Cayman R death rattle? It’s alive!
Video at the bottom...
—original post—
I was up on my local track putting in some relatively easy 7-8/10) laps yesterday, when about 5 laps in I heard a loud crunch and clatter noise coming from behind me. Oh crap...
Pulled off to the side and quickly scanned the dash but saw no warning lights before shutting it off. Also, as usual, evething was properly warmed up and all fluids were topped off.
When I got out, there was a small amount of oil dripping/puddling under the car onto the tarmac, but well less than a quart...maybe 1/2 quart at most. Got towed back to the pits and no leak whatsoever...no drips either, so it either all somehow leaked onto the track without me seeing it or it wasn’t a rod punching a hole in the case.
Sounded a lot like a throwout bearing failure (rocks in a coffee can, in a dryer like sound), but not sure if that’s even possible in my PDK-equipped car. Really hope it’s not the engine, but again, no warnings whatsoever...and no warning messages either. Here’s the info message list after I got back in the pits...yes all lights are on in this pic because ignition is on without the motor started:
View attachment 201083
Also hooked my durometric scanner after it was dropped at the dealer (closed until Monday morning), and the only engine code was for the heating element on the drivers side forward O2 sensor (code 0050).
Only showing these three transmission codes too:
C155
UO155 - CAN timeout, instrument cluster
C146
UO146 - CAN timeout, gateway
C148
UO148 - CAN fault, brake
Which I attribute to having the igniton on to put it in neutral, then leaving it there while it was towed. Maybe someone here can help or explain better?
I’m hoping this is a 1/2 shaft bearing or maybe limited slip diff failure...fear the PDK or motor is toast though. Anyone else have any ideas?
Regardless, it’s at the dealer and should have a diagnosis by tomorrow night...finger’s crosses.
Sorry to hear about your engine, what year is your car?
2012... All R’s were ‘12 model year
987.2
cars.
Hooray!
Not dead...not even mostly dead. Can’t believe I’m happy to be looking at a $2K bill; $600 in parts and $1,500 or so in labor before my PCA and/or military discount I hope (stealership labor...ugh), but at least it’s not $20k...my wife made the “better three zeros than four” comment.
Turns out it was the vacuum pump (external to the motor) that failed:
Pump shaft seized and took the cap off...as well as the O2 sensor. Noise was the cover bouncing around. And (touch wood) it appears there’s no internal damage. All things considered, I got lucky...and the fact I stopped almost immediately hopefully saved the motor.
The lead mechanic says he’s never seen this part fail...yay me.
Should have the car back by this weekend... will update then.
Glad to hear it wasn't terminal! I have similar mileage, a lot of it on track.
I was going to say this would be the first
987.2
engine failure I've read about, guess lucky you aren't #1!
it’s alive!
Going to pick her up in a bit...but my lead mechanic friend sent this yesterday:
[video]https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Lqm3gKm/0/cbfe6fd1/1280/i-Lqm3gKm-1280.mp4[/video]
:dance:
If this is a rare failure, I'd ask if your dealer bothered to file a warranty claim with
Porsche
. I had a water pump fail on the Cayenne my wife used to drive, out of warranty. Dealer called me up, asked if I was a PCA member, how many Porsches I owned (2) and I added that I was a "silver sponsor" for the Arizona region....
Porsche
came back agreeing to cover everything. As my wife loves to remind me, if you don't ask.....
That video has a lot of smoke coming out. I hope it was previous oil being burned off. Since this is a 9A1 engine, the vacuum pump is run off a camshaft. When the pump went, it may have slowed the cam enough to stretch the chain or wore/damaged chain guides. Need to check deviation periodically to verify all is well.
V6
Yup...oil from the camshaft opening dribbled out (the oil I saw on track) and despite them cleaning/wiping down the engine, there will always be some residual... that was what was burning off in the video.
Extensive check of the camshaft, gears and chain were included. Another reason why the labor cost was so high.
Drove her home and it purrs like a kitten..will try to hit the track mañana to wring her out a bit.
Was this an "engine out" repair or could they do it while in the car? Thanks
Dropped one corner, but engine in.
