PADM Transmission - Safety/ How Long/ Damage
Discussion
A different set of questions re the perennial Boxster PADM Transmission mounts nightmare bearing in mind that replacement parts continue to fail and that there is no way of coding out a fault :
1) Are there any safety issues at all in continuing to drive once the PADM Warning light comes on - the owner,s manual says it’s OK to drive , but to get it attended to.
2) If it’s OK to drive the car, and again bearing in mind that Porsche often has an interminable wait for replacement parts, is there a set mileage or time after which some other part of the car will get irreparably damaged by not replacing the faulty mounts?
The owners manual doesn’t specify a set mileage or time.
3) if the answers to both the above questions are NO , and again bearing in mind that the majority of owners have only recognised that there is a PADM fault through their dashboard display and not through the handling of the car, then why not just keep running the car with the faulty PADM mounts?
Otherwise one is just needlessly subsidising Porsche who continue to push out poor quality replacement parts which invariably fail for a long known fault.
It is almost as if the PADM issue is not being properly addressed by Porsche just to keep us buying their extended warranty !
1) Are there any safety issues at all in continuing to drive once the PADM Warning light comes on - the owner,s manual says it’s OK to drive , but to get it attended to.
2) If it’s OK to drive the car, and again bearing in mind that Porsche often has an interminable wait for replacement parts, is there a set mileage or time after which some other part of the car will get irreparably damaged by not replacing the faulty mounts?
The owners manual doesn’t specify a set mileage or time.
3) if the answers to both the above questions are NO , and again bearing in mind that the majority of owners have only recognised that there is a PADM fault through their dashboard display and not through the handling of the car, then why not just keep running the car with the faulty PADM mounts?
Otherwise one is just needlessly subsidising Porsche who continue to push out poor quality replacement parts which invariably fail for a long known fault.
It is almost as if the PADM issue is not being properly addressed by Porsche just to keep us buying their extended warranty !
Edited by carspath on Friday 16th May 18:39
I have had four PADM units replaced two on a GTS and two on a spyder - all within about 3 years and all replaced under warranty. In all cases I have not noticed any difference in the driving characteristics with any of the failures on road driving - I don’t do track days. As fas as I am aware, no damage can be done by running with inoperable units and I will be tempted to run like this if I have any more failures. I am certainly not forking out for an extended warranty just in case !
I took out an extended warranty on a 996 Turbo many years ago :-
Exhaust bracket failure not covered
Air con condensor failures *2 not covered
Central radiator failure not covered
Warped discs at front not covered
Fuel tank sensor failure not covered
All this on a car with less than 12000 miles and four years old.
That car was a nightmare !
I took out an extended warranty on a 996 Turbo many years ago :-
Exhaust bracket failure not covered
Air con condensor failures *2 not covered
Central radiator failure not covered
Warped discs at front not covered
Fuel tank sensor failure not covered
All this on a car with less than 12000 miles and four years old.
That car was a nightmare !
Yep doesn't affect the car in any way afaik.
One side PADM failed last Autumn...718 GT4 manual. Did around 500 miles with warning light on but safe to drive message on the car and no difference in driving characteristics whatsoever. Replaced under warranty.
Half expected the other side to fail but hasn't. Porsche will understandably only replace the faulty PADM not both sides if one has failed. Car needs full 4 wheel alignment following work because the rear triangle frame has to be dropped so quite an expensive job in total.
Afaik the new padm is different to the original to prevent future failure. Someone reported the new unit is also encased silicone sealed but this is unconfirmed.
One side PADM failed last Autumn...718 GT4 manual. Did around 500 miles with warning light on but safe to drive message on the car and no difference in driving characteristics whatsoever. Replaced under warranty.
Half expected the other side to fail but hasn't. Porsche will understandably only replace the faulty PADM not both sides if one has failed. Car needs full 4 wheel alignment following work because the rear triangle frame has to be dropped so quite an expensive job in total.
Afaik the new padm is different to the original to prevent future failure. Someone reported the new unit is also encased silicone sealed but this is unconfirmed.
Thank you all.
I too don’t do track-days in my Boxster and it is highly reassuring to hear that you haven’t noticed any difference in handling in road-driving pre-vs-post PADM failure.
1) Surely this is the bottom-line issue - of course you would want Porsche to foot the bill if you have already paid out for an extended warranty, but if not it would be good to have a rough-guesstimate of :
(a)what proportion of owners can feel a handling difference and
(b) if anyone at all has suffered any follow-through damage from leaving the faulty PADM mounts untouched.
2) Does anyone know if these PADM mounts are designed to fail in the hard or soft positions?
I too don’t do track-days in my Boxster and it is highly reassuring to hear that you haven’t noticed any difference in handling in road-driving pre-vs-post PADM failure.
1) Surely this is the bottom-line issue - of course you would want Porsche to foot the bill if you have already paid out for an extended warranty, but if not it would be good to have a rough-guesstimate of :
(a)what proportion of owners can feel a handling difference and
(b) if anyone at all has suffered any follow-through damage from leaving the faulty PADM mounts untouched.
2) Does anyone know if these PADM mounts are designed to fail in the hard or soft positions?
carspath said:
It is almost as if the PADM issue is not being properly addressed by Porsche just to keep us buying their extended warranty !
Look at the facts, it makes no difference to the car if they are working or not it isn't a safety issue, nobody seems to be able to tell if they are working or not by the way the car drives and the vast majority of drivers only know they have failed when the warning light comes on. The failure also allows the car to be driven until stock and a fitting slot are available for a free fix under the extended warranty, but expensive if you have gone independant with no warranty.No doubt someone will accuse you of being part of the tin foil hat brigade but I think you are spot on.
Steve H said:
Has nobody cracked the coding yet so they can be isolated out of the system?
Mine are working fine for now on my 718s and it does seem to be more of the 6pot cars that we hear about but I would be much more inclined to remove than repair if they did fail.
Someone posted a solution on another thread here, so there is a way of tricking the car into thinking the mounts are operational. Mine are working fine for now on my 718s and it does seem to be more of the 6pot cars that we hear about but I would be much more inclined to remove than repair if they did fail.
There's also a replacement PCB and case (the fault of the PADM) to the existing mount that a clever chap in China has made and now sells. According to Rennlist they are $200 a pair.
All my research told me the fault cannot be coded out but someone on here in another thread mentioned it can be done albeit nobody has said how it's actually done!
Irrelevant for me now as I've moved my 718 Boxtser on although in 8yrs and 91k miles the original PADM had never been replaced. If and when I go back to a Porsche with PADM I'll buy the Chinese repair option.
All my research told me the fault cannot be coded out but someone on here in another thread mentioned it can be done albeit nobody has said how it's actually done!
Irrelevant for me now as I've moved my 718 Boxtser on although in 8yrs and 91k miles the original PADM had never been replaced. If and when I go back to a Porsche with PADM I'll buy the Chinese repair option.
maximtaylor said:
If anyone has had one replaced the last few weeks, what's the current supply like on the mounts please?
My 718 GT4 is booked in next Thursday to have it done (for the 2nd time). It's going to be interesting to find out if it's the previously replaced side, or non-replaced side, which has failed this time.kmpowell said:
My 718 GT4 is booked in next Thursday to have it done (for the 2nd time). It's going to be interesting to find out if it's the previously replaced side, or non-replaced side, which has failed this time.
Ditto the aboveBooked in for early June.
2022 car with 5000 miles.
Pleased I extended the warranty.
JT68S said:
kmpowell said:
My 718 GT4 is booked in next Thursday to have it done (for the 2nd time). It's going to be interesting to find out if it's the previously replaced side, or non-replaced side, which has failed this time.
Ditto the aboveBooked in for early June.
2022 car with 5000 miles.
Pleased I extended the warranty.
When my car first failed (January 2024), I was told a new revised part was now used (original part no' 98137505984, new part no' 98137505986).
So depending on which side has gone this time (new/replaced or old/original part) will probably dictate what I do with the car long term. I really begrudge the thought of paying £1000+ each year just to cover a known issue. I already do that (£1400 a year) on another car I own, and that smarts a bit knowing it's for a family car I can't have fail on me, let alone for just a fun weekend/occasional car.
Couldn't agree more.
First failure at around 4000 in October 2024 car then in warranty.
Extended warranty Jan 2025 fault again at just over 5000 miles
I have owned the car from new and so far this is the only fault.
The PADM issue is poor....should be allowed to replace both with the "upgraded part" at the same time, surely cheaper for Porsche ?
I am in a similar predicament with 2021 Defender 110 3.0d
do I extend the warranty or get rid..
Often think get rid of both, buy an M3/M5 Tourer, one set of running costs but probably a bucket load more depreciation !
First failure at around 4000 in October 2024 car then in warranty.
Extended warranty Jan 2025 fault again at just over 5000 miles
I have owned the car from new and so far this is the only fault.
The PADM issue is poor....should be allowed to replace both with the "upgraded part" at the same time, surely cheaper for Porsche ?
I am in a similar predicament with 2021 Defender 110 3.0d
do I extend the warranty or get rid..
Often think get rid of both, buy an M3/M5 Tourer, one set of running costs but probably a bucket load more depreciation !
JT68S said:
The PADM issue is poor....should be allowed to replace both with the "upgraded part" at the same time, surely cheaper for Porsche ?
I requested that first time around. My OPC agreed, but Porsche pulled the plug on the request at the last minute, saying they would only do the non-broken side with a few hundred pound gesture of good will towards the cost of the job.JT68S said:
I am in a similar predicament with 2021 Defender 110 3.0d
do I extend the warranty or get rid..
Ha, that's the other warranty I was talking about that I pay for, but on my 2021 Discovery D300 (also owned from new). Nothing gets close to the Disco for my needs, so I foot the bill for extended warranty.do I extend the warranty or get rid..
It would be really interesting and informative to hear back from those owners who are having their car,s 2nd ( or 3rd or 4th! ) transmission mount replaced as to whether the failed mount is a new ( and if so, exactly how old - both in terms of mileage and time ) , recently replaced mount, OR an original, factory-fitted mount that has survived for many years.
It would be good to build up a database , as I suspect that this will continue to be an ongoing issue - people that I have spoken to , who should be in the know , have variously given differing answers as to whether or not anything truly substantial was done between the oft-quoted different parts numbers.
I am not sure that the PCB or the waterproofing was in anyway upgraded between the earlier and later part numbers. If they were then Porsche would surely be shouting about it from the roof-tops and future and further failures should be minuscule in number.
Replacement mounts, labour to fit, and resetting the suspension geometry will be a costly exercise , both in terms of money and time, - especially if it doesn’t sort out the problem permanently/semi- permanently.
A PH database as suggested above will give owners the info upon which to make an informed decision as to whether to fork-out yet again or whether to just live with the dash warning light.
It would be good to build up a database , as I suspect that this will continue to be an ongoing issue - people that I have spoken to , who should be in the know , have variously given differing answers as to whether or not anything truly substantial was done between the oft-quoted different parts numbers.
I am not sure that the PCB or the waterproofing was in anyway upgraded between the earlier and later part numbers. If they were then Porsche would surely be shouting about it from the roof-tops and future and further failures should be minuscule in number.
Replacement mounts, labour to fit, and resetting the suspension geometry will be a costly exercise , both in terms of money and time, - especially if it doesn’t sort out the problem permanently/semi- permanently.
A PH database as suggested above will give owners the info upon which to make an informed decision as to whether to fork-out yet again or whether to just live with the dash warning light.
A PH database as suggested above will give owners the info upon which to make an informed decision as to whether to fork-out yet again or whether to just live with the dash warning light.
Living with the dash light on will only hinder when you sell/part exchange effecting the value, probably the cost of the years warranty....??
My car, two failures one at approx 4000 miles Oct 2024 next one at approx 5000 miles May 2025, car goes in early June for replacement so will find out if its the original or Oct 24 replacement.
Around 7 months 1000 miles apart.
Living with the dash light on will only hinder when you sell/part exchange effecting the value, probably the cost of the years warranty....??
My car, two failures one at approx 4000 miles Oct 2024 next one at approx 5000 miles May 2025, car goes in early June for replacement so will find out if its the original or Oct 24 replacement.
Around 7 months 1000 miles apart.
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