What is this?
 

Hi Guys,

i was playing around in my Boxster and noticed that next to the interior cabin light on the roof, there are 2 translucent black covers, with the left one covering a sort of a light/sensor circuit, and the right one covering some other circuits. What are these?

Attached a picture to help identify what I am referring to.

I believe they are interior motion sensors that are part of your alarm system.

ddb is right, that is what those are.

Cheers thanks!

A good time to sit down with your owner's manual (or get one) and read through it. As they say...... It's in there.

Anybody have the red clip to activate the motion sensor while the top is down?

I have the clip. However, after using it to "activate" the IR sensors, the alarm failed to go off when I tested it by reaching into the locked car. I wonder if it works better in the darker, closed top scenario?

the motion sensors are not active immediately after enabling the alarm. it takes, i believe, a few seconds before intrusion would be detected. i know i've tested it and waving my hand in the cabin immediately after locking had no effect. however i came back and tried it and it set off the alarm.

+1 on that.

Very nice, thanks for the info :dance:.... *goes and orders

I think it takes about 10-12 seconds to go active, since that's when I usually see the red LEDs on the dash start to pulse. And unless you're really trying to get away from your car in a hurry, not many shady individuals can sneak up to your car in that period of time and infiltrate. They'd literally have to be right behind you and be super stealthy. And even though I have the remote key, I tend to use the key in the door lock because there's jerks out there who intercept remote signals so they can go raid/acquire your vehicle when you leave.

If you don't have the clip you can also push on the microswitch in the windshield latch area while you press your remote button and the sensors should still go active.

Do all Boxsters have this interior alarm? If so, is the red clip all that is needed to activate it?

Tombea, yes all 986 Boxsters have the interior alarm and the red clip will activate it with the top down.

Whoops, sorry already answered. For some reason my iPhone shows the posts in reverse order?

Just in case some don't know, you have the option to lock and alarm your car (with the top up) while deactivating the motion sensors. This can be useful if you leave a pet (or a person) inside the car. Hitting the lock button twice, quickly, locks and alarms the doors and trunks while deactivating the motion sensors. I don't remember for sure but you may get a confirmation chirp and the flashing red light on top of the dash reacts differently, at least initially, when in this mode.

For my 97, ddb, when I press my lock/unlock button on the remote to lock the car, I'll get a quick double flash of the signals and a horn beep after that. For my car this is normal operation, though it probably is possible to deactivate the horn beep if someone doesn't want it.

If I do that quick double-press to deactivate the motion sensors when locking the car, I get a long single flash of the turn signals, maybe 2 seconds long, and no horn beep, which tells me that it worked. This is also how my owner's manual details correct operation, and my manual is for a MY99 or 2000, I think.

To my knowledge there is no way to do this if you lock the car using the key in the door, and it must be done from the remote.

bad idea to leave the top down long enough to be away from the car for a long time.

The HID lights are very easy to remove even with the top up, just need to get the hood open. A few years back there were a rash of break ins just to steal those lights.

This is true, Perfectlap, but we see it all the time. I just saw a Miata at work today, top down and open to the world...I won't even comment extensively on the fact that it was cloudy and foggy this morning, threatening to rain. :rolleyes: But yea, I doubt (and more than anything hope) that this person has nothing important in the car, because there's nothing stopping anyone from reaching in and helping themselves.

If the car's sensors are active, though, the horn will be blaring the whole time that person is helping themselves to your car's headlights as soon as they reach in to open the door(s) to get to the trunk latches.

Interesting, Overdrive. My 2000 didn't have the confirmatory horn beep when locking the doors via the remote. Maybe the dealer has the option to turn this feature on or off. The lights do however flash.

Did you buy yours new? If not it could be that the owner prior to you had the dealer deactivate that feature.

EDIT: Also, my sister's '99 functions the same as mine. It could also be a change they made for MY00 since that's when a few things, as big as the debut of the S and as small as a .2L bump to the base engine, came along. Maybe they got rid of the horn beeps, too.

No, I didn't buy it new. The noise of the doors locking is loud enough for me as an audible confirmation. So I like not having the horn chirp for a routine lock.

I wonder what else the dealer can activate? Do all cars have the automatic door lock function at a certain speed (3-5 MPH)? Mine does this.

Both of my black plastic oval covers have come loose and fallen off. Has anyone else experienced this before? I'm considering gluing them back into place.
If that's a good idea, does anyone have a recommended glue for something like that?

I think that's a feature of later cars. There's no mention of it in my manual, and my car has never done it, so I don't think mine can. The only thing that happens at 3mph is that my spoiler warning light extinguishes after startup. I have to remember to press the lock button when I get in, since there's no other way of locking them but that switch.

I know that the dealer (or probably any person/shop with the equipment) can also change how long your car takes before it re-locks itself when you unlock it with the remote and don't pull a door handle (e.g., unlock car, forgot something in the house, went back inside without locking the car or opening the door, the car will lock itself and reset the alarm in 2 minutes). It can be set anywhere from 4 seconds to 120 seconds, the latter of which is the default.

Anyone know where I can get those covers? The used 1998 Boxster I just bought did not have them.

You have to go to a dealer. One of mine fell off. Where? When? Don't know. I ended up using some contact cement to make sure they never come off again.

^Thanks. They are dark lenses, correct? Do they just pop in like the front and rear trunk lights?

On my '03 Base, the horn chirp alerts me that something is not secure, usually the compartment between the seats. Once I make sure it is latched, I just get a flash of the lights to let me know my system is armed.

mine does the same. a horn beep after locking means something is not secure. 04 S