Check engine light service bulletin Please help (very stuck)

[b-star]

Hi all,

Wondered if anyone can help, or has any experience of this problem with their 986 Boxster...

I keep getting the P2096 and P2098 fault codes and the check engine light, the codes are for mixture correction bank 1 and mixture correction bank 2 for mixture too lean.

To try and rectify this so far I have done the following;

1. Changed the sensors in the exhaust

2. Changed the MAF sensor

3. Thoroughly checked the inlet side of things for leaks and replaced two old breather pipes 

With the car live data showing and the engine running at circa 2000rpm the figures post cat are significantly lower than before the cat which is correct?  (sorry for any potential errors but I had this explained to me by the mechanic running the test and don't fully understand it) So it looks like the CAT's are functioning as intended.

But the codes and the engine light keep coming back.

With a search online tonight I have found the Porsche technical service bulletin pictured below  and wondered if anyone else had had the same issues? My car is an 03 registration facelifted model which the bulletin seems to be referring to. So any advice / feedback would be most welcome as i am well and truly stuck.

Thanks in advance

Chris

[Boxob]

Seems like yours has the defect referred to in the TI. If so you'll need the fault code deleted and FAME reprogrammed.  Some members on here may be able to help as they have PIWIS. @Richard Hamilton may be able to assist?

[b-star]

15 minutes ago, Boxob said:

Seems like yours has the defect referred to in the TI. If so you'll need the fault code deleted and FAME reprogrammed.  Some members on here may be able to help as they have PIWIS. @Richard Hamilton may be able to assist?

Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED 🙈

[Richard Hamilton]

I have posted that bulletin a couple of times on the forum, and I recall someone having the problem fixed that way.

To remap the DME you need the Porsche IPAS security codes for the car.  A good indy can get them, but Porsche are obstructive in giving them to individuals.  

[Richard Hamilton]

I have posted that bulletin a couple of times on the forum, and I recall someone having the problem fixed that way.

To remap the DME you need the Porsche IPAS security codes for the car.  A good indy can get them, but Porsche are obstructive in giving them to individuals.  

 

[b-star]

55 minutes ago, Richard Hamilton said:

I have posted that bulletin a couple of times on the forum, and I recall someone having the problem fixed that way.

To remap the DME you need the Porsche IPAS security codes for the car.  A good indy can get them, but Porsche are obstructive in giving them to individuals.  

 

Thank you Richard, Can anyone recommend a good independent specialist near Wolverhampton? Or would you just give the local OPC a call?

 

[Jason986S]

Cotswold Porsche aren’t a million miles from you and very highly regarded 

[Sazzy]

I thought this might be my problem but I see it specifies Boxster S in the bulletin so I guess not a 2.7 problem 🤔

[b-star]

Hi Sazzy, I’ve no idea if the same bulletin applies to the 2.7 model also, sorry. Hope your able to sort it out though.

 

As an update, these guys have said that they can re program the DME on my car with the updated software, just wondered if anyone on here hade used them before or had any experience of their work before I book my car in?

http://www.ramusporscha.co.uk/

[Richard Hamilton]

9 hours ago, Sazzy said:

I thought this might be my problem but I see it specifies Boxster S in the bulletin so I guess not a 2.7 problem 🤔

No, it only applies to the 3.2, Model Year 2003, up to the introduction of the new DME software on:
10. February 2004, as of the Vehicle Ident. No.: 98 Z4S 64 0783
12. February 2004, as of the Vehicle Ident. No.: 98 Z4U 64 1777

[woody-g]

I use CMS Porsche in Telford for service & repairs, they are very helpful and reasonably priced, speak to Steve.

[Sazzy]

13 hours ago, b-star said:

Hi Sazzy, I’ve no idea if the same bulletin applies to the 2.7 model also, sorry. Hope your able to sort it out though.

 

As an update, these guys have said that they can re program the DME on my car with the updated software, just wondered if anyone on here hade used them before or had any experience of their work before I book my car in?

http://www.ramusporscha.co.uk/

Ah that's ok hope you get yours sorted. Thanks for the claficarion @Richard Hamilton

[Foobar]

On 6/7/2019 at 9:13 AM, Richard Hamilton said:

No, it only applies to the 3.2, Model Year 2003, up to the introduction of the new DME software on:
10. February 2004, as of the Vehicle Ident. No.: 98 Z4S 64 0783
12. February 2004, as of the Vehicle Ident. No.: 98 Z4U 64 1777

I've got the CEL on now and I've a 02 3.2S.  I think the previous owner might have said something like it was an 03 spec but registered in Aug 02 - is that even possible?  Is there a way for me to check if my car will need the DME upgrade?

[Richard Hamilton]

1 hour ago, Foobar said:

I've got the CEL on now and I've a 02 3.2S.  I think the previous owner might have said something like it was an 03 spec but registered in Aug 02 - is that even possible?  Is there a way for me to check if my car will need the DME upgrade?

Entirely possible that an August 2002 car is Model Year 2003.  The 10th digit of the VIN is the model year. 1=2001, 2=2002, etc.  If it is MY2003, then it would fall into the period before the revised fuel map was introduced in MY2004.

Edited to add:  Of course, your CEL may be some other cause entirely.  Only if you have fault codes P2096 and/or P2098 does this bulletin apply.

[thefunkygibbon]

Hmm so my engine light has just came on and torque tells me that its P2096 too.  I've been reading this thread with interest as I've got a facelift my2003 52 plate 3.2s but I've been told I have exhaust issues (brackets broke and muffler blowing) in a recent health check.   Not sure what next steps should be as I'm planning on replacing the back box with something soon.

Is this technical bulletin a recall? Or something which you need to pay someone to do?  Is it even likely that this is the issue?  I suck at cars so please be kind

[GmanB]

5 hours ago, thefunkygibbon said:

Hmm so my engine light has just came on and torque tells me that its P2096 too.  I've been reading this thread with interest as I've got a facelift my2003 52 plate 3.2s but I've been told I have exhaust issues (brackets broke and muffler blowing) in a recent health check.   Not sure what next steps should be as I'm planning on replacing the back box with something soon.

Is this technical bulletin a recall? Or something which you need to pay someone to do?  Is it even likely that this is the issue?  I suck at cars so please be kind

I believe on the facellift we have 2 sets of sensors, pre and post cat. I don't think there are any sensors on the exhaust after post cats sensors. Therefore, the ecu shouldn't care how loud or hissy it is after that point (it shouldn't care about the muffler). You probably have an issue between set 1 and set 2 sensors, i.e. the cats. 

Do you have any other codes?

[thefunkygibbon]

hmmm ok.  no no other codes.  I cleared the code and drop a few miles home and it hasn't come back on.  We'll see.  

Would cleaning the MAF help?  I did install a pipercross performance filter a few weeks back too, but thats the only other thing i can think of other than my dodgy exhaust (thats not to say i've not got a tonne of other issues with my car that I don't know about !!) :(

[GmanB]

14 minutes ago, thefunkygibbon said:

hmmm ok.  no no other codes.  I cleared the code and drop a few miles home and it hasn't come back on.  We'll see.  

Would cleaning the MAF help?  I did install a pipercross performance filter a few weeks back too, but thats the only other thing i can think of other than my dodgy exhaust (thats not to say i've not got a tonne of other issues with my car that I don't know about !!)

Give it another 100 miles and if the code returns and you're able to get underneath the car, gently knock the cats. If there is a rattle, it means it has come loose from the inner container and the cat(s) will need replacing. Not a major issue until the next MOT, but you know, environment and all that. The code was probably reset just before you bought the car. 

[mk1max]

Hi!

I went through pretty much exactly this fault with my 2003 3.2S last year and start of this year. Although I briefly outlined the steps in my members rides thread ( link coming up) I did a pretty rubbish job of giving specifics.

 

So in summary, from that thread:

On 5/3/2019 at 2:46 PM, mk1max said:

The repeated engine management light (and the resultant new O2 sensors, lambda sensor, MAF and possibly more I'm now forgetting) has been sorted. I haven't removed the bulb! The exhaust was apparently blowing a bit so the exhaust was patched up. Unfortunately plenty of stuff siezed while being removed, so this wasn't as cheap as it sounds!!

So the car had all O2 sensors (pre and post cat) replaced, lambda sensor replaced (emissions were checked and were all over the place, so they thought maybe this was the cause - emissions were fixed but the EML problem came back) and MAF cleaned. The inlet part of the system was all checked for vacuum leaks. My OPC tried updating the software but this wasn't the help as the car wouldn't take the update, so possibly my car had already had the updated software at some point. I can't remember if we then tried anything else, but another indy suggested it may have been that my catalytic converters were blown - one or both was unknown. I got a couple of used cats from a member on here, and took them with the car to the indy. He discovered that although my cats themselves were fine, the joins had gotten loose and there were a couple of small holes elsewhere in the system. He ended up putting sleeves on parts of the system, fixing the joins better and actually used the replacement cats as they had done less mileage than mine. That final job seems to have been the one that fixed those problems as those particular codes haven't been thrown up since then and I've done many miles in the intervening 5 months.

Clearing the codes doesn't help as the computer relearns the problem within around 70 miles, so you do need to trace the cause. Armed with that knowledge above, I'd do those steps in reverse. I'd say the software update - while it would be a good help - is unlikely to be the fix, because to my mind the car had/has done many years and miles without problem already, so the ECU update would only really be needed if you're swapping O2 sensors with some which are outside OEM spec. Get someone to check your exhaust. According to my indy, a blown cat and a car trying to adjust the fueling to make up for it will possibly blow O2 sensors anyway, so just swapping them still doesn't fix the underlying cause.

If I've missed a step that we did in the diagnosis process, I'll add it to another post here. It was quite a long and costly exercise! (I'm happy to do a lot of jobs myself on my car, but stuff with the exhaust gets quite frustrating lying on the ground under a car on axle stands, so is often when I hand it over to a garage!) Good luck!

[mk1max]

...And I just remembered something!  The guy who did the work on the exhaust also mentioned that there were some gaps in the manifold where it is joined up to the engine (so at the head end) and he did some work to seal those gaps too, but obviously without removing engine so I'm not sure how effective that was (though it seems to have worked!). I can't remember which bank/side it was but something else to check...

[Foobar]

I ended up having to replace both o2 sensors, then the cam shaft on bank 1.

 

Yikes, an expensive year.

[b-star]

Yikes Foobar, that sounds nasty...

I’ve been to an Indy specialist and they’ve found leaks in the breather side of things, and it’s booked in again to have possible exhaust leaks sorted as well as an ecu re flash, they suspect it’s been mapped at some point? I’ve no idea as there is no mention of it in the cars history. Feeling like I’m very much going round in circles though as the breather lines, air oil separator and exhaust system have all been worked on before by somebody I trust to do things well.