finally, got the time after coming back from vacation in Vegas to drop it off to my local dealer. They had not heard of the issue but, it was exactly the same as others. The slave cyclinder on the clutch was leaking and fluid had gotten into the bell housing of the tranny. Doesn't make me happy to have my tranny dropped at 360 miles to clean it out but what can you do. So, it been at the shop since Thursday and I should have it back middle of the week. They didn't have a slave and could get one from any of the other SoCal dealer. It's coming from the Fatherland via air freight. Pioneer hooked me up with a nice '08 CayenneS to drive would of liked a 911 but who is going to argue went they're giving an almost new car to play with. Nice car but I don't like SUVs.
Basically, the problem occurs when I would feather the clutch from 1st or Reverse to slowing move the car. The pedal would remain on the floor. The slave cylinder would not push the pedal back.
It may be only a few cars but for all the things that they don't include on the car and make you pay extra. This basic stuff should never be an issue. They should trace the slave cylinders back by their serial number to see if they were made during Octoberfest. 8-P Next time I'm asking for a TT"
I need some input regarding this problem. I've had my clutch stick twice two weeks ago and have not been able to make it stick again, even though I have tried. My dealer has informed me that they cannot work on the car if the problem is not reproducible. I am not looking for them to arbitrarily replace parts on the car, but it is obvious to me that I have done more research on this problem than my dealer. It would be nice if Porsche would do a TSB and/or recall on this issue. Is there another avenue to take concerning this issue? Is there a chance that the problem will not resurface. This is a real bummer driving around in brand new car that I have no faith in. Thanks for any input.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
