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ciaka

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Everything posted by ciaka

  1. DIY: Panamera Oil Change I did not bother to do a DIY for oil change, because there are some vids out there on how to perform this work. Below is a link to one of these videos, will walk you through the complete oil change. Items I used: - Oil: Castrol Edge full synthetic 5W40 - purchased 10 quarts, will use about 9 or so - Oil Filter: Mahle OX 254 D4 - replace this part every time - Drain plug: 900 219 020 31 - if you are gentle and do not screw up the hex hole in the plug, you can re use the plug. Be gent Author ciaka Category Panamera (970) - Maintenance Submitted 10/28/2018 09:49 AM  
  2. I did not bother to do a DIY for oil change, because there are some vids out there on how to perform this work. Below is a link to one of these videos, will walk you through the complete oil change. Items I used: - Oil: Castrol Edge full synthetic 5W40 - purchased 10 quarts, will use about 9 or so - Oil Filter: Mahle OX 254 D4 - replace this part every time - Drain plug: 900 219 020 31 - if you are gentle and do not screw up the hex hole in the plug, you can re use the plug. Be gentle, get proper tools (8mm hex/allen wrench) - Drain plug gasket: 900 123 106 30 - put in a new one with every oil change. If oil starts leaking here, you will waste an hour or two to replace just this part, plug oil cost. All for $0.50 savings. There are magnetic oil drain plugs out there. I may try one at some point to see how much metallic particulate collects on it. Not today though. Below is a video for complete oil change. After oil change, make sure to reset the oil change service interval, by following instructions in this DIY - Durametric users. Thanks. Video:
  3. Removing Stuck Ignition Coil Rubber Boot Here is something that I think will help many here. One of the maintenance tasks I did was replacing coils and plugs. Easy enough. After replacing the parts, and while tightening the eTorx ignition coil bolts (aluminum), I was not careful and snapped bolt on cylinder 3. BTW, its 3ft/lbs +90˚ (but with SMALL wrench, not 3/8) Since coils sit there pretty well, I left it as is until I got the bolt and had time to remove/replace (I do have some tips for removing the snapped part of the bol Author ciaka Category Panamera (970) - Common Fixes and Repairs Submitted 09/23/2018 05:41 PM
  4. Panamera Air Shock Replacement (Front) After doing some work on my PTT, i put this DIY together to help others replace their own shocks. Ended up replacing both front shocks. Then, one of replaced shocks was not working. Once I figured that out (info about how to diagnose is in the air suspension info thread), company overnighted another replacement (I pre paid, and they refund money afterwards -takes about 2 weeks after they get shock back). Doing first shock replacement took about 4 hours with pics, breaks, etc. Doing Author ciaka Category Panamera (970) - Common Fixes and Repairs Submitted 09/20/2018 10:33 AM
  5. Here is something that I think will help many here. One of the maintenance tasks I did was replacing coils and plugs. Easy enough. After replacing the parts, and while tightening the eTorx ignition coil bolts (aluminum), I was not careful and snapped bolt on cylinder 3. BTW, its 3ft/lbs +90˚ (but with SMALL wrench, not 3/8) Since coils sit there pretty well, I left it as is until I got the bolt and had time to remove/replace (I do have some tips for removing the snapped part of the bolt - really easy actually - will post in another thread). Anyways, today was the day. I removed the covers, exposed wires, removed all bolts, then pulled on the ignition coil #3. Would not budge initially. Applied more force, and started wiggling. Eventually coil started moving and popped up. To my surprise, only the coil came up, the rubber boot got stuck on the ceramic part of spark plug. It is not coming out. Used needle nose pliers to lift it. Nope. Used a 90K sharp tool to poke hole in boot to lift - Nope as well. Twisted. Rotated. Pushed. Pulled. Prayed. Nothing worked. Contemplated torching. Good thing did not do this one..lol. Then, thought, why not think like a spark plug? What if a rubber boot got stuck on me? How would it get stuck on me? What would cause that? Once stuck, what would work if I was in a tight space? Then it hit me. Need something to lubricate the rubber to help ease rubber off the plug. To put the lube between plug and boot, I would need something to separate them. So while looking in my junk drawer of tool box, found a used metal band clamp, with a thin long end. Perfect to slide into the plug hole, right next to the plug ceramic, and try separate the rubber. Took the band out, flattened out and with a little lube, managed to separate one area, removed, inserted again just a bit over to one side, so I can separate another bit. Continued for a little until I thought I have decent amount of rubber separated and lubed (thought about 75% around the circle). Grabbed my small and long needle nose pliers, pulled on the rubber, and the whole thing came up without any effort at all. Total job after I got the idea - about 5 minutes. Before that, I watched videos, and many showed all kinds of fancy bits/sockets, made tools, to try budge the rubber. Typical job about 3 hours. I am sure glad I thought of this and want to pass on to others, so they don't waste 3 hours of their life, trying to move a small piece of black rubber out of a small hole. Good luck and let me know what you think or if you have additional comments.
  6. After doing some work on my PTT, i put this DIY together to help others replace their own shocks. Ended up replacing both front shocks. Then, one of replaced shocks was not working. Once I figured that out (info about how to diagnose is in the air suspension info thread), company overnighted another replacement (I pre paid, and they refund money afterwards -takes about 2 weeks after they get shock back). Doing first shock replacement took about 4 hours with pics, breaks, etc. Doing subsequent shock replacements (other side and replace of defective shock), took about 1.5 hrs including wheel attach. My advice, do not be intimidated. Not difficult. Keep your eyes on the prize - new car with new suspension working perfect. Then do the job. You will enjoy lots of money saved. People take their cars to dealer to have this done, have posted bills of $9000 plus tax for replacing front air shocks. My price for doing this myself: - $375 for driver shock (pre paid 525, got refund $150 on used core charge) - $375 for passenger shock (again pre paid 525 and got 10 back after I sent old core back) - $120 for valve block (decided to replace as Durametric does not have capability to test individual valves to see which is broken or not. - About 12 hours of time spread over few days (you can do the whole thing in one weekend no problem - one day). Of course, my time included taking pics, organizing things, doing troubleshooting so I can have proper write up about air suspension (separate thread - search for air suspension info), etc. Your time will be likely about 8 to 10 hours max, since you already have this all laid out to follow. Money wise, I spent $870. Compared to $9000 bill, that is $8,130 SAVINGS!!! - Before tax! Think what you can do with that money!! Of course, if you feel you have too much after DIY, you can paypal me some - I will not complain. REPLACEMENT PARTS I USED: Rebuild Master Tech shocks. Look online, make sure you get the proper year and model and side you need. Not sure if there are other vendors doing this. Cayennes used to have Arnott, but checking I did not see any Panamera air shocks. OTHER INFO: While you are doing this work, it is good to think ahead, if you need any other work that will save lots of time, if done at same time as air shock replacement. - Upper control arms (see my DIY) - if you have clunking over bumps, these are likely culprits - Lower control arms (see my DIY) - if you have clunking these can be reason too - Sway bar bushings - if you have squeaking coming from car over bumps these are likely the reason. You can lube them to see if helps, but once all this stuff is being worked on, bushings are just a small addition - Other brake jobs, etc in the area. Do not rush, take time to do correctly. Hope this helps you fine folks. Follow each pic as it is numbered. Last pic has hardware torque info.
  7. Panamera Upper Control Arms Replacement If your car is making clunking, squeaking noises while going over bumps, it is very likely that your upper and/or lower control arm bushings are damaged. It is very hard to determine if upper control arms are damaged, because the bushings are mounted in such way, which prevents inspection (bolts/chassis are in the way of visual inspection). Rest assured, if you are clunking over bumps, and your upper control arms are more than 60k miles old, it is time to replace them. Some have reported these Author ciaka Category Panamera (970) - Common Fixes and Repairs Submitted 09/12/2018 09:14 AM
  8. If your car is making clunking, squeaking noises while going over bumps, it is very likely that your upper and/or lower control arm bushings are damaged. It is very hard to determine if upper control arms are damaged, because the bushings are mounted in such way, which prevents inspection (bolts/chassis are in the way of visual inspection). Rest assured, if you are clunking over bumps, and your upper control arms are more than 60k miles old, it is time to replace them. Some have reported these arms damaged even before 60k miles. Once you determine it is the upper control arms, this DIY will give you steps to do this at home, and save some good $$$. You can get some good beverage with all the savings you do, by doing the work yourself. Follow each step in order, each picture contains description of the process. I recommend you read the entire thread, to ensure you understand the whole process, and estimate time involvement. First time replacing the upper control arm? I estimate it will take you about 4 hours per side. Subsequent replacements will be significantly shorter, about 1.5 hours per side (then you will be an expert). Take your time, dont rush, put some nice music on in the garage, and stay with it. Do not panic and complete the whole job. You can do this no problem! Good luck and enjoy the hundreds you will save on the job. REPLACEMENT PART INFO: My replacement part: Lemfoerder (Porsche OEM supplier). Upper control arm Part No: 970 341 051 10 Part cost estimate: $230-$260/side . Part includes nuts for ball joint, side bolt nuts (2) Now, on to the DIY:
  9. NOTE: This is in progress of being edited to add pics/info. This line will be removed once final. My recent decision, to proactively fix a small leak on my PTT, turned into a full air suspension debug session. I learned many useful details, which I hope you can keep in mind, when your car starts exhibiting air suspension issues. Troubleshooting the air suspension is not super difficult, but it really helps to understand all components, and how they work together to keep the Panamera performing at its peak. Terms below and ordering mostly match terminology in the FSM, to help reduce ambiguity. First – overview of the entire air suspension. Look over the entire diagram and identify each of the components shown, so you can get a good feel for where each part is, how it connects to the rest of the system, and how the entire system is supposed to work as a unit. PANAMERA AIR SUSPENSION COMPONENTS Panamera air suspension is made up of the following pieces, which all must work well, in order for the suspension to work appropriately. Air shocks, front – air strut for front of car There are two front air shocks, which have internal cavities, where compressed air is injected, to raise the car higher, lower it, make shocks stiffer, etc. These front air shocks have rubber bladders, where the air is injected, to achieve desired function. These air cavities are made of rubber material, which, after few years, will deteriorate, and can start leaking air. The air can start leaking from the rubber material (bellows), or can lead out of the top of the shock, or the upper shock bushing. Leaking from bellows will not be easy to observe as they are mostly obstructed by the shock components. Leaking from upper shock bushing can be observed by spraying soapy water onto the top of the shock. Leak will manifest itself by soapy water making bubbles on top of the shock. The air shocks have 3 connections on the top side of each: Air line/tube (off center, different color for each shock), air shock sensor at center top of shock (detects shock expansion/compression with air), and electrical connection for valve that lets air in/out of the air shock (right near the air line). The air line connects to the air shock via a brass fitting, which ensures air tight connection between air line and shock. The sensors and electrical connections are connected to the ECU, so it can tell position of each corner, and adjust as necessary, or can turn electrical connections on/off, to control flow of air into/out of shock. Each air shock has a pressure regulated valve on it, making sure that there is some small amount of pressure in the tank at all times, to help prevent damage to the shock internals if it gets compressed hard (as in after new one put in and car is lowered onto new shock). Air shock Air shock connectors Air shocks, rear – air strut with spring for rear of the car These rear air shocks are similar to front shocks, but these reservoirs are separate from the struts that help support the car. The air bellows help raise or lower the car just as the front air shocks. Rear air shocks are assisted by vibration dampers mounted to the side of each shock. Same connections go to the top of each air shock for rear: Air line (different color for each side), electrical connection for valve in the shock, and sensor that detects if shock expands/compresses when air is adjusted. The sensors and electrical connections are connected to the ECU, so it can tell position of each corner, and adjust as necessary, or can turn electrical connections on/off, to control flow of air into/out of shock. Each air shock has a pressure regulated valve on it, making sure that there is some small amount of pressure in the tank at all times, to help prevent damage to the shock internals if it gets compressed hard (as in after new one put in and car is lowered onto new shock). Vibration dampers for rear axle These vibration dampers help rear shocks in absorbing chassis movements, making the rear stable while driving. Level sensors There are four sensors, each mounted on the upper control arm near each shock. These sensors detect if the corner of the car was raised or lowered, or if the particular corner of car is outside the ‘typical’ position (too high or too low). These sensors are responsible for error messages like ‘vehicle is extremely low’, etc. The sensors have one electrical connection, and two arms joined with an elbow that allows movement when car goes up or down. These sensors are connected to the ECU, so it can detect each corner position and adjust as necessary. There are additional sensors mounted on top of each air shock. These sensors detect the inflation/deflation of each shock, and can tell the ECU if the shock how much air is in each shock (so ECU knows if the suspension is stiff, loose, etc). Level Sensor Air Compressor Sometimes this is called the air pump. This compressor is located under the car, behind the rear differential, under a protective shield. This compressor compresses air, and feeds it into the air tank. Its sole job is to make sure the air inside the tank, is at predefined pressure, so that the suspension can be adjusted quickly, per design. The Air compressor is connected to the ECU via electrical connections. It also has a filtered line coming out of it (see the pigtail in diagram, coming to the left and ending with a round structure). This round structure is an air filter, making sure clean air goes into compressor from outside, so it can be compressed and forced into the air tank. This compressor is also connected with a color coded air line, to the air tank itself. Valve block Sometimes this is called valve body or valve unit. This valve block is a group of solenoids, which, when energized (connected to electricity), perform some type of work. The work they do is simply to open a valve, allowing compressed air to either go into a shock, out of a shock to be vented out through a dedicated OUT connection on the block itself. This OUT connection is a plastic pipe which ends under the trunk near the bumper. When air is let out of shocks, the compressed air travels out of shocks, through the air lines, into the valve block, and through the OUT port, into the vent line, and is let out of the system (this is the muffled hissing sound you hear when your car is lowered). Normally, the valve block is not energized, and all valves are closed (no air is moving through the block). For any valve to be open, that valve must get powered from ECU, and corresponding solenoid is energized, opening the paired valve to allow air through. As soon as ECU removed electricity, the valve closes automatically. The valve block has an electrical connection that connects to the ECU. The ECU controls the opening/closing of each valve/solenoid in the block, when inflating or deflating each shock. Air tank Sometimes called the pressure accumulator (because it accumulates or collects compressed air). This is simply a metal tank, where compressed air is stored, so that when necessary, each shock can be inflated quickly. This air tank is connected to the air compressor with one line, and to the valve block with another line. Compressor feeds compressed air to the air tank, and if needed, air tank provides the system with compressed air via connection to valve block. ECU or Leveling system control unit/PASM This is the ECU or the leveling system control unit. It is a circuit board with electronics, that will turn on/off power to pieces of air suspension, will monitor sensors in the system, monitor position of each corner of car. This is the brain of the entire system. Issues with ECU, issues with detecting various sensors by the ECU, result in errors such as the air suspension system failure, etc. This ECU is connected to each shock, each shock sensors (monitor if inflating/deflating), each shock sensor near upper control arm (control height of the vehicle body), connected to valve block, controlling open/close of each solenoid/valve in the valve body, and is connected to the switches inside the car, the ones you press if you want to raise the car, make shock stiffer or softer, want to go into sport or sport plus mode, or back into the default comfort mode. Switches inside the cabin to adjust suspension These are the switches that you use to change the configuration of air suspension in your car, higher, lower, comfort, sport, sport plus, etc OPEN OR CLOSED AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM Now, few things about the system, as I learned while debugging, and after speaking to mechanics that work on Panameras. FSM states this is a closed system. Porsche mechanics would tell you it is a closed system. Indy shop mechanics would tell you it is not a closed system. I think the discrepancy is in the way you view the system itself. The shocks and valve block and air tank compose a closed system. Once pressurized, air remains in shocks and lines. When shocks are lowered though, they let air out of the system, through valve block, through the OUT port on the valve block, into tubing that vents air under the car behind the bumper. Similarly, the compressor draws filtered air from outside, and compresses it for the air tank. So you can look at this system as a closed system (shocks, valve block, air tank only), or an open system, if you include the compressor and the OUT vent line from the valve block. Whichever way you look at it, just be aware of how things work and you will be fine. TYPICAL SYSTEM OPERATION Now, lets go through typical operation of the air suspension system in the Panamera. This assumes car is working perfectly fine, no issues with suspension. You get into the car in the morning. Car has been standing there overnight. Lets assume it got cold over night. Once you get in, car knows via sensors driver has just gotten into car. You turn on the ignition and start the car. Sensors at center of each shock, and near upper control arms, tell the ECU what position the car is in. Car knows its last position from night before, when you parked the car. So if for some reason (cold weather), pressure in any part of the suspension was decreased, after car is started (and all doors closed), the ECU will determine if the air tank needs to be pumped up to proper pressure. If not, all good to go. If air tank pressure is a little low, compressor kicks in (relay in trunk of car will energize, and will close connection to turn on the compressor). The compressor will keep running on a timer and/or the temperature sensor, and on a pressure in tank sensor. Once compressor starts, it will shut off if it becomes hot, or if the pressure in air tank reaches desired pressure, or if the compressor runs for more than a couple minutes. The compressor stops because ECU disconnects electrical connection to the relay in trunk, removing electricity to relay, and therefore removing electrical connection to the power circuit that energizes the compressor. Then, compressor stops running. Once air tank is at pressure, ECU has already sensed how high your car is, how inflated or deflated your air shocks are. If the car is too high, air can be let out of the system to return to position dictated by switches in cabin. If car is too low (got very cold outside), the ECU turns on all necessary solenoids/valves in valve block and in shocks, to allow compressed air to travel from high compressed area (air tank), to less compressed area (shocks). Sensors in shocks will tell the ECU when to turn valves off, when proper height or stiffness is reached. WHAT CAN GO WRONG, HOW TO DETECT & DEAL WITH REPAIR Now, how does this system fail? Actually, very simple. You can divide it into 2 categories. Electrical (connections, sensors, ecu, etc), and mechanical (components, connections, lines, etc). Shocks If air shocks have leak in them (internally or at top of dampers for fronts), air will leak out, causing ECU to detect lower position of shocks, then making air compressor to work so the positions can be corrected. If the leak is bad enough, the compressor will be asked to turn on way more often, causing it to heat up. If enough heat gets into the system, the air compressor piston/seals, etc can get broken, making compressor bad and requiring either recondition kit with new pistons and seals, or a purchase of another compressor. If there are leaks in the shocks themselves, the shocks have to be replaced. There is no way to repair these shocks on your own, since that would require disassembly of each sock, in a way that cannot be put back together again. Special presses are needed to seal the shocks. So only way to fix leaking shocks is to buy new ones. You can get OEM brand new ones, or remanufactured ones. Many have found remanufactured shocks to be good fit, as price is about 30-40% of new OEM ones, and they can work for very long time too. Choice dictated by your sense of what you need/prefer to get. Air lines You can also experience leaks in the air lines themselves. After years of use, a line can crack, causing leaking to occur from the shock itself (valve block is normally all closed, so any compressed air will leak out of the shock). I think it is hard to crack air lines, unless work in the area on the car resulted in air lines being twisted, or pinched or forced, in a way to cause a crack. Near the shock connections in engine bay, it gets hot, so I can see these connections becoming brittle, and cracking a bit. In these situations, you have to buy new air lines, or try to patch a found leak with epoxy, etc. A good way to check if air line is leaking, is to disconnect from shock, and pull vacuum on it, while other end is connected to the valve block, and assuming valve block connection or internals are not leaking as well. Then, you should see vacuum hold in the line. Otherwise the line has a leak and must be dealt with. Not fixing this will cause low pressure in shock all the time, making compressor over work, and being broken eventually. Level sensors Sometimes the level sensors near, or on the shocks, will become defective. This is usually manifested by the system not being able to detect that one or more shocks has been raised or lowered, or if stiffness has changed inside a shock. If a level sensor goes bad, after button is pressed to raise car, you can see car raising, but can see messages on cluster that the system is faulty. Another example is changing modes to sport or sport plus, and ECU saying on cluster air suspension system fault, or inability to enter the mode. As side note, if you cannot enter sport or sport plus mode, you will usually see other errors on console, along with limiting car power. Car thinks something bad going on with suspension when trying to enter sport or sport plus mode, and will disable these modes based on errors. These additional errors normally go away after issue is fixed. Normally, if level sensors go bad they will need replacement. Repair is a diy thing and often sensor is junk when broken. Air compressor Yet another common failure is the air compressor. This device makes sure the air tank is always at correct pressure, so that suspension changes can be done quickly (they say under 4 seconds). If there is a leak in suspension, the air tank is asked to refill shocks much more often. This results in compressor working much more often to keep the air tank refilled. You can start your car, close all doors, and stand by passenger side muffler. Listen for low tone humming coming out. That’s the compressor. If you hear it coming on often over 20 minutes of idle, you have suspension issues. You can troubleshoot compressor issues by codes. Normally suspension system failure can manifest as bad compressor. If you do not hear compressor kick in at all when you press button to raise suspension, chances are, compressor bad. If you hear mechanical sounds that sound other than an electrical mattress inflator, you can suspect compressor. Sometimes the relay goes bad, which typically will manifest as compressor not kicking on at all, or compressor being on all the time (this one usually results in relay bad). Any time you replace compressor, replace relay as well. This ensures bad relay does not damage new compressor too. New relays have been changed slightly, altering voltage and current they can provide through them, to help compressor. Valve block Another place common to fail, is the valve block itself. Age can cause pressure fittings on any of the air lines to valve block, to become leaky. Then you can purchase these air fittings and replace in the valve block. Problem with that is that often the block starts leaking internally too. Most of the time, the entire valve block is replaced. New one comes with fittings too. To detect if valve block connections leak, you spray soapy water onto the air lines and fittings, and you would see air bubbles coming from fittings. You cannot test internal failures unless valve block itself becomes bad. In this case, some valves will become stuck, manifesting in one corner being stuck low or high, or maybe all corners stuck in one position, despite using buttons to try switch to different configuration. If only one corner is stuck, maybe two, chances are block needs replacement. Air tank / pressure accumulator It is hard to envision air tank failing, but it is possible something wrong with the lines makes the tank work bad. Not many things can make tank go bad, except for some puncture making leaks in tank, or lines. ECU / Leveling system control unit If the ECU goes bad, the entire system is no longer being monitored or controlled. This means your can wont raise, wont lower, wont change any settings for shocks, etc. The brain of the suspension is dead. Therefore the entire suspension is dead. If nothing happens when you press any buttons, and compressor does not kick in, and car does not change height, but car has not slammed down (corners do not appear deflated), it is a good sign the ECU is the problem. Switches inside cabin If you press buttons to change height, change mode, etc, and nothing happens, you can suspect the switches in the cabin. Usually one or two will not work, but other will. It is unusual for all suspension related buttons to stop working at same time. If you can change modes, but cannot change stiffness, suspect buttons. Air suspension system failure errors are sometimes caused by buttons (since car is not responsive to button changes). Those would be one of last things I would suspect to go bad though in typical suspension setup debug. Sometimes, there is a combination of more than one item going bad. For example, you can experience a shock leaking, and while doing debug you accidentally crack an air line. Or air shock goes bad and slams down, causing a level sensor to go bad as well. In cases of suspension failures that have no obvious results, you will have to debug independent systems first, to make sure you know exactly where the issue is. PD OF PROBLEMS & REPAIR Start with shocks that appear to be leaking. Use soap water on top of shock to see if bubbles form. If yes, you know shocks need replacing. Then, do not remove any air lines. Crawl under car and spray valve block. If bubbles form at connections, block is bad too. Sometimes valve block is bad internally, and if you cannot determine if good/bad, dish out the 100 bucks or so for a new one. Unfortunately, only PIWIS2 system has debugging steps built in for air suspension. Other systems can only read and clear faults. So you wont be able to ID valve block bad/good unless you get wiring diagram, identify which pins carry the 12V to specific valve in the block, so you can manually energize the valve and cause it to open (checking if works ok or not). You can use needle to pierce insulation at wire, to power it with 12V battery. Air lines should be connected to valve block if you want to determine if they leak. Disconnect line at a shock and use small pump to put some vacuum on it. See if it remains. If it remains, that line is not leaking. If line cannot hold vacuum, it has a crack. Then you will have to hunt down where the crack is. Normally at either end (seldom does it appear somewhere in middle of line). If still cant find line leak, time to replace the line (each line is in sections with join connector, up to you how to handle replacement – entire line or a section at a time). Line leaks would be lesser on priority to check unless someone has been playing with removing lines from shock or from valve block, accidentally cracking one. IF you see a crack, you can try to epoxy it after wrapping with some adhesive. Your choice. Compressors will start making bad sounds before they go bad. There is a piston inside the compressor, with plastic rubber seals, which rub against a sleeve, while air is compressed. If the rubber plastic damages due to heat (running too long), compressor will stop running (will be too hard to move piston and ECU will tell relay to disconnect from power). Anytime you change compressor, replace relay to make sure bad relay does not break new compressor. Remember, a relay is a mechanical way to close/open a circuit with electricity/magnets. Once electricity is added, magnets force metals to contact, allowing electricity to flow. Once electricity is removed, magnets no longer work, forcing metal contacts away from each other (these contacts are spring loaded, so if magnetic field removed, spring forces contacts apart). We have covered air shocks already, but it is possible for them to leak where you cannot spray to see the leak. If you spray top of shock and see no leaks, but then you see car raise the corner, only to see that corner again over time, the shock has an internal leak. Must be replaced, repair not possible without specialty tools and presses. By now, I covered components of the air suspension system in the Panamera, what each component does, how it is connected to the rest of the system, how it all works together, along with some troubleshooting tips. Hope this will help others in their course to make another Panamera drive perfect. Let me know if you have opinions on this info. Thank you.
  10. I can see the tutorial no issues. You have to make sure you are logged in, so you can see the photos. Just tried and all photos are there. Let the admin know if you have issues viewing the DIY.
  11. You dont need to put servos into service position. When you buy them, theyre in position ready to install, but you have to make sure each servo is attached to the arm properly, as you install.
  12. I noticed that my CTT HID light on passenger side, does not auto level when i start the car. Noticed because I started seeing the light try to reset (blink momentarily), while driving. Then replaced bulbs, and blinking still persisted. Then noticed when I start the car, that same HID bulb on passenger side does not do the auto level when car started and lights turned on. I am certain the blinking connected to the auto level not working. Trying to figure out the cause. If you have advice, appreciate the help. Thank you.
  13. To complete this thread, I replaced the front final drive fluid with perfect results in an alternative way. Check out the DIY section for info on how its done, here.
  14. I have got to know the suspension pretty well. Long story short, will likely have a nice write up. Easy once you know the parts and their operation and expected behavior, etc. One of my new shocks happened to be DEFECTIVE. So waiting for 2nd replacement to shove into the front pass side. Everything else seems to be working, car raising, compressor working, no leaks observed, BUT front pass side slowly drops. Since no leaks in lines, internal fault strongly suspected. Once it is all re swapped, I can update. Been fun though. Great thanks to my CTT for having another Pcar to use while toying with the PTT.
  15. From what I know, you can get the update for maps, BUT, cannot get them activated without PIWIS2. Has to be PIWIS2, previous version does not support the car. So it means no way to get maps without paying the shop. Last time I looked, update will run about 300-400 for the process and visit. If anyone knows process manually step by step, let us know.
  16. IMO you should just remove the bumper (easy on Panamera), and do the job properly. You can see the bumper removal in my DIY posts, it is a part of the air filter change DIY. Then you reposition the sensor, and put it all back together. Will also give you a chance to do a bunch of cleaning in the area too. Here: - Headlight removal - Front bumper removal Then, you repair the sensor and will know it was properly positioned.
  17. So been playing with car more. Saw compressor run, and this time, clearly saw front pass side rise. Had car standing freely off jacks. But over time, saw frt pass side slide down. Could not figure out what the hell. Inflated shock with shop air and placed finger over valve to stop air escaping, and there was no sound of anything coming out. so shock appeared ok. Saw valve block and sprayed with soap, no bubbles, all ok there. I already checked the driver side last week for leaks, but decided what the hell, recheck. So take cover off, and what do I see? Leak bubbling from same spot that happened on passenger side. So now I am buying another shock for sure before I proceed with any other stuff. Question is, would a leak in one side cause other side to be sagging too? I know if left sags it automatically makes right side lower too, but my question is specifically about the air leak itself.
  18. Update: Tried to raise car, remove line, to see if shock expands. No. Shock not expanding. Noticed when disconnected line from shock there was no compressed air in it. That was after compressor ran couple times already (and ran a couple times previous day too). So thinking is, either the block or compressor not working right. There is nothing else that can go wrong here. ECU working since does give me warnings chassis failure, if I raise on jacks, I can press button to raise suspension to high, even though I do it on jacks to simulate, so ECU does work. Mechanical connection to upper arm was re checked. Seemed just fine, cleaned contacts just in case. Reseated top of shock connections too. My next move - replace valve block and/or compressor rod/seals with rebuild kit. My logic is, even though compressor working, may not be generating pressure (although thinking why the back would raise then). Compressor seemed to sound differently too over last week or so (along with the typical pumping noise, noticed a deeper sound associated with it). I assume my newly installed shock is fine (no reason to doubt it at this time). Re checked all connections, disconnected shock from air line, after compressor ran for a while, and noticed there was very little pressure in the line (almost no hiss of air at all). So if no pressure in line, either valve block not opening, or compressor not generating. Let me know what you think abou this.
  19. UPDATE: I was able to verify my air suspension compressor does work and is functional. I managed to slip 2 low profile jacks under car and raise the front to level I measured before starting work. Then connected durametric. Cleared faults. Then was able to notice that suspension was disabled again (must have happened after suspension fault error was flagged). Pressed button for 10 s to enable suspension once again. Then noticed compressor start pumping again. Both front and rear shocks were raised. I stopped and started car 3 or 4 times, to see if compressor pumps up the shock on its own over time. The rear seemed to have been adjusted properly. Front driver appeared to be slightly lower. Front passenger (where new shock is), does not hold height. After having compressor run few times, I lowered the jacks to see how the car would sit. Driver frt was lower but up a bit, pass frt kept going all the way down. So the new shock is not getting pumped. It is possible that the system does not have enough pressure to pump up the frt pass. shock. Spoke to shock person, who states calibration is needed especially in Panamera. I was hoping to go without the calibration, as this will require me to get towing to my house, get the car over 40 miles to shop. Still trying to find solutions for pumping. If you have any suggestions, keep em coming. I will be trying again today. One thing I may try just thinking about it now (please stop me if you dont think good idea): Maybe what I should do is disconnect the air line, raise car up as high as can to extend the shock and put air volume into it. Then connect line back and lower the car. Some of the air volume will be part of the gas volume, and could at least allow drivability. What do you think?
  20. Yes, I did turn off suspension before the work, and managed to turn it back on after work (pressing button for 10 s). Saw the message suspension turned on. Tried to raise car, but did not. The shock tech keeps saying sensors need calibration first. I will go look at the sensors again to see if they are the culprit. One is for control of air volume into shock (on off center on top of shock). Not sure what the other one is (top center where the damper nut is).
  21. After frustrating night, edit to post: Decided to swap out front passenger air shock, because noticed that when I sprayed soapy water onto top of shock, it would bubble from under the shock damper nut (middle nut topside of shock). This would sag my front when left overnight or for several hours parked. Wanted to swap out so the compressor does not get burned out overworking to pump shocks every morning and afternoon. Before doing the work, compressor would eventually pump gas into front shocks, and it would eventually go up, even though took time to get this to occur. Probably up to 5 minutes before I got to be able to raise car to high setting, but would work fine. Shock arrived. Swap out was fairly straight forward. Also swapped out upper control arm while I was at it (yes, the shock must come out to do this - because of the way the side arm bolts are located, nut on outside of arm, bolt on inside facing shock wall). Connected the 4 wires at top of shock (I dont think there is a way to connect these wires wong - even though two are 2 wire connections, and then the air line, and another sensor). Maybe one of you knows better. Anyways, everything put together, car was still on car jacks, preset to height normal to when driving. I turned the car on, and eventually heard compressor turn on but for a short time. Assumed it is because car is on jacks still and does not detect the low height. Turned car off, lowered the car off the jacks. Got back in. Started. Within about 1 min heard the compressor kick in. Saw car raise a little while sitting inside. Opened the door few times to try to set more compressor work. It was hard to hear the compressor with the car running. Eventually I saw the car raise a couple more times, but the height of the car did not go to what I expected it to. Gently backed out of driveway, very slowly drove straight line and back into garage. This did not raise the car at all. At that time, the car was not raising anymore. All the way down on front both sides. Since compressor was working before the swap, my thinking is it would be too coincidental to have compressor go out. Same with valve block. Way too far to be affected. The only things I can think of are: - relay replacement - compressor refresh to do - sensors on shock not working right or not connecting right Had suspension failure red icon on display. Cleared with Durametric, but appears to come back. Errors are in PASM area: 789 / 315 Also just spoke to the shock folks and they say the sensors need to be calibrated. Guess it is a possibility, but wonder how likely. Would have to tow car to a shop. Really irritating. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
  22. Looks like the Porsche system is temp compensated too. I calculated pressures at 68F, then at 95, and it appears that the calibration on TPMS takes account ambient temp, which is good. In addition, Porsche has stated their pressusre measurements are very, very accurate and would trust them over any gauge. So what I think I will do, is run at the settings or F38psi/R44psi, and trust the technology more.
  23. Panamera turbo front final drive fluid change Today I did front final drive gear oil change. This DIY will show you how I did it. Since I had a hard time to access the drain plug, I removed fill plug and used a pump to suck out the final drive oil. Worked really well, and helped avoid messy drain, which puts oil onto the lower axle carrier frame too. FSM calls for change quantity of 0.42L, and I managed to remove about that much from the drive, so I feel confident I got it all. Used empty oil can go suck old oil into it, and an Author ciaka Category Panamera (970) - Maintenance Submitted 08/04/2018 11:27 PM
  24. Today I did front final drive gear oil change. This DIY will show you how I did it. Since I had a hard time to access the drain plug, I removed fill plug and used a pump to suck out the final drive oil. Worked really well, and helped avoid messy drain, which puts oil onto the lower axle carrier frame too. FSM calls for change quantity of 0.42L, and I managed to remove about that much from the drive, so I feel confident I got it all. Used empty oil can go suck old oil into it, and another empty oil can to put same amount of new oil it, making sure I fill with what I removed. I actually filled the new oil can with maybe 1/4" more oil, to accommodate for some oil that pump cannot take out of can, and some oil left in tubing. Oil used for change: Mobil Delvac 1 full synthetic gear oil 75W-90 (direct cross reference to Shell TF0951 - factory fill oil) Oil refill quantity: 0.42L (bit less than half a quart) New fill plug part number: N 902 818 02 Fill plug tighten torque: 25.8 ft/lbs Fill plug removal tool: ratchet, extensions (at least 6"), 5mm hex socket, shop towels Look at this DIY before you do the change. Make sure you have all materials and time to do it. Expect about an hour to hour and a half to complete. Let us know if you have comments. Thank you.
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