I see your point, and can especially appreciate the satisfaction when you get things to work :)

I happen to have a PIWIS, so the coding part for me isn't a big deal, but I am curious if doing this via the EPROM route also yields the correct mileage in the new cluster?

Yes - See post 13 on page 1 of this thread . You can copy the encrypted mileage from the Boxster cluster and insert it in the code for the Carrera cluster. The example in post 13 is for the "old-style" clusters that were in the 97-00 cars. The process for the 01-04 cars is a little more involved. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you the instructions.

I imagine that the folks at Palo Alto Speedometer have discovered the key to the encryption process and that allows them to insert any mileage they want in the cluster.

That would make sense. I always figured that the folks who advertise being able to do this had reverse engineered the EPROM bit.

Job done
 

Well I have to say a big thanks to you all, especially Benjamin for sending me the gen and his 996 file. I got around to finishing off this mod today and reprogrammed the eeprom (changing the bits to enable the voltmeter) It works great :cheers:

I am going to post this mod on Boxa.net making reference to the work you guys have done.

Keep up the good work.

I can do this as well if needed, but don't want a load of dodgy low mileage cars on the road ;)

When using your existing Boxster circuit board, did it retain the car's vin and mileage?

Yes it does retain the original Boxster data...mileage ,ser.#
The issue is turning on the two new 996 gauges. The question for me is can the Porsche dealer turn on these two gauges or do you have to remove the board and re-program the 93c56B flash chip with an EPROM programmer? I am at the Porsche dealer as I type and I'll let you know tomorrow.
I am using the 996 gauges with my original Boxster mother board. Two outside gauges do not work yet and analog speed gauge runs about 7-8 miles faster than my digital speed gauge. OTHER WISE ALL ELSE WORKS.

Getting the volt meter to work seems to be an eprom deal, but for the oil pressure I think you have to install a different sending unit on the motor and run a wire from it to the cluster?

For mine, the volt meter needed nothing to be activated. The oil pressure does require a new sender unit and a wire to the new cluster.

Now that's interesting. It's the 01 to 04 cars that require the newer cluster. This is beginning to look like an easier mod to my 03 then what the Pelican article shows.

Just need to find gauges for a Tip trans from a convertible with white gauge faces.

EDIT: Since I will be using the Boxster circuit board, do I still need gauges from a convertible?


.

Guage
 

Oil pressure gage requires a 996 oil sending unite with two leads. One goes to the wire that is already on your 986 and the second lead requires you to run a wire to your blue pin connector on the back of your gage cluster. Pin # 9 or #13 I can't remember which one right now. I'll check for you later.

No answer from the Porsche dealer today (on turning on the extra gages)they have to replace a bad theft module
before they can get to the gage cluster. They ordered the bad part and it will not be in until Thurs. I'll let you know.

On my 2000, I had to do the EPROM programming trick to get the voltmeter to work. That may be a difference between the "old" and "new" style clusters. The oil pressure gauge worked fine after I hooked up the 996 sending unit and inserted the wire in the back of the cluster.

The programming should also took care of the speedometer error and the top motion light. However, the top motion light on my 996 cluster worked before I programmed it. The VIN stored in the cluster indicated it was from a coupe, but it had the bulb already installed for the top motion light. So, the VIN decoder site may have had an error.

There was quite an extensive discussion on Renntech about this and most people indicated that the dealer couldn't help them.

Gauges
 

Thanks Kevin ! My problem was I could not get my EPROM reader to read the chip in on 986 mother board. Chip showed # as ( sc 56M ). This was not listed in the EPROM inventory. I tried entering the 93c56B chip
number but it showed no data when I tried to read the 986 chip. So I could not see the data on the chip. I had to take the car to the dealer because of a window issue that turned out to be a bad theft control unit.
(Waiting for part to come in now.)
I figured while I was at the dealer I would have them turn on my new cruse control install and also turn on the two new switches on my 996 gauge swap.
They tried BUT failed.
Reason appears to be the result of my installing the 996 motor and having my
986 DME flashed as a 996 ROW. The guy who did my re-flash locked the DME so it would not revert back to the original 986 coding if I disconnected the battery.
SOOOOOOOO we are trying to work our way through this.
Any thoughts on how to get at the flash chip?? It would be easier if I could just do the mother board chip instead of having to go the DME path.

Sounds fishy....

People only flash ROM, right? If so, ROM doesn't get erased or reverted back unless there's another device/software piggy-back onto it to give it a command... which sound really odd.

I don't much about Porsche ECU programming, but to me, I have never heard of such thing for other cars.

flash
 

I am no expert. In my case I installed a 3.4 996 motor in my 98 Boxster (986).
My 986 (2.5) DME could was not programed run the 3.4 996 motor without a re-flash.
I had two choices:
1) a USA flash that would use the existing secondary air pump and related vacuum tubing. or
2) a ROW (rest of the World) flash that would allow me to remove the secondary
air pump, etc.
I chose the second.
When I was at the Porsche dealer trying to get them to turn on my reciently installed cruse control. They made the comment that the DME was locked.
I assumed that it was done by the individual who did my ROW flash in order to keep the DME from reverting back to the original 2.5 USA flash should the battery be disconnected.. That assumption could have been incorrect.
Can anyone comment???

What I'm saying is that if the guy locked your DME, I believe he just simply lock it so no one else can touch it. I don't think it has anything to do with "losing the flash" when battery is disconnected.

There's a reason why they call it "flash" because you ONLY "FLASH" ROM not RAM. Another wway of looking at is you don't lose memory from your "flash drive" (aka usb stick) when you remove it from your computer.

For more clarification, I suggest you google ROM (Flash ROM) vs RAM.

Gauge cluster
 

Thanks Trey T, I read your suggestion and I think I 've got it.
The solution looks like...change my the cluster coding values for a 996 cluster put into a 986, the order code (EEPROM ?)contained in the vehicle section of the DME needs to be set properly. In my case it would need to be set to the order code for a 996 cab so that the 996 cluster would be recognized and allow recoding. The order code would need to be set to either 996310 - Cabriolet USA or 996311 - Cabriolet RoW

Once this (EEPROM flash chip) is changed in the DME section, an entire scan of all the control modules needs to be carried out and then you will be allowed to enter into the instrument cluster module and change the coding to turn on cruise activate the temp & oil pres. displays. If the model type is still set to 986 or is blank in the vehicle data section, when the scanning of all modules is carried out the cluster won't be recognized as it will be looking for a 986 cluster.

Does that sound correct??

....

Guages
 

If this does not sound correct could someone please speak up !!!!!!!!!!!!
Car back from the Porsche dealer. They did not turn my gauges on. Reason: they were afraid they would possibly disrupt my 996ROW flash.
Further research suggest that this will not happen BUT ......I have to first turn the gauges on in my current gauge cluster. My present gauge cluster (seen below) is a 1998 Boxster gauge cluster that looks like a 996 cluster. It is a boxster cluster because it still has the cars original mother board in the cluster. All that was done was to add all the 996 digital gauges ONLY to my 986 cluster.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1424028145.jpg
Then I need to comparing the data on the flash chip in the 996 mother board with the data on the chip in my 986 cluster(same location on both clusters). The difficulty I am running into is although the chip are in the same location on both mother boards they appear to have different chip numbers. The 996 board shows 93c56B and the 986 board shows sc56M
I can read the chip on the 996 board BUT can not read the chip on 986 board.
Why:: because the chip number does not show in my GQ-4x EPROM Programmer chip listing. Anyone have any ideas??
To help clarify when I installed the 996 motor in the car I ran the extra wire from the 996 oil sending unit to pin #9 blue plug in the back of the gauge cluster to pick up the signal. That was not clear on my note below.
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc401/jonhoward42/Boxster%20Cruise%20Retrofit/06%20-%20Wiring%20-%20Connecting/6-04-InstrumentClusterConnectorwithVWWireInstalled.jpg


6-04-InstrumentClusterConnectorwithVWWireInstalled.jpg Photo by jonhoward42 | Photobucket
Once I am able to read the code on the 986 chip I can change the code to turn on the two gauges. At that point I can use a PIWIS to turn on the gauges in the cluster and then use the PIWIS to do the same thing and turn the gauges on in the DME.
That means there are two steps to do with the PIWIS.
ALL SHOULD THEN WORK.............Does this sound reasonable???

Gauges
 

Ok, here is what I am going to try.

I am going to take the used Mother board I got from the old 996 cluster I bought to make the swap with and re-assemble it with my original 986 analog gauges. Install it in the car and see if the car will run. If it does ( I believe it will) then I will take it to Porsche (to use their PIWIS) to TURN ON my volt and oil pressure gauges even though they will not be in the car. This should allow Porsches PIWIS to sink the 986 DME that thinks it is a 996 ROW DME with the cluster that thinks it is a 996 cluster because it now has the 996 mother board in it. Hopefully I can then bring the car home and put the 986 cluster with the 996 analog gauges in and all should work. I will have to recode the 986 mother board so that the two gauges read OPEN.
If anyone thinks I have lost my mind please let me know. I'll report back once I get it all done.
Keep your feed back coming it has helped a lot !!

You persistence and determination is admirable. Never give up, never say die..... and keep us posted. :)

Point
 

The learning point for me here was......I should have installed the gauges and cruise control BEFORE I put the 3.4 996 motor in the car and before I had the 986 DME flashed with a 996 ROW flash.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been told and I now believe my problem exists because…my new cluster is still recognized as a 986 while my DME is recognized as a 996.
So when Porsche did a control unit scan as a 986 model with the Porsche tester it failed as the DME did not recognize it as a 986. If the DME is scanned as a 996 the cluster will also fail because it is not recognized as a 996.

I.E. am doing what I posted below.


Anyone see anything incorrect with this logic please let me know.

Thanks to all, Reebuck1

Just so you can all see there really are gauges in the car!!



http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1424307553.jpg

Update
 

Took my 996 analog gauges with my 986mother board out of the car.
Remember car ran well and most gauges worked ( except volt & oil pres.)

Put my 986 analog gauges with the 996 mother board in the car.
...CAR STARTED and ran well.
...986 analog gauges did not work...I was not expecting that!!
...Maybe it is ok because the DME thinks it is a 996 ROW DME and still can not recognize or is not programmed for the 986 analog gauges.

Intend to now take car to Porsche to use PIWIS to turn on all gauges in the DME.
...should now work because DME that thinks it is a 996 ROW can now recognize
a 996 gauge cluster (996 mother board is now in car) as a 996.

Once above is complete I need to reinstall the 996 analog gauges with the 986 mother board back in the car and hopefully all will work. I believe it can only work if I recoded the control chip in the 986 mother board to "TURN ON" the volt gauge and the oil pressure gauge. I believe the PIWIS at this point may still not recognize the 986 mother board but I will not care because all the gauges should be working.

HELP !!!!! If anyone sees issues with this please let me know.
Thanks for every ones help.........

Mistake made......When I original installed the new gauge cluster in the car I made a mistake. I put the gauge cluster in first and then installed the heater vent that goes under the steering wheel and runs up to the dash vent next to the drivers side window. When doing it I incorrectly placed the wiring harness that runs to the "BLUE PLUG" on the back of the instrument cluster "underneath" the vent. So when I tried to pull out the cluster it would not slide out far enough for me to disconnect the BLUE PLUG from the back of the cluster. It took awhile for me to figure out what had happened. I had to remove the whole vent system on the drivers side of the car. I could then move the harness to the top side of the vent, reinstall the vent system and then was able to pull the cluster easily out far enough to remove the plug.

I do have a PST2 not the newer PIWIS as the dealers have today. It is true, that instrument cluster would nor be found during an automatic scan, but it still would be possible to manually select a 996 cluster, which is installed in a 986 and vice versa. In the coding section for the cluster there are option for OBC and cruise control, but I don't remember options for the voltmeter and oil pressure gauge. I think those are part of the basic firmware of the cluster. So the correct way would be to read the firmware of the 996 board, modify it with your VIN, mileage and car type and then flash it into the 986 board. So you may have to look for another EPROM programmer with can handle the eeprom on your 986 board or you may be stuck.

Gauges
 

Hemonu, Thank you very much for the information. Every little bit helps me get closer to solving this problem. It is very much appreciated !!!!!!

I have installed several Carrera clusters in my '01 Boxster and have never run into the problems you guys seem to be experiencing. The only issue I've ever had was with the top light. I've just ignored it, but thought I would address it if I ever ran across someone with a PST2. As long as you get a cluster from a C2 and follow the instructions on Renntech.org, you should be golden. I installed my first cluster in 2007 and it's working fine to this day.

I am impressed with the talent to work on the circuit boards to replace bad displays, as I would never have the patience or knowledge to do so myself. All of the clusters I have used came from eBay and have only had one that was actually fried. I have only changed them out due to gauge face color and now have a silver faced set from a C2S. The clusters I took out are in other boxsters and all are working fine to this day. Never had a gas gauge issue, but I did have one that took forever to check the oil level. Also never paid more than $200 for a cluster. You just have to be patient and wait for a deal to pop up.

Gauges
 

Thumper the reason I am having so much trouble ( I believe...not sure) is because I have 5.2.2 DME.

I think I have now successfully recoded the EPROM chip on my 986 mother board to "TURN ON" the volt gauge and oil pressure gauge.
Topradio, your suggestion to try different chip designators on the GQ-4X worked and I was able to read the chip.

I reinstalled the 986 mother board with the 996 gauges but volt and oil pres. still will not come on. Maybe because the 986 DME that thinks it is a 996 ROW will not recognize the 986 mother board??

Topradio, I am wondering if I need to also code the bits with the GQ-4x that identifies the gauge pack mother board as a 986. This is found on line 00000030 of the code as shown on post #15 and #13. ???? If I change that bit to indicate it as a 996 do you think it will work??

Does anyone know if there is a limit on the number of times you can try and reprogram one of these EPROM chips??

I still intend to put the 996 mother board back in car and take it to Porsche to turn on the cruise control.

Gauges
 

Guys, Hoping I can get answers from some tech savvy folks out there to my questions below.
Even if you are not sure give me your thoughts and they could be the answer. Thanks


I reinstalled the 986 mother board with the 996 gauges but volt and oil pres. still will not come on. Maybe because the 986 DME that thinks it is a 996 ROW will not recognize the 986 mother board??

I am wondering if I need to also code the bits (with the GQ-4x) that identifies the gauge pack mother board as a 996. This is found on line 00000030 of the code as shown on post #15 and #13. ???? If I change that bit to indicate it as a 996 do you think it will work??

Does anyone know if there is a limit on the number of times you can try and reprogram one of these EPROM chips??

Gauges
 

Here is a picture of the 986 digital gauges mounted on the 996 motherboard. You will note there are no digital gauges displayed. All you see are the lights normally behind the digital gauge faces. Reason.. the 996 digital gauges are defective and I removed them hopping I could attach good gauge faces later. But I was unable to find these digital face plates anywhere or get them repaired anywhere.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01/car1424815889.jpg

Next is the 996 analog gauges with the 986 motherboard and 986 analog gauges shown in their respective cluster half. Ready for assembly and installation in the car.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01/both1424816041.jpg

This picture shows the 986 motherboard but with a close up of the chip we have all been referring to 93c56B. It is located just to the left of center about 1/4 of an inch above the large square white digital gauge face. It is a small black chip with 4 small silver connections protruding out its top and bottom.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01/chip1424816222.jpg

Last is the 986 motherboard cluster with the 996 analog gauges fully mounted in the car but the two outside gauges (volts & oil pres.) are not working.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1424816383.jpg

I have been unable to get anyone to respond to my last questions on how to proceed so here are my next steps.

1) In the next few days I will try and recode the 986 motherboard so that it thinks
it is a 996 motherboard by changing the two places on the EPROM chip that allows you to select 996 or 986. If that works I'll post the exact bits and location needed to be changed. If the gauges still do not turn on I am lost as to what to do next.

2) Even if step 1 above does not work I will put the 996 motherboard back in the car and take it to the Porsche dealer to TURN ON the cruse control function with their PIWIS. I believe they should be able to do this because the 986 DME that thinks it is a 996 ROW DME should then allow the 996 motherboard to communicate with the 996 ROW flashed DME.

I HOPE !!!!!

If step one works I will still have to follow step 2.

Again if anyone sees something wrong here please let me know.

I sent you an e-mail with the file from my cluster attached. My best suggestion is for you to try to upload it to your cluster and see if that works. The process for programming the EPROM chip has worked for several people. You may be correct that your engine swap is preventing it from working for you.

I know this has to be frustrating, so I wish you the best.

Regards,

996 gauges
 

Kevin, Got the e-mail....Thanks.
This keeps getting more interesting as I go along. Volts and oil P. still do not work but my digital gauges on the 986 mother board are now showing speed in KPH instead of MPH, interesting. The app that runs the attached files is called "Hex Editor Pro" and can be down loaded for free so you can read the files. Sent files to you but can not up load them on this site.

'986 chip' was my original data on the 986 mother board.

'986 chip adj." is the latest update that I have made to the 986 mother board.

"Kevin chip file "is your chip data

"ubsfile996" is the data from the cluster I took the 996 analog gauges from

Do you have any kind of sheet that tells you which bits control which function? or at least which bits control cruise control and top light?

I think I am getting closer but am still some what lost.





Thanks again for all your help. Bob

Here are my recollections from 2 years ago when I did this mod. As a reminder, I had a perfectly working 986 cluster and purchased a 996 cluster with a bad LCD. I kept my 986 motherboard, so my mileage, VIN, and fuel gauge calibration stayed. There were two bits that I needed to change in order to enable the voltmeter and oil pressure gauges.

I tried to buy a less-expensive programmer, but in the end couldn't get it to work and bought the GQ.

I seem to remember the warning light layout had some differences between the two clusters. I'd have to dig through my pile to find the Carrera version and see what is different. I ended up putting the Boxster warning light template on the Carrera cluster.

Everything seems to work perfectly for me. I like to tinker and I don't like to pay dealers, so I saved money and learned a lot.

Benjamin

996 Gauges
 

Benjamin, This exactly what I am trying to do. Keep my 986 mother board and digital gauges but use the 996 analog gauges. Just like you my 996 digital gauges were defective. If you still have your original cluster EPROM
files and what you changed I sure could use them. Thanks for the post. Reebuck1@aol.com

996 Gauges
 

Looks like I made another mistake....received this great suggestion


Hi ,


One thing that jumps out is that due to the read being byte swapped by the programmer the wrong byte has been changed for the voltmeter. This is why the unit is now in KPH, you accidentally changed the byte that controls that function. (BB changed to 01 at x00005006)

I have put it back as it should be, changed the correct byte for the voltmeter and written it to a new file. Try uploading this and see how it functions.

The pressure gauge should be working with this program though, so I do not know why it isn't. Have you checked your wiring and have a known good 996 sender unit installed?

Cheers

I'm on it THANKS !!!

996 gauges
 

Tried the below suggestion and........IT LIVES.......IT LIVES.....THE BEAST HAS COME TO LIFE!!!!

All gauges appear to be working and car still runs great.

I'll try and give a detailed break down tomorrow.

I want to thank all of you for all the help you have been kind enough to provide.
I obviously would never have figured it out by my self. It is unbelievable all the collective experience that exists on this forum. Great work guys !!!

That's good news. It's always good when perseverance pays off.

I know the feeling - when I saw my voltmeter spring to life I couldn't wait to take a test drive. I had been working on installing the oil pressure sending unit, and I had not reinstalled the sound insulation on the engine covers. Even though it sounded like I was driving in an oil drum with people beating on it with hammers, I couldn't stop smiling.

Right now, I need to replace the oil sending unit in my car. Whenever the ignition is on, it stays the 5 level. According to some posts on Renntech, the sending unit is a part that often fails.

I was going to dig out my old EEPROM files this morning but it looks like you got it going. :)

When I started mine up for the first time after installing the oil sending unit, I thought it wasn't working properly because the meter just pegged at 5 and didn't move. After a few miles it settled down and started working properly. It looks like that's pretty standard, although that's probably not what's happening with Kevin if it had worked before and then stopped.

To isolate the sending unit as the problem, you can unplug the wire to the cluster, and then measure the resistance with an ohm meter between the metal body of the sending unit and the terminal you unplugged the wire from. With the engine off it should read an open circuit (infinite). With the car running and warmed up, it should read roughly between 15 and 90 ohms, depending on RPM. As you rev the engine, the resistance should change. I would probably do that first before spending the $90 on a new unit.

Benjamin

I have my hardtop on right now, so access to the engine compartment is inconvenient. I'll check the connections and the resistance before I shell out $90, but there are numerous threads on Renntech indicating it is a fragile part. Oil Pressure Switch/Gauge not working - 996 Series (Carrera, Carrera 4, Carrera 4S, Targa) - RennTech.org Forums (There isn't much information on this forum because most cars have the stock sending unit that sets off the warning light.)

Normally, the gauge reads 5 bar until the oil warms up and then I'm usually around 3.5 with the car running in the 3000-4000 rpm range.

I was driving at about 70 mph one night when the gauge suddenly went all the way to the top. I thought it might have been a blocked oil passage until I realized that the warning light didn't illuminate. On one of my other cars I would be annoyed. To be honest, I was almost relieved to see that the sending unit is the common cause of this problem. $90 for a sending unit is a lot less than the cost of a new engine.

996 Gauges
 

Took a long test drive today and everything now works !!!
Proof for those that doubt....though for awhile I was in the doubter group:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1424998251.jpg

I never could have done this without every ones help. AGAIN THANKS !!
I made a lot of mistakes along the way and I need to detail them and list them
on this site so others don't have to make the same mistakes. I will be out of pocket until Monday and will take the time to do it then.

Thanks again, Reebuck1

That's awesome! Nice work and persistence too! :cheers:

This is on my list.

Did you do the 4 Stalk post too?