got lucky and fixed my ignition key yesterday

[rfuerst911sc]

Last year for whatever reason my ignition key lost the ability to do any of the wireless features ( unlock doors open trunks ) . Being quite busy I decided no big deal I'll just unlock the doors " like the old days " with the key. Been doing that ever since. Yesterday was an off Friday for me so I did some internet searches on " Porsche keys " and came across quite a few posts with various suggestions to try and " re-sync " the key to the immobilizer. I thought what the heck it's not going to cost me anything. So here is what I tried: unlock drivers door manually with the key , insert key into ignition and turn to on ( not start ) , press/hold the lock/unlock button on the key head until the dash mounted LED starts blinking. Release the button, remove the key from ignition and try it. VOILA.........it works ! I locked/unlocked the doors several times and they work perfect. Tried both trunk lids also work perfect . I ran to the man fridge, grabbed an adult beverage and toasted to my first FREE Porsche repair !

[Need_for_speed]

Thanks for posting your solution! Good to know!

My first repair was neither as easy or as cheap.

[Pdwight]

This should be a "stickie" in this forum for future reference

[BoxsterSteve]

I tried this and couldn't get the dash LED to flash.
The key's LED would stop blinking after about 20 seconds. New 2032 battery in the key and try again?

[Porsche9]

Free and Porsche are rarely spoken together. That's certainly a nice surprise and good to know for anyone with this issue.

[Anker]

I wonder whether this is the way you pair any key with your car?

Anker

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by Anker

I wonder whether this is the way you pair any key with your car?

Anker

There is no way you can pair " any key " using this method. This method only works ( to my knowledge ) for a key that has already worked in the past with the immobilizer .

[papasmurf]

My keyless entry quit working about a month ago and none of the hacks so far have been successful. The light on the key blinks and I replaced the battery once just in case but that did not prove to be the problem either...very frustrating and no way am I going to pay big bucks to the dealer to replace the key and/or resync it.

[jakeru]

Originally Posted by papasmurf

My keyless entry quit working about a month ago and none of the hacks so far have been successful. The light on the key blinks and I replaced the battery once just in case but that did not prove to be the problem either...very frustrating and no way am I going to pay big bucks to the dealer to replace the key and/or resync it.

Lazy blink or quick blink?

If a "lazy blinking" key won't work, I have no solution (and if someone figures out one, I also want to know).

But if "quick blinking" key won't work, try removing board from key case, desoldering coin cell battery holder from board, reflowing board solder joints (some previously covered by the battery holder), reinstalling the battery holder and battery, and reassembling. Apparently the solder connection gets unreliable. If you need to press the key really hard or have intermittent function (unreliable operation), this could also indicate the board solder joints need reflowing.

[papasmurf]

from the key fob that I am getting. I have never had a problem with the button being intermittent in the way it works...possibly the range seems decreased as the battery has aged but that is about all.

[jakeru]

Originally Posted by papasmurf

from the key fob that I am getting. I have never had a problem with the button being intermittent in the way it works...possibly the range seems decreased as the battery has aged but that is about all.

Quick blink is good! So, your keyfob blinking light works reliably, but the locking/unlocking action just does not work reliably - correct? If that is the case, your key is a perfect candidate for the solder reflowing procedure I described above!

One word of warning: the components are surface-mount (not through-hole), so you'll need a fairly small/precise soldering iron to access all the solder joints without inadvertently melting the components.

[rfuerst911sc]

I agree reflowing the solder joints can sometimes cure the flakey performance. Another hack I read about was installing the battery backwards in the key Fob. Some say this helps " reset " the Fob but to be honest I don't know how. Then you remove and re-insert the battery in the correct orientation .