So I recently purchased a durametric cable for my
boxster spyder
, and a few things I wanted to note/ask since durametric is not currently supporting 2011 cars.
1) I was able successfully clear the service light for my car (do my own maintenence)
2) I was not able to pull over-rev reports on the car, durametric tells me that it is because it is a 2011 model
3) I want the bleed the entire brake system, including ABS system after I swap to a GT3 master cylinder and SS brake lines. What is the correct procedure to perform this with the durametric? There are multiple options, and it's not clear to me what the proper procedure/order is. Durametric support is 'hands off' on how to do this.
Thanks
Why on earth are they not supporting 2011 cars with 2012 cars about to come out?? Seems REALLY odd. Of course not much has changed since 2009 with respect to ECU programming, codes, etc. so a 2011 should be similar to a 2010, sounds like they just need to update their software to accept a 2011 model car. How can they sell you software for a 2011 car that they don't support?
With respect to bleeding the brakes, you are going a step further with replacing the master cylinder than a simple brake job, but you should not need Durametric for this at all, simply disconnect the battery, swap the master cylinder, fill with fluid and bleed each of the 4 corners per normal bleeding procedures to get any air out of the lines and you should be fine.
One of my biggest gripes with Durametric is the lack of documentation or instructions on how to use the various features, like Drive Links. I believe this is probably due to the fact, that they don't want liability for people screwing things up (or having to provide more customer support when they do); hence I think their philosophy seems to be that if you don't already know how to use the various tools, then you shouldn't be using them anyway. In fact they pretty much told me that one of the reasons the Professional version is priced so high, is to discourage amateur enthusiasts from using it, because they anticipate they would have to deal with many more problems from people messing up the Coding functions.
I have been waiting for someone knowledgeable to publish a DIY somewhere on how to use some of these advanced features, but I haven't seen it yet.
They do seem to be at least 2-3 years behind in the current model availability. I know that when I tried to pull a code on my 2011 Cayenne, it wouldn't even recognize the DME. I think they have trouble just keeping up with the bug issues in the existing software, since I have been working with them on Coding issues in the Professional version on the 987s. It's important to recognize that they are a pretty small, boutique operation, and probably don't have the resources to develop and troubleshoot their software to the extent that some might expect.
Yeah, it's not ideal for sure. Their response to me is that it is low on their priorities since the newers cars are all under warranty and the demand is low for newer cars.
In regards to the brakes, I was under the impression you need to do a full bleed of the entire system if you swap out lines/master cylinder. If not, that's great. But, I'd still like to know how to properly bleed the entire system since I have the capability with the durametric system. Does anyone know what the correct procedure is using the durametric? Durametric won't specify or support how to do it since they don't want the liability...
I'm getting guys in the Porsche Club in the UK asking after Pamamera coding; even I can't do those as there is a new
PIWIS
for those. Hence they want the software to do their cars.
Joe;
The Durametric software typically lags behind the MY by about 3-4 years. Even when it's released, it's a "Beta" program-i.e. the end user is responsible to work out the bugs. Think Microsoft-with a trillion less customers.
Personally I would not bother with the ABS bleed-i never have even when the option was available to me and I have a 16YO car that supports my theory. Your only cycling the pump and a few small lines that contain very little fluid- I've seen some dealers call it "complete" bleed using less than a liter of fluid, and others ignore it- so how much is really in there anyway? My personal experience is that most degradation of the brake fluid is happening at, and close to, the calipers. If you are regularly bleeding the brakes, then it's hard to tell new fluid from old after 100cc's.
My final point is I have never been able to change out a brake master cylinder w/o bench bleeding the M/C first. I have not however changed out a Porsche M/C, but it applies to everything else I worked on. You may want to confirm this before you dive in.
Why would you need the GT3 M/C when the PCCB M/C is already a big upgrade to the standard issue? -just askin.
BD
BD,
Thanks for your input. I guess I'm not going to sweat about bleeding the ABS system then. I'll do a bench bleed as well before installing the MC.
I'm doing the GT3 MC because the pedal feel on caymans and boxsters are VERY soft. At first I thought it was my car. I bled the system twice, still the same. The pedal travel is way too far. It makes it difficult for me to heel toe at the track because the brake pedal goes way past the throttle. I had the opportunity to sit in multiple porsches at candlestick park today for the porsche world roadshow tour. The
cayman
R and spyders I sat in today all had the same pedal feel as my PCCB spyder. The carreras definitely have a stiffer pedal, but the GT3 my friend has is perfect. Short travel, good resistence. My mitsubishi evo pedal feel is worlds better than my PCCB spyder. Just not acceptable. I've PM'd with savyboy (who also has a PCCB spyder) about this problem and he said 80% of the pedal softness was cured with a GT3 MC swap. So, I figured I'd try it myself. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
Thanks again
