JPPoulin

Hello awesome Porsche Boxter 981 owners!

I have dropped the key fob to my (beautiful!) 2013 Porsche Boxter S in the water, and the key fob to my 981 no longer works. (The little LED lights up when I press the buttons, but the car no longer locks / unlocks or opens the trunk or frunk.

What happened is that it soaked in pool water for over an hour, and when I realized that it was wet and could no longer start the car, I proceeded to remove the battery, dismantle the fob as much as I could and blowdry it to take as much moisture out as possible. Fortunately, once enough moisture was removed, the fob partially came back to life by being able to start the car and started blinking its LED when I pressed its buttons. Unfortunately to this day, I can no longer engage or disengage the security system or open the trunk.

Given that the FOB still blinks its LED and starts the car, perhaps it is still functional enough and just needs to be rebound to my car?

Q1: Can I return my semi-working fob to full health myself? (Perhaps by rebinding it with my car with some technical procedure?)
Q2: If not, can you recommend a less-expensive route to get this done other than bringing the car to my (expensive!) Porsche dealership?
Q3: I also need to purchase another FOB (given my half-working is my only lifeline to my car)... What is the most cost-efficient way to get one?

Thanks so much for sharing your expert knowledge!

Jean-Pierre

Thacker

Alex Palmiera of "Legit Street Garage" on YouTube fixed several soaked BMW computers by taking the box apart and using CRC Brakleen non-flammable brake parts cleaner and a toothbrush to carefully clean the crud off of the back of the circuit board.

Sometimes this works. Sometimes it does not.

Q2 and Q3: You need to find a FOB, and find someone with a PIWIS computer.

Good luck.

JPPoulin

Thanks so much Thacker for taking the time with this prompt and usable answer.

I am reading about the PIWIS computer here at Rennlist and hopefully I can find a mechanic near Fort Lauderdale that can program that new FOB without a crazy fee.

My question is about getting a new FOB... on eBay there appears to be a few FOB for my 981 like a $45 one here and a $125 one here, Do you think these would work?

So to recap... if I buy one of these eBay FOBs and find a mechanic with a PIWIS 1/2/3 computer I should be able to bind this new FOB to my car?

Thanks again!

Thacker

I recommend contacting Foreign Affairs in Pompano Beach. No affiliation. Good luck.

DrewM

As mentioned, you can try doing the electrical cleaner -> distilled water -> rice trick with the existing key. At this point you probably don't have much to lose...or maybe do it after you have another good working key.

To program keys in the 981, you need PIWIS (as mentioned), but I'm about 90% sure it also needs to be an 'active subscription' version of PIWIS, which is something most indies in the S Florida area don't have (a few have the knock-off versions).

That said there are a few companies around that advertise the ability to 'make' keys even for cars like this that are deeply programmed into the ECU, I'm guessing there may be a way to 'clone' your existing key into one that is working, that would happen outside of PIWIS. You may even be able to clone multiple keys from the one key you have (the car will think it's only 1 key).

Schwinn

I would recommend cleaning it as well, but I would not recommend brake cleaner... that stuff is way too harsh for circuit boards. There are many electronic cleaners out there, and one I've seen recommended is a DeoxIT cleaner (I've never used it myself). I normally clean with IPA and manual cleaning/scraping.

If that doesn't pan out, I would also suggest calling around a few lock places to see if they can help. Some have the tools to reprogram Porsches, though I admit it's not as common... so it may take numerous calls to get it squared away. Good luck!

JPPoulin

Thank you DrewM, Schwinn and Thacker for the prompt and expert assistance on this complex issue... it would be really bad if my last remaining key would stop starting the car as I understand I'd have to tow the car to Porsche and that would cost a bunch of time and money!

Update: Working on this some more yesterday I noticed that the FOB battery I installed last month was already dead (LEDS no longer blinking) which is more evidence that the FOB has some issue where it drains its battery quickly... so perhaps it was damaged by being in the pool and an indication that deep cleaning could help. What is great news is that I proceeded to install a fresh battery and (for the first time in 3 months) was able to lock/unlock the car and open both trunks! However this works at a rate of about one in 10 presses! (I had tried every week for the last 3 months and this is the first sign of life in 3 months with a fresh battery!)

So the problem I'm having has completely shifted now that I know that the key is still paired to the car (so no needs of a PIWIS computer).

However I don't know why it only works about one time out of ten and might be on it's "last legs". I've tried many times at many possible points inside and outside the car yesterday and the odds of the buttons working are higher inside the cabin then outside. As a result I am no longer locking my car at night out of concern that they key will never be able to unlock the security system. (leaving the car unlocked I can always get in the car to start it and drive off)

So perhaps the recommendations to 'clone' my one (somewhat) good key to healthier ones would be the way to go? I'll be researching my options on who can do that cloning (so the car always think it's the same key), but I would prefer a good OEM key to start with and the one I found for $45 here on eBay might be my best bet to bring to someone who can clone 981 keys?

Have you guys ever experienced this very spotty behavior for a FOB where you need to be inside the car or right next to the windows? (I'm an electronic engineer and from the quick drain on FOB batteries that perhaps there is still moisture in there or perhaps the antenna got clogged). Another fact... the one FOB I received when I purchased the used car 6 months ago was always quite weak in comparison to my previous two Boxters as the buttons would not work unless I was right next to the car windows or trunks.

Thanks guys!!

TMc993

This is probably oversimplifying your issue, but the intermittent activation may be due to battery contacts in the fob not be in sufficient contact with the battery. Try opening the battery compartment of the fob and carefully bending the metal battery contact(s) (A in attached image) up so that they firmly press against the base of the battery when the cover is put back on the fob. Also, be sure that the contacts running along the sides of the battery compartment (B in the attached image) touch the outside edge of the battery so that the circuit is complete.

Keep trying...You're getting there!

JPPoulin

Update: I have new data points from running an experiment with my one (somewhat working) FOB... by trying a button like open the trunk from over 50 locations outside the car (all around the car, from top to bottom) to basically test when the FOB works from a half-sphere 3D sweep all around the car, I have found that my FOB will work 100% of the time in one spot and works near 0% at all the other spots... in all there is a space of about 1 cubic meter close to the front of the passenger window where the FOB works 100% of the time on its four buttons.

Curiously the one spot that works 100% of the time is the area around the passenger window... it starts working near the gas tank door and stops working at the rear of the passenger window... (and it only works when at least as high as the bottom of the passenger window and continues working on top of the soft top. Additionally it works about half the time on the driver side close to the windshield.

So this appears to be a poor antenna issue, but it's hard to know if it's the FOB that's defective or the car itself. Presumably the car positions its antenna for the FOB inside the windshield?

Has anyone run into FOBs that have a range of less than a meter from a small area of the car?

JPPoulin

Thank you Terry, I'll open mine up again and try this. (see my post 5 mins ago in regards to tiny 1 meter range from the passenger area of the car)... very weird problem!

01010011

Mine has horrible range and only works 100% consistently when held near the passenger side A-pillar (where then antenna is located). Usually when walking toward the car, the first action (opening trunk, unlocking, etc.) works, but then if I try to do something else (like pop the frunk after I’ve already done the rear hatch, etc.) doesn’t work until I bring the key near the antenna. I just chalked it up to the fact that I’m running cables for a dash cam through the A-pillar and figured they are somehow causing interference. It doesn’t bother much so I haven’t investigated further. It could also be as simple as a dying battery, although I replaced that fairly recently. But it’s possible the one I put in wasn’t really 100% since it had been sitting for a while. Also could be the contacts as noted by TMc993 and I’ll have to check that out.

TMc993

Mine is a Cayman, which may or may not make a difference. No matter which angle I'm approaching from, my fob range usually exceeds 100 feet. I just checked it and approaching from the front, it worked at 175 feet, which was all the line-of-sight I had. I never let my battery get over a year old.

JPPoulin

Wow! Super interesting and pertinent 01010011 aka 'S' :-)

It looks like we are facing the exact same issue!

I have also run power cables in the passenger-side A-pillar for my radar detector and front/rear cameras! Come to think of it it's possible that range started to get poor around the same time and might not be related to me dropping that FOB in the water!

Q1: How do you know that the FOB antenna is located in the passenger-side A-pillar? (And there is only one of them?)
Q2: Did your FOB range issues appear when you ran power cables in the A-pillar?

I will try tomorrow to see if I can replicate the problem you have with the subsequent button presses having poorer range... it's possible I have that too. (And if so possibly the first pulse has more power because the unit's capacitors have stored more energy?)

JPPoulin

Wow that is an insane range! (But given that the Cayman and the Boxster have different structure at the roof of the vehicle possibly your antenna is stored elsewhere...

I never got more than 5 feet range even when I purchase my used car 6 months ago... wonder if it's the car or my only FOB...

Thacker

I opened my Cayman's frunk from about 70 feet away today, oblique, about 20 feet to the left of the drivers side headlight. I hope this helps. I would still try to save your FOB as I have described. Good luck.