Bad immobilizer box, repair question

[p3230]

Originally Posted by irogag

If you are getting any fault codes on W line (Code 21, 19, etc)....make sure to test the relay nearest the blue connector. That is the problem I had and a few taps on it (as well as using a huge magnet) seems to correct it. It IS testing bad as the N.O. contact is NOT closing as it should no matter what voltage on relay coil is applied (Spec is 5 VDC).

Mechanical always fails before electrical

I am going to make a full diagnostic step-by-step on the 986 immobilizer soon, as i've really beat this thing up and it keeps working....mainly I feel it's unfair for local repair places to be charging owners 1100 to 1500 for a short operation to re-teach a new immobilizer. The part is only around $400 from porsche, so no repair in my opinion should be more than 500 dollars.

Good I am looking forward to this.

[Doug427]

Unless you're hell bent on trying to repair it yourself, I'd just send it to Steve ("Qmulus", see above post by him). The un-repairable board he refers to above that he removed and transferred the information over to another was likely mine. My board was dead and badly corroded from water damage. It turned out to be un-repairable. However, as Steve says above, he was able to salvage all the information off my board, and re-program a good used board that he had on hand with all the information from my board.

I too looked into the replacement of the computer, immobilizer, keys, etc. It's not only a pain in the neck to change all that stuff out and significantly more expensive than what Steve does, but it also changes your car to a car that is now electronically NOT your car but rather another, the one that the stuff came out of. If you need keys, etc in the future, you're going to have a bit of a can of worms on your hands. Going with a repair done by Steve, you're car is left working perfectly, EXACTLY as it did the day before it got wet. Nothing will have changed at all.

I'll leave it to Steve to discuss costs if he wishes to, or you can contact him to discuss. It works flawlessly, and the cost was very inexpensive compared the the repair place in Florida that is more widely known, and it was literally a small fraction of the cost of having the dealer program and install a new immobilizer. I recommend Steve very highly. He's THE immobilizer repair guy - great work at a great price, fair and honest too. He is a pleasure to deal with.