fbfisher

Shant - If your door is chiming with the key out (lights and turn signal off) then the key switch has not properly released and the imobilizer will not function.

If your door chime works properly then that may not be your issue.

If the red LED's flash when you push the remote, then the imobilizer is receiving the signal but somthing is preventing it from actuating the locks and the alarm. This could be as a result of a problem of the imobilizer not "talking" to the alarm unit or a problem with either or both units.

This is difficult to diagnose and trouble shoot without the right equipment. Perhaps if you post specifics about your symptoms, someone else will have input to offer.

Shant Ohannessian

Hey Fred,
On my car, with the key out of the ignition and the door open, i can hear it chiming. But as soon as i close the door, the chiming goes away even with the key out the ignition. Are you sure its not supposed to be chiming as soon as you take the key out of the ignition? I maybe misunderstanding but did you mean to say even with the door closed and the key out of the ignition, does yours still chime?

Also, the red LED flashes when i press on the remote but nothing happenes as far as locking the doors.

Hope that helps you out.


Shant

fbfisher

Shant, if your lights are off, turn signal is off, key is OUT of the ignition, and the door is open - you should NOT hear chiming. If you do, you have a problem similar to mine. You can stop the chiming if you close the door or manually actuate the door switch with your hand. If this is your problem, the imobilizer "thinks" that the key is till in the ignition even though you "know" that it is not, thus the alarm will not work.

My dealer is now replacing relays and the ignition key switch. I will know more on Monday.

Rental Neon is returned, I'm back in the loaner Boxster!

zffnhsn

Any ideas on how to eliminate the immobilizer all-together?

Oh, how I long for the dayz in my 964 where a guy could just turn the key and go!

zff

Shant Ohannessian

Hey Fred, then im having the exact same problem as you are. It must be the year or something for these ignition key switch to break. Mind if i ask which dealer you took your car in?

Thanks

fbfisher

The car is at the Auto Gallery in Woodland Hills. I took it there because my extended warranty has no deductable if I have the work done there.

The tech working on it is Vance. A good, knowledgable and friendly guy. The process that I have gone through should make it much easier for them to diagnose and fix your problem.

You may be right in that your problem is the same because that would be the only thing that would explain why you are able to have the key out for hours at a time and still start the car without cycling the locks - the car "thinks" the key is still in the ignition!

I'll post more as it happens.

max911

hheeyyyyyy???!!??? .....is it too late to register for the racing at Fontana this weekend???

what's the old saying.....'flog it like a rented Boxster"....or something like that.

fbfisher

Sorry, I've already totaled one loaner Boxster. Even my ***** aren't big enough to bring another one back on a flat bed.

Lorenfb

Your problem should be fairly easy to solve.

There're only four key elements to the alarm system; the key/remote, the alarm
unit, the immolibizer, and the ignition switch. The alarm unit controls the major
alarm devices; e.g. the lights, horn, door locks, & door LEDs. The key function of
the immobilizer is to prevent the car from starting via the starter relay & DME.

Too many problems are mixed. The chiming problem is probably unrelated.
The car should start without the alarm unit, but the immobilizer must function
properly for this to occur. The techs should focus on one problem at a time
and not "shotgun" all your problems at once.

It should be a simple fix as long as no one has fooled with the wiring, e.g.
added another alarm or some special amp system, and the techs really
understand how the immobilizer/alarm system works, which most don't.

fbfisher

I am not an electrician or mechanic, but here is the final explanation per the tech:
The fix was not easy and not simple. And there are more than the four systems you describe. As it turns out, the chiming problem was the final clue to the source of the problem. The chiming occurs when a contact inside the key switch is not activated when the key is removed. This contact when activated triggers a relay that allows the system to ground and deactivate the door chime and allows the imobilizer and alarm system to function normally.

They found this by checking the power to the wires related to this on the imobilizer. Following the electrical diagram you can see the relation between these components.

If your key is out of the ignition switch (lights off/turn signal off) and you hear your door chime, it is likley the buzzer contact in the key switch and the relay. If this is the case, your imobilizer and alarm/door lock system will malfunction as the system assumes the key is still in the ignition and will not arm.

The parts related to this are:
928-618-102-03 = Relay $133.36
911-613-125-00 = Buzzer contact $11.51

Extended warranty approved so they also replaced:
993-618-159-02 =Immobilizer Control Unit $402.01
993-618-259-02 = Alarm Hand Remote $104.06

I hope this info helps other sort out their Immobilizer & Alarm issues.



Fred

Shant Ohannessian

Hey Fred, thanks for the info. Im glad you got your car working again. Ill probably buy those parts and have my mechanic install them. Did they mention whats involved in replacing those 2 items? Wonder if i can do it myself.

fbfisher

I visited the car to talk to the tech once they had correctly diagnosed the problem. The entire lower dash was out, as were the radio, climate control, and the oil temp/pressure gauge as well as the driver seat (location of the immobilizer)and passenger seat, location of the alarm unit. It was a mess and I understand why some of it had to come out but don't know why it was necessary to remove all that they did.

Vance is the tech there to talk to, you can call the Auto Gallery and ask to speak directly with him. Tell him that Fred Fisher (Ocean Blue 993 cab) referred you. He now knows my car inside and out as he was the same one to completely rebuild my engine and now that he has been through this he can diagnose your problem more easily.

Lorenfb

The amount of troubleshooting sounds a little strange for the problem
you described. I think the majority of the effort was instructional for
the techs and as such was an expensive (money, time, and future
problems because of all the removals) education paid by you. So, who
knows what the real bad parts were, given what was done to the car?

As I said earlier, the 993 immobilizer is a simple system (four key elements,
the key contact (#86S) is just an input not an element) for those techs
who can think and thus troubleshoot effectively which usually is not the
case as exemplified here.

fbfisher

Loren, you make lots of sense. Once they determined that it was not the immobilizer or the alarm unit, there was lots of head scratching. At one point they even thought that the problem was related the V-1 hardwire because coincidentally, when they unplugged the V-1 from the fuse box, the immobilizer and central locking began to work, only momentarily though.

They got set on the right trail when I showed up and talked to the techs (two of them scratching their heads at the time) and described the progression and detail of the symptoms - the door chime in particular. This is what got them looking at the relationship between the door chime, the key switch and the imobilizer/alarm units.

As with solving most problems, communication is the key.

Pain and suffering (related to driving the rental Neon/loaner Boxster) is the cost to me. Extended warranty paid for everything else. But hey, I'm willing to sacrafice myself in this way if it helps other Rennlisters in the future avoid or resolve this problem for themselves

Lorenfb

I just hope that they didn't cause any other problems that weren't there
before the visit, as what usually happens to me when "forced" to have
anything repaired.

Sorry for the pessimism.