PSM loss possible to drive on carefully

[981callum]

Hi everyone,

I have had a message appear on my 2013 981 Cayman S the last 2 days "PSM loss possible to drive on carefully" along with a loss of the start stop operation. Has anyone encountered this before?
The first occurrence I had driven the car a few miles and was sat in traffic. When it was safe to do so I stopped, turned the car off, removed the key for a few seconds, started again and the warning disappeared for the next hour or so of the drive. Today I was on the M25 with the cruise control on and had been driving for about 40 minutes and the message reappeared. I done the same again at the motorway services to reset the car, all went back to normal again. I have done a little reading around and there is a suggestion there could be a coil miss firing or a issue with bushes on the brake pedal pivot. I have also had the car warning me of a low battery frequently, as far as I can tell the car still has the original battery. The car has done 22,000 miles.

Cheers
Callum

 

[DWaldie]

Last year I had issues with start stop errors (it didn't work) and odd errors saying the parking brake was inoperable. It worked just fine. After seeking some advice, I came to the conclusion that the battery had seen better days - it was over six years old. They are known to start giving odd electronic errors. Battery changed, and it has been fine since.

I used our favourite high street parts supplier and got mine fitted and coded for 25% of the cost of OPC.

 

[BrianJ]

That looks to me like the famous issue with the 981 brake pedal bushes, usually on 2012/3 cars. Happens on 991s too. The original design of bush swells up in certain conditions (warm and moist air seem to be typical) and they then grip the rod on which the brake pedal pivots so that the brakes don't release properly. That confuses the technology and generates the message. In some cases the brake pedal gets stuck well below the normal upper "at rest" position and can be lifted with the foot. There have been some extreme cases where brakes have been binding as a result and worn out disks and pads, so be careful. Most bushes have been replaced either under warranty or out of warranty by now. On my 981, this error flashed up a couple of times with (I think) identical messages when the car was about 18 months old - the OPC knew exactly what it was and the bushes were replaced with no problems since.

 

[GeeDog]

Mine had the bushes replaced by previous owner. Do they fit an upgraded part, do you know?

 

[BrianJ]

I believe so.

 

[Motorhead]

Callum,

As Brian has said, it sounds very much like the the known brake pedal bush problem. I too think that there’s a modified bush which presumably was fitted to your car so it’s rather odd that you’re experiencing the problem. Maybe the modified bush wasn’t fitted? If you’re doing a longish run it could be that the problem has been exacerbated by this very cold spell with the heater blasting hot air over the pedal box.

Anecdotally, when the battery is on its way out it’s very common to get all sorts of spurious messages and warning lights so it would be worthwhile getting yours checked-out, especially if you don’t know if/when it’s been replaced.

Jeff

 

[JohnCRS]

I think I would go down the battery route first, if only to eliminate something that can cause all sorts of issues with the complex electronics. 7 years, only 22,000 miles and the original will possibly be on its last legs.

 

[GeeDog]

^ What he said! I think a lot of modern cars throw up miscellaneous faults when the battery is struggling. I had the same on a Discovery 4 with an AGM battery. Interestingly there was no problem at all cranking over the big V6 diesel even in the cold (it was this time of year) but the battery was the culprit nonetheless. Easy thing to check first.

 

[DWaldie]

I think I would go down the battery route first, if only to eliminate something that can cause all sorts of issues with the complex electronics. 7 years, only 22,000 miles and the original will possibly be on its last legs.

Mine hasn't given any problems since changing the battery. At seven years, you're on borrowed time

 

[GeeDog]

Out of interest, are batteries date stamped, does anyone know? Mine could well be original - Banner - or perhaps replaced by OPC at some point. Also seven years old (although a CTek lead suggests it's been looked after).

 

[981callum]

Thank you very much for some insight guys, I shall go down the route of battery replacement first. I had a suspicion they could be related as all the issues are electrical like GeeDog has said. Hopefully that will fix it, if not I shall do some digging into if the bushes were replaced. I have had a look in the service book, however I do not see any notes relating to bush replacements etc

 

[BrianJ]

My battery (a Banner) is still the original on my 2013 car, no problems so far (kiss of death!). When my brake pedal bushes misbehaved I had messages about PSM loss and also, if I remember rightly, Stop/Start being disabled. It happened several times a few weeks apart but cleared itself each time. It then occurred twice in quick succession (on a PCGB WOTY!) which caused me to enquire at the OPC. So my bet would be the brake pedal bushes; changing a battery is possibly an easier first step but may not provide a proven fix for several weeks/months if my experience is typical. Ho hum.

 

[981callum]

I don't suppose besides the service book etc, there is a way of telling if the bushes have been replaced? I suspect the battery is original but my understanding is that it is quite buried so I cannot be sure on that either? It is one of those faults I have been tempted to see if it is a little bug that goes away, however my worry is that the PSM could fall over during some spirited driving. Which could be interesting to say least..!

 

[DWaldie]

I don't suppose besides the service book etc, there is a way of telling if the bushes have been replaced? I suspect the battery is original but my understanding is that it is quite buried so I cannot be sure on that either? It is one of those faults I have been tempted to see if it is a little bug that goes away, however my worry is that the PSM could fall over during some spirited driving. Which could be interesting to say least..!

The battery is really easy to access. Pull up the large plastic panel in front of the scuttle and use the yellow plastic tag to clip to the underside of the bonnet. From there, the battery is clearly visible and just like any other vehicle.

"a little bug that might go away" sounds like magical thinking Better check it out properly.

 

[981callum]

I have dropped the car to a Indi Porsche specialist to have it looked into, there was no communication from one of the cylinder coils, which also knocked out the control module. I'm just waiting to hear if that has fixed the issue.

 

[981callum]

Thank you for your input regarding the issue I was having with my car, as per my previous post the car is fixed and it was confirmed the issue related to the coil on cylinder number 6. I'm now weighing up the options of a car play retrofit!

Cheers everyone, I hope to meet some of you soon when we are aloud out!

 

[JohnCRS]

Thanks for letting us know the outcome Callum. I am amazed by how the electronics inter-connect on these things and would never have identified a coil as a culprit for your original problem. I am a bit surprised that you did not get a misfire. Was it the coil replaced? It shows the benefit of having the right tools and going through a diagnostic process.