T3C

I bought a new PCCM+ unit from Suncoast earlier this week, and attempted an install today. Shortcut to my overall problem: no sound from the speakers. Unit powers up, recognizes my iPhone via Apple CarPlay, but I am not getting any sound from the speakers. Not even static.

As a background, my 996 is a 1999 C2 w/ a single DIN aftermarket Pioneer head unit and a factory Amp. After removing the Pioneer unit, and cutting out its harness, this is what the wiring looked like:



The black connector on the left corresponds to the "A" connection set of pins. The mess of wires on the right, which add up to 9 total wires, were spliced into the aftermarket Pioneer unit. The odd wire out is the red/black wire that is spliced into TWO other wires (orange wire labeled 'dimmer' and a blue/white wire). The remaining 8 wires were all paired together, and my ASSUMPTION was that these needed to be re-pinned into the "B" connector piece. Luckily, the PCCM+ box included a repin set for both the A and B connectors. However, it did not include any sort of installation instructions.

After repinning those 8 wires into B, I then plug-and-played all the accessories (microphone, apple carplay receiver, some kind of control unit, radio antenna) into the PCCM+ unit. Turned the car on, and the unit fired right up! However, I wasn't able to get any sound from the speakers. Radio was tuning properly, but no sound. Plugged my phone into the receiver, and apple carplay started right up, but couldn't get any sound to play from Spotify or iTunes or Siri (Siri could hear me via the microphone, but I could not hear her voice). I found a thread about a guy who also couldn't get sound from his speakers after his PCCM+ install, and his remedy was to change the sound settings to 'Amp'. I changed the same setting, but still: no sound.

Does anyone have any ideas for where I may have stumbled? My guess is that red/black needs to be pinned/connected to something, but I have no idea where it needs to go, or what its function is--does anyone know? It's possible I blew a fuse to the speakers (I forgot to disconnect the negative lead when I was removing the Pioneer unit). Any ideas for troubleshooting are welcome!

mffarrell

Do you have a MOST system? If not, you need to change the settings from CAN to amp. Select volume menu and touch for 10 s.

T3C

I already tried that (the attempt is buried in the 2nd to last paragraph of my OP). Still, no sound.

No idea if I have a MOST system. How do I know if I do/don’t?

mffarrell

MOST is 2003 onwards. You would have a fiber optic cable that would connect to the control unit that sits in the black tray.

mffarrell

Also, after you switch from CAN to amp, you need to power reset the PCCM unit.

T3C

How do I perform a power reset? All I was doing was turning the car off, and checking to make sure that the setting was still “Amp”.

I was pretty sure that being a ‘99 precluded me from the MOST system. And, also, it isn’t a Bose stereo/speaker setup. But it does have an Amp in the trunk mounted just behind the spare wheel.

Any idea what that errant black/red wire does? Another user in a different thread suggested that it be pinned into the A connector.

wsrgklt

I think I know what’s going on. You’re using the the “B” (brown connector) pinout where you should be using the “C” (yellow connector) pinout. So you have the line (pre-amp) outs from the head unit trying to drive the speakers directly.

I have a ‘99 with the HiFi system too (amp in the frunk, door speakers). I have a black connector and a yellow connector - no brown connector.

Here is what mine looks like:


The black connector in the background accepts the constant power, switched power, and ground wires from the head unit.

The yellow connector (plugged into the red harness) accepts the (4) pre-amp output pairs from the head unit and the 12v switched power to turn on the amp.

T3C

This could very well solve my problem. Any idea where I can find a yellow pin out set? The PCCM+ box only contained a black and brown set.

Also, I am still not sure what to do with that one red/black wire...

wsrgklt

what do you mean by yellow pin out set - are you looking for the yellow plug?

It might be helpful if you posted pictures of how you have it hooked up now.

T3C

Yes, the yellow plug.

Here is how it currently looks.

wsrgklt

Ok. I found this post that you’ve probably already seen. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...pccm-plus.html

After reading a bit more, I might have been sending you down the wrong path with the yellow adapter. It looks like the PCCM+ only has one set of outputs for speakers, and you use a setting to control whether they are speaker level or line level (for external amps). So if you connected all your speaker wires to the brown connector and set the head unit to AMP mode, that all seems correct.

However, you’re right that the black/red wire needs to connect to something because it’s the power switch for your amp. That in itself would explain why you don’t have any sound.

In the post above, it seems the author wired that directly into the 12v outlet. That seems like a hack and I have to believe Porsche intends for that to come from the head unit. Is there nothing in the instruction about 12v switched power or amp connections?

T3C

Would the 12V outlet be the wire running from the cigarette lighter? So, do I just splice that red/black wire into that 12V outlet wire?

There are ZERO installation instructions included in the PCCM+ box. When you open the box the first thing you see is a note stating “Schedule an appointment with your nearest Porsche dealer for installation.”

mffarrell

Can you confirm that your car never had an original PCM1? If it did, there is additional ground wiring you need to the amplifier.

T3C

Would I do that via the option list on my frunk sticker? Where would that ground wire be located?

mffarrell

Yes!

Fitting ground line: On vehicles
(1997–2001) with M662 (PCM
generation 1) and M680 (Digital
sound package), an additional
ground line 996.642.587.00 must be routed to the amplifier. So, if you have this setup, you will need the additional ground line.

I am not absolutely sure this will fix your issue, but this an installation step required if you have PCM1 and DSP.

I don’t have a picture, but this is the connector to the amplifier.

1. Disconnect black 18-pin connector from the amplifier. Remove fuse on connector housing and disconnect and insulate (DSP data) line, contact no. 17 black/red/yellow.

2. Connect additional ground line 996.642.587.00 at contact no. 17. Re-fit connector housing.

3. Secure ground line at the ground points. Re-fit black connector on the amplifier.