Foot Garage Swimming Pool

[PNWTaycan4S]

An advisory warning to everyone to have the service team at your Porsche dealership check your "High Voltage Protective Plate Water Drain Plugs" on a regular basis. 21,000 miles in my 4S+ Taycan, which has been a joy otherwise.

After a five hour, spectacular, 2 lane road adventure through the coastal Pacific Northwest Forest, during a light rain, I discovered about 1 ½ inches of water in the driver’s side rear “foot garage.” After getting as much of the water out as possible, I turned in for the evening, as I was headed back home the next morning where I could see my Porsche dealer. On the way back home, another inch of water showed up. I could not contact a technician by phone, as it was a Saturday, and could only schedule an online appointment one week out. Over the weekend I vacuumed out the water, pulled the carpet up as best as possible, and placed a high-speed fan and heater in the back seat until I could get it to the dealer Monday morning.

It turns out this is a known Taycan design defect. Regular road gunk plugging up the plug's membrane, not allowing it to drain. This defect is identified in the attached service advisory. (Thanks benver!) No known permanent fix to date, other than remove the plug’s membrane, pull the high voltage battery, and reseal the underside of the car. Think little critters going through the open plugs to build homes inside your car, without the membrane in place.

My powerful fan and low heat did most all the job, and the dealer pulled the back seats, carpet, and dried out any remaining moisture. No issues, but if I had not caught it quickly, I could imagine someone ending up with a moldy back passenger area.

Have your technician check those plugs on a regular basis. Porsche isn’t telling them to do it.

 

[batteredhaddock]

Interestingly my friend just had his Macan serviced. He’d not had any issues but he was presented with a proposal of about £500 from their service department to flush out the channels to clear debris (leaf matter etc) that was filling up the drainage. Naturally he was rather colourful in language on getting the price reduced but it looks like its a wider Porsche issue. The dealer must have been aware to proactively check the drainage channels in this case. Exactly the same , er, milk the nipple design.

 

[W1NGE]

Interestingly my friend just had his Macan serviced. He’d not had any issues but he was presented with a proposal of about £500 from their service department to flush out the channels to clear debris (leaf matter etc) that was filling up the drainage. Naturally he was rather colourful in language on getting the price reduced but it looks like its a wider Porsche issue. The dealer must have been aware to proactively check the drainage channels in this case. Exactly the same , er, milk the nipple design.

Reading the Technical Bulletin advises that this is a warranty claim - even the labour codes are provided.

Suggest your mate presents this to his Dealership.

 

[caslca]

Thanks for sharing! added to my archive

 

[BigBob]

I was lucky enough to have gunk block the drains for the spoiler on my Panamera Turbo. It knackered spoiler and associated mechanicals, which had to be replaced. But the added bonus was it caused water to leak, via the boot (trunk) lid into the cavity under the trunk, where all of the PCM gubbins is. That was a good bill.

 

[Dan1210]

Not a taycan but my Macan had an issue with water leaking into the passenger side, turns out the panoramic roof drain was blocked. I solved this easily by threading some strimmer wire down through the channels. Make sure to smooth the strimmer wire end with sandpaper.

 

[ciaranob]

Wow! Thanks for sharing and will be sure to look myself too!

 

[Dave777]

PNW
Thanks for sharing that important info! I just put my car in Jack Mode and found the drains. Fortunately mine are open.
sorry to hear of your issue.

 

[Leawood CT]

Good info for future checking. Sorry you had to come about it in such a bad way. Thanks though for sharing!

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