Engine Problems

Hi all first post and its not on a good issue - i need some advice/opinions from others. My Cayman is just over 3 years old, just outside its warranty, however car broken down last weekend - misfiring was the cause, as the car wouldnt start. I have just been told that one of the cylinders in the car isnt firing up and is in effect broken. Has anyone with a cayman or boxster experienced this issue before and how did they go about repairing it? thanks

It is not clear from your statements above, but if you have not done so already, you should start by taking to car to a trusted Porsche mechanic and have them see what codes have been stored. They will then be able to tell you what repairs would be necessary. There could be any number of causes for a misfire on one cylinder such as an issue with a spark plug, ignition coil, fuel injector, cabling, etc. If the misfires are not limited to one cylinder, then there could be even more causes. A mechanic that can pull codes from a Porsche will be your best bet.

Welcome aboard. I'd be a little surprised if the on-board diagnostics monitor compression. Did the technician manually measure/confirm there is no compression? If so, the problem is probably mechanical (piston ring, blown head gasket, bad valve seat/seal, etc) and so repair may be a bit pricey. I hope you find it is just a coil of something easier. Good luck.

You said it would not start. That is inconsistent with one piston not compressing. The car should still start and run roughly. Would you elaborate on when you noticed the failure and exactly how it manifested?

Kenkg the car when it initially broken down would not turn over. The codes that came up on diagnostics was a broken camshaft actuator and positioning sensor, these have been replaced, then the mechanics managed to turn the car over the car sounded rough they did a compression test to find that cylinder # 6 had no compression. That in essence is the issue

Not sounding good. Anything happen prior to the problem as to why it happened?

This sounds similar to a problem I heard about on an 08 Boxster 2.7L. Not my car, but the owner took it to the dealer complaining of misfiring and /or running rough. It turns out one of the cylinders wasn't firing. After several days of research, it was discovered that the problem was the ECU. Once that was replaced and reprogrammed, the car ran fine.

Have you taken the car back to an official Porsche centre, or is this being done by an independent? In the case of a relatively new car like this, even if it is out of warranty, I would strongly suggest that you should be dealing with an OPC and not someone else. Even out of warranty, there is a process within Porsche UK to offer goodwill in the unfortunate event that this turns out to be something serious. There are various factors they will look at, such as ... Did you buy the car new, from Porsche Has it been modified or damaged Has it been serviced by them, according to the schedule Depending on the answers to these questions (and others) they may help you out. Equally they may not, but you won't know till you ask. This is definitely well worth exploring, arguably even more so than diagnosing the fault.

No nothing.

I bought the car from new from Porsche , its hasnt been modified or damaged and it has been serviced by them according to their schedule. Is there a Porsche rep on this forum who can give me guidance on this?

Hi John I have emailed you directly - pm's also are enabled now thanks

Ali, I have emailed back to you, hope it helps.

Hi Ali, Any update yet?

Hi John Yes, I was awaiting the response from Porsche on their goodwill scheme before responding. Porsche rang me today to inform me that the timing chain snapped due to downshifting from 6th to 2nd gear, which caused over-revving, which in turn caused the chain to snap. As a result they will not undertake any of the repairs under their scheme, and that I am liable for all costs. You can probably understand my shock and dismay at this response from Porsche , and the fobbing off I just received. To invest a lot of money in a top performing high end car to have it fully serviced by Porsche , to then get this response is beyond belief. There are several fundamental factors that Porsche have stated which are wholly inaccurate. Firstly their technical diagnosis was "downshifting from 6th to 2nd" - well this is impossible as my Cayman DOES NOT have a 6th gear!!!!! Also the car worked fine and was driven to W1, where it broke down - so anyone who has driven through Central London, will know that getting out of 3rd gear is a practical impossibility. Why didn't the timing chain snap when the downshift was supposed to have taken place, rather than returning to the car, starting it, putting the car in to 1st gear and as soon as the car sets off, it breaks down? Why is it that the internal damage to the engine is so minimal that if the timing change broke when the downshift from "6th to 2nd", was there much more catastrophic damage? Of course I will ask to see the data that shows exact dates and times and then use an independent specialist to confirm their data.

1. The good news is that the timing chain is all that requires replacing & you should be on your way again. 2. The bad news is that your dealer is full of bullsh!t. You have correctly stated your car doesn't have a 6th gear, and I have never heard of a timing chain breaking as appose to a belt, although they can stretch... I would incline to have it repaired with less fuss as possible, but you sure have a good case for dispute.

The question is does your ECU show large overrevs just prior to the engine quitting? If so, then yes the repairs are on you because something you did caused the car to go way into the over rev ranges. (ranges 1-3 on your car are not that serious, anything range 4 and above Porsche will likely disclaim coverage) So what you need to see is your over rev report from the ECU and see when they occurred. If the report shows over revs months or years before then that should not be a problem, if it shows high (range 4 and above) over revs within seconds/minutes/hours of the engine failing you will have your warranty disclaimed for this issue. Timing chains have broken for other reasons, but if you have high over revs Porsche will automatically disclaim whether the over revs caused the chain to break or not. So again you need to see the over rev report. As a side note, with the new PDK transmisison overrevs are supposed to be impossible and thus Porsche could never disclaim a broken timing chain on a new Cayman for over revs, maybe for something else though you never know... BTW if you missed a shift, say 5th to 3rd and over revved the motor you'd know it, so only you know whether you did that or not, although Porsche can tell is "someone" did using the ECU readout.

There was no high revving what so ever prior to the chain snapping - I live in London, close to Central London, so really there was no opportunity to over rev the engine - the car was working fine, even up to the point of when the car was parked. It was upon returning to the car, starting it, sliding it in to 1st gear, that the chain then broke. The car moved no more than 10 yards. I have requested the data from the DME and will get it verified from an independent specialist and go from there. Suffice to say, Porsche's behaviour in this instance has been quite disgusting. To even state it was a downshift from 6th to 2nd gear, when my car doesnt have a 6th gear, clearly shows that their diagnosis processing is flawed.

Update: Spoken with Porsche this morning - seems like the timing chain snapping was down to the 'scavenger pump' being faulty. So its appears that it was a mechanical defect, Porsche Tech Dept are doing further tests. More to follow I am sure

ok, its making a bit more sense now. *whew*

OK update for you to consider. Porsche are offering a partial goodwill, on a known mechanical defect. They offered 60% goodwill and I pay for the labour on repairing a car that was defective for a considerable time. I am pretty disgusted with Porsche UK - they wont stand by a product - this isnt a maintenance issue, this is simply a bad part within their engine. They refused so far to give me the data for the 'over-revving' that didnt actually take place. Simply put this isnt a maintenance issue, this is a mechanical one and one that Porsche are responsible for. I am now taking legal advice on what my next moves are - i am not having them fob me off with partial goodwill. For a company that takes pride in its engines, this is a pretty poor response from them.

Ok all sorted with Porsche , happy with the end result. Thread can be locked now