New 718 GTS - Cut out; won’t start

[GregThoma]

Great result well done Leeds OPC.

 

[AndrewCS]

So good news. Car is fixed and back home!

To conclude the story, Porsche Leeds called me Thursday afternoon saying after spending all day on it they think (although not conclusive) it’s an engine issue and possibly engine failure. By this stage I was expecting this but still very disappointing to hear. To be fair they were really apologetic, understanding of what a bad situation this was and said they’d call back when they knew what the course of action was.

They then called back today saying good news it was fixed. Apparently it was a poorly mounted grounding cable connecting the engine to the car body. They’d replaced the cable and remounted it and all fine. Their thinking is it came from the factory like this. It was evident it had been a nightmare to find and they were pleased to have fixed it. Fair play to Porsche Leeds.

I guess if anyone else has a similar issue, maybe this can be helpful in telling the garage where to look.

Someone told them to put a spanner on the crank []

The Porsche Parts Catalogue does not have details of the 982 six cylinder models, if it is similar to the 981 GT4 then there are two body earth points ... 1. at the battery - 2. at the alternator / starter motor

 

[JohnCRS]

It is very good news that you have your car back Kerry. It seems that, with these modern cars, electrical issues account for a large proportion of failures, often basic stuff like battery or, in your case, earth wires. It does not fill me with optimism for the EV Cayman.

John

 

[Wollemi]

So pleased to hear that the problem has been found and sorted.

looking forward to seeing you and your car on a R7 event sometime.

 

[Peter_Bull]

Great news. And well done Porsche Centre Leeds as it could have been easy to narrow it down the an earthing cable.

 

[philjflat6]

So good news. Car is fixed and back home!

To conclude the story, Porsche Leeds called me Thursday afternoon saying after spending all day on it they think (although not conclusive) it’s an engine issue and possibly engine failure. By this stage I was expecting this but still very disappointing to hear. To be fair they were really apologetic, understanding of what a bad situation this was and said they’d call back when they knew what the course of action was.

They then called back today saying good news it was fixed. Apparently it was a poorly mounted grounding cable connecting the engine to the car body. They’d replaced the cable and remounted it and all fine. Their thinking is it came from the factory like this. It was evident it had been a nightmare to find and they were pleased to have fixed it. Fair play to Porsche Leeds.

I guess if anyone else has a similar issue, maybe this can be helpful in telling the garage where to look.

I‘ve had a very similar problem in my 718 GT4. Stop start kicked in whilst waiting at traffic lights and then the car wouldn’t restart. Very odd as I was only about 10 minutes into a journey and the car had just come off a battery charger so the battery was fully charged. Porsche Brooklands diagnosed a poor connection on an earth strap beneath the engine. I assume it’s the same issue that Tetris has. Apparently some factory paint overspray meant the connection wasn’t good. The area has been cleaned and the strap refitted and now apparently all good. It must have been like this since new. The car is less than a year old with around 2000 miles on the clock, so it’s odd that is was fine before and then started playing up.

 

[Nick_USA]

I’ve had a very similar problem in my 718 GT4. Stop start kicked in whilst waiting at traffic lights and then the car wouldn’t restart. Very odd as I was only about 10 minutes into a journey and the car had just come off a battery charger, so the battery was fully charged. Porsche Brooklands diagnosed a poor connection on an earth strap beneath the engine. I assume it’s the same issue that Tetris has. Apparently some factory paint overspray meant the connection wasn’t good. The area has been cleaned, and the strap refitted and now apparently all good. It must have been like this since new. The car is less than a year old with around 2000 miles on the clock, so it’s odd that it was fine before and then started playing up.

+1 To having the same problem on a late 2019 delivered GT4 during the first 6 months of ownership. Took my Porsche Centre about 20 minutes to fix. AA were useless (said it was the battery which they can't replace), then sent 2 recovery trucks to the house that were unsuitable before sending a 3rd that was low enough to load the car.

 

[Tetris Keyring]

@philjflat6 that does sound like the same issue, and now you mention it the details do sound to be the same as I was told by Porsche Leeds. Evidently not a one off.

@Nick_USA that‘s good they identified and fixed it so quick. I wondered if they’d seen something similar before. I feel your pain with the AA. The guy who came to me was very focused on it being a battery issue. TBH, the AA experience was pretty poor.

phil j flat6[/h1]

 

[EFCPlastic]

Hello all. I know this thread has been dormant for a while, but I’m very glad to have found it. I had a similar issue today in my manual 2020 GTS 4.0. The car wouldn’t start after returning from a brief shopping trip. No turnover, nothing. Eventually after exiting / locking / unlocking it did start, but immediately threw an ‘engine control fault’. It seemed to drive fine, if a little lumpy. No loss of power. Get home, turn it off / on and the fault is cleared. I’m hoping it’s a ground wire or a new battery, rather than something more serious like a PPF / GPF issue.

 

[Motorhead]

Unlikely to be a battery connection issue in your case I would have thought if you’ve had an engine warning issue, but you never know.

Your best bet is to run some Porsche-specific diagnostics - PIWIS or equivalent - to check for error codes. All sorts of possibilities, including a faulty coil pack, VarioCam solenoid or a high pressure fuel pump issue.

Jeff

 

[EFCPlastic]

Ok, thanks. It’s booked into Porsche Portsmouth in a couple of weeks, they said there is an undocumented recall required for the instrument cluster. Re coil pack - it does sometimes feel a bit lumpy in sport mode. Hopefully nothing too expensive. I’ll update when I know more.

 

[EFCPlastic]

Update guys. Car went in and they replaced the ignition relay switch. No issues until Tuesday when I came back to my car at the shops and it would not turn over, refused to accept that the clutch pedal was depressed. Had to get towed back to mine by the RAC at rush hour which was pretty embarrassing! Sent into Porsche and they have diagnosed it as a corroded ground wire. So seems like a pretty common issue. Replaced under warranty and apparently all ok, just need to go and collect it.