991.2 - Turbocharger Replacement (Smoke)

[Cyclemotor1958]

Hi driver71,
Sorry I cannot send you the bulletin, but I can assure you it exists, speak to your local Porsche Service manager he will be aware of it.
Porsche a few years ago were giving goodwill on this repair, as its a known concern.
Dave
Cyclemotor1958

 

[damian.gorse]

I have just had exactly the same on my Carrera 4S. 21000miles. Started seeing smoke on startup, but didnt think much of it. A couple of days ago on acceleration it turned into a cloud making machine. In the 24 mile journey to get it Porsche Leicester it used a litre of oil. Had to refil it twice on journey as refil oil came up twice on dash.
They have diagnosed it as a fracture of the intake pressure lines which is feeding oil straight into the intake. Luckily oil supply to the turbochargers were not affected. They are replacing intake pipes, pressure lines and turbocharger collection tanks for both turbos. It is an engine out job and big money. Thank goodness for the warranty. Going to be off the road for 2-3 weeks.

 

[Cyclemotor1958]

Hi driver71,

Sorry I can not send you the bulletin, but I can assure you it exists, if you speak to a Porsche Dealer service manager he can confirm its existence.
A few years ago I sent a customer with a 2017 991.2 with blue smoke on start up, to a local Porsche dealer.
He quoted them the bulletin number, and they gave him 80% contribution towards the repair.
Regards
Dave
Cyclemotor 1958

 

[Cyclemotor1958]

Sorry about the duplicate posts
Dave
Cyclemotor 1958

 

[damian.gorse]

Thanks Dave. Luckily i have been reassured that it is all covered under the warranty. I am still quite surprised that it's occured at just 20K miles though.
I will enquire about the bulletin though.

 

[stefant]

my 2017 c2S has 31,000 miles and has just had both turbos replaced and all the associated pipe work.

was smoking on start up after being driven hard and sitting for a while. was all covered under warranty, but told it was a big/expensive job!

Would like to prevent any corrosion so interested in the spray grease options - question is where do I spray it?

 

[Maser2]

I’d like to say long time observer, first time poster - but I’ve just recently joined after owenership of my 991.2 GTS after just less than a week from a main Porsche Dealer.

I must say, the service - both technical and customer service has been incredible. the whole experience of picking the car up, out of this world.

Before I continue, I am incredibly happy with my car, having come from an M140, the only way I can describe the 991 is that it isn’t clinical and has some kind of soul! Anyway, enough of the gush, it puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

On an early morning, that was fairly dry I managed to put some boost through the turbo and change gears approaching 7000 a couple of times before I ran out of speed limit. Then approaching a roundabout carefully shifting down where the RPM wouldn’t exceed 5000rpm on downshifts. Third, down to second closing on the roundabout - huge plume of smoke out the back.

Ok gauges all good, oil press ok, around 3.5 bar reducing down to normal 2 bar, oil temp was of course 95 degrees (I always ensure up to temp before going above 2000rpm). I did a 180 to take a photo of the evidence for the dealer and then did a couple of runs to put my mind at rest. It performed absolutely fine. As it was dark it looked like a grey cloud.

I got to work, shut down and then cold started 5 hours later to blue smoke - which I was suspecting oil pooling in the turbo somewhere, or cylinders.

So I logged it with Porsche. They stated they found one of the turbochargers has failed and will be replaced. Good end result, the other one apparently is ok and they can’t change as a precaution, which I understand.

Anyone else had to replace their turbochargers?

its done 31,000 miles

In April 2022 I bought a used 991.2 Carrera 4 GTS from a Porsche Main dealer, it had only about 12,000 miles on the clock. Within the next week on both occasions when using the Sport Response button I had, like you, a huge cloud of smoke from the exhaust. When it happened the 2nd time I drove straight to the Porsche dealer and 'rejected' the car. As they knew me from previous purchases they agreed, with no problem, and refunded my money. I've since bought the same version of 911 from a different Porsche main dealer and had absolutely no issues having just returned from a second 2,500 mile road trip to to the Med.

 

[DenAtherton]

Hi
My 2018 MY 991.2 C4S is in my OPC having Turbo Bank 1 replaced. Same symptoms as most on here. Apparently the feed pipe is badly designed and replacement items are the same as the 992. Isn't the engine carried over to the 992? but use slightly different turbos? Again coolant pump failed at 30K miles replaced under warranty. Other issues are water condensation it the rear lights - all been replaced under Warranty.

 

[DenAtherton]

Morning guys
Sorry to see we are still having issues with the turbos on 991.2
Durring my time working in an independent Porsche workshop I came across this problem, and investigated the cause of the failures.
I can tell you that there is a Porsche Technical bulletin SY 211655 or SY126/18 that covers this issue.
It describes the fault, and the work required to remedy the problem.
On the bulletin, it says it affected cars up to the 24th May 2017, after that date, they say the fault was rectified in production.
Regards
Dave
Cyclemotor 1958

Thank you
My car is January 2018 (so a full 7 months after your May date) and same problems as described by many on here. in OPC under warranty having the replacement items fitted.

 

[T25DOC]

Sadly my c2s isnt under warranty and I’ve started getting white smoke on start up. Having had the oil return feed pipes recently changed at Litchfield they fear it’s my turbo seals and I’m now looking at £10k+ for replacement turbos and associated work when it goes in on the 25th Nov. I keep seeing other folk facing these issues (most have a warranty) and Porsche keep denying any large scale issue.

 

[steven.cox]

I was at RennWorks and Jaz this week both had cars in with turbo issues. Personally I think it is beyond a joke that Porsche are not recognising this as an issue.

 

[Cyclemotor1958]

Hi
My 2018 MY 991.2 C4S is in my OPC having Turbo Bank 1 replaced. Same symptoms as most on here. Apparently the feed pipe is badly designed and replacement items are the same as the 992. Isn't the engine carried over to the 992? but use slightly different turbos? Again coolant pump failed at 30K miles replaced under warranty. Other issues are water condensation it the rear lights - all been replaced under Warranty.

 

[Markwhyatt]

I am having same issues
991.2 gts 2017
Bought it November 2021, turbos went in February 2022 at 25k miles
all replaced under warranty with new lines etc
Car started smoking and rough idle the other week at 49k miles so sent it to Porsche dealer
They diagnosed turbos to be showing excessive oil but not too much to worry about
Misfire on cylinder 5/6 with spark plugs really dirty with oil on them and will need plugs and maybe coils replacing
I was told they were doing that and then taking the car for test drive.
I asked ‘why’ there was oil on the plugs as that would seem the root cause of the problem, they said they didn’t know but first thing to do is the plugs and see where that takes us….
I’m think oil separator problem at this point but hey ho, they’re the experts.
Next day they ring me with ‘Bad News’ one of the turbos is full of oil now and needs replacing and they are checking the other turbo (I’m not covered under warranty now) to see if that’s gone as well!
I asked what had happened?
They said looks like the air oil separator has failed causing oil to fill the turbo
They are now doing further investigation
Am I right in thinking it’s their fault for not checking/replacing the air oil separator before testing the car?
They specifically told me the turbos were ok originally

 

[dbjames]

I am having same issues
991.2 gts 2017
Bought it November 2021, turbos went in February 2022 at 25k miles
all replaced under warranty with new lines etc
Car started smoking and rough idle the other week at 49k miles so sent it to Porsche dealer
They diagnosed turbos to be showing excessive oil but not too much to worry about
Misfire on cylinder 5/6 with spark plugs really dirty with oil on them and will need plugs and maybe coils replacing
I was told they were doing that and then taking the car for test drive.
I asked ‘why’ there was oil on the plugs as that would seem the root cause of the problem, they said they didn’t know but first thing to do is the plugs and see where that takes us….
I’m think oil separator problem at this point but hey ho, they’re the experts.
Next day they ring me with ‘Bad News’ one of the turbos is full of oil now and needs replacing and they are checking the other turbo (I’m not covered under warranty now) to see if that’s gone as well!
I asked what had happened?
They said looks like the air oil separator has failed causing oil to fill the turbo
They are now doing further investigation
Am I right in thinking it’s their fault for not checking/replacing the air oil separator before testing the car?
They specifically told me the turbos were ok originally

It’s certainly worth exploring this line. Another approach that some have had success with is a goodwill contribution from Porsche as it’s a known fault, you’ve had previously repaired under warranty etc. Others have received 50% contribution but you’re still looking at a £5k bill which is similar to an Indy’s. Sadly keeping a 991.2 out of warranty requires deep pockets

 

[Markwhyatt]

It’s certainly worth exploring this line. Another approach that some have had success with is a goodwill contribution from Porsche as it’s a known fault, you’ve had previously repaired under warranty etc. Others have received 50% contribution but you’re still looking at a £5k bill which is similar to an Indy’s. Sadly keeping a 991.2 out of warranty requires deep pockets

Thanks
Shouldn’t be the case though on a quality car costing £135k when new, to have major mechanical problems every 25k miles regardless of age
This is clearly a major design flaw in the parts concerned, Porsche should have done a recall on this in my opinion as they are obviously aware of it and relying on the warranty company to mop up the problem

 

[Cyclemotor1958]

Hi Mark

Without Prejudice

Ask them to check the vacuum readings on your car before it's removed, the AOS on
these cars as been an issue for a long time.

I worked at my local Porsche independent Garage for 7.5 years and on the 5th July 2021 I came across an issue with a 991.2 GTS 3.0.

It was smoking on start up, blue smoke, after a bit of Internet work I found a Porsche bulletin that covered this fault
Bulletin SY 211655/SY 126/18, it came out on the 18/09/2018 and affected 2015-2018 cars.
The issue was that the turbo oil tanks had aluminium chips left inside them after production which affected the function of the turbo intake pipe.

As a result of this excessive oil could get into the turbos.
We checked our car and found the right turbo was completey filled with oil, the inlet side of the turbo.
We also found excessive oil in the AOS pipe to that turbo.
We checked the spark plugs on the right hand bank, and found all the spark plug electrodes had burnt off.
This was probably due the the excessive oil in the cylinder.
Also on this car the right hand turbo actuator had seized .
We removed the engine, checked for other faults and found the engine vacuum pump had failed, and it had pumped oil into the air filter from the vacuum lines.
We replaced the turbos which had been modified, we replaced oil the turbo oil feed pipes as per the bulletin.
We replaced the AOS that had been superseded, and fit a new vacuum pump.

The final bill came to £12,000, during that month I had another car booked in with the same fault, I sent the car to our local Porsche dealer with the bulletin information, and our customer received an 80% contribution towards the repair.

This was because on the bulletin it stated that a new cleaning process on the oil tanks had been introduced from the 24/05/2017.

Surely the turbos should last longer than they have, but was the AOS checked on the original repair.

Regards

Dave

 

[Greenman986S]

They diagnosed turbos to be showing excessive oil but not too much to worry about

that's a red flag right there...

 

[Justanothercarguy]

Interesting thread. I have a low mileage 991.2 Carrera which was first registered in September 2017. If a new cleaning process on the oil tanks was introduced from 24th May 2017, is there any way to find out if my car was manufactured after that date?

 

[595triple]

Just as an aside, I heard about failed turbos being a good reason not to buy a 991.2 from an indie. During a tour of our local OPC on a open day, I noted a 992.1 demonstrator was up on a ramp with shiny new turbos having just had them replaced. I asked was there a problem with these also? The reply was no but there was no explanation as to why a new car had needed them replaced either.

There must be millions of turbo engined cars on the road and Porsche should have more experience with them than most. You do have to wonder though if this 3.0L engine has a fundemental problem / flaw, as a 992.1 should be post any service bulletin about the issue. You never hear about these issues with the 3.8L Turbo.

 

[Cyclemotor1958]

Hi Guys

If you are having any issues with GPF filters on your cars, can you please contact me.

Just had a recent issue with a 2019 991.2, with 12K miles on it, one of the GPF filters was blocked at 100%.

Managed to get Porsche to cover the cost of replacement.

Iam currently involved with the Cayman/Boxster 718 GPF issues, with 2 years experience on this subject.
Regards
Dave