golfnutintib

Thought I would run this one past folks who may be more technical and experienced than me with the 987.1 3.4l mill in my Cayman S (same as 996 I think).

Background:

2006 Cayman S, 6 speed, no Sport Chrono from factory, now w/ 32K miles... no engine/electrical issues to the present I am aware of, having bought the car 4 years ago. Only mod is a SpeedArt catback exhaust. Car has always driven very well.

Three years ago at 21K miles, bought a Softronic ECU flash to incorporate the quicker throttle response of a car with Sport Chrono. Liked it, no issues till earlier this year when the car had to re-pass California smog. Contacted Softronic, who sent a revised reflash to let all OBD2 test say 'ready' to pass CA smog test, but the O2 sensor would not be ready even after their reflash was loaded.

Brought car to dealer who reflashed the car back to stock. Car then passed smog with all indicators 'ready' right away... but shortly thereafter, car started throwing a CEL saying 'bank one stuck on rich'. This CEL comes on after some driving, each time it is reset. Dealer said they tested all O2 sensors, spark plugs, and fuel feed -- all seems fine, so they think the Softronic flash damaged the ECU/DME, and therefore recommends a $3000 DME replacement. Ugh!

I am not sure about this. Car still drives great, pulls hard, nothing seems awry other than the occasional CEL saying 'bank 1 stuck on rich'...

I am inclined to drive the car as is, but would love to hear if others here have any similar experiences or thoughts. Thanks in advance.

serrym

I know this has been 8 years, now, but I’m facing the same issue with Softronics. What did you end up doing ? Why didn’t you flash ur DME back to stock with the original file Softronics provides BEFORE having the dealer flash it !? The dealer warned me that if the flash it back and there is an issue like yours, they need to have a blank DME ready to use in case it happened, I said no.

Softronic

Hello,
We can put this to rest as the Softronic flash is software and cant damage the DME if its flashed back by the Dealer to an original or by the Softronic MyGenius etc. Should you get faults after the flash to stock its most likely as they are there for a reason such as no cats or cats not working like after market or stock, O2 sensors in the headers incorrectly, bung extenders on the wrong sensors etc. or they flashed it with the wrong file.... The DME is a hard part like a hard drive on a computer while a hard drive can fail the software is simply loaded to it and can be deleted, flashed or changed. I would suggest you go to another Dealer if they think it wont work after they flash it , it would be from a mistake they made as the car wouldnt start or run in that case. Softronic flashes the DME the same as the factory so there are no switchable files or other sections written etc. .

Best,
Scott

tonythetarga

Not the same engine, even though both are 3.4’s. The 996 is an M96 and the Cayman 987’s are M97 engines.