Bluehinder

Hi,

My new Cab came in yesterday with a defective single CD player. Now they are talking about replacing the entire unit, which means they have to take the dash apart. That is the last thing I want to do, in my mind, they never the same once taken apart.

Does anyone have experience with this? The unit will not accept cd's, you put the disk in, and it wont grab it, it just sits there two thirds of the way in.

Can it be reset? Seems to me that the mechanism is jammed. I know this is grasping for straws, but I am so mad I may not take the car.

I think it is inexcusable for a $110,000 car not to be fully checked at the factory. I've had four Lexus's, and they have all been perfect. This is my second 997 with problems, coupe first.

All help appreciated.

How big a deal is removing the unit? Anyone know?

Blue

JohnnyBahamas

Firstly, you're not alone. We're here and you'll be OK... and you're right. That said, try not to let this ruin your experience with THIS Porsche. A fix is a fix is a fix whether it was found at the factory or PDI or by you.

Top notch Porsche service techs are amazing. You'll never know they've been in there. Just pick the best stand alone Porsche dealership to do the replacement... you are not obligated to use your selling dealer.

But, if you know you'll never be able to forgive the car for not taking CDs when it was brand new, well Lexus is still selling fine cars.

Chris C.

Just set expectations with your dealer on the fix...if they don't meet em, get Porsche involved. You have a lot of leverage (about 110K worth!)

BTW, I am sure taking a dash partially apart to replace a CD player is not that big a procedure anymore. German cars are designed with maintenance in mind. It will be OK!

djantlive

Changing the head unit is pretty easy. The trim around the unit needs to be popped out and the HU is pulled. The dash does not need to be taken apart. Just have it replaced, it's quite common in 996 so I'm not surprised 997 fails too.

PTEC

CD player removal on a 997 takes requires the removal of six screws... thats it. The dash stays in place. The two trim peices looking remotely like an L on either side of the radio and AC controls will need to be removed and thats all. The longest part of the procedure is reading out the coding of the old unit and writing it to the new one.

MMD

Been there done that. The entire unit will need to be replaced. Go in, they check, they order parts. Two weeks later you go in, they fix in a day, and drive away while it works for a couple hours (until you're far from dealership). Then call them have them order the ENTIRE PCM and and you'll go back for the new unit after another two weeks. Meanwhile do not leave a CD half way in hoping it might start working on it's own: it will drain your battery. It's not the CD player by itself, its the frickin computer that IS the car.

Bluehinder

Hi,

The last poster had it right. After today they determined they need to replace the entire PCM unit. It's all integrated.

I offered a compromise, I asked them to install a CD changer free of charge, I thought I'd just leave the frickin thing broken, and just use the changer. Turns out they might have to splice into the fiber optic backbone, which means running back to the PCM unit. Same as fixing the in dash. It will depend on weather or not the unit is prewired for the changer. It seems I can't win.

For those who think this is a walk in the park, their best tech, who is a guy that has such a following that people come from three states to see him, said this is not an easy task, it requires a lot of disassembly, reprograming the computer, may require taking out the shift boot, etc. He was not casual about the work required. At least he was honest.

This is my seventh Porsche in the last six years, and I can say one thing for sure: everything bad that has ever happened to my cars has happened at the dealer. Dings, swirls, paint scratches, oil stains, grease marks in the interior, etc. Here I have a nearly perfect car, full leather interior, nav, silver console, short shifter, thick wheel, sport exhaust, crest in headrest, sport design wheels, adaptive sport seats,sport chrono,lots more. I guess I'll have to take it, in Arctic/Black it's beautiful, stunning actually, it's just it's a drag. I admit, I am superstitious about things like this, it's like karma. I bought a 997 launch last year, and traded the car back in with 21 miles because they could not fix the dreaded system fault error. I'd rather just buy a different car if it means scratches in my rear console, rattles, etc.

I'm just rambling here due to the scotch. Thanks for listening.

Blue

996toomey

Blue:

Just let the service writer know your position on dings, grease, swirl marks etc. If you explain up front to them you will get your car back unmarked. I would suggest washing it yourself before taking it in and telling them not to wash it.

Good luck.

infestation

Bluehinder,

Some of the paint was flaking off my in-dash unit and the dealer replaced the whole PCM unit and everything. It's as good as new. When you pick up your car, I would certainly inspect everything, but I wouldn't worry about it too, too much.

MMD

Tell them right to their faces that you are NUTS about your car, you are very particular. They WILL understand (that's what I tell them). Tell them because the ingress and egress will be frequent for console work, they MUST have seat covers and footwell liners in place. You'll be okay. Designers design components for EASE of maintenance which means everything is modular and snaps together and comes apart with little fuss. What will really freak you out will be the "invoice" for the "modules" costs: WOW!

MMD

My guess is he hasn't done it before and isn't that excited about taking on the risk of "learning new things."

PTEC

CD changer install isnt that difficult. I dont have any idea why he would have to remove the shift boot, theres nothing under there related to the entire system. At best all this requires is removal of the trim peice in the front trunk which covers the brake booster, master cyl. and other things. There is a disconnection point for the MOST cable and a new cable is installed which is of the correct length and has the right connectors for your options. If you have NAV and BOSE its a bit tricky running the wiring without making any serious bends but its not that difficult in all reality. After that the PIWIS is needed to code the PCM and make sure your MOST ring is in order.

However, I dont really see how this is a compromise as the dealer is going to have to give you the Cd changer unit for free and then on top of that pay the tech to install it all the while the store is generating no revenue. I would be highly surprised if they bit on this one.

Replacing the PCM takes 20 minutes tops, and 10 of those are spent using the PIWIS. Its not that big of a deal.

By the way, what dealership is this? It must be a small one if thier best guy hasnt done a cd changer install.

MMD

I think you're correct. My guy tole me it would take most of the day, they called me to come back and pick car up about 90 minutes later.

Also, it may be that the overarching imperative for car systems design these days is ease of replacement and maintenance. It seems everything is modular and, geez..., even diagnoses itself nowadays! I installed a sport shifter in my Boxster and even permanently removed the center console and the thing's like a leggo set, pieces simply pull off, snap on and off, slide out, slip in, go around: no problem (even screws seem to be getting rare).

Bluehinder

Hi,

You sound like a Porsche tech, thanks for your input.

Is there a way to "reset" the cd player? When I insert a cd into the in dash unit, it only goes in half way or so, then there is an obstruction. Being an amateur here, I wondered if the unit got "jammed" in the down position when the battery was disconnected or something. Can it be "rebooted" somehow, perhaps by disconnecting power? Anything else to try, or should I just give up and let them replace it?

I've looked at the side panels, how do they come off? I see no screws. They are held on the sides by the lower dash panels and glove box, so why do you say the dash does not have to come apart? Do they somehow pull straight forward?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

PS The changer compromise is as much goodwill and a partial discount to avoid putting the car on the showroom for a bad time of the year.

Blue

MMD

Until you hear from PTEC, I'll chime in. There's no special trick that they could have told me when I had the same problems with mine. Actually there was nothing wrong with my *mechanism* in the CD. Its a computer hardware or software problem that won't recognise the CD player. No known quick fix, none for CD. My tech rep went down a list of twenty or thirty PCM-CD things to check and do mentioned in their major service manuals and tech bulletins: nothing in there that WE owners could have done. I hope I'm wrong in your case, but that's what happened to me.