dealer wants to replace my PCM ?!
08-01-2014, 03:05 PM
#1
dealer wants to replace my PCM ?!
09S 25k miles CPO
I brought my car in for a headlight leveling error (separate thread, diagnosed accurately by RL
here) and mentioned that my PCM shows the wrong call signs for radio stations - should be Wxxx, instead I get Kyyy for most station, and that the PCM turns itself off once in a long while and wont come back on till I restart the car. Asked if they can upgrade its firmware and was just told it was diagnosed to be "internally shorted" and will need be replaced. New PCM coded to my car is inbound from Germany (?) in 3 days.
I am somewhat worried... it seems pretty invasive to replace the PCM and feels like the beginning of what can be a painful saga.
Am I overreacting?
Anyone else here have their 09 PCM replaced? dealer mentioned that later PCMs are more "stable"
I brought my car in for a headlight leveling error (separate thread, diagnosed accurately by RL
here) and mentioned that my PCM shows the wrong call signs for radio stations - should be Wxxx, instead I get Kyyy for most station, and that the PCM turns itself off once in a long while and wont come back on till I restart the car. Asked if they can upgrade its firmware and was just told it was diagnosed to be "internally shorted" and will need be replaced. New PCM coded to my car is inbound from Germany (?) in 3 days.I am somewhat worried... it seems pretty invasive to replace the PCM and feels like the beginning of what can be a painful saga.
Am I overreacting?
Anyone else here have their 09 PCM replaced? dealer mentioned that later PCMs are more "stable"
08-01-2014, 03:14 PM
#3
Well I can only assume they are sending you the head unit. Invasive? No. Least invasive thing possible probably. I just yanked my head unit to add a some extra functionality through an after market add on. Takes all of 10 minutes to remove and re-install.
08-01-2014, 04:00 PM
#5
Yea it's in the Tranzit Blu HF thread on this forum, I added a Tranzit Blu HF for bluetooth streaming, phone, hands free texting and voice control of my phone.
It's too long of a rant but all 2009 cars and forward have a blue tooth module included but not all have it activated if the option wasn't purchased from the factory. After the dealers gave me a price to activate something my car already has I found my own solution for a fraction of the cost. Works well.
It's too long of a rant but all 2009 cars and forward have a blue tooth module included but not all have it activated if the option wasn't purchased from the factory. After the dealers gave me a price to activate something my car already has I found my own solution for a fraction of the cost. Works well.
08-01-2014, 04:28 PM
#7
If you ever get sick of doing that you can DIY that functionality in for less then 100 dollars and no permanent impact on the car. 100 dollars would include the adapters needed and a fuse panel jumper to power the unit. I didn't wan to splice wires. Whole thing can be completely removed in 30 minute without a trace.
I think the 2009 cars didn't support music streaming because they lacked A2DP. It's been a while since I've looked into it but I knew I'd have to go the aftermarket route before purchasing the car.
I think the 2009 cars didn't support music streaming because they lacked A2DP. It's been a while since I've looked into it but I knew I'd have to go the aftermarket route before purchasing the car.
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08-01-2014, 04:32 PM
#8
Drifting
It's too long of a rant but all 2009 cars and forward have a blue tooth module included but not all have it activated if the option wasn't purchased from the factory. After the dealers gave me a price to activate something my car already has I found my own solution for a fraction of the cost. Works well.
The result is that the development costs of that part of the system (and the cost of that hardware) is paid for by the purchasers of the option (unlock key).
It does feel a bit wrong, but I can understand it. We purchased a laser color printer in the late 1990's that had similar solutions in place -the printer had several features built in, but you purchased a license code, that you sent to the printer in a special file, to turn on some of the features.
08-01-2014, 05:24 PM
#9
Minok,
Don't take me the wrong way, I'm fully aware why it's an option and why every vehicle would include the chip. You're literally looking at a chip that costs a few dollars versus the complexity and overhead in maintaining and stocking several different head units. Totally get it. Don't have an issue with it.
I also own or have owned several exotic and german cars and the general consensus is the more you pay the less you get in terms of electronic "standard" features. A Ford Escape that we purchased in 2008 for 16k brand new came loaded with every voice command and streaming goodie via microsoft sync. German and Italian cars seem to really lag behind in this area.
I would have been happy to pay Porsche the cost of admission but I couldn't get the very basic thing I wanted which was music streaming. Not important to some but it's important to me. I'm not complaining or ranting and as a finance guy I totally understand why both sides of this equation do what they do. For the Germans and Italians these are high margin add ons that have a high purchase rate. For the regular American/Korean/Japanese cars these are value added features in order to encourage sales amongst the mass of competitors. No ones going to buy a Ferrari over a Lamborghini or vice versa over voice recognition or a few standard features. In the 20-30k car segment these standard features often have a much larger impact on the decisions made by the potential buyer.
Wasn't trying to start anything. Don't have any will towards Porsche at all. Just decided I could spend 100 dollars and get an integrated, no hassle, completely reversible solution that Porsche couldn't offer.
Don't take me the wrong way, I'm fully aware why it's an option and why every vehicle would include the chip. You're literally looking at a chip that costs a few dollars versus the complexity and overhead in maintaining and stocking several different head units. Totally get it. Don't have an issue with it.
I also own or have owned several exotic and german cars and the general consensus is the more you pay the less you get in terms of electronic "standard" features. A Ford Escape that we purchased in 2008 for 16k brand new came loaded with every voice command and streaming goodie via microsoft sync. German and Italian cars seem to really lag behind in this area.
I would have been happy to pay Porsche the cost of admission but I couldn't get the very basic thing I wanted which was music streaming. Not important to some but it's important to me. I'm not complaining or ranting and as a finance guy I totally understand why both sides of this equation do what they do. For the Germans and Italians these are high margin add ons that have a high purchase rate. For the regular American/Korean/Japanese cars these are value added features in order to encourage sales amongst the mass of competitors. No ones going to buy a Ferrari over a Lamborghini or vice versa over voice recognition or a few standard features. In the 20-30k car segment these standard features often have a much larger impact on the decisions made by the potential buyer.
Wasn't trying to start anything. Don't have any will towards Porsche at all. Just decided I could spend 100 dollars and get an integrated, no hassle, completely reversible solution that Porsche couldn't offer.
08-01-2014, 05:39 PM
#10
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
K was call letters for stations west of the Mississippi. W for east.
This issue is way more than just a "short". Something is really f-d up in there.
I never cared if the dealer replaced stuff.... actually I would rather have them replace something than "fix" it. You now have a newer unit, less corrosion and wear. A good thing.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
08-01-2014, 06:09 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
I just had my PCM replaced under warranty due to an earlier attempt to update the maps, which required a PCM software/firmware update first. The PCM would not read the DVD format Navdisc.
So after a few discussions waiting for the PCM to arrive, I was not charged for the PCM (warranty) or it's labor (warranty), nor was I charged for the PCM software/firmware update (warranty), nor was I charged for the Nav software labor (warranty) for reinstall. I was only charged for the latest Nav software as they would have reloaded the version that I had which was the original factory version. Not a bad day at the dealer.
So consider asking about the Nav update. They had the car from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM. The PCM change was a snap. It's the updates that take a longtime.
So after a few discussions waiting for the PCM to arrive, I was not charged for the PCM (warranty) or it's labor (warranty), nor was I charged for the PCM software/firmware update (warranty), nor was I charged for the Nav software labor (warranty) for reinstall. I was only charged for the latest Nav software as they would have reloaded the version that I had which was the original factory version. Not a bad day at the dealer.
So consider asking about the Nav update. They had the car from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM. The PCM change was a snap. It's the updates that take a longtime.
Last edited by CAVU; 08-02-2014 at 11:41 AM.
08-02-2014, 08:05 PM
#15
Track Day
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Los Angeles
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Me too
I had exactly that glitch. Dealer replaced battery and PCM gratis under CPO, no further problems. Battery replacement was because PCM wouldn't turn off when car turned off, so it wiped the battery in the garage. Extra drama came with flat-bedding it out b/c my parking space wouldn't permit us to open the frunk to get to the battery to jump, to start and drive to dealer. And something else about getting PDK to neutral with dead battery. Luckily, all free and easy, which is why I've mostly forgotten about it.