Cayenne completely dead, not battery issue!

[ventuje]

Driving home from the office the other day, I stop at the pool store for some chemicals. I'm not in the store more than 5mins, come back out and cannot start the car! Immediately after putting in the key, an alert appears on the dash - "STEERING FAULTY" and beeps. That's it, nothing else will even turn on, not the engine, can't roll down windows or anything. I turn the steering wheel and it turns but it should be locked right? It turns completely side-to-side, obviously not locked. I wait 10 mins, go back out to the truck and when I open the door, before I even put in the key, I get the same alert! Had to have Porsche Roadside flatbed it to the dealer and I could not move the gear shift so they 'dragged' it up the truck. They did use a soap solution to get is to slide somewhat. Now the dealer has it 2 days and still cannot fix it! ARGH! Anyone heard of this before? 04 S

[Dennis C]

Driving home from the office the other day, I stop at the pool store for some chemicals. I'm not in the store more than 5mins, come back out and cannot start the car! Immediately after putting in the key, an alert appears on the dash - "STEERING FAULTY" and beeps. That's it, nothing else will even turn on, not the engine, can't roll down windows or anything. I turn the steering wheel and it turns but it should be locked right? It turns completely side-to-side, obviously not locked. I wait 10 mins, go back out to the truck and when I open the door, before I even put in the key, I get the same alert! Had to have Porsche Roadside flatbed it to the dealer and I could not move the gear shift so they 'dragged' it up the truck. They did use a soap solution to get is to slide somewhat. Now the dealer has it 2 days and still cannot fix it! ARGH! Anyone heard of this before? 04 S

That's a strange problem. I had a battery fail recently, and the steering wheel and transmission were locked. I had the flatbed driver hook up jumper cables to the battery ports under the hood long enough to unlock these things and get the Cayenne on the flatbed.

When my new battery was installed, my Servotronic power steering unit didn't work. Apparently it was a fuse. Now that the fuse has been changed, everything is fine.

Hopefully yours is also just a fuse or something similar. One thing I can say about these cars, is that they do really, really screwy things when the battery is low or dying. Including things like strange error messages.

Good luck.

[RFM]

First of all the dealership can read out the fault codes with the PIWIS tester, there is a program to enter in to the system without the key in the ignition switch and ignition on. Most probably causes are: Faulty steering wheel electronics ( complete steering column ), Kessy control box, " ignition switch " and initialising the key gives ones in a while such a symptom. The tiptronic gear change lever can easily unlocked manually, i don't understand why a dealership slide a car with a locked transmission in Park on a flat bed truck, such a mistake can destroy the transmission. Hope the best for you.

[ventuje]

First of all the dealership can read out the fault codes with the PIWIS tester, there is a program to enter in to the system without the key in the ignition switch and ignition on. Most probably causes are: Faulty steering wheel electronics ( complete steering column ), Kessy control box, " ignition switch " and initialising the key gives ones in a while such a symptom. The tiptronic gear change lever can easily unlocked manually, i don't understand why a dealership slide a car with a locked transmission in Park on a flat bed truck, such a mistake can destroy the transmission. Hope the best for you.

Lastest update from the dealer is a complete steering wheel column replacement! That astounds me that the entire unit needs replacing? when is sounds like just electronic parts have failed. I could still use the buttons to adjust the wheel up/down or in and out. Is it that integrated? The flatbed was able to get right up to the rear wheels, one side rolled while the other side kinda slipped/hopped. I don't know either. Then I told them I want the car kept in their garage and they have the audacity to tell me they have NO WAY to move it! I really can't stand this dealer (Cherry Hill Imports, NJ) and if I had a closer one I'd obviously try them. They recently stopped giving loaners, now I get these cheap rentals from Avis! They are driving away customers!

[RFM]

The electronic is a single piece construction with the column.

[CT44]

Read the manual and do not destroy your transmission!! There is a key under the lower center compartment to unlock the park mode when there is no power for this very reason.

JR

[ventuje]

Read the manual and do not destroy your transmission!! There is a key under the lower center compartment to unlock the park mode when there is no power for this very reason.

JR

Thanks for that, too late however. Why wouldn't Porshce Roadside make me aware of that? or make sure the tow truck operators they contract with know about that transmission release procedure!?

[ventuje]

Read the manual and do not destroy your transmission!! There is a key under the lower center compartment to unlock the park mode when there is no power for this very reason.

JR

Thanks for that, too late however. Why wouldn't Porshce Roadside make me aware of that? or make sure the tow truck operators they contract with know about that transmission release procedure!?

Well, the dealer finally finished my Cayenne, the entire steering column was replaced along with some other sensors. They also noticed 2 'nicked' wires once they had the column out. They fixed them too. The cats had to come off the car during replacing the column. Man, what a pain, they ripped my car apart! Service guy said they had 17man hrs of labor in this fix. They had the car for 6 business days! It's all buttoned up now and they had it detailed for me (for my troubles, big deal). So far, one complaint, the center console seems slightly loose. I'm gonna wait to see what else they eff'd up before I take it back.