'04 Tiptronic Not Redlining Since Service

[ttocs]

Is the difference between your odometer and the "Total Distance" read around 5% or so?  Or does the car's service records indicate that the dash cluster has been worked on?

The current info::

The odometer reads: 32,571 miles

The Instrument Cluster K21 reads: Total distance      6215

Operating hours counter      1126.2

 

There wasn't much history on the car except for CarFax, and the limited info I got from the PPI which did not include DME info.

 

What'cha think??

[JFP in PA]

The 6215 is in kilometers, so it is around 3,800 miles give or take.  What did you expect it to be, and is that value around 5% different?  Reason I ask is that all speedometers are set around 4-6% high from the factory, which would translate into a trip odometer reading higher than the actual mileage driven.

 

I would also note that a PPI should have included and DME report.

[ttocs]

So then is the DME Distance multiplied by 10? Because my mileage is 32k, not 3.8k. It seems logical if there is a multiplier involved.

 

Thanks JFP for the info that the DME should've been included. I'm kinda surprised they didn't give it to me. I'll contact them to see if there's a record of it.

 

edit: The dealer did give me the checklist for the PPI, as well as a list of imminently recommended maintenance.

Edited March 4, 2016 by ttocs

[JFP in PA]

Not what I was inferring at all.  You seem to be saying that there was a difference between what you thought the car should have gone mileage wise and what the system says.  I was asking if the difference between those two was about 5% as the factory sets the speedometer slightly higher than reality (most estimates are in the 4-6% range). Now that I have read your other post, I think you are questioning if the miles shown on the dash odometer in relation to the "total distance" captured in the DME.

 

Going by the total hours run time, and using 27-30 MPH as an average speed (this comes from having read a many cars over the years which seem to fall in this range), your car should have shy of 31K miles on it, so the 32K you see seem about right.  As for why the DME shows the total distance at 6215K or 3,800 miles, that I am at a loss to explain.  If you think there is something wrong with your 32K display mileage, check the running hours on the air bag module, it should approximate what the DME sees for the car, but is recorded separately, so it is a good double check for someone trying to alter the cars miles. 

[ttocs]

That's good info JFP.

 

Yes, I've noticed that my speedo is a couple mph wrong on the safety side - when it reads 60, the car is really going 58. I've read that this is pretty standard on Porsches. I'm not questioning the actual miles, or the run hours, I'm just curious about the low km number in the DME.

 

Also, the air bag has more hours on it than anything else. I assume that this is electrical "on" hours and not necessarily while the engine is running. The hours on everything looks ok to me.

 

Still, it's just curious why there would be that low number in the Cluster. The car has no signs of any accident whatsoever. The only item that I would suspect has had some work done on it is the front trunk lid, and that's only due to it missing the Options Sticker, and the fact that the paint on the underside of it is not shiny like other Boxsters I've seen. The lid currently has many touched up chips so I assumed that when it lived in Pennsylvania it must've seen a lot of grit so maybe it was repainted once. The windshield glass is very pitted as well. The paint is weakest part of the whole car, so that's what will be improved this year. Now that I've fixed a bunch of things that I would've done on any Boxster I looked at, the car is in very good mechanical condition! Some bushings will need to be replaced soon, but nothing is in dire need at this time, they just look a bit tired from age - like me.

[JFP in PA]

As you might imagine, daily driver's in PA tend to look like they have been sandblasted, thanks to PennDOT's road care procedures.  And being a legendary "pot hole paradise", we also tend to keep suspension component companies in business as well.  I recently had a customer sell his 458 Ferrari Spider because he could not find decent roads to drive it on during good weather and simply got tired of trying to avoid pot holes.

[ttocs]

As you might imagine, daily driver's in PA tend to look like they have been sandblasted, thanks to PennDOT's road care procedures.  And being a legendary "pot hole paradise", we also tend to keep suspension component companies in business as well.

Gravel and stone bits on the roads, trees turning to stone, makes me "petrified" to drive through there!!

[ttocs]

So this is weird . . .

 

When I first got the Durametric I did some testing and got a couple faults, this was after I disconnected the battery and reset the throttle. One fault was Tiptronic 53 P1704 Kick-down switch, which I cleared and it hasn't returned. I'm thinking this was related to battery/reset. The other fault is in Instrument Cluster K21 9114 PCM control unit. I disregarded this as being related to the fact that I have replaced the stock audio system with aftermarket head and amp.

 

But now this . . . I checked the Total Distance again today and it's "lower" than it was before. On 2/18 it was 5473. On 3/3 it was 6215, a bit high - I don't think I drove that far - but plausible. Today it is 1966 !! Maybe something is up with the PCM that I should be looking into? And could this cause or be caused by other issues? I have tried to clear the fault but it remains, and when I do I get a myriad of other faults that show up like this example:

 

E383

Unknown fault code, please tell us about this missing information by clicking here

 

Out of about 37 entries there are a bunch that are repeated entries. When I back out of that screen and go back to current fault codes it only lists the 9114 code. I'm clueless on this.

 

Also, since this isn't related to my original post, should I be putting this elsewhere on the site? . . . or maybe it "is" related? not sure.

 

It may be interesting to note that the radio install was October 1st, and the mechanical services were started a week later, so could there be something electrical going on here that may have been caused by the radio install that affected the Tiptronic operation?

Edited March 6, 2016 by ttocs

[JFP in PA]

Your post is fine here.

 

A lot of the information handled (and displayed) by your cluster comes over the CAN bus system.  Your original radio was also a MOST fiber optic unit.  Replacing the radio, the installers could have upset the communications system the car was designed to use, which is probably why you are getting the cluster code.  It may also be related to your strange distance readings.  If you still have the original radio, I would reinstall it, clear all the codes and see what comes back.

[ttocs]

I'll see if I can accomplish that. I told the installer (high end, been in business since the 1940's) to not cut any wires so I'll have to see if they listened. One wire was to go to the shifter for a lockout when using Nav, the tech asked if I wanted to cut the radio's wire going to the shifter because he's not allowed to do it, I did. I just don't know if that wire had already been connected, or if I was only cutting the wire in more of a ceremonial way. I'll find out soon.

[ttocs]

Connected the CDR-23, cleared faults, checked faults - NO FAULTS!

 

Total distance was still at 1966 before drive. After driving 5.4 miles, the Total Distance reported is now 2171. That translates into 205km or 127 miles! Still no faults.

 

So now the most pressing question I have is: Where does the Cluster get the Total Distance info from? (and yes, I know that's grammatically incorrect, but I started life in a far south side suburb of Chicago) Could this info be coming from a connection on the Tiptronic trans? Wherever it's coming from, could it simply be a loose connection?

[JFP in PA]

Connected the CDR-23, cleared faults, checked faults - NO FAULTS!

 

Total distance was still at 1966 before drive. After driving 5.4 miles, the Total Distance reported is now 2171. That translates into 205km or 127 miles! Still no faults.

 

So now the most pressing question I have is: Where does the Cluster get the Total Distance info from? (and yes, I know that's grammatically incorrect, but I started life in a far south side suburb of Chicago) Could this info be coming from a connection on the Tiptronic trans? Wherever it's coming from, could it simply be a loose connection?

 

From the engine control module, which like the dash controller may now require recalibration (PIWIS).

[ttocs]

Update on the Tiptronic

After several fluid changes and putting on lots of fun miles, here's what I've witnessed.

 

The shift from 1st to 2nd is consistently at about 6800 rpm; from 2nd to 3rd at 7050 rpm. I've now driven other same era Tips and they shift the same, as well as viewing the few videos showing the tach and demonstrating that they also shift the same. My conclusion on this is that the shift point going into 2nd at about 6800 rpm is normal, and the fact that my Tip shifted at and sometimes above the 7200 rpm redline prior to changing the 11 year old fluid was Abby Normal (abnormal, Young Frankenstein).

 

The "little squeak" sound that is heard when converter lockup occurs after starting from a stop in 2nd and accelerating normally is now very quiet and often can't be heard.

 

Thanks to all for your input.