Engine Immobilizer
 

Rained in my car and ruined the engine immobilizer. I am 150 miles from dealer and don't want to haul car that far. I found a set that has keys,ignition switch,immobilizer and some small box electrical part from a wrecked car. If I buy this for $450.00 will I still have to take to Porsche to have all this programed ?

I'm not an expert on this, but I believe it would still need to be adapted to the DME and gauge cluster. If there's an independent Porsche shop closer to you with a PIWIS or PST2, they may be able to handle that.

How are you so sure it is permanently ruined? I'm assuming it is the box under the driver's seat.

Pedro said:

"Try removing the driver's seat and then the CLU.

Disconnect it from its harness, remove it from the car and open the case.

Remove the printed circuit board and dunk it in a shallow recipient and cover it with isopropyl alcohol.

Shake it well so the alcohol penetrates all the spaces, in particular between the chips and connections.

Then, let it dry. You can accelerate the drying by using a hair dryer in the cool mode.

Dry out the inside of the case if it had humidity and put everything back together.

If it was water causing the problem, it should now work fine.

We have saved many CLUs this way."

I think you should disconnect the battery first as you are playing with airbag connections.

Can't be as bad as, when I was deployed, a mechanic left the top down and the floor boards rusted through on my Alfa.

As noted before make sure its toasted first. Make sure the doner car is the same year and engine / transmission type to reduce possible issues.
You will need a key fab from the doner car the immobilizer and ECM. The ignition switch is up to you but most likely not needed. You would probably be able to get the car running. to get to a garage
The problem
1. odometer will show the mileage of doner car
2. radio will probably not work
3. option of dash and onboard features may need turned on or off.
4. ABS errors

Eventually you will need these corrected, a copy of purchase receipts and old units so don't just toss them if the car runs.

Yes..............

You cannot reuse just an used Immobilizer because it can only have software written to it once apparently.

However if you buy a matched set of ECU(Trunk), Immobilizer(Under drivers seat) and Key transponder reciever (Ignition key assembly with key), you can replace all three as a matched set and there should be no additional programming required.

BTW: I just bought a matched set from a Socal dismantler for $245. (Check ebay)

You don't need to pay more than $300 for a matched set, as there are plenty offered below that price.

You need four items to make a car driveable;

1. Key fob with internal transmitter
2. Immobilizer (under seat)
3. ECU (rear trunk)
4. Key shank to match the lock

1-2-3 must be electronically matched (coded). If not, then the car won't start.

If 1-2-3 are not coded the same, then you need a dealer or a select indy who has a PIWIS or PST2 who can re-program them all to match.

Of course, the key internal transmitter (#1) and #4 can be swapped around between key fobs as desired (just open the key fob and swap away).

You say: "I found a set that has keys,ignition switch,immobilizer and some small box electrical part". If the "some small box electical part" is the ECU, then you should have a matching set that should get your car running. If that small box part isn't the ECU, then you'll have to go to a dealer/indy to have the new key transmitter and immobilizer programmed to match the existing ECU in your car.

So you can in fact get a used immobilizer matched to your key and ECU?


The matching set should look something like this. top row left=ECU(In Trunk), right=Immobilizer(Under drivers seat), front center=ignition assembly with matching key.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01/ecu31409690090.jpg

When I bought my matched set I also asked for the Donor cars VIN because I also read somewhere that these units have a password, to get in and make changes to the settings, and the Dealer can look it up from the VIN.

When you bought matched set shown ,did you still have to go to dealer?Or did you install yourself and it worked fine? Please let me know dealer is so far away.

If all four come matched from same car . Are you saying I won't have to go to dealer and have reprogrammed. I am just learning about cars.

Yes.

(Ignore this, msg needs more characters).

Your car should run if the parts are good. Try and read the last 12 entries they may answer some questions.
http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/52071-how-diagnose-resolve-engine-issues-using-durametric.html

He had ABS faults. He was able to clear but he had Durametrics.
He has a door lock problems and may need to have them resolve by the dealer.