HELP! Porsche 987 Cayman 2007 2.7 jerks at 1500rpm

Hey, I just bought my first Porsche , specifically the model is Porsche 987 Cayman 2007 2.7 120tkm. I've noticed that the engine starts to jerk/twitch at 1500rpm and it seems to last up until 2000rpm. the car works fine otherwise, the engine doesn't seem to make any unusual sounds. Do you have any suggestions on how normal this is and if not then what could be causing the problem? sincerely ~ Eetu / Finland

And if helpful or meaningful, the oil level was a bit overfilled for 800km before I changed the oil. No metal particles were found in the oil filter, mechanics said that the aos seems fine but I'm not too sure about that.

Is the clutch fully released when the jerking takes place?

Hi, forgot to say that this is a tiptronic s

sorry forgot to mention it is a tiptronic s

First check to see if it has thrown any codes. I don't know anything about tip transmissions sorry. However, if the car runs as it should in all other facets it's unlikely to be a fuel or spark issue as that normally causes problems throughout the rev range. Other members have tips, they will know more, good luck.

Ok thanks, it sent codes from misfire last time the oil was changed so I am assuming it might be caused by the spark plugs and or coils.

Next time include that in your opener, of course I would change both, it's mileage appropriate anyway.

Ok my apologies

no worries just saying more information yields better results, good luck with the repairs.

Misfire or MAP sensor … Plug it into a scanner

Or as I say - "better questions get better answers..." Two things to do: Read Before posting a technical question.. - READ THIS Visit New Member Introductions and tell us about your Porsche, post some pretty pictures of it, and tell us a bit about you. We're the Friendly Forum - doing that helps keep it that way. For some reason Porsche misfires don't always turn on the Check Engine light, or the "Workshop" warning. Dunno why not, I would have thought it was part of OBD-II required protocol. If you saw stored misfire records when you last did the oil - was that reset to zero them out? Do you have access to a decent Porsche-specific diagnostics tool? If it was cleared hook up your diagnostics tool and look, and if it has continued throwing misfires, chances are the plugs are shot and perhaps the coils. You have enough km on yours that these are a likely cause of trouble if they haven't been changed. It's way easier to do both at the same time. And finally - welcome to Planet-9, the Friendly Porsche Forum!

On my Miata , those symptoms were cured by replacing the coil packs (& plugs since we were there anyway.) Bit more expensive on a Cayman though! Good luck

plugs and coils and injectors would not affect the engine only in that short RPM range. problems of that nature would get worse with higher RPMs. you didn't mention if you're only getting that problem in neutral or when driving in gear.

Euta are you referring to slight gear lurch or clunks while driving? If so I have that too in my 2008 tiptronic at around 2k or below. I believe it has to do with a failing torque converter. The tiptronic shifts gear way too early and the TC has a hard time with the low RPM range. I drive mine 99% in tip with the steering controls and it doesn't have the issue. I'll fix it eventually but till then it works well in manual.

I believe with his posting that said: Checking the codes for misfires - to see if they're continuing to happen - is a reasonable course of action. While with simpler engines (without variable valve timing and valve lift) one might expect to see an issue cover a wider range of RPM, on these engines - having the potential of combined problems stacking up to produce a fault - over a narrow range of RPMs is entirely possible. I can certainly see the combination of valve timing/lift changing combined with marginal ignition and/or a change in fuel mixture causing a narrow RPM range issue. The clues will be found in a good diagnostics session with a Porsche-specific tool. It's no longer "adjust the carbs and turn the distributor until it idles high and then back if off about 10 degrees.." sort of days. All that good stuff and more is being done by a computer, and computers besides offering cures for issues can also cause faults when the components it's controlling aren't working quite like it expects them to.

Hi, spark plugs were changed and the throttle body was cleaned and the issue went away for a good 200km, yet the problem just came back. I am thinking about changing the coils as well but am conserned if it is a transmission related issue. thoughts?

Ps. The problem seems to have only been noticeable with 4th and 5th gear

Thoughts are you're flailing. That's when you start chasing down ghosts without knowing the cause of the haunting. Randomly replacing parts with no real logical reason to replace them. Are you going to replace the transmission next ? It will get rather expensive to troubleshoot by replacement. Questions: What condition were the coils in when the plugs were changed? Were they examined carefully for any cracking down along the tubular part going to the plug? Did any look different from others? When you cleaned the throttle body was there any visible oil buildup? Strangely - that CAN be ignition related. It has to do with the torque requirements and engine speed. You mentioned earlier that there were recorded engine misfires and I asked you two questions about that, which you've never answered. Not answering is fine - but it limits the amount of time I'll spend thinking about your issues.

These low rpm driveability issues seem common in cars as they age. I chase them ALL THE TIME on my friend's NB generation Miatas. Many people report minor "hiccups" occurring in the 1800-2200rpm range under low to moderate throttle on the 987 cars. I will say that even my 987.2 Cayman 6MT isn't the smoothest running motor below 2000rpms and occasionally it's idle can bounce 100-200rpms. People have been reporting these issues for years in 987 and 997 cars. Given that your car has likely been on the road since 2006, that's quite a long time. The car is at that age when things start to degrade and wear out. If you don't know much about the history, I'd probably start knocking out a bunch of maintenance items as you can afford it: Air oil separator (AOS) Transmission fluid change, not a flush. Just a drain and refill. If the fluid looks real dirty, drive it for a few hundred miles and do a second drain/reflll. With the car as old as it is, I wouldn't put the car on a pressurized tranny flush machine. Spark plugs and coil packs Engine and transmission mounts. It's quite possible that a bad engine mount could be creating this jerking sensation because of excessive forward/back motor movement. Vacuum system inspection, especially on lines associated with the AOS system. MAF inspection and cleaning I'd also consider the Italian tune up too, meaning, drive it hard fairly often after the car is fully warm. I'm talking about goin to redline in a few gears on a fairly often basis.

For the OP, you mention this happens in 4th and 5th gear, so I would also follow the route of the spark plugs and coil packs (might as well replace them together). Just as an FYI - the first gen Cayman 's w/Tiptronic have a definite hesitation around 2800 rpm. This isn't an 'issue' so much as a reality. Feels like a hesitation as you accelerate. I've read various reasons for it but fact is its there and not an electrical or fueling issue.

Thank you for your answers and I am sorry if i missed any, my english is rather bad so that's to blame. My mechanic requested that the spark plugs and coils should be changed, the plugs were changed before and now they're going for the coils. A new symptom appeared; it seems as every gear had two gears in one, and by that I mean that the car lowers rpm twice when switching into a higher gear. So after today the spark plugs and coils have been changed and throttle body has been cleaned. Changing the spark plugs made the problem go away for a while and so did the throttle body cleaning but the problem reappeared after a short while. I get no error codes with proper diagnostics tools. the jerking only seems to appear after the engine is warm and has been on "rough" use. Two gears in one symptom appears even when the engine is cold. If changing the coils doesn't work what should I be checking for next ? sincerely ~ Eetu

To sum up your thoughts here are the suggestions for the cause of the problems: Torque converter AOS MAF system MAP sensor Transmission fluids Engine and transmission mounts The car was inspected at Porsche service center whenI bought it and they told me that the AOS did not show symptoms but I do see a cloud of smoke when starting up the engine sometimes. It doesn't really feel like it's about the engine and transmission mounts as it feels more like being a passenger of someone that has no experience of using a manual transmission and a clutch, by that I mean rocking back and forth as accelerating kind of motion.

To answer a few unanswered questions: Misfire records were seen at a receipt from a previous owners oil change service so I have no further records of it, all though no codes are shown at the moment at all. I now asked then to check on the condition of coils as they are being changed, will answer you when I get more information on that. Not sure if the throttle body had any oil on it, the mechanic referred to it as similar stuff as builds up in the exhaust so might be? Told me that the throttle body was rather clean over all.

Ok so now the coils were changed and so far so good regarding the jerking. The two gears in one effect remains, it feels similar to clutch slipping. Is it possible that the Tiptronic somehow got used to faulty coils and by so acts weird for a while and then "fixes" itself once again? I previously gommented on seeing a cloud of smoke on startup, when I started it after the service, the cloud of smoke was a lot more visible than previously and it smelled like oil even though I was in the cabin with windows closed. Could that be a signal of AOS fault and by so the cause of previous two gears in one effect? Thoughts on this?

The car seems to have just a bit of oil leak coming from between the engine and transmission, if I understood right this could be a sign of bad AOS or bad rms/ ims bearing ? It doesn't even drop any oil to the ground to give perspective on the amount of leakage

Yet again the problem with jerking at 1500-2000rpm came back allthough it seems to be only on a rare occasion. The 2 gears in 1 is only evident in 2nd and 3rd gear, to explain it a bit further when the car goes to 2nd from 1st gear the rpm drops about 200-500rpm like a second after going into gear, is this normal? Happens at 2nd to 3rd gear swith more occasionally

I may be wrong as my only Tiptronic experience is with a 955 Cayenne S, but is this the "kickdown" feature that the Tiptronic has where it downshifts 2-3 gears upon hard acceleration instead of 1 gear?

hey there Eetu.... has you tried a transmission fluid change yet? for the transmission mounts/engine mounts, your must do a visual inspection to confirm if they are an issue. FYI - I have replaced both the engine and transmission mounts in my car.

Hi I just came to conclusion that the transmission fluid schange is the next thing I'm going for as some you stated it might be the cause and it is due time as my car has been driven 122000km. Shops are telling me that the system should be flushed as it doesn't affect the risks involved. Thoughts on this? Do I really have risks of breaking the transmission as professionals are going to be the ones replacing the transmission fluid?

Eetu, i think the logic for older cars is, to replace the fluids, without flushing to be gentle to other internal components. no idea if this is an urban myth... but many techs/mechanics have told me the same thing.... FYI - petrol quality can also affect the shifting and car behaviour....or if there is moisture.