fskof

I agree... It might be cheaper to fix then to replace. Check the phone book for any tv-radio-electronic repair stores in your area. Some of those little Ma-pop stores are cheap but do great work. The dealer will want to replace for a new unit for big $$$$

Minok

With the unit out, see if you can just apply 12vDC to the power and ground point on the PCM, with a new fuse. If that blows the fuse, it clearly a PCM problem.. and an electronics shop may be able to work on it to find an obvious fault.. so I'd ask them to spend 2 hrs on it tracking down the signals from the most likely failure sources, power supply, pre-amp, internal debris, and see what they find. You may end up spending $200 and not finding a solution .. so its a betting game at this stage. Thats why dealers/company will just replace the unit - at their cost - as over all cars over time, its cheaper to do that than diagnose the problem and fix the individual unit.

iammulva

Good suggestion - I hadn't thought of that. I would definitely like to confirm that the PCM is indeed borked. (another) Stupid question... where do I get a 12v (and I assume 10a) power supply? I don't have anything other than a multi-meter at my house.

Dadio

Send it to Becker to have them diagnose and repair. Web site posed below.

http://www.beckerautosound.com/Porsc...he%20Menu.html

iammulva

Thanks - saw a post talking about Becker and sent them an email yesterday. Have not heard back yet. I will call. IIRC, their website says average repair is 2 hours labor + parts and also IIRC, someone posted $750 range for repair. I'll talk to them, but if I have to put $750 into it, I'll likely go aftermarket because my PCM really is only a radio and a single CD (plus whatever non-audio functions it provides). I don't currently have Nav, Satellite, phone, etc so spending $750(?) to get back to just basic functionality is not looking that appealing. I looked today and emailed both Del Ray and EuroMotorspeed and am thinking about what they both offer.

iammulva

UPDATE

Becker put a new fuse in and says the PCM is working fine for them. That means that something else is causing the PCM fuse to blow. Could the amp do this if there was a problem with it? Any other thoughts/ideas? I

If it turns out to be the amp, what are my options for replacing only the amp (non-bose system)?

wc11

If you need an amp, you can try these guys.
http://www.fastoem.com/categories/Porsche/Amplifiers/

have you checked for shorted speakers?

iammulva

No, the only testing/checking I've done so far is the fuses and visually inspecting the wiring harness behind the PCM. That's the extent of my knowledge of and/or ability to diagnose electronics. FastOEM's site seems to show only the bose amp for the 997 (based on their part numbers). I've emailed them to see what they can offer. Thanks for the help.

Minok

The fuse is the symptom that there is a short somewhere (or unusually low resistance where there should not be).

It is possible that a short in the speaker manifests itself as just a load transfer to the pre-amp inputs (ie the audio out channels from the PCM, which could then cause the PCM fuse to blow). I'm not sure of the wiring and design.. if the audio from PCM to power amp is a digital signal then I would not think the power amp or speakers could be a problem typically.

I'd get a box of fuses and start by unplugging all the speakers and amp and PCM from each other an then start plugging in one thing at a time into the PCM first, and then start plugging in the speakers into the amp, and see when the fuse blows. That last thing plugged in, in conjunction with the thing you plugged it into, is likely the cuplrit. (ie if its plugging the left front speaker in that blows things, it could be the left front speaker, its wiring, or the left front circuit in the amp)

iammulva

Thanks for that - I'll try that when I get my PCM back and post my results. Much appreciated.

UPDATE: Got radio back. Bought handful of 10a fuses. Started plugging things in. Each of the three multi-wire connectors would go in without problem on their own. And the power cable gave it power without a problem (of course I didn't have speakers). But when I plugged in the bottom one and the middle one (don't know what they go to). The fuse blew. Also heard slight crackle/pop from left front speaker. When I tried to duplicate, I no longer got fuse to blow and I no longer have power. I think I did a bad thing. Time to take it to someone who knows what he's doing.

iammulva

RADIO IS FINALLY FIXED!

I had become accustomed to not having a working radio. That, in conjunction with limited time and nearly non-existent expertise, created a long delay in me being able to get the right person to look at my radio issue. Turns out that someone (I think the guys who repainted my car) trapped a speaker wire with a panel screw when they put the driver's door panel back on.

Assuming that I wouldn't be able to troubleshoot the problem, I never bothered pulling the door panels. I'm fine with having paid someone to fix this problem, but hope that this might be an informative data point for someone else.

Side note: the guy I took it to has pretty terrible reviews online. He was recommended by a mechanic whose judgment I trust enough (obviously). The repair guy was pretty rough around the edges but definitely knew what he was doing with the radio (not just door panel and speaker wiring).

<-- me again

Thanks to those who provided feedback on this problem.

Alan C.

Great to hear you got the radio sorted out. I'm in the middle of replacing the unit in my car. Blue tooth works intermittently, phone book is weak and the radio portion is poor at best. Since I do drive mine on the street it would be nice to have a little better system. No amp or speakers just a new head unit. The factory unit will go on the shelf with the other parts.

Minok

So one of the speakers was shorted out and when plugged in, it blows the fuse (as it should). If you had a wiring diagram and knew where the wires from that connector went you would have been able to track it down in all likelihood. Good to know that step 1 may be - test for shorts on the wires to the speakers.

josserman

think I have a similar issue, but not sure which wire is pinched