The Nine8Six (the car) is dead, can't start

[Nine8Six]

1997 Porsche Boxster, automatic/tiptronic, 2,050 Horsepower.

Decided to take the roadster to drop by my office this morning (good weather finally, 27dC). Was in the mood! Car haven't ran for 2 months and now it can't start.

Problem:

1. The door-lock button/switch in the horseshoe is lit up red, pressing it has no effect. Doors lock and unlock fine with the key only.
2. Both seat heater buttons on my armrest are kind of flashing inconsistently, as if there is a short
3. The windows does not drop anymore
4. Nine8Six (the guy) is out of his mind
5. Nine8Six (the car) is all f'ed up

Background:

1. had water (semi-flood) coming inside the back of the passenger seat a few months ago due to heavy rain. That got resolved and the car appears to be completely dry atm.
2. I always disconnect the NEG terminal from the battery when I park it for long duration so that it doesn't drain the whole thing. Battery is currently showing 12.38V

Immobilizer? ECU? Worst? Do I need to take the day off and drop by the P dealer to grab the silver 718 sitting in the showroom?

[rexcramer]

Round up the usual suspects, ignition switch?

[itsnotanova]

Originally Posted by rexcramer

Round up the usual suspects, ignition switch?

That would be my first guess too. I'd check the immobilizer. Not only because that has a tendency to cause issue, but also because it's so easy to check. Most bad immobilizers I've seen showed obvious signs of corrosion inside them.

[Nine8Six]

man.. nooo, the trunk pop open when I plug in the NEG battery terminal, just unplugged/plug the battery terminal 5min ago. This thing is all screwed up, I'm worried... staying home to fix this thing or my head won't be straight. Just need it to start so I can send it off to the dealer

Can someone come to Shanghai today start my boxster please. I can cook great Chinese food for you

[911monty]

Man sorry to hear. Pretty sure it's the slushbox......HAHA. My money is this is residual from the soaking previously. I'd check the connection to the immobilizer and clean well I'm thinking corrosion??? Disconnect the battery first.


edit well we seem to have a consensus.

[Nine8Six]

Anyone knows if there is any connector(s) under the carpet that could have been compromised by water/corrosion? I'm aware that automakers loves to run harnesses all over the place under those floor carpet and insulation. Could this cause all kinds of shorts in the system?

Assuming the immob is fine here as I can't recall having it submerged (flooded). I'll start removing the seat to give that immob a check regardless but if you are aware of any harness(es) or corroded conn that could cause all of this ghost stuff please let know where to look for... I'll rip off that carpet in an hour if I have too.

thanks in advance guys

[Nine8Six]

Rex, Woody, NineOneOne

Thx folks, be right back... let me get that seat off there... think its only 4 bolts and the conn to the seat heater.

(stupid car. Auto-Trunk Open feature enabled... go figure )

[particlewave]

Classic bad immobilizer symptoms. If the immobilizer was fixed, double check it, then take your time carefully cleaning every last connector pin and socket.

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by particlewave

then take your time carefully cleaning every last connector pin and socket.

Always so delicate Charles. What about setting it on fire for the amusement of forum986.com.

Drying it using special tooling right now; my wife's hair dryer. I'll brush off as much as I can but me don't think this will do anything (see white spots everywhere on the 20/y/old pcb). Lost hope of the day, pissed, depressed, and suicidal. there

Do I need to reflow some of the rusted 'welding' on this thing with fresh solder? how does corrosion affect components, especially the pins which seems to rust quite easily on this board. Does/can the pin occasionally detach from the solder?

I'll dry first and try this out in a hour see if miracles are real :/

[Nine8Six]

What a f n pos car and day. They placed a computer where water easily built-up... and about 25 people saw me pulling a seat out of porsche car while sweating. man that's not how its supposed to start when you feel roadster :/

Took seat off, wiggled the 2 harnesses that plug to the immob like all good tech do lollll, plugged back the batt (strangely no trunk pop this time) try to start and nothing - not a click.

Immob was covered with condensation droplets between the flooring sheet metal and enclosure. Unfortunately I've brushed off the thick white powder/corrosion (oxi, whatever) it had around the pins/solder before snapping the pics so it doesn't look that bad on the pics below, but it was devastating to see folks. You can clearly see some pretty ugly damage on the last pic

Now what, read $3k for that made in Philippine pcb, and I-Dont-Have-$3k L0l0L

[78F350]

PM Qmulus. He has repaired these and/or swapped essential data from a bad pcb to a good one. Quality work.

...just have to wait on the China Post.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by 78F350

PM Qmulus. He has repaired these and/or swapped essential data from a bad pcb to a good one. Quality work.

...just have to wait on the China Post.

Easy DIY. I'm sure Fred could do it. Just need a replacement immobilizer, the correct EEPROM reader and 10-20 minutes.

I helped someone does theirs about a month ago and he probably had never even changed his own oil.

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by 78F350

PM Qmulus. He has repaired these and/or swapped essential data from a bad pcb to a good one. Quality work....just have to wait on the China Post.

Thanks for the heads up, got a feeling I'll be chasing the schematic for the locking mechanism and ignition sooner than later :/ Let's hope he is familiar with the 986 immob. Would be fab if this could be just re-wired up with 1 or 2 jumper leads and a little bit of solder LOLLL

Qmulus, What's his good man name, you know?

[Nine8Six]

YEEPROM what?? Man your dreaming I don't do epromm flashing... got frills just to think about it. Just hung up with my P service officer and it looks like replacement unit required + reprog. They are happy to flash it for me they say, takes 10min apparently? No idea what else he was rumbling about, lost my mind at that stage... so I've politely interrupted him and said "your Boxster suck, its a damn swamp". He replied: just bring it in!

I replied: I CAN"T ITS ALREADY DEAD

I'll report back.... drying this philippines rusty green thing on my kitchen table

[78F350]

Sent a pm regarding code name Qmulus.
The data that is specific to your car is on a single ic. From what I understand it is not reprogrammable in the immobilizer (not eeprom). Rather, the DME can be programmed to it. What Q does is de-solder and transfer that little piece of magic from one immobilizer unit to another.
Sure that the great-and-powerful Nine8Six can do it selfie. Just opening a box I only see 2 ic's of interest and I already know it isn't the bigger of the two.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by 78F350

Sent a pm regarding code name Qmulus.
The data that is specific to your car is on a single ic. From what I understand it is not reprogrammable in the immobilizer (not eeprom). Rather, the DME can be programmed to it. What Q does is de-solder and transfer that little piece of magic from one immobilizer unit to another.
Sure that the great-and-powerful Nine8Six can do it selfie. Just opening a box I only see 2 ic's of interest and I already know it isn't the bigger of the two.

Not the case...the EEPROM is read/write. This is personal experience, not speculation. Certain people that repair these immobilizers at a rate of hundred$ for 10 minutes of work don't want the average Joe to know how simple it is.

As I stated, I just walked someone through the process via text message. It is very simple. His car is now running great and all immobilizer functions are back to normal.
{part# removed}...exact # varies by model.

[Nine8Six]

'97 for your reference/record below Charles. And can you please source/fabricate us a sealed enclosure that the Immob fits into? (please). You'll save so many great Boxsters and 911... these things are nearly shot man, or soon will be if not taken care right away. Take my word... not exactly cheap :/





^ Look at that corrosion build up... 20 years (or possibly 22 years, not sure loll)

[RobertKing]

Lot's of interesting suggestions, all missed the most basic thing. You said you haven't driven the car in 2 months. If the alarm was on, your battery is too low to start the vehicle. Happened with my 2001 just this week and after only 3 weeks of not being driven. Jump start it, drive around for 30 or 40 minutes and you're likely good to go. If the battery was disconnected, that does not mean the battery is good. 12.3 or so volts sounds right but, that's not under a load. Test the battery before going for expensive and likely unnecessary repairs.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by RobertKing

Lot's of interesting suggestions, all missed the most basic thing. You said you haven't driven the car in 2 months. If the alarm was on, your battery is too low to start the vehicle. Happened with my 2001 just this week and after only 3 weeks of not being driven. Jump start it, drive around for 30 or 40 minutes and you're likely good to go.

You missed it, Robert. Read post #1.

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by RobertKing

Jump start it, drive around for 30 or 40 minutes and you're likely good to go. If the battery was disconnected, that does not mean the battery is good. 12.3 or so volts sounds right but, that's not under a load. Test the battery before going for expensive and likely unnecessary repairs.

You have no idea how hard it is to jump start a 2,050 horsepower Boxster, Rob Batt is brand new from 2016, from Porsche (in special, of course). But will take your advice and drive it as soon as it starts.

Thanks for helping me out bud