PKN

I have an 06 CTT which had 50K on it when I bought it. Even though I love the car, I dont think I would go as early as an 04 if I had a choice. Some of the issues you mention could be very expensive and I would not buy it without some kind of warranty (probably very unlikely with 100K on it). Cycling the suspension several times in quick succession may cause the pump to overheat so that might account for the pop you heard - also dont cycle with your foot on the brake because the car will need to move slightly. If it hasnt already been done, the coolant pipe replacement is overdue and you also need to check the coil packs have been replaced as well as the drive shaft. None of this is for certain but the odds are up there. As far as ride goes, the pavement where I live is not too bad but when lightly loaded, the back end sounds like a truck. It does however do a reasonable job of soaking up the bumps in comfort mode. I hope all of this helps you make a decision. The Cayenne is a great touring vehicle and can carry a lot of stuff - the main reason I bought mine but for what it is worth, my opinion is to buy as late a model as you can afford and hopefully with a warranty because repairs can be very expensive. PKN

If the alignment was done at any time in the past when the bearing had play in it, I would get the alignment checked. If not, I would still have a local tire place check it out but the risk of tire wear or driveline vibration is probably very low... PKN

its very hard to tell from an audio stream because sound travels and it is really hard to know where it is coming from. An old trick I learned is to use a screwdriver and place the metal end on where you think it is coming from, putting your ear to the handle (stay clear of the fan! If you are a doctor or nurse you can use your stethoscope. If it is coming from the engine covers I would remove the plugs and rent a borescope to look inside. For what it is worth it sounds to me like a valve gear bad clearance noise PKN

Many thanks, I will do that tomorrow PKN

I actually had 300 miles trouble free driving with no error lights after switching out my coolant pipes and replacing emmissions tubing but the latest issue is very odd. In drive and slowing down suddenly the drivers shift display lights up all gears as though all are selected simultaneously in manual AND the drive light on the other side. Chages go from smooth to rough. I stopped the car turned off the ignition, restarted and lights and shifting went back to normal. This problem has happened randomly and several times today. After the last time, I reset using the ignition again then I turned off PSM and used Tiptronic to blast up through the tranny to about 80. The problem hasnt returned for the last 20 miles or so. Any thoughts? I thought it might be worth pulling a fuse for the tranny module to get it to reload.... PKN

You will need to remove the belly pan, unbolt the back of the front valance and then remove the radiator support bar. All straightforward, The coolant drain (often described as blue) is on the passenger side of the radiator. Good luck. Turns out my 2006 twin turbo doesnt have a drain and I had to suck it out of holes I drilled in the old plastic coolant pipes PKN

I agree, somebody is talking out of their bum. These cars are built for off-road use so I doubt a rough ride would be a reason for a CEL. Check the emission lines under the side covers and wait until you run another tank of gas through it to see if it clears up. Also make sure your petrol cap is a good tight fit... PKN

You wont get these parts from Halfords, but the weather will be a lot kinder to you. My age is against me too it would have been much easier 20 years ago. My plastic pipes were not brittle at all but the car was first regisered in California and brought recently to Florida so the climate has been very kind. The UK isnt known for wild extremes of temperature so you might just be lucky - (a fellow Brit) PKN)

I admit that my first mistake was to start this job when the Cayenne was my only vehicle. My second mistake was to do the job in the driveway with the temps around 90 degrees and the third was not letting the dealer do the work for $1300. I got off to a bad start two weekends previously when I started the job only to discover that my 2006 TT does not have a radiator drain. I spent a couple of hours trying to convince myself that I just needed to take more parts of the car until I found it and ended up putting it back together. This weekend I had all of the tools - even a Walmart special canopy to work under. I started by raising the air suspension to get underneath and remove the belly pan. After lowering the car I started the dismantling process. This went reasonably well but I quickly discovered that the plastic emission control pipes are very brittle - especially a "T" piece behind the inlet manifold and one of the re-circulation hoses at the front of the engine, both of which were early casualties. Pretty much everything made of plastic on top and behind the motor were as brittle as a fortune cookie. Removing the fuel rail and inlet manifold were relatively straight forward except for the fact that I dropped one of the four fuel rail bolts behind the motor - more on this later. The plastic coolant pipes were in good condition. I drilled a quarter inch hole in each pipe and used a $10 hand pump from Walmart to suck coolant out into a bucket. About one gallon or so. An air powered cutting wheel and a beefy screwdriver were used to get most of the old coolant hoses out but all of them left a piece in the thermostat housing or distribution casting. Once again, thanks to advice from this forum, a mallet and screwdriver allowed me to remove the pieces in an hour or so. Most of the small amount of coolant loss (about a pint or so) came from the back center pipe which I believe comes directly from the reservoir. A quart oil container donated its cap which fit very nicely over this rubber pipe to stem the flow. I uses a dremel with flap wheel to clean up all of the joints the aluminum pipes would mate to, then used a vacuum cleaner and an air line to clean out all of the plastic debris (and most of the spilled coolant). The larger aluminum distribution pipe was a tight fit - I had to shave off about one eighth of an inch of the flange and about a half inch off the rubber connecting hose but got it in by the end of the first day. So far it had taken me about 10 hours and I had dropped about 5 lbs in weight. The next day I got the three piece pipe in without too much drama but the rubber "O" rings are a tight fit even when lubricated. I took a long hard look at the "T" shaped hose arrangement and decided that it would need a lot more energy and less hand than I had to replace them so I didnt. I got the plastic clamping plates in place at the back of the motor and then discovered the forementioned broken connector. My neighbor was good enough to run me 10 miles to the nearest autopart store to get a new one which I broke during installation. Another 20 mile round trip and I found a brass version - that won't break. I replaced as much of the hard plastic tubing as I could with small diameter pressure (fuel) hose and re-assembled everything. Remember the missing screw from the fuel rail? First start resulted in the loss of about a pint of gas in a few seconds of cranking from two of the injectors. I searched all over the workshop for a replacement screw and after an hour or so found that the same size screw was used to connect the front panel under the hood. After making sure everything was tight and all injectors were clamped top and bottom I started her. She ran very weak and very rough until I remembered the busted breather pipe. (The one about 4" long top front of the motor). Too late to get a replacement, duct tape came to the temporary rescue and all is well again. If you do this job on a vehicle 2006 or older, make sure you are prepared to replace any emissions piping you come across. The fancy clip in connectors at the end of many of the breather tubes are also prone to siezure, requiring a small screwdriver to release them. Better still, get the dealer to do it. It took me 20 hours, 10 lbs and I look and feel like I have been hit by a truck.... PKN

Thanks but the problem is not with hard shifts but noisy selector and the fact that in manual mode it sometimes wont select at all. I think it is related to the linkage and electromagnets rather than the transmission. I would have checked it out last weekend but spent two long and very hot days replacing my plastic coolant pipes...story to follow PKN

The microswitch is in the same general area as the two electromagnets. The problem is that although I have been around cars and engines for 35 years, this thing is so sophisticated that I can only guess at the functions of components without a manual (which I dont have). Hope I am not sending you on a wild goose chase....There are some very smart and knowledgable people on this board and I am sure someone will chime in sooner or later PKN

willrwilli, I have been trying to understand a problem I have which is a very noisy selection in manual mode. I also have intermittent problems with selecting gears in manual. I discovered that there are two electromagnets that I assume are designed to hold the lever in auto or manual. They are under the shift mechanism. This may be a good place to start looking.... PKN

Do you have Tiptronic?

I have the tiptronic system which works perfectly and the car drives perfectly in auto transmission mode but when I use the lever in manual mode to shift gear, there is often a very loud click - particularly on the downshift. It is definitely coming from the console area under the shifter. I have looked under it and can find nothing which might cause interference. Anybody have any ideas what might be causing it? PKN

That is excellent info and a relatively cheap fix for what could have been something much worse. I might just get one in just in case. Thanks for the persistance and excellent trouble shooting PKN

Problem solved - the 2006 Cayenne TT does not have a radiator drain fitted !!! My Porsche dealership tells me they are only on the car up to 2005. The tech said pull the bottom hose - easy when you have a lift, messy when you dont. I asked for a price to replace the coolant pipes if I supply the kit - answer $1300 for the turbo and $1000 for non-turbo at $100/hr. I will call a local indy tomorrow to get a price but I think I will take care of it. I would rather spend the money on a window A/C unit for the garage PKN

Unfortunately, I ran out of time and had to put it back together again. On the far right and bolted to the bottom of the rad, two rubber tubes that look like power steering hoses go into an aluminim housing, the other end disappear along the side of the motor. On the other side of the aluminum housing, two metal pipes are bolted on and they curve around and disappear behind the radiator. I looked into PET and I think this is a thermostat and carries oil to cool the Tiptronic unit in the transmission. Strangely enough, thogh PET says it covers 2003 to 2006, the section on draining the rad only goes to 2005. I suspect that this radiator does not have the petcock. I will try again next weekend I have free but will have to release the coolant from either the thermostat housing or one of the hoses. Many thanks PKN

I think that what I am looking at is the Tiptronic oil cooler thermostat and lines. Cant see any other way than pulling a hose off... PKN

Started the coolant pipe replacement today. Got the belly pan off and radiator support/guard and no sign of a drain plug in the radiator. I am looking at two black rubber tubes which go into an aluminum housing with two metal tubes coming out of it but no plug top or bottom and nothing in the radiator itself. The rubber tubes look to be a compression fit with a screw holding a "keeper" plate over the top of them. I cant believe it has taken two hours and I dont even have a drained radiator! The only thing I can think of is that something has been replaced with a non-oem part. This is a 2006 TT..... Desperate in Florida

Check out a couple of simple things first. I would make sure you dont have a stone caught between the disk and backplate. Also check the drive shaft to make sure something hasnt come loose. is the noise present when driving only, is it still there if you coast in neutral, d0es it get louder with revs and is it apparently in time with engine or wheel rotation. Doesnt sound like an engine problem to me PKN

I have the upgraded rouched leather seats in my 06 TT and in following the instructions in my owners manual managed to break some plastic trim behind the front seat. I have an eleborate piece of plastic trim that slips and locks over the seat rails only accessible from the rear seat compartment. When I raised the front seat it cracked and pushed off the trim. Had I known about it, it would have just taken a small amount of force to pull them off (one on each side). Oh well, I will know next time. Another problem I had was in removing one of the fron seat mounting bolts. The Tork 50 was a loose fit because the inside of the bolt had been stripped by a previous owner or hamfisted mechanic. I eventually got it off by hammering an old 5/8 socket over it. Apart from that we had a great day on Saturday. I towed my boat to the gulf and was very pleasantly surprised at its towing capability. She couldnt be coaxed into 6th without going into manual despite the flat terrain but acceleration was great and the car rode like a champ. Now if I can only find a way to get more than 9 mpg.... PKN

Thanks for that. Can you explain in what direction you pull the shift release button? PKN

You absolutely can open the car with the key. If you do set an alarm off, put the key into the ignition and turn it on PKN

Thanks Loren - I had already found the TSB. I was really looking to make sure I had the correct T pieces at the back of the engine but I spoke with Sunset and got it all squared away - about $480 including the T pieces, a gallon of coolant and shipping. Great deal, thanks Carreracup03 PKN

carreracup03 - any chance you could list the part numbers here? I got a quote from Sunset but it doesnt contain the part descriptions - just the numbers. Sorry if it is on this site somewhere but if it is I cant find it Many thanks PKN