lcseah

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and would appreciate it if anyone can help me solve this problem. I tried searching for this topic on line but could not find any threads on it.

Last week my car couldn't start. It was as though the battery was completely dead. Since the battery was 2 years old, I decided to change it. That didn't solve the problem. With the new battery installed, only the hood, radio and remote worked. Previously, the lights in the dashboard will all light up. This time around, no lights came out and the car couldn't start. There was no cranking noise associated with the ignition when I turned the key either. It's completely dead.

According to my mechanic, the battery works fine and he believes its an electrical issue. He couldn't even use the Porsche diagnostics tool/computer as the car simply wouldn't talk to it. He's now checking all the fuses, connections, wiring, etc.

Have any of you guys encountered this problem before? If so, I would appreciate it if you could point me to the right direction and I will convey your advise to my mechanic. BTW, my car was sitting in a garage for 2 months prior as I was upgrading my bumpers. During that time, the workshop did not start the car at all. However, after the mods, he help me jump start it and it worked well for a week until the above happened. But I don't think that there's a connection between this and the starting problems that I just described.

Wayne Smith

I'm not sure how it corelates with what the service person is doing, but if the battery in your key fob is low this could cause starting problems.

DC911S

Agree, try new key fob battery first.

bml376

If your car is a manual, it could be the clutch position switch. I have a 2012 and when the switch when bad, the car would not start.

the_buch

No lights on the dash when you turn the key?? ... ignition switch??

Benihana242

Maybe check for rodent damage?

lcseah

Thanks Wayne/DC. I just changed the key fob battery but that didn't work either.

lcseah

Hi bml, my car is a PDK

lcseah

Hi Benihana, unlikely as there are no rodents in my house

lcseah

Yes, the ignition switch could be faulty. Is there a way to know without actually replacing it?

lcseah

I changed the key fob battery but that didn't work

DC911S

I would do the clutch lockout switch next. It's easy to do. I had that go bad and the ignition switch too. The ignition switch is a bit harder but there is a DIY here for it. No need to recode or recut the key either.

Petza914

I would check the connection of the negative battery cable to the chassis. It may have become loose or built up some corrosion. If not that, then the ignition switch itself. The ignition switch is very easy to replace and your shop could swap it with a known good one in about 5 minutes.

lcseah

Hi everyone, I finally figured out how to solve the problem with my car. Before the problem happen, I changed the key fob to a new one which caused the starting problem because my car didn't recognize the immobiliser chip in new key fob! I wanted to use a new key fob because the old one was damaged. I switched over the printed circuit board and the metal key to the new key fob. But I had no idea that I had to switch over the old immobiliser chip as well. Needless to say, the car did not recognize the new immobiliser chip and refused to start. The lesson to learn here is if I wanted to change to a new key fob, I should just re-programme a new key fob (leaving the electronics inside) and just move the metal key over to the new key fob!

Anyway, I just want to thank everyone who replied me in this forum. Thanks to the feedback, I remembered that I changed my key fob before the problem happened. I didn't think that it was a significant action (and that's why I didn't even mention it) but that move has caused me dearly (1 week in the workshop and S$500 evaluation fees). I hope to share my experience in this forum so that others will learn from it. Thanks again!

Wayne Smith

Thanks for getting back with the solution. A good lesson to learn!!!