I just had my car in for service (CPO so went to the dealer) and oil change. Had them take a look at the AC control center and they agreed this wasn't normal. Had to check with Porsche for warranty, but a week later they called me it was approved under CPO. They ordered the part and will be installed next week. Great follow up from Porsche Newport Beach!

 

Bought my 2013 4S CPO last month and, while the passenger seat heater button has been fine/used plenty of times by my wife, this morning it was stuck and would not press down to turn on. Feeling the edge compared to the driver's side, it felt in a stuck depressed state. Glad I found this post as it seems to have unstuck it. I applied rubbing alcohol with a q-tip around all sides of the button, waited a few minutes, and applied some more. I then used some dental floss - pushed it around and down the button with a semi-rigid thin piece of plastic (the kind from a conference name badge), working it around all corners back and forth like a tooth. The button unstuck and became moveable again. Used some more rubbing alcohol and flossed with a new piece for a bit, and it now freely moves as it should, and provides the "click" feedback. Now turns on and clicks through all 3 settings. Thanks!

 

That's what the do here. Next thing you'll be doing your serpentine belt yourself... We seem to draw the line at PDK repairs though ;-)

 

I wanted to top this thread to add how I got this issue resolved in my car.

I bought my '17 991.2 in 2019. Ever since I bought it, the passenger side Temperature and seat ventilation/heating buttons have been extremely sticky. They operate, but the "rebound" in the button takes 10-15s before it changes state.

I don't drink anything in my car, but I don't know what happened in its first two years. I took it to my dealer in Tampa and asked if it could be covered. They explained they could open it up, but if they found drinks residue it would be on me. Over the last couple years, I've tried various ways to stick a cleaner of some kind, spray, or dental floss around the switches, but nothing seemed to help.

I stopped by my new to me local dealer yesterday (we moved to Venice FL this month), Suncoast Porsche in Sarasota FL to chat with my new SA. I asked him about a few things, and mentioned that the buttons on the car were always sticky, and did he have any suggestions.

He took a look, and said "give me five minutes" and drove it back to the detail shop. When he got back, the buttons were almost 90% of new function. I had him show me the product what he used, and what he did, sitting on the service drive. Basically, he sprayed a light coating of this "TRT 20/20 ammonia free foaming surface-glass cleaner, let it sit for a few seconds, then wiped away the foam:


Each time he did it, a bit of the foam came up from behind the switch, with a slightly brown-ish color (like, say, the color of a double latte ). He did this a couple more times, and by this time, each and every switch on that side of the car console worked absolutely 100%, like the ones on the driver side. He said he had seen this before, but never so bad as in my car.

I am so glad I stopped by Suncoast. This was all done without an appointment, just drove in with my car to say hi. I was pretty dang impressed.

 

Another win for Rennlist.

The passenger side TEMP switch in my ‘15 GTS would go down, but not up. There was no give at all even with enough force that I feared I would break it. Read this thread, and after ten minutes in the car alternating shots of Deoxit contact cleaner and Griot’s foaming window cleaner, and whatever sugary beverage that undoubtedly had it stuck broke free.

 

For anyone interested, the climate control module can be removed, taken apart, cleaned and replaced. Daunting initially, but not difficult. I think there is a how to on RL or YT. I am sure a Google search will come up with results.

Of course spraying is a lot easier, but taking apart and cleaning is more thorough.

 

So I used the electronic cleaner on my sticky seat cooling buttons. The good news is that it worked; the buttons no longer stick. The bad news is that my drivers side seat cooling no longer works. The button lights up 3 blue bars for about one second and then turns off. Has anyone experienced this after cleaning the buttons? I would think the electronic cleaner would clean the contacts, not gum them up.
Any ideas?

 

Sounds like some debris may have shorted something? Check fuses first. If blown, then something shorted when you sprayed the cleaner. I'd spray in a bunch more to try and dislodge it, press it a bunch, wait for it to dry, press it a bunch, then replace the fuse.

 

I had a similar thought. I checked the fuse and it was good. I suspected the spray/solvents had flooded the contact, preventing the flow of current. I waited about 4 weeks until the solvents had thoroughly evaporated and tried the switch again; I works & I'm back in business!

 

Great news! I'm about to try this myself, hopefully it works out.

 

To reiterate, the climate control can be easily taken apart and thoroughly cleaned. I’d recommend this over spraying cleaner into the buttons. There are threads on exactly how to do this.

 

It's from lotions on the hands. We would see it a lot in FL cars (especially women owned cars or on passenger sides) from the sun tan lotions. Unfortunately with the sun it actually made the plastics peel in most cars over time. If you catch it and clean it early you'll be golden.

 

Used the dealer's detail suggestion last night... hit the button with a quick shot of "no residue" high quality form window cleaner, whipped of with a micro fiber, let it sit over night and BAM - button works as new. It was practically stuck on before the hack.

 

I believe the seat cooling does not function when the temp is below 60 degrees F.

 

Hello .
Similar to others who posted here, I have a 2012 911, 991.1 that had 3 climate control temps that would heavily stick. They were functional but took a *lot* of pressure to press / activate. Impacted buttons where all driver-side: temp down (up was fine), AC off, and AC Max.

• Round one: I tried dental floss. (tip: I used an OXO Good Grips keyboard cleaner. The fine brush part effectively helps you push floss around the buttons. Found here: https://tinyurl.com/bdf67vbz). Floss came out clean (no gunk) and did little to help
• Round two: I tried using a can of compressed air while being mindful to keep at a distance so that the cold air temp didn't cause any issues. No luck.
• Round three: Admittedly I was hesitant to use (and spray) the CRC QD electronic cleaner directly into the side of the buttons. However, after shaking the can and spraying it on an unrelated surface (and using the compressed air) and ensuring no residual; everything checked out fine. I sprayed small amounts around the buttons and worked them for several minutes. Everything eventually loosened up and now all the buttons are 100% operational and easy to use. They all even 'click' when pressed.

Couldn't be more pleased!






Good luck,
Steve