Radio - No Volume Control
#17
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Spring Lake, NJ, US of A
Posts: 10,085
Received 1,153 Likes
on
764 Posts
1. Pulled Passenger Seat. Water damaged electrical box below passenger seat is shown below. Signs of water damage (severe corrosion on connector in lower left hand corner of photo)
Model number 987.645.442.01 Label indicates it is a computer of some sort. One of the red leads (assuming input power) was dissolved in mentioned connector.
2. Second photo is the corroded connector. Red lead is relocated back into its mating hole but it is dissolved at the pin end.
3. Third photo is pooched box internals. Circle on photo indentifies area of severe corrosion.
Questions:
1. Does anyone know what this box is,or what it does? Could this be the reason my volume control does not work on my radio?
2. Is this box common to other Porsche models???
3. Is this a dealer only part, or would/could you trust this coming from a wreck yard?
4. I will need to replace the connector which is labeled as a Tyco PBT-GF15. Does anyone have any ideas where I might locate one of these?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Terry
1. That looks like the amplifier. I see two amplifier chips and perhaps a driver chip mounted to the cooling fins at the top of the photo. If the rest of the car works with that removed - then undoubtedly it's the amplifier. A point of clarity - your volume control lilely works, but the signal can't be heard because the amplifier that is fed by the volume control is KAPUT.
2. Questionable. It appears Porsche made one for the Boxster and one for the Cayman. They look the same, the connectors are the same, but they're different. There is an interesting thread on the topic at: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1234814
3. Trust it from a wrecking yard? Tough call, since it likely would be located in the wreck about where yours is under the seat, and if the interior of the car was open to the elements - one from a wreck might be just about as bad. From the thread above - a new one from Porsche is around $400 - surprisingly inexpensive for a Porsche part. If you can get a good one from a wrecking year - it should plug in and work without any coding needed - if you get the identical part number.
4. Finding that connector and the correct contacts for in it, then assembling it might be almost impossible. Some euro car manufacturers sell what's called a "repair harness" or "repair stub" - with the connector and a short length of each wire already installed. The idea is - the mechanic can cut off the old connector and then splice the wiring to the new repair harness connector. You might be able to achieve the same thing by asking the wrecking yard to cut off the connectors to the amplifier with a 6" length of wire, then you splice it, or pay someone skilled in doing that sort of thing to do it. BTW - "PBT-GF15" isn't the part number, it's the type of plastic that the connector shell is made from. I'd guess it's on there for recycling purposes.
Here is a place in Germany that claims to repair this sort of amp for 150 euro.. https://www.amp-performance.de/en/14...d-package.html - but my guess is - if you sent them photos of the damage they may not want to commit to the job. The corrosion you have is severe enough that any repair would be extremely difficult.
As an option - you might visit a good auto-audio shop in your area that does custom installations. Undoubtedly they've worked on Porsches and might have some suggestions for a replacement amplifier and they might be capable of doing the installation.
If you have auto insurance, and you have what in the US is called "comprehensive" coverage - damage like this would normally be covered by it. Subject to what deductible you selected.
BTW - where are you located? Perhaps somsone local to you might have a suggestion...
#18
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Spring Lake, NJ, US of A
Posts: 10,085
Received 1,153 Likes
on
764 Posts
#19
Cool! I had tried a query on Ebay with that number with no hits.
Thank you very much for responding! I was really hoping this would be a plug and play fix, and that I could do the repair myself. My big fear was that this was some kind of control box for a multitude of other things. This is really a load off my mind!
Thank you very much!!!
Cheers,
Terry
Thank you very much for responding! I was really hoping this would be a plug and play fix, and that I could do the repair myself. My big fear was that this was some kind of control box for a multitude of other things. This is really a load off my mind!
Thank you very much!!!
Cheers,
Terry
#20
Thank you for the detailed reply Don!
Yes, the radio is working, it's just that the sound was knocked out when I flooded the amp. That's what made me suspect initially the box under the seat was an audio power amp.
I'm just back from a couple day vacation, so will begin addressing my amp problem tomorrow. I'm thinking about starting with Porsche, and hoping they can also sell me a connector. Right now I am visiting a friend in Pasadena, so there should be some connector solutions down in this area. With the exception of the red wire, all of the other pins look OK. Will check them for continuity.
Also appreciate your comment on a wreck yard amp. My idea was not a good one!
Again, thank you so much for your comments!
Cheers,
Terry
Yes, the radio is working, it's just that the sound was knocked out when I flooded the amp. That's what made me suspect initially the box under the seat was an audio power amp.
I'm just back from a couple day vacation, so will begin addressing my amp problem tomorrow. I'm thinking about starting with Porsche, and hoping they can also sell me a connector. Right now I am visiting a friend in Pasadena, so there should be some connector solutions down in this area. With the exception of the red wire, all of the other pins look OK. Will check them for continuity.
Also appreciate your comment on a wreck yard amp. My idea was not a good one!
Again, thank you so much for your comments!
Cheers,
Terry
#21
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Actually - not. There is a difference in the number of channels in the Boxster and Cayman - and they aren't interchangeable. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1234814