Skwerl

I have a 2009 TT and tonight when I started the car the PCM was in suddenly German and had lost all of my settings, opening straight to the FM page with no presets. However, it hangs there for about 5 seconds and then reboots to the white Porsche screen and just keeps cycling through that forever. There is about a 1-second window where it will actually register a button press, and when I hit the SOURCE button I see that my SiriusXM and USB connections are no longer there. Pressing NAV shows "navigation not available."

Holding the power button will turn it off but then it comes right back to life on its own.

I know this will probably end up being a dealership thing (out of warranty, of cour$e), but is there anything I could try? I've already disconnected the battery and fuse to no avail. It would be nice if there was some button combo that would be akin to factory resetting the device, like you can do with phones. I am pretty technically oriented with computers - is it possible to replace the hard drive in case that's what's bad?

I've been Googling all evening but haven't found anything useful yet. One guy had the exact same problem like 5 years ago but no resolution was posted.

And to save time since it'll probably be the only solution, what's the most cost effective way to get a new PCM 3 unit with SirusXM integration? What are my aftermarket options?

Bruce In Philly

After reading, then re-reading.... then pondering, then guessing... hmmm.... OK, I have it! Eureka!

it's broken

$20 please

Peace
Bruce in Philly

wwilliams88

Resurrect this old thread. I had this happen to me last month in my 2009 C2. I ended up having to pull the fuse since it was trying to reboot even with the key out of the ignition switch. Since I was well out of warranty, I did a search on other forums and found that Becker Autosound does PCM repairs

http://beckerautosound.com/

Pulled the PCM and shipped it to them. They replace one of the main boards, but the hard drive was fine. It needed to be reinstalled at the Porsche dealership since they had to reload the code. Total cost between repair and recode was about $1250. Still considerably cheaper than a new PCM unit.

Skwerl

Thanks for your update. The only "solutions" I've seen anyone post have been that they had it fixed (replaced) under warranty or went to an aftermarket headunit.

On my own car, I bought a used PCM 3.0 off eBay, with the correct model number for my VIN and options. Of course, after the dealer coded it it worked perfectly for about a week but then lost nav/SiriusXM/Bluetooth. At least the radio/CD/aux function now. Haven't had the motivation to take it back to the dealer and have them look at it again.

Edit: FWIW, I tried swapping the hard drives just to see if that would be an easy fix not requiring dealer recoding, but it didn't solve anything. The HDDs are generic Toshiba laptop drives.

Edgy01

Learn German.

wwilliams88

Well its possible some of the German text that flashed on the screen during the multiple reboots translated into "your screwed"......

Skwerl

Fluent in German, so I wasn't too worried about that part of it.

Astur

Maybe it just wants to go home!

John Veninger

Same thing just happened my 3.0 PCM in my 2009 Cayenne TT.
Got to love Porsche electronics.......
What a POS.

DC911S

They don't make the PCM, none of them (car manufacturers) do. Its farmed out to other people. You would be quite surprised at who makes what in any car, foreign or domestic. Electronics, ECU, seats and interior, carpet, glass and all kinds of things....made by supplier companies.

John Veninger

Yes, supply chain 101.
Porsche is the one who buys theses "raw materials" to produce a product. The are ultimately responsible for the quality of the finished product.

Skwerl

It's not so bad when it's working...

John Veninger

Agree, the biggest problem I have had before this is the constant re-booting when my phone is connected to it and I do believe it controls the compass in the instrument panel, which goes away every once in a while.
I'll see if Becker can repair, if not I'll look on ebay.
Anyone know he going rate at the dealer to re-code?

Skwerl

I think it was somehow 1.5 hours when they did mine.

Ten Years

There is a separate BT code. There are like four or five codes, for each various "system" within the PCM. I've heard even without codes, any unit will plug in and work, for a short time, before locking out. Hoping your BT isn't locked out.

Did you buy from that guy on eBay, in SoCal? I don't want to give anyone not official Porsche, my VIN info, etc., which is what they want, in order to provide me a new, specific-to-my-VIN, code. I'm trying to ask my dealer to get the codes for me from Porsche AG. Is that what you did? Please advise. Thanks.

If not, I think I'd rather go brand new, but now there are issues (supposedly), about new unit availability.