Alarm/door lock/gas lid issues

[Swhitcomb]

My immobilizer got wet and needs to be gone through. $150-$200 sounds like a deal to me. How do I get it to you to get it done?

[Disaster]

Originally Posted by Qmulus

The moral of the story? Keep your drains clean and keep liquids out of the car whenever possible.

Yes. Check early and often. Cars that park outside or under trees are the most susceptible. Get a musical instrument cleaning brush. They come with a long flexible wire for feeding through, with a nylon brush on the end. $10.

[Javi Cooper]

Hi Jay, nice to see you around here. Thanks for the help as always. No worries, it all comes with the territory of modded, older german sports cars.

So here's an update...

As mentioned, a new immobilizer was installed (also, the old one was found to be in good shape). All plugs were cleaned as well as the grounds, all fuses were checked and a couple of them replaced, and finally the new ignition switch arrived and was installed. And then...

Nothing

Same exact symptoms - When remote is pressed doors lock for a second and then unlock (backwards for gas lid). No light flash, no alarm chirp. Now I'm stumped. What else could it be? Maybe another bad ground somewhere? For a while I considered the door switches but those seem fine (both windows do the slight adjustment when doors are opened/closed every time). Any ideas? I want to drive my Boxster and I can't put gas in it!!!

On a brighter note at least the tailights now both work .

[particlewave]

What happens when you press the lock switch on the dash with both doors closed?
What happens when you lock using the key in the door?
What happens when you turn the key to the lock position 3 times in a row?

[Javi Cooper]

Originally Posted by particlewave

What happens when you press the lock switch on the dash with both doors closed?

Lock switch's red light goes on, driver door locks, passenger door does not. After that, pressing the button again either way will not change anything (red light stays on, driver door stays locked until door is opened from inside).

What happens when you lock using the key in the door?

Same symptoms as using the remote: Door locks and gas lid engage for a split second, then go back to where they were (unlocked doors, locked gas lid)

What happens when you turn the key to the lock position 3 times in a row?

Driver door stays locked and gas lid does the noise only once - basically the first half of the current symptoms. However, passenger door still does not lock.

#1 and #3 make me think that there is a problem with the door lock on the passenger side. It won't engage for some reason so the immobilizer thinks the door is open or unlocked and the alarm won't engage. At first I thought it could be the door switch doing that but the window and dome light seem to know fine when the door is opened or closed. I think at least it has been narrowed down somewhat. What do you think?

[particlewave]

There are 5 switches in the door latch, so any one or more could be bad. Hard to say.
I would talk to Woody and see about getting a replacement. If it doesn't fix the issue, maybe he will take a return. Couldn't hurt to ask him.

You should probably check the easy things first, like checking for corrosion on the pins of the door harness connectors (both inside the door and the primary connector near the door hinge).

[Javi Cooper]

UPDATE

Sooooo... 1 1/2 years after this issue started it seems the main problems have been fixed, but not all of them. As suspected near the end of the thread, the passenger side door lock actuator went bad. It wasn't locking when pressing the remote button, so everything would momentarily lock, the brain would find something wrong with the passenger door, and everything would unlock again. So now the security system can be armed and both doors can be locked.

So that battle was won, but not the war.

The gas lid lock still stays locked, the trunk won't open with the remote, and the alarm won't chirp when armed/disarmed. Also, a few months later the trunk level locks stopped working (in locked position, of course) but that seems to be unrelated. Are these separate problems? Is it just a (huge) coincidence that these things went wrong at the exact same time as the door lock actuator or are they related? Why did the actuator go bad after a strong rain? Was that a coincidence too?

I have more questions now than before But I'm happy that the electrical system is almost back to normal

[Deserion]

FWIW the alarm only chirps if something is ajar when it's being set. In regular use it should remain silent (at least on North America-region cars).

Have you tried using the emergency release cable for the fuel door? Just don't pull it too hard and remove the whole pin from the assembly like someone did... It may need lubricated.

[Porsche-Eh]

Originally Posted by Deserion

Have you tried using the emergency release cable for the fuel door? Just don't pull it too hard and remove the whole pin from the assembly like someone did... It may need lubricated.

LOL, I broke the cable on mine one day - kept getting stuck. Then I noticed it is only a little black plastic receptacle that the pin slides back and forth into that keeps the gas lid locked so I simply removed that (5 seconds) and I never have to worry about it again. It's not like my new $60K ford has a locking lid - it doesn't even have a gas cap for crying out loud.

[p3230]

Replace the actuator for the gas door it's not that expensive.

[Javi Cooper]

Originally Posted by Deserion

FWIW the alarm only chirps if something is ajar when it's being set. In regular use it should remain silent (at least on North America-region cars).

Oh man I was so happy when I read this, but when I tried it the alarm is not chirping when pressing the remote with a door open either. In fact, it doesn't do anything at all. With everything closed lights flash and doors lock but not chirp. Oh, and the dash light is not blinking either.

Have you tried using the emergency release cable for the fuel door? Just don't pull it too hard and remove the whole pin from the assembly like someone did... It may need lubricated.

Where is this cable?
I took my plastic thingie out too.

Replace the actuator for the gas door it's not that expensive.

Yup, next on my list. I'm wondering if that has something to do with everything else (alarm not chirping, trunk opening - read on)

Also forgot to mention that while the trunk still doesn't pop open with the remote, sometime after all this happened the trunk started popping open whenever I pressed the button to raise the top It actually came in handy when the trunk levels lock stopped working in the closed position, but now it's getting annoying...

This car is haunted!