My 957 Cayenne GTS Progress thread

I have always heard good things about the hunter, if a boggo alignment is all you need, there is no need to go to a fancy place. It drives pin straight now but I wish I could have done it myself just so all the numbers matched :floor:

It's driving lovely now, just need to crack the chassis warning! :?:

This is a great thread

It and ones like it are truly fascinating and inspirational reading :thumb:

i'm bored so ..

Castor angle ..

This is the shopping trolly effect .. you let go of the steering wheel and it automatically centers the steering wheel to the straight ahead position .

it's not adjustable on all Porsches but is on a Cayenne .

It's the angle of the front to rear of the shock .

Camber .. also called KPI or king Pin Inclination ..

It's the angle of the tread on the road surface and left to right .. more camber = better cornering but on normal road use you want less .. too much and the inner surface only touches the road .. not enough and the outer .

If using the car on a track day then more negative camber is needed for cornering .

Toe or tracking ..

The angle of the wheels in the straight ahead position , pointing left or right will wear a tyre unevenly .. you want it to manufacturer specs but basically pointing straight ahead.

Thrust angle ..

rear wheels being aligned with the fronts or indeed the car .. last thing you want is this to be offset as the car will push say to the left in a straight ahead driving position .

Rear wheel straight to the fronts basically .

Hunter = anyone that can hold a spanner can set it correctly , it shows you what to adjust and you move the bolt till it shows green on the display , then tighten and move to the next .

Its not better than any other alternative but it makes it easy , less complicated systems require a degree of an understanding of what to adjust .

They all do the same thing from string to a hunter .. its the mechanics input that is needed on a lesser system .

Back to it!

Ahhh Iain, I did reply to your last post but it seems that I didn't! I remember asking how do you adjust the castor on these things..

Sooooooooooooooo, I'm now a dad, woohoo, after not doing anything to the cars for something like 5 or 6 weeks, I finally gave myself a few hours to solve an issue that has been spoiling the GTS experience and keeping me up at night!

I'm slightly hungover after a very late night session so hopefully this mass of words makes sense..

I had been getting a 'chassis system faulty' and 'chassis system wanring' message on the dash for a little while, took a number of steps to try and resolve it, pretty blindly really as I was limited on the info I was getting from diagnostics. I had planned to visit Precision Porsche to see Iain and he has shared his wealth of knowledge and interest in the topic but I just had some things I wanted to try out before taking up his time.

I had already pulled off the pressure sensors and solenoids from the rear valve body, changed the reservoir and filled back up with fresh fluid..

Sadly the problem remained..



Pretty vague codes but they did point to the rear valve body, which in essence,is a simple thing, 2 solenoids and 2 pressure sensors, that's it!

So, during my paternity time off, spending some time researching the PDCC system, I found that BMW's have a similar system named Dynamic Drive, a quick google in to this, found a few threads but nothing of much interest until I discovered a guy who had stripped a valve body down, upon seeing the pictures, I noticed that the solenoids were similar, a bit more investigation found that the BMW valve bodies were pennies on ebay, so I bought one to pretty much dismantle and explore..£30 overnight part from Poland.. Compared to Porsche valve bodies starting at £350!

So, BMW unit pulled apart and investigated, this one is slightly more complex than the rear Porsche version, having 2 more solenoids and an extra sensor which may detect temperature...





Solenoid opened up





Having all of these spares, gave me the chance to test what voltage powered the solenoids, I started with 5v and that was enough, so I could now use 5v to test my Porsche ones without fear of blowing them up.

On to the real exercise now, I sucked the CHF11s fluid out of the reservoir and pulled the solenoids off, 5v to each and annoyingly, they both worked, I was hoping to find one was dead. Poked around, pulled a small machined shaft thing out, that was clean and at this point, I thought FFS, what else can I do, so I set about refitting everything, I decided to fit the BMW solenoid in place of one of mine, it looked in better condition.



Fluid refilled, bled to some degree and time to test.

Holyyyyy fcku!! To my utter amazement, I didn't get the warning once I hit 4mph, I didn't get the warning after doing 5 miles! I bloody fixed it!!



I just parked the car up and felt content but slightly scared that as soon as I go out in it again, attack a corner, the warning will return.. I sent an excited message to Iain (Demort) letting him know the great news as he has been with me on this every step, we hoped to find a resolution to this error as it is something he is seeing more and more and no doubt, the older these systems get, the more this will occur.

Well, I have now done approx 40 miles, hard cornering, sport mode and the system is working as it should, I am no longer holding myself up when cornering, wow! I couldn't be happier. Big bill and lots of hassle avoided.

:thumb:

Hopefully this will help others, don't be scared of PDCC, it really is simple and if something goes wrong, it can be broken down to a small part being at fault which CAN be replaced.

So, that's THAT episode dealt with. Onto more fun stuff.

Last issue that I will address is a loose sounding knock from up front, louder in comfort mode but barely audible in sport mode, I have new upper and lower wishbones so I am wondering if it is the subframe mounts or ARB mount. Everything seems solid so I'll need to poke around on that, it is pretty minor but something I'll get around to.

So yesterday, I thought I'd fit some new matching rear tyres, the previous owner had some unknown brand tyres on the back which were cracking fast, I noticed some deforming too, I had planned to wait until I had some time to have the car off the road to have the wheels refurbed and then fit the tyres but with the car in use daily on baby duties, that's going to have to wait until we go on holiday or something, so new tyres fitted, the car is now making me very happy



I go to this local place called A&K tyres, they're a great bunch and take all the care in the world, I take all my cars here and so do many mates. They know to lock the suspension and correctly torque the wheels to the manufacturers spec, not just a random it'll do number.

A 2016 stamped tyre with just under 6mm in the middle, never buy cheapos!



Replacing these have totally erradicated some weird hoping feeling I was getting at 33mph too.

Thanks again Iain, you are truely a great asset to us all here and I REALLY need to come and buy you a pint or 10!


:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

My thoughts on this ..

It's a rare fault which i feel will become more prevalent , i've seen one so far with another on the go if the customer ever returns ..

The dam fault code basically lists every part of the system as being a possible cause of this .. that really helps .. NOT !

Its a rear axle pressure fault .. it happens at a certain angle on a bend .. for a split second the car sees a pressure fault that's out of its expected range .. it shuts the system down until an ignition on / off and will then recheck .

There is not a fault to find when testing .. it a pressure fault for a split second which makes this fault pretty dam hard to figure out .

I was lucky .. but not for Mark to work with him on this fault .. trust me he did all the work and came to the conclusion .. i just said what i thought which was of no real help i feel !

A solenoid sticking , a microscopic particle of dirt is enough to trigger this fault .

For me i have to replace the RA unit .. this ain't cheap .. the pipes corrode and also need replacing .. circa £1K for parts alone !!!

Mark has found a solution which to be fair i will be trying in the future .. if i can do a cheap fix for a customer due to Marks work then i'm over the moon .. that's what i still work on cars for .. in an attempt to achieve this.

All about the service gents !

Mark ...
:thumb:

Top notch work .

Cheers Iain, you definitely gave me the foundations and scare stories to push me on.

A guy on a US forum has been having a similar problem, he has bought a BMW valve body to hopefully use as backup parts so I'm interested to see how he gets on.

For all I know, it may well have been a bit of dirt, the extra top up of new fluid or it was the BMW part working and holding better when active.

All I wanted was to find a solution which would fix my car and help others save a wedge of cash, when you break the PDCC system down, it is a simple modular system, some parts like the pump and ECU may be expensive (although I have found a source for PDCC pump for £80 instead of £500!) but the other bits are made up of multiple components which I've now found can be replaced and are out there! So spending 4 figures isn't the only answer now. Hopefully anyone else with this trouble will find this post.

Whatever sorted it, it's sorted and driving perfectly now and for a 2008 heavy old tank, it drives like a Porsche should, so I'm over the moon and can let myself carry on with the list :thumbs:

Iain kept in touch throughout, as if it was his own car, constantly offering support, experience, tips, what a guy! Thank you! :thumb:

Bless you young man .. i just answered what questions i could .

Once again .. congratulations .. your life has just changed .. for the better

Regards to your wife as well .. she is the star here

I recently set out to do an oil and filter change on the Cayenne and while at it, fit some new spark plugs as they were last changed around 30k mile ago, they're so cheap and easy, it's a no brainer to just do these with every service as I believe they do lose their efficiency with use.



Well, this was a job that wasn't as clear cut as just changing the plugs..

I bought Bosch FGR5NQE04, same as Porsche branded items, just £31 for the set of 8 instead of £75.

Someone had the same fitted already..

Old and new;


Old plugs, notice that 1 is different! (FFS!!)


The problem I came across when pulling the last plug out was, when I pulled the coilpack out, it was soaked in oil! PANIC!!!
I put the socket to remove the plug and as I pushed that in, oil spurted out!!
I was about to lose my cool but once my brain kicked in, I thought the problem has to just be a bad seal on the valve cover, I pulled the plug and yup, that was covered but the tip was dry and matched the others so the engine is OK, phew!
A look down the tube and the problem was apparent, a seal was not doing it's job as a moron had clearly fitted it. I believe an OPC to be behind this.



Great, another job and hours I don't have too much of right now to be spent sorting this out.

So, I put the new plugs in, buttoned it all back up and awaited my new parts to arrive. New valve cover seal, new plug tube seals and new valve cover bolts.

New bits arrived courtesy of Deroure.com



Strip down


Valve cover off!


I was pretty happy to do this as I always like to get a look inside my engines, especially when the car has done so many miles (96k). Everything looked in good order, nothing out of the ordinary, chain was solid and tensioner pad looked in good order.

Are these the upgraded variocam bolts?


Not sure if this is a date but if so, it's newer than the car..


The offending seal!! Clearly had been fitted this way as it was trapped and not in the recess.


New valve cover bolts


Everything got a clean and then went back together!

Phew!


Oil change time, it is sooooooo good that I can just raise the car up to do this, no messing about with jacks and ramps!

Oil of choice, 5w/40 Mobil 1 Super 3000 X1. Meets specs and used it on the Boxster and found no issues.



The oil in the car has been in there for approx 6500k miles, it came out black and really watery. I had been in touch with the specialist who did the last service and they informed me that they use 5w/40 Petronas.

Made a mess as always, I really need to upgrade my oil catcher.


Let this drain for 30 mins while getting the filter off and then accidentally finding the cause of a knock that has been driving me insane!!!

When going over bumps, I had a knock which sounded like a worn balljoint, but I had change them all, inspected everything and nothing else appears to be worn, I was getting to the point of setting out to change engine mounts and front shocks...

Well, while poking around, I saw this clamp and wondered how the hell someone did it up as the head was touching the subframe, a light touch and it moved! It was completely loose!! I thought that there was no way this little thing could be causing the knocking I was getting, it is a really heavy metal on metal knock, no way but maybe??! hopefully, fingers crossed, maybe it is this!



Where it should be


Well, I re-positioned and tightened the clamp, fitted the new oil filter and filled the engine with oil.

Fired it up, all sounding perfect, I let it run while I tidied my tools away. I then cautiously went out for a spin and to my amazement, the bumps which would always produce a knock, no longer did!!! I couldn't have felt happier!!

So, no more oil leak, fresh oil, plugs and now, no more knocking! This Cayenne is really feeling perfect now, really happy with it.

Swapped out the hazard switch, mine looked tired, so found a fresh one.



Cleaned the filters on the headlights, one was completely blocked and I believe to be the reason the headlight was misting uo

Small update, although it feels like it should be big with the amount of time invested here!

Didn't get pictures but during the wash, the underside, although I had pretty much waxoyled and dynax'd everything, got a good coat of Bilt Hamber Atom-Mac, this protects all metals from rust! You can spray it on brake discs before a wash to stop them rusting up during the wash stage, great stuff! So the under carriage got a good blast with this to get all those hard to reach areas and areas I disn't coat! Great for suspension, ally components (stops corrosion) etc!

I had some scratches which I never quite spent enough time on, so I spent a day machine polishing this car again but with the aim of scratch removal, I used 3M green combo and Meguiars microfibre kit. I was shattered by the end of this, literally spending a day on it! I forget the size of the thing! I was only meant to target the scratches but I ended up going over the whole thing!

Used Fusso coat againt to seal the job and protect the car as it has proven to be a long lasting wax which continues to bead beautifully!

Luckily, had some Coronas to keep me going!



The next morning, snapped some pics! Not the best but it truely is gleaming!

Young man im sorry .. i totally missed your earlier post .. you need to pm me if i don't answer .. i often get busy and miss posts as if its not red when i log on then i don't look ...and if i miss one due to workload then i dont go back .

Never enough time in the day sigh ... 7 pms tonight so working as fast as i can lol .

the recall was to replace the vario cam unit .. i'm pretty sure this was down to the ally bolts shearing .. i did a couple back at opc but there wasn't that many in our area ... i've also seen them let go .. not pleasant ... small numbers though ..count on one hand so to say .

I suspect yours has had the recall done .. that would explain the oil leak as well as its been apart before and there's very little reason to pull a cam cover on one of these other than that .

ref PDDC .. im working on another .. the long outstanding one .. thanks to you i stripped the old valve body appart .. your work on this helped me a lot .. thank you .

I'm going to do a post on this as its a little disconcerting .. lots of metal in the body .. i have a theory and will as i said do a post as soon as i can .

Your plugs look fine .. if there is an issue you get a build up of deposits on a single plug .. hard calcified deposits and if bad then oil contaminated .. normally bank 2 .

That may well also be your knock .. its small things like this that can cause loud noises that are very often not a problem for the car .. they just sound bad .

EDIT

PDCC post done .. just enough time

Cheers Iain!

I did suspect it had the recall or some work in order for the valve cover to have been removed. All is well now and the missus enjoys the noise the car makes so she hasn't noticed the MPG yet. :grin:

I can't believe the jubilee was the cause of the knock, it sounded so heavy as if the subframe was about to fall off :grin: :grin:

A few minor updates, really happy with this, the wife loves it, I enjoy taking it out, makes a great noise and very comfortable. No issues or boring parts needed so I can start doing some nice upgrades now.



Rear tailgate, lower rear valance and front tow eye covers in for paint. Tailgate had a rust spot and rust around a number plate light coming, so whipped that off and while that's in, the other bits had some lacquer peel/marks. My wife didn't want to be without the car so I sourced a silver tailgate and swapped that on as I found one locally for cheap, I originally planned to give that to my friend but it requires more work, hence the swap. I wanted to have the rear door done but that will involve her being without the car for a good job so that's on hold.. :dont know:







This was a pain!






Popped to Porsche Brooklands, had to take some pics under the sign.



Bye buttons!


New head unit! A friend of mine has a car audio business, part of it is dealing with Android head units. He got me a Cayenne specific head unit which will work with the steering wheel controls, show the device function/radio station in the gauge cluster LCD and work with the fibre optic BOSE amp. I wanted to get rid of the OEM unit as it just looks dated and the Sat Nav is awful, no bluetooth, etc etc etc.

I was always slightly concerned with getting a new unit which looked aftermarket but I think this fits in perfectly. I know that on eBay, you can get units that looks like the newer PCM but I figured that if I change, I'll get a unit with no buttons for a cleaner look. The great thing with this unit is that the surround fits in perfectly, it looks factory. There was the option of a slightly bigger 9" display but the surround had a brushed metal and chrome edge, I didn't like that so I opted for the 8" with the matching black plastic surround.

As my friend deals with these, he was able to have the unit upgraded by the manufacturers, these units normally have 2GB RAM and 16GB storage but he had this upped to 4GB and 64GB storage, which means better performance and I can store more files/music/apps etc on the unit. I have a similar unit in my MX5 which is 2GB and that thing gets slow.

Retains gauge cluster function display

The new unit is fantastic! It really lifts the dash, I was slightly dubious to lose the trip computer but in reality, who needs that. The look of the unit is great and having bluetooth for music and phone, up to date Navigation (Google maps) and soon, Apple Car Play, offers exactly what I need.



The unit ties in nicely and lines up with the heated seat buttons and vent/button below.

For the money, I'm over the moon. The full kit with canbus and MOST fibre adapter should have cost £380 but I got it for £300 which I was more than happy with, the fibre optic box retails £120 alone!



Apple Car Play will finish this off, at the moment, I tether the unit from my phone, so maps, youtube, spotify can all be easily used.

I can change the themes and adjust colours to better tie it in but I haven't had time to play fully just yet.







I can now bin the CD changer and Nav unit to gain some extra storage too!

While messing with the head unit, I noticed the passenger carpet was wet!

I thought, OH NOOOO, @Demort told me to remove those drain grommets, I had removed the drivers side but not passenger.. I raised the car and stuck my hand under, pulled the grommet and out came a load of water!!! The pics show the prob. Considering I had these out already, shows the crap which must be in there, so I will have to get in there and flush the crap out if there is anymore.



While talking about drains, don't forget to clean these. These are under the tailgate lid hinges, mine were blocked, this could result in a wet headliner, I just found this by chance rather than a problem.



These damn headlights, can't seem to stop the condensation!

I have sealed the lenses with clear silicon twice, made sure the breathers are clear, ensured no chips or other leaks around other seals, I just can't seem to stop the light misting up. I placed silica gel bags in the lights but these only lasted a few days.

My last try is to block these lower vents up, the condensation is always in the inner corners of the light and this thing is right below, so I just want to experiment here to see if this stops it once and for all! If not, god knows what's up!





Next up; Apple car play, front and rear cameras and freshly painted parts.

wait .. what .. you were in Brighton and did not visit ??? im heart broken .. i can't .. i just .. but .. wait .. why ..

Going to sulk now !

Drain grommets .. yup .. remove them .. long term and your car wiring will suffer under the carpets if it stays wet .. i have pictures if you want

cayenne headlights .. they have been condensing since the car was first released .. there was even a silicone pack we used to fit ..

I don't have an answer as such but ventilation is needed i feel .

HAHA I did think of you, it was a Sunday however!

I will pop in one day, I owe you a few thousand beers!!

Yeah, they're both out now, just want to remove the gubbings to get in there and really clean the area out as I'm sure there is still crap in there.

The damn headlights, it can't be that hard to stop them fogging, I am in the process of trying new things, hopefully I'll work it out. I dont think blocking the vent has worked so I am going to unblock them and put a less restrictive filter element in there..

Saturday .. Sunday .. evenings . it makes no difference .. drop by when you are in the area .. i would love to shake your hand and have a look at your pride and joy ..

I need nothing though .. it has and will always be a pleasure to give my humble advice .

All i can think of via headlights is ventilation .. but as mentioned .. this has been an issue from day one .. sigh .