Questions about overheating and damaged wheel

[Griff500]

So, my girlfriend drove my 991.2 GTS for the last time today...

I've now got a rear wheel with a bit of kerb rash and a small dent in the rim - she reckons a pothole was responsible but she showed me where and it's half the width of the rear tyre so I don't see how. Is this something that can be fixed? Likely cost?

It's also now stuck at the supermarket because it's showing the temperature gauge maxed out and 122 degrees on the digital readout. The engine does seem hot when opening the rear cover. I'll go back later and see what happens when it's cold to see if I can get it home - it's only a five-minute drive from my house! The car hadn't been started for a couple of weeks for obvious reasons but started instantly. Any idea what might have caused this? Likely outcome? Warranty type of issue?

Cheers!

 

[TOB7Y]

Hi Griff500,

It would be worth putting a picture up of the damage to the wheel. Would likely cost £100 to get fixed properly, depending on where you take it.

With regards to the temp. - do you have any messages saying there is an issue??

 

[Griff500]

I wasn't driving the car but apparently it said the engine was overheating and that she should pull over (she was in the supermarket car park, it had been driven about two miles up the road and yet I saw a reading on the temp gauge of 122 degrees).

The engine cover area did seem quite hot but I don't see how it could really have got quite that hot.


I'll go to the car later and see if it will start.

She reckons the rim damage was a pothole but the one she showed me was not very deep at all and probably between half and two-thirds the width of the wheel. The text on the wheel below the dent looks a bit odd...

Cheers for the help. On a Porsche forum elsewhere it was suggested that my girlfriend was probably having sex with another bloke and had let him drive. According to the admin on that forum you should expect that sort of 'light joke' if you mention a girlfriend on a forum and so it was my own fault... amazing.

 

[AndrewT]

Having suffered from pothole to one of the front wheels on my Cayman I’d say the dented rim and tyre distortion resemble that which might occur with pothole damage but the "rash” looks more like it’s been scraped along a kerb. My suggestion is that she turned too sharply when tur into or out of the parking bay and rode the car up over the kerb, that’s not to say she didn’t also drive through a pothole on the way home. I’d get the wheel checked for buckling too.

As for the overheating, check the coolant level when you get a chance, coolant loss can occur due to a leaking seal on the coolant header tank cap.

 

[Griff500]

Thanks Andrew.

The pothole is next to a kerb and it's a bit of road where cars tend to come over onto your side of the road.

Was yours expensive to repair? I've never done this to a wheel so I've no idea what can be done and what it costs.

Is the tyre something to be concerned about?

I'll be going to the car in a while.

 

[Lancerlot]

1.) Get vehicle recovered to your nearest PC under Porsche Assistance.
2.) The PC will almost certainly have a company that can repair the wheel, but you may need a replacement.
2.) The tyre wall looks damaged, so you will probably need a new pair of front tyres too.
3.) The PC will resolve the overhearing under your extended warranty.
4.) Replace the girlfriend or ban her from driving your Porsche. []

As a newly wed couple, my wife, Judith curbed my new Porsche wrecking the tyre, damaging the wheel way beyond repair and pushed the front suspension back 4". She swore she was only doing around 15-20mph!

Next month we are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. I've had 13 new Porsches since then, but she has flatly refused to drive any of them!
Regards,

Clive

 

[Griff500]

Cheers Clive.

It's the rear wheel and they are new PS4S tyres - I've probably done 50 miles on them...

No OPC is open at the moment to my knowledge and certainly not my local one.

I wonder if you would have been married for 40 years if the damage had been done prior to marriage! ;-) Congratulations by the way.

 

[Lancerlot]

OK. I assume you just want to recover it then.

Take some water with you to top up the cooling system, if necessary. Fire it up and see what happens.
Assuming all's well and the tyre is holding air, you could then try to drive it home. You may need to take it in stages letting it cool intermittently; maybe persuade any inquisitive police officer your journey is really essential - perhaps buy some groceries to put in the boot?

If water is leaking out somewhere, you will need to find out where and effect a temporary repair. A punctured rad can often be mended using a petro patch, gungum, exhaust paste - even chewing gum in an emergency!

Being resourceful is what motoring is all about! [] Otherwise it will need to be recovered professionally.
Good luck!

Regards,

Clive

 

[AndrewT]

Dean,

I had to replace the tyre, the alloy has a very slight buckle which, I’ve been assured by two separate tyre fitting centres, should have no ill effect yet I’m sure I can feel a vibration which was not there before. My plan is to take it to a wheel refurbishment specialist who say they can straighten it for around £95 which is typically what they charge for a straightforward refurbishment. In my case it was the nearside front wheel which was damaged, I’ve added a link to my thread below.

I tried claiming from Wiltshire county council who rejected my claim on the basis that there was no pothole there during their most recent survey and no-one else had reported it before my incident.
https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1035519&high=Pothole

 

[Motorhead]

Dean,

I'd agree with the above contributions. The wheel damage definitely looks like a separate kerbing and impact damage - the tyre needs to be replaced, and although the kerbing damage could probably be ground off, the impact damage will most likely require some reconstruction (filler or weld).

I think the best way forward is to contact a wheel refurbisher for advice and typical costs, assuming that they're still operating ATM. Someone like Exel should be able to help, and they offer a wheel loan service if you plan to use the car while the wheel is being refurbished. I should say that they will refurbish the wheel completely, not just the outer face of the wheel which many other refurbishers can carry out at your premises (check online). Exel will also check the wheel for any buckling present.

https://www.exelwheels.co.uk/Wheel-Refurb.html

Jeff

 

[Griff500]

Cheers guys.

The car started fine. Water level was fine (nearer max than min) and I left it idling on my drive for a while and it held temperature fine. Oil level is fine and is near max (it had just had a service).

If I can find the ODB dongle I'll be able to scan for some error codes. Perhaps it was due to a low battery throwing an error? I find it odd that it should get to such a high temperature when she was sitting there with it idling - maybe no fans running or no oil circulating for some reason? It seems a bit odd - that assumes the temperature readings were correct.

When I got home and turned the engine off there was a lot of noise from the front, like fans spooling down. I've never heard that before.

I guess I should have it checked by the dealer due to having rear axle steering as soon as possible or is that unlikely to be a problem? Apparently she didn't feel a big impact and just heard it scrape and wasn't going fast. I believe that, knowing her and knowing where this happened, although the dent in the rim looks like something you'd feel but I guess people have different sensitivity to these things.

What Ctek charger should I have? I believe I can charge through the lighter socket? It's probably a good idea to get it on charge now.

I'll give Exel a shout. It's nice to be replacing a big fat GTS rear tyre after about 50 miles...

 

[MistleyMike]

........ The car hadn't been started for a couple of weeks for obvious reasons but started instantly. Any idea what might have caused this?

This is what I had to remove from my off-side front intake after leaving it parked for a couple of weeks.

You never know........

https://flic.kr/p/2iLdaZE

Mike

 

[Griff500]

........ The car hadn't been started for a couple of weeks for obvious reasons but started instantly. Any idea what might have caused this?

This is what I had to remove from my off-side front intake after leaving it parked for a couple of weeks.

You never know........

https://flic.kr/p/2iLdaZE

Mike

Hi Mike.

I've got grills on the front and there's nothing blocking the intake. It would have been a simple answer!

 

[Motorhead]

Dean,

The rear suspension has obviously had a decent clout, so an alignment check along with an inspection of the rear suspension wouldn't be a bad idea at some point to ensure all is well. I would have thought that the RWS should be robust enough to take that sort of abuse without there being a problem.

I think that your cooling issue warrants a trip to the Porsche Centre for further investigation using their PIWIS diagnostic system ... from your description, it doesn't sound as though things are quite right. Granted, that's not much help if their workshop is only open to owners with critical jobs. []

I've been using my ancient CTEK charger for more than 9-years and the latest MSX 5.0 is probably the go-to version ATM. I'm not sure that the lighter socket remains active continuously when the ignition is switched off - I think you need to connect the conditioner when the system is live. Someone else will be able to advise on that, and there's probably another power-point which does remain live, but I always prefer to connect directly to the battery positive terminal and a body earthing point (check your Driver's Manual for instructions).

Jeff

 

[Griff500]

Just ordered a charger which will hopefully arrive soon. It seems they have suddenly become almost as rare as toilet paper.

 

[Maverick1]

Hi
I have a Ctek MXS-5 and charge through the lighter socket no problem
Its great as you can just shut the door and lock the car as the door rubbers don't crush the wire
I have a GTS 991.1 though

 

[ericc23]

Dean,
I have a 991.2 GTS and the CTEC charges fine via the centre console lighter socket as Kevin (911GTS69) describes.

 

[Griff500]

Cheers guys??

 

[Griff500]

For some unknown reason it's taken the dealer this long to get around to having a looking at the car...

Apparently the issue is a vacuum valve causing the car to overheat. I believe there is one for the coolant system so perhaps it's that and that might explain the coolant level reading high.

They tell me that the tyre is ok to use, which surprised me. Apparently they have looked at it and the wobbly writing is just cosmetic and the tyre is fine to use. I pushed them on it and they were more than happy with it but would change it if I want of course.

They are getting Lepsons to refurbish the wheel and charging £110 for it, which seems fine.

 

[richardfleming]

Dean,

I had to replace the tyre, the alloy has a very slight buckle which, I’ve been assured by two separate tyre fitting centres, should have no ill effect yet I’m sure I can feel a vibration which was not there before. My plan is to take it to a wheel refurbishment specialist who say they can straighten it for around £95 which is typically what they charge for a straightforward refurbishment. In my case it was the nearside front wheel which was damaged, I’ve added a link to my thread below.

I tried claiming from Wiltshire county council who rejected my claim on the basis that there was no pothole there during their most recent survey and no-one else had reported it before my incident.
https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1035519&high=Pothole

ref wilts council - I'm in the area and a friend of mine had similar damage here too - and the same initial brush-off response from wilts council. So he photographed and asked others who had seen it nearby to confirm it - and kept on the case - eventually they paid out. A bit of perseverance pays off with them.