unclewinks
New member
What has exactly happened,The reason I ask is because on cold start ours rattles for about 30 secs then goes quiet OPC said it was the flap in exhaust.just wondering if it is similar Paul
Sports Exhaust Failure - who else??
- Thread starter unclewinks
- Start date
On an earlier posting I explained that my sports exhaust has 'died' after less than 3 years from being fitted by an OPC.
It appears, from what I have diagnosed, that the nearside valve has failed. On a 996 its part of the silencer (for Yanks read muffler!) unlike the 997 which can be changed.in isolation.
I just wondered who else has had a failure of this kind and if you could post here how old it was when it went and what mileage.
Not sure where to go from here but it would be interesting to find out who else has had a failure.
It appears, from what I have diagnosed, that the nearside valve has failed. On a 996 its part of the silencer (for Yanks read muffler!) unlike the 997 which can be changed.in isolation.
I just wondered who else has had a failure of this kind and if you could post here how old it was when it went and what mileage.
Not sure where to go from here but it would be interesting to find out who else has had a failure.
Hi Paul Please see my thread on the problem [link=http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=579803&mpage=1&key=&#582143]>>>HERE<<<[/link]
watlina
Member
Is it really the valve? The valve is the bit actually built in to the pipe but shouldn't be too bad to test. The ideal way is to remove the rear bumper but from cold with the car on a ramp you can just reach up and move the arm manually (you won't have long before it's too hot). If it's failed the exhaust won't go quiet as the arm is moved, it will be permanently loud. I'd have thought it's fairly robust but potentially the circular disc that is the butterfly could detach from the shaft I suppose. The other point of failure on the actual exhaust is the vacuum unit that pulls the valve shut. If the diaphragm springs a leak it's no good and won't pull the arm on the butterfly valve when a vacuum is applied. AFAIK the vacuum unit is available as a separate part 000.044.200.16 £55.03 inc VAT Even if the butterfly valve has failed an exhaust specialist should be able to cut out the valve section with a disc cutter (Gillet welded it in as a separate part during construction) and take a look at it. It's got to be cheaper the £1600 Porsche want for a new one
View of the PSE with the bumper off
Hi Andrew Yes you are indeed right. I did not expalin it very clearly. The arm that closes the valve can be moved in and out very easily - no matter what position the switch is in. I did mean the vacum unit not the actual valve inside the exhaust pipe. I need to do further tests with the engine running as you pointed out. Thats a great suggestion. Thanks you very much indeed for this and the diagram - you have been really helpful.
Hi Anthony I was told by the OPC that this item is not supplied seperatyly for the 996 - only for the 997 model. Is this an OPC available item? I just googled thepart number and came up that its from a Boxster sports exhaust. I guess they are the same? And same as the 997? Thanks again.
watlina
Member
AFAIK the 997 version is not the same and it fact it's more expensive at £65.45 inc VAT there is no indication that the 997 part supercedes the older part. A quick call to Cambridge OPC parts department confirms the 000.044.200.16 part is avalible in the UK at £55.03 inc VAT and of course you'll get 10% off with PCGB discount. Out of interest there is an even older vacuum unit part number for the one on the original PSE that didn't have the switch fitted but even though if fitted as new it's the one Peter's car would of had as he had it fitted latter on they will have almost certainly fitted the latter version.
watlina
Member
Well Porsche certainly list them and stock as different parts and for Peter's purposes if he needs one then he might as well pick the one listed for the 996 as it's cheaper. For the 996 & 986 Year 00 £68.15 Part 000.044.200.18 Desc. vacuum unit Year 01- £55.03 Part 000.044.200.16 Desc. vacuum unit There are also two listed for the 997 Original £65.45 Part 997.111.681.00 Desc. vacuum unit with gear shift rod Successor £65.45 Part 997.111.680.00 Desc. vacuum unit
Thanks for all your advice guys. Before I delve in there myself I have a letter to send off to Reading about this whole saga. After my holiday I'll see what the outcome is and whether of not I will have to get my hands dirty!!
Peter Comiskey
New member
Would be interested to find out what happened here too ... Especially as the longevity of the PSE has always been a little suspect for me ... After buying a new Boxster S in 2001, and during the two years of ownership I visited the OPC over 6 times on the PSE alone with either rattling or non-working valves. On 3 occasions the problem was that the vacuum pipes had melted through, giving me the impression at the time that this was an option fit part that may not have gone through the usual rigorous Porsche testing for standard fit parts. I now have PSE on my 997 ... and the way its integrated/packaged is much better, and it sounds great! (particularly in full-on mode .. I have a little mod to give Full Off, Sport & Full-On) ... but I do often wonder how well those plastic pipes are routed near the exhaust ... I hope you get this resolved with Porsche.
Not good news I’m afraid. Over the years of administrating on this forum I have read many stories that have been written by forum posters about their experiences with the customer relations side of Porsche GB and in particular the Porsche Customer Assistance side regarding claims etc in and out of warranty. I have always been particularly disappointed to read about the more negative outcomes that our members have experienced when I guess that most of us would have expected that Porsche should do the right thing and help the customer. I often thought that if I keep my head down this would never happen to me when I made a claim. After all I have been a Porsche stalwart for over 20 years supporting the marque with boundless enthusiasm, so surely when I presented my case I would be a different prospect. How wrong I was to fool myself to think that I would be any different. The realisation that I have in effect been dumped by Porsche in my hour of need has had a devastating effect on me and I can only assume that this has been the case for so many of you over the years that have been treated the same way. I now know how disappointed you feel. To sum up the final letter from Porsche GB. They were not at all interested in the fact that the sports exhaust was less than 3 years old when it failed, but more interested that I had not purchased extended warranties on my car or that I had not bought it new from them (my mother in law bought it new from them though!). In one letter it was mentioned that loyalty to the brand was a consideration but caste aside my own loyalty over the years. They even mentioned that my association to the club could not be considered as they had not done so in the past to anyone else! I had only mentioned this to highlight my loyalty. For me it’s not about the cost of a replacement or the amount of money involved – it’s all about customer care. It appears to be more like corporate care and corporate greed. Fair enough I understand that once any item that has warranty expired the supplying company has no legal obligation to do anything other than sympathise ( if you are lucky ) but when a prestigious company like Porsche continually turns its back on those that support it then surely its days or at least it’s reputation will be numbered. My local OPC at Bolton have been extremely helpful an supportive over this matter and in no way do I attach any dark shadows over them. My thanks to all who have supplied me with the details above to affect my own repair, it is much appreciated.
On Friday I collected the replacement vacuum unit for Bolton OPC at an all inclusive price of £49. I used the part number 000.044.200.16 that Andy (above) suggested and was quite chuffed at the price. On Saturday I backed the car in the garage and left the fan heater on for half an hour – no point being cold is there! I hadn't removed a rear PU before and was quiet surprised how easy it was. Less than 20 mins and with a little help from ‘er indoors it was lying next to the car on a suitable cloth. I hadn’t realised that there was a heat shield that had to be removed to get access to the nearside exhaust silencer (muffler to our colonial friends across the pond) ............
......... this was removed within a couple of minutes to reveal the vacuum unit
All appeared to be fine at this stage and nothing looked to be amiss. I started the engine selected the stealth mode. It was obvious that the nearside was not working but by manually moving the vacuum lever it went quite. thus proving that the exhaust butterfly valve was indeed intact and fully operational. When I removed the vacuum unit the operating rod fell apart. It had sheared at the entry point to the unit.
You can see with the new unit it should be in one piece.
Once this new one was fitted everything worked a treat ! The rear PU was refitted and everything was back as new.
As you can appreciate the whole sorry saga has left a sour taste about the standards of Porsche customer care. For the sake of a hour and a half’s labour and a £50 part the credibility of their customer care, has, for me at least, been very badly damaged. I am surprised that that there has been no responses to my previous posting (Post No. 15). But then again not really as I have give the possible reason within the post itself!
Imagine how it feels when you need a new engine :-( Pretty disappointing really. Taking into account the main dealer servicing your car receives, when a dealer fitted part fails after 3 years and presumably a pretty modest mileage, you would hope/expect an acknowledgement that such a failure really shouldn't happen. Look on the bright side, at least you've saved £8k worth of warranty renewals!!
Hi Rob Yes I felt for you at the time Rob - its so dissapointing that Porsche can do this to a loyal customer base. I was in two minds whether to call in Trading Standards and question whether or not what Porsche supply is actually fit for the puropse. Then I thought of you and your problem. If you couldn't get anywhere as a solicitor then what chance would any Joe Bloggs have. In the end I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. And that, in a nutshell, is what they all want us to do.
vitesse
Active member
Good morning ,Joe Bloggs Bull, Sorry to hear about your episode-was the operating rod failure just corrosion ?Perhaps a good idea to coat the rod at the critical point with High Melting Point grease-too late now of course with your wifes' labour rates. I also felt sorry for Rob's situation but I am afraid that has evaporated when his Spyder arrived.[
]
]
Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members
Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions
