key remote inopp
 

I've had my Boxster for a couple of months and having a blast. But now have run into a complication...

Couple of days ago I sent my daughter to the car to get something she left behind. "According to her" all she did was unlock the door manually with the key, instead of the remote. She calls me outside to show me the flasher going (no sound, which I think presents another problem). Now the remote key will not lock/unlock the doors or trunks. After further investigation, I noticed I can't unlock the front truck from the inside either. The rear trunk unlocks from the inside, as long as the key is in the ignition.

I'm sensing there's a connection between the front trunk and the remote key not working.

I used everything that morning as I went Christmas shopping and utilized both trunks.

Where do I start? Thanks....

When you manually unlock the car, you need to put key in ignition and turn on w/in ~ 20 seconds or it sets off alarm and immobilizer. I presume she did not which leads to at your your one other problem... alarm horn not working.

Have you tried to start car yet? This should resolve. If not, try locking car manually with doors closed from outside. Wait 1 minute (for alarm to fully arm). Then unlock it w/ key and within 20 seconds, insert key into ignition and turn to on position (or start it). This should reset for you and re-enable key-fobs (or you may have an issue w/ either the fobs or alarm control unit under driver's seat - fresh batteries in key fobs will help too). Otherwise, you'll need to find a shop w/ the PSTII or PIWIS Porsche diagnostics system to find fault codes in alarm system.

Your alarm horn is NOT the same as your regular horns on the car (behind the front bumper). Instead, it's located up by the battery in frunk. There are some other nuances and a manual wire release for the frunk so please help us help you by stating your model year in posts.

Good luck :)

OK it's an 01 base model.
I have been driving the car around, I also read the manaul and did read about the 20sec alarm delay. I have tried all kinds of combinations of locking and unlocking. I also have the Durametric cable and did not find any faults. I have not tried releasing the front trunk with the cable yet.

Have you replaced the batteries in the remote yet? If so, I would ASAP. Good news, partially at least, is if you can start/drive the car, the key is still recognized by the vehicle. Can the remote lock/unlock doors or open rear trunk?

I don't recall when Porsche switched from levers to electronic switches for trunk releases but I think it may have been '02. Do you have pull levers or switches for the frunk/trunk releases on the driver's door sill? If levers, can you operate either lever in the driver door sill? If neither, like it's locked, then the lock out device hasn't released. If switches, do you hear any sounds when you push on either/both?

Also, there is an emergency access cable for the frunk. Previous owner may have routed it behind the tow plug in front bumper. Pop it out and see if there. It looks like this:

http://sites.google.com/site/mikefoc...0001-large.jpg

If not behind tow plug, you'll need to fish for it behind wheel well liner of right front tire... it'll be tucked up behind the headlight pod. Easiest way is to remove wheel and liner. However, I suspect if you have wheel locks still on, then the key is in frunk. It'll be very tight but you need to pull back the wheel well liner (there are a few double-plunger clips and a 10mm nut IIRC then feel around for the wire shown above behind the headlight .

Sorry, off topic, but I just have to say this forum is a wealth of information. Kudos to everyone that chimes in with their help and responses. When I picked up my Ebay Boxster out of state a couple of years ago, I had many questions - which were all answered promptly and courteously. You can't own a Boxster and not belong to this forum.

Yes, I replaced the battery. Both trunks are switched (no levers). The key does nothing but blink red when I press one of the 3 buttons (when I press any of the trunk buttons, it blinks for 3sec pause then blinks 3sec and so on.....).
When I use the switches to open the trunks, the rear works perfect. In the front I hear the switch click but hear nothing from the front latch. I was thinking of popping open the switch console and jump the wiring.
I haven 't gone as far as accessing the front cable, but I might have to this weekend, if all else fails.

OK I found the problem.....

The fuse (small 15a) on the control unit was blown. Once I replaced it I tested the alarm again and again no horn and it the fuse blew again. I replaced the alarm horn ($20) and all works fine.

So the horn was shorting out and blowing the fuse.

Thanks for everyone's help...

I love a happy ending.
Guvs