Car Serviced and Scanned with a MapEV ASG still in it

[iReminisce]

I was going to post this in the Part 3 MapEV thread but figured I would start a new one since there are some other important parts here. But here is the TLDR:

Had my car towed to Porsche because my 12v battery died and my jump box couldn't get the hood open, so I couldnt get the trunk open to remove my tuned and swapped ASG. When porsche scanned the car and replaced the battery, they did NOT detect the ASG. My warranty is still in tact.

Ok so one day this week, I left my car charging overnight like I usually do when I need to charge my car. When I go out to my car the next morning, the door handles don't lift. And I try to manually pull them and the car was somehow already unlocked. When I opened the doors, nothing inside the car lit up, car wouldn't turn on, it was dead. Looking at the app and my Chargepoint app, charging died right around 80% (my profile charges to 85% at home) and went from 11kw to just a flatline. I already knew it, my 12v was dead, after 5 years and 60k miles, I kind of saw it coming. Another tale for another day.

So I grab my jumpbox (NOCOBOOST GB40) and get to the fuse panel in the driver side foot well and connect to the positive battery terminal, and tried to find a negative in the door hinge. Word of advice, the cables for the GB40 are not very long so you don't have very many options. I connected it and it immediately gave me the red exclamation point signaling the battery is completely drained or there is some other malfunction in power. I put it in override mode and try to get some power to pop the hood and no luck. I even tried my li-ion charger to see if it could at least detect the battery, and no luck. So I just went ahead and made a tow appointment with Porsche to get it taken to the dealership.
And then it suddenly hit me... I STILL HAVE MY TUNED ASG IN THE CAR!

I don't have a panic complex but I was worried about my warranty. So I kept trying, even thought about getting a ride to an auto or hardware store and buying a bigger jump box. But the tow truck was already on the way and I didn't want to miss it. So I accepted my fate. Here's the other problem.
The charge cable from my HV charger was still stuck in the car! Thankfully I remembered what to do, but for those that find themselves in a similar situation, use this as a last resort:

• Open the door to the side of the charger you are having issues with.
• Look inside the wedge of the door to the top fender, you will see a round button the size of a quarter
• Pry that button out and slowly pull it until you get some resistance
• This manually releases the lock of any charge cable connected to your car
• Disconnect the charge cable, and fish the string and the button back in

I was able to get the charge connecter out of my car, but of course with having electric doors, they weren't closing. So I put some electrical tape over the port incase it rained. Tow truck driver eventually got to the house, loaded up the flatbed ramps and came to my driveway to check it out. I have to say the 2x I've had to use towing with Porsche, they use a company called Alpine, and they're customer service is pretty stellar and the drivers have both been very courteous and knowledgeable and equipped with what they need. He asked me what the issue was and I explained it was the 12v battery.

He came back with the bigger NOCOBOOST GB150 and a Jump and Carry jumpbox. He connected the jump and carry to the terminal and the latch hook in the door, grabbed the key, hit the hood button a couple times, and VOILA. It was open. From there he disconnected the Jump and Carry and went to the battery with the Nocoboost and connected that directly to the battery and got the car on. Was able to put it into reverse and drive it up onto the ramp. We chat for a bit and he recommended at least the GB70 for the Taycan.

So it got to Porsche about an hour later (my preferred dealer is one county over). I got a call from my requested service rep and he said he would try to move my car ahead of the queue and check if its just a battery issue and an easy replacement. Long story short, he got a tech to look at it first thing the next morning. Said he tested the battery and it was way below threshold and required a new battery. Said once they got the new battery in, they would scan the car to see if there are any other issues with the car or that might have caused it.

I got my video inspection from Porsche, and all was well. I'm sitting on pins and needles and my service rep let me know they got the battery in and will program it, scan the car, and test everything. I get a call a couple hours later that my car is ready and no other issues were found. Super stupid relieved and happy, except for the repair bill:

Just under $4000

I expected it to be high but not that much. I asked for a price breakdown and he promptly provided it to me. The labor hours are insane for something like that, and the battery is the most expensive 12v battery I've ever seen. I asked if the Porsche Platinum Extended warranty would cover it and he said unfortunately not and sent me a screenshot of that section in the warranty manual. The other kicker is you can't buy this battery from anywhere else except for Porsche parts online (unless someone has another outlet), and it would have taken a week to get to me. I sucked it up and went for it because at least I didn't have to worry about doing any labor or programming myself and it was just done, but I know this is the price to pay for this kind of service and owning a Porsche, and I knew that before buying the car (this is the part that worries me about people buying a used Base or 4S Taycan just because depreciation made it affordable, but don't consider the cost of ownership).

Anyhow, Porsche sent a driver to pick me up and took me there. I picked up my car and key and was out of there in 5 minutes. Car is working wonderfully, and some things are actually working a little better. MOST IMPORTANTLY, I still have about 800HP on tap all the time and didn't lose my warranty. So while I will not say to try this at home, my ASG wasn't detected during the scan and all is well. Now, if I run into an issue where I know it would be related to a drive motor or HV battery or anything where they really need to go deep in the car, I'm swapping back to my OEM one without a doubt. But I'm thrilled all is in tact, including my warranty.

BIG shoutout to the MapEV crew.

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[Tooney]

I already knew it, my 12v was dead, after 5 years and 60k miles, I kind of saw it coming. Another tale for another day.

Said he tested the battery and it was way below threshold and required a new battery. the repair bill:

Just under $4000

I expected it to be high but not that much. I asked for a price breakdown and he promptly provided it to me. The labor hours are insane for something like that, and the battery is the most expensive 12v battery I've ever seen.

Any explanation from service for why the 12v battery needed to be replaced?
Is failed 12v battery after 5 years/60k normal?

I had gotten the idea that this type of 12v battery could be expected to last much longer than lead acid batteries.

 

[prj]

We know that nothing happens at present with the tuned ASG in the car, but Porsche does know it's tuned they just don't void warranty over it.

Before our solution was in the market many people sent their ASG in to get modified and none of them have had warranty claims denied.

But to be safe I would swap it back whenever possible.

As for the 12V battery dying, there have been issues with those on the Cayennes and even some third party fix exists where you send in your battery controller to be reflashed and it wakes it up again and lets it charge. Not sure if it applies to the Taycan as well.

 

[Gru]

4000 $ ... wooahhh !

and not covered by the extended warranty ? I'll go back to mine and read what's not covered.

out of curiosity, how much is the battery itself ?

 

[prj]

Porsche approved warranty at least in EU states that the warranty does not apply to aging related defects of certain components including the 12V and HV batteries.

That's why the cell failures are also called "aging" faults.

I personally don't think that a lithium 12V battery failure at the age of 5 years can be classified as an "aging" fault... Not sure how the extended warranty is worded in the US of course.

 

[Murph7355]

...
When porsche scanned the car and replaced the battery, they did NOT detect the ASG. My warranty is still in tact.
...

As prj notes, this bit is 99% certainly incorrect.

Knowing that something has changed and doing something about that are two different things.

They were charging you for the work, so warranty doesn't come into it. The time it might is if you were claiming for a new motor or inverter (for example) under your warranty and the tuned unit is still in the car. Will they cover it?

Am not sure that scenario has ever been tested. And am not sure I'd want to be first

All depends on appetite for risk.

 

[prj]

The time it might is if you were claiming for a new motor or inverter (for example) under your warranty and the tuned unit is still in the car. Will they cover it?

Am not sure that scenario has ever been tested. And am not sure I'd want to be first

All depends on appetite for risk.

They will, there are people who had batteries and motors replaced with tuned ASG in car.
The only reason we did the swappable thing is to be extra sure, because according to some inside info they can detect a tuned ASG if it's in the car at the time of the scan.

 

[Gru]

I started monitoring it 6 months ago.

I don't see much of a difference but unsure how it'll show if/when it happens. I guess it should be a slow decay

 

[iReminisce]

Any explanation from service for why the 12v battery needed to be replaced?
Is failed 12v battery after 5 years/60k normal?

No unusual drain detected, but the service rep said its not out of the ordinary for the 12v battery to give out after several years of regular usage. If you want me to be honest, its probably my FitcamX which sometimes turns on when the car is off, even though I have parking mode off. Plus I use PreCool a lot which I believe uses the 12v battery to get going. And truthfully, I am impressed with it lasting this long. My RS5 went through 2 batteries in 3 years.

4000 $ ... wooahhh !

and not covered by the extended warranty ? I'll go back to mine and read what's not covered.

out of curiosity, how much is the battery itself ?

Battery itself was just over $2000 USD. I found it online in a Porsche parts catalog for about $1400, but it would have taken a week to get to me.
Looking at the work order, they did some pretty deep inspections on it. They inspected everything from the terminals to the ethernet databus, tried to charge and drain the battery in which they found open contacts.
And yeah not covered under the Porsche Platinum Extended Warranty. Not sure about the original OEM warranty, but I have been out of that for a while.

As prj notes, this bit is 99% certainly incorrect.

Knowing that something has changed and doing something about that are two different things.

They were charging you for the work, so warranty doesn't come into it. The time it might is if you were claiming for a new motor or inverter (for example) under your warranty and the tuned unit is still in the car. Will they cover it?

Am not sure that scenario has ever been tested. And am not sure I'd want to be first

All depends on appetite for risk.

Well yes you are right, thats why I openly admitted that I remembered my tuned ASG was in the car and was trying to get it out to no avail. I was willing to accept my fate if my warranty was voided, but its not something I wanted to just roll with. I'm glad this service didn't result in me losing my warranty whether they detected it or not. My plan all along, and one of the main reasons I went with MapEV in the first place was because of the swappable ASG.

In that respect, I just ordered a more powerful jump box too

 

[Gru]

same price and delivery time in EU too

 

[prj]

No unusual drain detected, but the service rep said its not out of the ordinary for the 12v battery to give out after several years of regular usage. If you want me to be honest, its probably my FitcamX which sometimes turns on when the car is off, even though I have parking mode off. Plus I use PreCool a lot which I believe uses the 12v battery to get going. And truthfully, I am impressed with it lasting this long. My RS5 went through 2 batteries in 3 years.

It's neither of those. It's most likely an LG-Chem battery and they had a manufacturing defect.

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