991 PADM Fault

Hello Planet-9! New member... During a spirited drive in my 991 C4S a "PADM FAULT - Ok to drive carefully" alert popped up. It appears based on my research that one of the transmission mounts has failed. Does anyone know if there is any other explanation for the fault? Unfortunately the new mount is $1300 before installation. Any insight is appreciated.

Bump

Bump... anybody?

I had the same thing happen on my 981 Cayman last year. You can continue to drive it just fine, but there isnt anything else you can do but have it replaced. The mount is a canister with an electronic coil in it surrounded by a metallic sludge. When the coil is energized the studge will stiffen up. There are several reports of these things shorting out, even on brand new cars that are only weeks old, but the worst that can happen is it just stays in the soft mode all of the time. The Cayman has only dynamic transmission mounts. The 911 has dynamic motor mounts as well. Yes it sucks that an expensive part like this can just randomly fail for no apparent reason, and its just more of the " Porsche tax" that must be paid for these exorbitantly priced parts by guys like me that are out of warranty

Thanks ICNU. I was beginning to wonder if I had made my post incorrectly. Appreciate your input. I, too, am outside of the warranty. Then again I'm guessing the "tax" is worth the pleasure of driving one! I have ordered the part and plan to change it out myself. Wish me luck!

It would be great to hear your experience when done. I'm considering doing mine myself as I can see them very easily when under the car with my lift. I need to study things a bit more and see where things would need to be supported during the swap. How did you diagnose which specific mount had failed? I have the iCarsoft 2 device for resetting my maintenance codes since I do most of that myself, but it doesnt show error codes regarding a PADM failure despite it being there at every startup. I need to plug in my Cobb device and see if it picks anything up, but I'm assuming this may take a Durametric device or PIWIS to properly diagnose

I'd be happy to share how it goes. It looks more cumbersome than complicated... removing the rear bumper, etc. The dealerships can do it without removing it, but i'll have to see if I have the tools/set-up to pull that off. You can find various DIYs online, although I wasn't able to find one for e 991 generation. It doesn't look too bad at all. I used my iCarsoft device to tell me which mount. It's the driver's side in my case. I think I had to drill down a bit into the menu to find it. It wasn't too complicated or I wouldn't have figured it out, trust me. I can go back in if you can't find it. Let me know. Not a problem...

Wow, you have the first version and I have the 2 so I would assume I have the same ability unless they took it away. I guess I need to do some more digging within the menus, but I thought I had gone through every one of them already. Its good to see the specific code as well, so thanks for that! Im lucky in the fact that my mounts are right there along side the tranny no where near the bumper or any other body parts due to the Cayman engine position vs the 991. You can see my mounts two circled in the diagram

That's great! You also have the advantage of access through the hatchback. VERY limited access to the rear in the 991. Ya I would think you're version 2 should be able to diagnose this issue. I don't know why they would discontinue the feature... but stranger things have happened. I'll try to plug in today and map the path on version 1, maybe that will help. Love the Cayman btw. Had an 08 Cayman S (manual) up until a couple years ago. Such an incredibly well balanced car... and SO fun to drive!

Yep, I had an 06 when they first came out, and then a blue 08 CS myself. I took it in for an oil change in August of 2013, and the racing yellow 981 CS I have now was sitting on the showroom floor as a new 2014 model as they had just been released. That was the most expensive oil change I have ever had! It almost happened again when I was back a couple years later with the 981 and there was gorgeous 991 paint to sample GT3 sitting there that someone traded with only a few miles on it, but my lady said no. I now do all my own maintenance as I am not allowed at the dealership anymore. Its just too risky it seems The one difference I see with your iCarsoft device is appears you have the multi car version and mine is the Porsche only version 2, but you would think that it would still have all the same Porsche functionality? I may have to come back and beg for the specific menu list/order that you are accessing to get there if I cant find it. I will try again tomorrow and see if I can find it on mine. Its possible its just 991 vs 981 function thing?

Lol... understood! GT2/3 RS is dreamland for me. Saw a used 2019 at the dealer today for $221K. A little beyond what I'm willing to pay, and WAY beyond what my wife will authorize! ? I do all my own work as well... primarily as a matter of principle, because the idea of paying $330 for an oil change is robbery! My Carsoft appears to only be Porsche . At least the menu only lists Porsche models ( 911 , Cayman , Boxter, etc.) . So I mapped the path and it's not intuitive. It took me a while to figure how I did it, and eventually success! See below:

Thank you so much for this effort! I will give it a go and see what I can do and report back. Again, above and beyond and I really appreciate the step by step menu images.

Just wanted to follow up and let you know that the information your provided worked for me! My menus are completely different past the diagnose part, but I was still able to work my way through. The biggest help was seeing that the system calls this "Level Control" for some reason?? I would have never guessed to look under than heading. Also, I had Cayman listed as a car option but I got a message in every option that it could not read the ECU . I found that they also had a Boxster ( 981 ) in the list so I tried this as that is closest thing and it specified 981 and that was where I found it. Same message as you but on the Right side for me. I find it odd that they call it a "pressure sensor" and now this has me wondering if its really the mount itself or if there is some other gadget associated with it throwing the error? It appears from under my car that the electrical plug for the mounts are plugged directly into the mount itself which is a pretty simple looking device. When I think of level control I think of the accelerometers that adjust the suspension when it detects the cars attitude, not the engine or transmission mounts, but PADM definitely stands for Porsche Active Dynamic Mounts and the others I have read about having the same issues were the mounts. EDIT: After a little research its determined that the mounts are actually engaged to some degree at all times and will stiffen up on their own under hard Gs to keep the engine in line with the chassis, or tranny as in my case so it appears the labeling does make sense after all. I found this cutaway view that is helpful in seeing what is going on inside https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/******...***.com-vbulletin/560x965/img_0686_d5472b392ae02a676966a3597f0936e9a7b63e13.jpg And I found this comment from someone with a PADM message that I thought was interesting and think I will just pull the plug this weekend and give it a shot and see what happens (Post #32). I dont have anything to lose at this point https://********.com/forums/991/964031-padm-failure-again-3.html#post14083347

Sorry, duplicate post

Glad it worked! Now you can at least proceed with confidence that it's the right side. The cutaway is very interesting... functions like I thought it did but it's designed a little differently. I went ahead and pulled the trigger this weekend. My local dealership had a mount in stock for...... $1400..... ouch. I picked it up on Saturday afternoon and installed it Sunday in about 4hrs. The most difficult part was getting to it. The rear bumper and spoiler mechanism removal involved over 30 screws/bolts. Once I got it, it was a piece of cake. Interesting ******** post.. I have to make sure my wife doesn't read it! My connector was perfectly clean and in "like new" condition. After I installed the new one, the code was gone. I say it certainly doesn't hurt to try the connector first! Let me know. And if you end up having to replace it, it's not a big deal at all. That is, as long as you can stomach the $$$. I actually put together a quick Youtube since I couldn't find one. Hopefully it will be helpful to 991 owners. I'm not guessing there's much crossover with yours unfortunately. Let me now how things turnout!

Yeah, I dont have a lot of hope that cleaning the plug will do anything. The biggest difference for me is the wire harness is all exposed on the bottom of the car and not hidden up high in the back bumper like yours, so there is a greater chance is could become contaminated with something when driving. Its definitely been a learning experience for me, and quite educational on the discovery that the mounts are not just acting on the Sport Chrono button being pressed, but receiving signals at all times and reacting on their own to the G forces of the car if needed. I plan on getting it back up on the lift this weekend and take a more detailed look now that I know which specific one that is faulty

Hey ICNU... Just checking in. Any luck with cleaning the connection?

Thanks for checking in! Unfortunately no dice for me, but I expected that to be the case anyway. Ive been under the car on the lift three times now just studying how the mounts are attached to the tranny trying to decide if its something I want to tackle myself. Its a puzzling combo of attachments. I can access the main big nut holding the device to one of the mounts, and I can access the tops of the two smaller bolts that run down through and along side the can of the damper, but then there is no way to lift the hardware or the mount out as the top of the device is practically touching the pan of the car above. So it appears that it needs to come out while still connected to one if not both of the mounts in some way by removing the mount bracket from the car on one side or the other, but every combination I see on either side has limited to no access to do so, or again the parts would have nowhere to go once loose in order to get them out? It seems the 911 is much easier as your PADM dampers are just sitting there in front of you with nothing above them to prevent them from lifting out. I have a solid floor pan 1cm above mine so down is the only way to go but the suspension is then right there a few cms away passing under everything and blocking it from coming out. Its like a puzzle game that has some special combination of movements that isnt so obvious until you finally get it and wonder why it was so hard to see the solution. Or they suspended the mount in mid air somehow and built the car around it This one may be better suited for the pros to handle, but I haven't given up quite yet and will continue to stare at it some more

Unbelievable, this is exactly what happened to me today, exactly. I just received the car last week, bought from a reputable PCA member and had it checked out by a mechanic in Austin before she was shipped to me in AZ. Mine is a 2013 991 C4S as well with 25,000 miles. Super bummed this is going to be a spendy fix!

I'm sorry Desert Jack! Ya the part is not cheap, but you can save yourself a grand by doing it yourself. I put a vid on my Youtube channel (Avgporschefile) on changing it out, if you think it might help. Definitely something you can do yourself! Step one is figuring out which side has failed. Let me know if you have any questions. Best!

Thanks man, I've got zero mechanical talents so to the shop she goes. For what I gathered she's safe to drive, no sport sport mode tho and refrain from 'spirited' driving until its sorted...correct?

Understood... it's not complicated though, I promise! Be aware the dealership will likely recommend replacing both sides "while we're in there." As for driving it, yes, that is my understanding.

thanks again, me thinks I need to look into an extended warranty!

2024 | 2015 CSC "PADM disabled". I have Zero plan on replacing, the pop up is no worry.

I sorted mine out with an aftermarket sensor from Zuffenparts. Usually, the issue is just the sensor inside the PADM acting up. Porsche doesn’t sell that part separately, but Zuffenparts has a replacement that fits right into the original PADM mount and it’s straightforward to install. Porsche PADM sensor