[enap99]

Hello everybody! I have an 1993 tiptronic transmission 968, wich is driving me crazy. Basically what happens is that i start runing, and then suddenly my tip gearbox goes crazy, the tip does not work anymore, and the gearbox goes in what i believe is an "defcon4" pattern, so i can go back home with only one gear on it workinkg properly. The funny thing is, when i stop, turn off the car, take the key off, and turn it on again, the failure seems to stop, until the next couple of miles. I already changed the oil, the filter, and im buying from an USA dealer (i live in Brazil) the sensor ($70,00) to be replaced. Does anyone knows whats going on?



thanks a lot



Francesco Assennato

1993 "blue Thunder" tiptronic (blargh!) 968, 60.000 km

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[coloradocab]

Sounds identical to a problem I ran into 5-6 years ago. It was an electrical short causing the transmission control unit to go into limp mode. Solution was a new battery cable, as I recall, after about 10-15hrs of diagnosis of the electrical system.

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[danish22]

I found this tech forum online and was wondering if there was a final answer to the problem of getting the car out of limp mode. I've got a similar situation coming up...

I've been looking for a 968 for quite a while, having previously owned a 944S. I either made the greatest car purchase of my life or I could be in for a troubled future. I purchased a 1995 Porsche 968 tiptronic with 111K from a dealer recently for extremely cheap (about 5 grand). The car was listed on craigslist.com at a used car dealer out in the middle of nowhere. I talked to the guy selling many, many times before purchasing and he said that the car is a 8/10 on the exterior and a 9/10 on the interior. He said mechanically the car appears to be outstanding, except it is stuck in the limp mode with the tiptronic. He said that he doesn't have the diagnostic tools to fix it at his shop and he doesn't have the patience to send it on a flatbed to some other city that has the tools to try to get fixed and then flatbedded back to try to sell after what is an unknown amount of repair work to try to make an unknown profit, etc..etc..etc.. So he just wanted to move the car quickly and get it off his lot. Hence the low price. This is the story he sold and the one I bought.

As far as the tiptronic and the transmission is concerned... He said there is no grinding, no clunking, no odd noises. The car drives fine, but only in the single limp mode gear. Starts fine, goes in and out of P, N, D, R with no issues...but is in limp mode.

I bought the car and am having it shipped (the guy even set that up for me...awefully nice of him) straight to the front doors of IMA motorsports out in Chantilly, VA where they said they'd take a look at it. Does anyone have any input as to what I should expect from the repair shop? Was it a simple electrical connection issue or did things end up much uglier later on.

Hopefully a quick fix....if it turns into a 5-10K repair, I'll probably resell the car or part it out. Thanks for any input you might be able to provide.

Dane

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[cosimo]

I can't help with diagnosing the tip problem but I can tell that IMA is one of the best shops for 968s. I have been dealing with Ivan Arzola for 16 years. They are very competent and will definetly solve the problem. Tell them Ron Cannizzaro sent you. I will also make sure you are well treated.

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[danish22]

Thanks! Ivan is who I've been talking to out there at IMA and he's been really good to work with so far. I'll keep you all posted.

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[unknown4u]

I'd have a strange sympton last year with my tip either. After startting the car it goes in to limp mode. After a fresh startup the limp mode was gone and it runs like it should do.

She had it for 5 or 6 times. After changing the dme relay the failure has gone and never returned. Probably the relay was getting bad and because some of the electric circuits were not started up at the same time.

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[gryphon]

My Tip has gone into limp mode when my battery was failing.

Tom

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[danish22]

Thanks for the responses everybody. I think it is an electrical issue and not a transmission problem. I tracked down the VIN and ran a CARFAX check, then called the two dealerships that worked on the car that were listed. Gave them the VIN and got what info I could. The last two times it had documented work were in Oct of 2007 and in July of 04. The 04 was for...you guessed it...Tiptronic light on and they replaced a faulty tiptronic control module. The 07 work said it was stuttering and stalling and the alarm was having issues. They replaced the battery, its harness and connectors for a "trans control failure". That was the best I could get out of the guys.

Obviously some sort of continuing electrical issue. The guy who sold me the car said it had an aftermarket alarm system on it. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee once with an alarm that kept draining the battery and causing all sort of other problems. I spent a lot of time and money trying to figure it out and at the end of the day the simple act of pulling the alarm fuse solved all the electrical problems. I don't think I ever actually had it completely repaired...just went without an alarm. So I might start with having the alarm completely disabled, replace the DME, check the ground and the cables from the battery to the tiptronic. I think in the end it will be a simple fix for a couple hundred bucks, but I fear the labor costs in tracking it down. I'm also waiting to see how much the tune up will cost. I'm not sure what's been done on the car and I'm hoping it'll just be an oil change and maybe the timing belt and not a laundry list of items.

Car gets here in about a week.... we'll see how it goes!

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