2005 Cayenne S - Air Suspension fault - intermittent

[newportimports]

Hi people, hope someone might have an idea of some help.

I have a 2005 Cayenne S with Air Suspension.

My wife drives the car and recently the air suspension light (the RED one) came on the information station in the dash, warning and beeping away at her.

She panicked and pulled over, turned the car off, waited a while to see if the car had lost its air? No was still at the lower of the driving levels as set by her. Got back in, started it up..... no suspension light (amber or red) & no amber ! check symbol displayed?

Since then it happens maybe 1 out of every 3 journeys she does, same thing. Red warning suspension light comes on, makes the beeping sound and illuminates the amber ! light in dash, but isnt losing any air from the suspension and seems to handle fine. Keeps beeping away until you turn the car off, and back on again, no suspension warning light or amber ! stays shown?????

Spoke to a local Porsche independent that specialises in 911s, he recommended changing the Compressor / Pump. So I did, along with the relay that manages it.

2nd time out..... same thing happened???????????

Booked it in with Porsche for a diagnostic at £130pr hour....... no faults found, none stored in the memory and didnt do it on the road test they conducted????????????

ARRRRR, so now I have wasted a bunch of money and had experts look at it and im none the wiser as to what the problem is.

Hopefully some kind soul on here has some suggestions for me.....

[wvicary]

Welcome.

First thing to check is the battery/batteries and charging system. Your vehicle may have a main battery located under the left front seat and another battery located in the spare tire well used only to start the engine.

[newportimports]

Welcome.

First thing to check is the battery/batteries and charging system. Your vehicle may have a main battery located under the left front seat and another battery located in the spare tire well used only to start the engine.

could it have something to do with the battery then????

Weirdly enough the car also had a major battery drain, say in 48hours it would be totally flat. Porsche said it was the non Porsche tracker so we have had that "unplugged" so it isnt pulling a consistant drain and had a new battery fitted to.... underneath the seat (what a job that was).

How will I know if there is one in the boot? where abouts should I look to find it. or is it a case of getting a vin decode and it will state on that?

Think i remember reading somewhere on this forum that if you give your vin to someone they will decode all the options you car has???

thanks for your help

[wvicary]

The CAN-BUS system used on the Cayenne is very sensitive to low voltage conditions and a failing battery can cause odd issues in many systems. Remove the spare tire and BOSE speaker sub if equipped and look for the second battery.

You really need to get the battery drain issue sorted before trying to solve the air suspension fault as it could very well be related to the battery issue.

[newportimports]

The CAN-BUS system used on the Cayenne is very sensitive to low voltage conditions and a failing battery can cause odd issues in many systems. Remove the spare tire and BOSE speaker sub if equipped and look for the second battery.

You really need to get the battery drain issue sorted before trying to solve the air suspension fault as it could very well be related to the battery issue.

ok will look for the 2nd battery tonight and get it replaced. start there and work forward.... thanks once again for your help

[bigbuzuki]

I had the same symptoms in the past and the main battery under the left front seat was responsible for the suspension warnings. I was getting the red warning just after starting the car.

If you have Kessy and are using the dummy key to start the car, the battery in the front is used for cranking.

The rear battery on Kessy equipped vehicles is used for starter cranking only when the metal key is inserted in the ignition switch and not the plastic dummy key. (logic being that if you have a flat main battery, KESSY would be inoperative, resulting in the use of the metal key and therefore rear battery for start)

Either way, with KESSY or without and irrespective if you have a rear battery, there is no need to change the rear battery for the suspension warnings. I would be changing the front main battery.

IJ2C is the option code for the dual battery setup. It should be listed on your vin option sticker located under the floor panel in the rear cargo compartment.

Edited May 5, 2012 by bigbuzuki

[newportimports]

no battery in the rear?

And I have replaced the front battery and it is still doing it?

The air suspension light doesnt come on only when first started like bigbuzuki said, it will come on totally randomly. Also is it normal to be sitting at a set of lights and the car start levelling itself out on the air suspension?

[newportimports]

happy to post pic of the boot showing no battery and also the options plate / sticker I found in the boot if it helps anyone??

[wvicary]

The air suspension needs to be put through it's paces while monitoring data via a scan tool. One can not simply look to fault codes for the answers all the time as sometimes they are not present. There are several data points that need to be measured to identify the source of the problem including the height position sensors and the ability of the system to hold rest pressure and how quickly it rebuilds pressure. Many techs are not familiar with the diagnostics of these systems.

Your best chance of finding the problem is to have the vehicle exhibiting the fault then go directly to your garage and have the system checked without shutting the ignition off or leave the vehicle with them so they can road test it until it faults.

[bigbuzuki]

I find it hard to believe that there were no fault codes generated and stored with a red suspension warning.

I would be looking for another workshop to get the fault codes read.

Edited May 11, 2012 by bigbuzuki

[newportimports]

I find it hard to believe that there were no fault codes generated and stored with a red suspension warning.

I would be looking for another workshop to get the fault codes read.

That was PORSCHE Tonbridge? I dont like to run any garage down but to be fair to them everytime you re-start the car the amber ! has gone off and there are no warnings on the dash.......

Anyone want to buy a cheap 06 / 55 Plate Cayenne S........ had enough of this!