Giving Up.... :(

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by macyfilms

Well, I'm officially giving up and towing my '98 Boxster to the Phoenix dealership. After replacing the completely dead battery with a new one, the car won't start and won't even crank. (all lights/accessories do come on) I checked the fuses, the relays, put in a new ignition switch, checked the starter connection, opened the immobilizer box and checked for damage. Nothing worked.

I am assuming at this point that I must have a transponder problem, or some kind of immobilizer or ECU problem that I can't see.

I'm towing in Thursday morning, so if anyone has any last minute thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

thxx,

sam

Sounds like it could be an immobilizer.

How about the starter itself? Does the car click when you turn the key?

[macyfilms]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Sounds like it could be an immobilizer.

How about the starter itself? Does the car click when you turn the key?

No, I get nothing from the starter when i turn the key. I don't hear anything from the relay either, but I'm not sure I should.

The dealer indicated he would give me an hour of free diagnostic if I had the problem fixed there. Seems very reasonable. I'm just depressed that I got beat on this one. I spent days on it, sure that I would eventually track down the problem.

[Paul]

What did you find when you checked the starter, did it turn the car over when you jumpered it?

[Rick V]

You need to check and see if you have B+ to the starter, if so make sure you are getting B+ to the bendix when the ign switch is engaged, if you do then you simply need a new starter. If not you have a deeper issue.

[dja1980]

I had the EXACT same symptoms on my Ford Ranger. After several hours of trying to diagnose the problem on my own, I gave up and took the vehicle to the dealership. It turned out that the positive battery cable went bad. It was providing enough power to run the accessories and headlights, but not enough to start the truck. I'm not sure if this would cause the same symptoms on a Boxster, but have you check out all the cables to be sure?

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by dja1980

I had the EXACT same symptoms on my Ford Ranger. After several hours of trying to diagnose the problem on my own, I gave up and took the vehicle to the dealership. It turned out that the positive battery cable went bad. It was providing enough power to run the accessories and headlights, but not enough to start the truck. I'm not sure if this would cause the same symptoms on a Boxster, but have you check out all the cables to be sure?

Same here with the wife's Old minivan, that problem plagued us for 3 months, it was intermittant and stranded her and the kids a few times.

[macyfilms]

Originally Posted by Paul

What did you find when you checked the starter, did it turn the car over when you jumpered it?

The starter spun well when i checked the starter by jumpering. The engine cranked when I checked starter and solenoid.

Thus, I feel like I am running out of things to check. At this point I'm thinking it must be an immobilizer issue. Thoughts?

(now that I have the throttle body off, any maintainence you recommend while it's out? Seems to be a bit of oil/dirt in there. AOS problem?)

Sam