deilenberger

Yes - Harbor Freight has one for a reasonable $30 or so. It has a nice selection of adaptors, including the one needed for our vehicles. I used it to demonstrate to my dealer what the fuel pump problem was that I had that other dealers "couldn't find..".. :) Worth every penny I paid, Porsche ended up replacing everything in the tank.

Any full-time 4WD system is sensitive to tires, both pattern and wear. If the pattern causes a difference in rolling diameter, that means some wheels will be turning faster/slower than others, ditto on wear. That results in the limited slip differentials fighting against the difference in rotational speed. A good friend with an Escalade had a problem burning out center differentials. He mentioned it to me - after going through three of them (under warranty Thank Dog..) I asked if he had replaced any tires on the truck. Turns out he'd had a damaged tire that required replacement.. The dealer was smart enough to replace both tires on that axle, but not smart enough to replace all four, and there was a considerable difference in wear between the front and rear tires. Dealer listened - and replaced the other two tires. Hasn't had a problem since then. Just a FWIW - one of the "hidden" expenses of owning a truck made to be capable in bad traction conditions. And a good reason to do front/rear tire rotations every 6,000 miles or so (I do it when I swap winter/summer rims/tires.)

I doubt that the CanBus system monitors the current draw from the overhead lights. It does monitor the current draw from the taillights and other exterior bulbs. You can safely use an LED package without the "load resistors".. Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient, the majority of current they consume is converted to heat. A solid-state light source is different - most of the current they use is converted into light, meaning they draw much less current than a bulb of the same lumen output. If the bulb does have "load resistors" - they are designed to make the bulb draw near the same current as the stock incandescent bulb. Since the resistors aren't putting out any light - guess what they DO put out.. heat. I'd avoid them if your goal is to reduce the heating. And if the issue was a high-resistance fault in the wiring causing localized heating (say of the switch contacts) - putting bulbs in of any type that draw the same current through the flawed wiring isn't going to fix anything.

Check your residual fuel pressure.

Trick with the self-tap into untapped holes in plastic is a tiny bit of grease. I usually use some silicone grease I have kicking around.. it prevents the binding/locking that tends to break the screws as they thread the plastic.

+1 - but it depends on the HVAC system installed. Open your owners manual to page 148. "Automatically Controlled Two-Zone Air Conditioning" Note that the fan buttons are BOTH labeled "G". On page 149 it says: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Setting air quantity" > Push button G up or down to adjust the air quantity. The selected air quantity is shown in a bar display on the display above the button. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is one fan on the two-zone system and no separate air volume flaps. The control "G" - which has two buttons labeled G controls the single fan speed and the air quantity. I'd suggest anyone doubting that (who has a 2-zone system) go out to their truck and try it. The temperature controls are labeled "G" and "O" - these are separate left/right temperature controls (unless set in MONO mode.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On page 152 under "Automatically Controlled Four-Zone Air Conditioning" The fan controls are labeled G and S - these are separate quantity controls, and there are even separate function buttons for left/right for things such as air direction/outlets under the slide down door. The instructions make reference to controlling the left and right side individually on page 155: Setting air quantity The air quantity can be selected individually for each of the four air-conditioned areas. > Push button for air quantity up or down. Button G: LEFT air-conditioned area at the front or rear. Button S: RIGHT air-conditioned area at the front or rear. The selected air quantity is shown in a bar display on the display above the button. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your 2-zone system only has one air-control. That's how it is, and how it was. Unless you have a 4 zone system. Your mileage isn't likely to vary..

The angled connector relieves a pull on the hose where it fits to the filter. Without it there is the possibility of a leak caused by the pull on the connector to the filter. Yes - it could cause some running problems.

Just a thought - the individual settings only are for the temperature. The fan speed is always controlled in a mono-mode (since there is only one fan.) When you speak of "air-level" are you referring to the fan speed control? If so - it's working exactly like it's supposed to.

As far as telling the difference given your symptoms - probably only by replacement. Mine may be the one you found a write-up on.. luckily the problem was covered by CPO. Either one could cause the pressure leakdown. The fuel filter might be considered a consumable item (although there is no change interval specified.) If you watch on eBay these can be found for "reasonable" prices - ie - less then the dealer price. Since it's an ugly smelly messy job to change them, I'd be tempted to change both at the same time (especially given your driveability symptoms and the fact that the one hose didn't connect correctly to the fuel filter.) If I had to only change one - I'd go for the fuel filter, and the hose fitting that is giving you a problem. There was a right-angle add-on connector added to one of the fuel filter hoses due to problems with the angle it connected to the filter - did you have, or did you install the right-angle extension connector? If not - this might be the cause of your problems. And I would guess - a leak at the fuel filter could cause pressure problems, particularly under high-demand conditions. Also - what caused you to change the fuel filter?

1. Depends. Some have standard springs/shocks, some have air suspension. The air suspension is more troublesome then standard springs/shocks. Air suspension is probably more common on the turbo trucks. (my '06 S doesn't have it.. thank Dog.) Repairs can often be saved on since apparently the VW tourag used the same air system, and rebuild kits and parts are available from secondary sources. 2. What year? Some early ones ('03-04) had issues with harsh shifting from the transmission. Fix was reprogramming the TCU, and replacing the valve body in the automatic transmission. That's gone by '06. Engine failures aren't unknown, but probably less on the turbo since it has an additional oil jet spray on the bottom of the pistons (at least that's the rumor.) Some failures of the cylinder lining have been reported, and supposedly some were built with some rings installed upside down (forget the year - I think it was '04.) Engine failures are rather rare actually - with lots of P!Gs running happily with well over 100k miles on them. 3. Read the threads here. Look for cardan shaft, headlights, coil-packs, overhead light switch. Not a huge list actually and unlike some German manufacturers, Porsche actually addressed some of the issues with upgraded parts or kits to fix the problem. Fuel pumps may also fall in there also, but I suspect they fail more if you let the tank run low (they need gasoline to cool them.) I'd suggest spending a few hours reading here and then come back with any specific questions.

K20fty, keep us updated if you have any success..

You might try using some decent quality grease on the rails the headlight slides on (make sure they're clean first.) Use a bit on the metal loop that captures and locks them in. That seemed to help mine seat more easily.

Under the carpets is about 1.5" of foam rubber. Really. And it holds water like crazy. I finally dried mine out (had a sunroof leak) by squeezing it to get the water out, using a big towel to soak up the water, then propping it up from under the foam rubber (and pulling the carpet up enough to get clearance) and heating the area with a heat gun. It took the best part of an afternoon to get just the passenger (starboard) side dried out (that would be your drivers side.) The leak I had was caused by the front sunroof drain being plugged up. Water would build up there until it went over the lip, then tracked around behind the A pillar trim, through the fusebox, down behind the side kick panel and into the foot-well. A suggestion to avoid this sort of flood again - there are plastic plugs in the floor pan. They are solid so no water will come in if you're fording rivers. Since I rarely ford rivers - I took one and using a sharp razor knife, cut a cross in one of them, allowing for water to exit if any got in. Just checked my foot-wells yesterday (seemed to be getting more fogging then normal on startup) - and all are dry. Lifted the rear floor to check the spare tire well (where the woofer lives), and found the jack and spare tire rim were "sweating" a bit. So in a panic, I took everything out of the rear compartment, including the woofer housing. Dry as a bone. Dusty even. I have no idea why these two bits were sweating, but I dried them off and put it all back together. Will be checking it again sometime soon.. The drain hoses for the rear sunroof drains have been known to get disconnected, and fill up the spare tire well like a fishbowl (doing in the horribly expensive woofer/amp assembly.) There are plastic plugs in that area also, I think one of them is going to be sacrificed.

And?

#2 - I wouldn't. The driveshaft flopping around under the car isn't something that's good for the car. It possibly could cause wear on the bearings of the transmission and drive, or it could just bang up the sheet metal under the car. Park it until it can be replaced.

Drive gently for the first 2-3 minutes. Since the car normally starts in 2nd, the 1-2 shift can feel a bit abrupt if you're driving it with enthusiasm.

Did the mechanic do a retained pressure test? IE - when the engine is shut off the fuel rail should maintain some minimum pressure for XX minutes minimum. I could look those up for you, but I believe it was 2-Bar (about 30PSI) and running pressure is 3-Bar (~45 PSI). I also seem to recall the specification was 10 or 20 minutes. Usually when a check valve fails it will immediately depressurize when the engine is shut off, and eventually the fuel drains back to the tank from the fuel rail. That means the pumps have to re-pressurize and fill the fuel rail before it will kick off at normal idle RPM.

So port side is 5-6-7-8 and starboard is 1-2-3-4 ? I vaguely remember BMW having just the opposite (but it's been a long time..) Gotta find the P-Touch and label them. :)

Interesting, the stuff I have (BMW recommended for the same uses) is Stabilant 22. It's sold at NAPA stores in the US as CE1 (Contact Enhancer-1) for a small fortune. Luckily the 10cc bottle you get for a bunch of money will about last your lifetime if you don't try drinking it. It only takes a tiny dot of it for it to work it's magic. BTW - if you Google Stabilant 44 - Google returns all references to Stabilant 22. Just thought I'd try to avoid confusion on what might be used. Info on it: http://www.dewitzdiagnosticsolutions.com/review/stabilant-22a-snake-oil/ http://www.stabilant.com/appnt20h.htm It's one of the few items like this where I've never seen a negative review of it, and it's widely used in audio work for very low signal voltages.. (like magnetic LP cartridges - mV range..)

Loren, can we assume left/right looking at the front of the car or is left/right from sitting IN the car? (I do know where front is..) I think using "port" and "starboard" would make that a bit clearer. :) No need for bow or stern though, front is always front (even on a boat/ship.)

Seems to be this month's theme on problems.. :help:

Ummm... the starter squealing can also be a sign of a slow start, and the automatic start circuit not detecting the engine running (the low RPM condition you mention) and not un-powering the starter. This symptom was what clued me into the starting problem (caused by loss of residual fuel pressure) in my '06. There is a thread going on about the same sort of thing right at the moment - and yes - you may be looking at a fuel system problem, NOT a starter problem. FWIW - I have never experienced a squeal from the starter once the fuel pressure problem was fixed. It's worked flawlessly. BTW - be helpful to know what year/model we're looking at.. perhaps adding it to your SIG might make that a bunch easier.

There are lots of check valves in the fuel system, not all of them documented. There is a check valve in the fuel-pressure-regulator (basically the regulator functions as a check valve), plus one in the fuel filter (not documented by Porsche, but it was what caused my problem.) Porsche also added an elbow to the fuel filter to eliminate a leak caused by a sharp bend of one of the plastic internal pipes hooking up to the filter. I believe it was the port side pump.. Also as bigbuzuki said - it could be a leak internal to the tank plumbing, Lots of lines and lots of connectors in there. Here is the info on the elbow: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 955 620 911 00 angled pipe see technical information service group 2 KD-NR.2066 13/10 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you're a paid member here I believe you can look up that service bulletin. Here are the fuel test specifications: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Switch on both fuel pumps using the adapter P 9479 and read the pressure on the pressure gauge. The fuel pressure should be approx. 4.0 bar. Then switch off both fuel pumps and check the steady-state pressure. The fuel pressure must not drop below 3.0 bar after 10 minutes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You don't need adapter P-9479. You can power on the pumps by starting the engine. To power on a specific pump, pull the fuse for the other pump from the underhood fuse box. The pump that still has power will automatically be switched to. Obviously your P!G failed the pressure-drop test. Attached is a diagram I found helpful in understanding the fuel system plumbing: Good luck!

Stu, Do you have a fuel pressure gauge kit? It would be interesting to see what the retained fuel pressure is. Had a problem like this on my '06 when I got it. The former owner had it to a dealer several times, who couldn't figure it out. I bought a $29.95 fuel-pressure test kit from Harbor Freight, screws right onto the fitting on the fuel rail, that showed pressure dropping immediately on shutting the engine down. The system is supposed to retain pressure up to I think several hours so there is pressure to start the beast. After the new dealer was presented with the problem - both pumps got replaced (didn't help), the pressure regulator was replaced (didn't help) and finally the fuel filter assembly, which apparently has a check valve in it that wasn't sealing. It could be that part, or one of the other check valves in the system isn't sealing, or your hoses between the pumps and other components in the tank have a leak, allowing pressure to bleed down. A fuel pressure test will tell you if this is the problem, and $29.95 is a lot cheaper then throwing parts at it hoping they'll fix it. BTW - knowing the year/model/engine of your P!G would probably make it more likely to get an intelligent answer.. just a thought..

When a battery goes dead on a modern computer controlled car - all sorts of oddball things start happening. My WAG - you're due for a new battery (despite the claim it was replaced..) Either it's bad or your charging system isn't up to snuff. Different parts of the vehicle will start throwing codes as their computers go into a safety mode to keep from melting down due to low voltage. Got a voltmeter? What is the standing voltage on the battery (car off for an hour or so..) and then the voltage with the engine running and nothing on? I'd expect to see 12.8V+ (#1) for standing voltage and 13.4-14V (#2) for idle charge voltage with nothing on. If #1 is low - your battery has a problem. If #2 is low, you may have a charging problem.