Help! Drowned Porsche
 

Hi all,

I'm a noob hoping to avoid a very costly attack on my Dad's wallet by Porsche East London. Torrential rain here in London a few weeks ago overwhelmed the (possibly slightly blocked) drains under his tiptronic 986 Boxster S's tonneau cover and filled the passenger-side footwell with water. We were alerted when the alarm started going beserk at 2 A.M., which some Googling tells me is because Porsche cunningly fitted the alarm/immobiliser module under the passenger side seat in the lowest part of the monocoque, and it was therefore probably full of water.

I disconnected the battery and sealed the car up with a tarp and duct tape until it stopped raining. The following morning I dried the carpet out with a towel as best I could (it was sodden) and set about checking what wasn't working - which turned out to be most of the rear of the car, specifically the power roof, rear light clusters, and spoiler. After a few days more drying out (again, with the battery disconnected) using dehumidifying crystals, more towel treatment, removal of some of the more easily accessible bits of the carpeting over the engine bulkhead, the footmats and the Bose speaker bar, the roof resumed working, and the alarm too.

The car runs and drives just fine, but the rear control units still seem to be malfunctioning. The parking assistance sensors are turned on all the time regardless of which position the gear lever's in, and the reversing lights and brake lights are permanently illuminated, again, regardless of which position the gear lever's in. I've driven it a few hundred meters (to check that the PSM resets, which it does) with the fuses for the parking assistance and those rear clusters pulled, and the car sounds its horn every so often which I assume is to alert others to the fact that my brake lights are nonfunctional. I've also got a 'check reversing light' warning on the dash.

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong, and if so, what will need to be done to remedy it? I can take photos of the problem and let you know which fuses I'm pulling in order to drive the car, if that would help, and yes, I have indeed blown the drains clear with an air compressor and hose.

Help!

Your Central Locking Unit is bad due to being exposed to massive amounts of water. It is located under the driver's seat in US cars. You will need to buy a new one from Porsche if you cannot salvage yours. I bought mine from Sunset Porsche, they had the best price. Only a shop with Porsche software can program it back to your car. Good luck to you. It will take a while to get all of this sorted out.