Shawn Stanford

Well, obviously start with the battery and the fuses. You said the car was outside with the windows open. There's a security module under the driver's seat that can corrode if there's water in the floor, leading to a no-start.

dan_189

Thanks, yes the car got wet but the module seems intact and there is no corrosion on the board. I was able to connect to the alarm module with my PIWIS2 as well.

Shawn Stanford

Oh, cool. Fuses? Relays?

dan_189

​​​​​​
Bingo!

Broken starter relay, jumped the pins and got a crank!

Jumped the fuel pump pins got nothing... We may have our first smoking gun...

Shawn Stanford

Awesome!

dan_189

Okay so not much to update on this, I'm able to jump the starter pins and it cranks but I'd like to know why it doesn't turn over unless the pins are jumped... Ruling out DME/Alarm unit as my PIWIS2 can communicate with both of those.

I can see someone has been playing around with the main harness and I found the drivers vent cap had a round hole in it... Perhaps an aftermarket alarm unit installed and incorrectly removed... Couldn't find any units or wires with terminals unplugged.

Did find a unit that has been exposed to the elements - looks like its part of the pill reader? Connected to the ignition mechanism in a black box. Forgot to get the part number off it - maybe it's not reading the pill correctly?

Thoughts?

dan_189

Also something interesting of note - when I jump the starter lock/starter relay pins and crank the engine the tach does not move at all?

Although this could just be a symptom of the alarm system locking everything.

My thoughts now are - if I can interrogate the alarm system the control module (presumably) must be working - therefore I either have an issue with the key (pill) or pill reader?

dan_189

Okay so measured the ohms across the transponder coil and got 18 - thats good. So the coil should be okay. I'm going to wash the signal sender board too and retry it.

Although one curious thing the car is half apart and its a tiptronic, what if it thinks its in anything other than park? That would cause the car not to start but I'm guessing it wouldn't let the key out of the ignition either?

I couldn't communicate with the Tiptronic module at all so I think thats completely broken...

dan_189

Okay so - theory regarding the car being in gear didn't work. The cluster displays P and when I move the gear selector at the gearbox shows different gears. So I've left it in P.

Interestingly with my test light the relay pins briefly get ground but constantly gets power so the ignition switch is working but the ground connection comes from the DME/Alarm module.

I also had a capacitor inside the signal converter changed but still no luck.

The mystery continues....

dan_189

Okay so an update! Some progress!!

It was the key! Was able to get the learning code and got into the alarm system to see that the key I had wasn't registered! Wrote it into the list of keys disconnected my PIWIS and it turned over without jumping any relays! All systems are go!

Now just need to drain out the rest of the really bad fuel and reinstall the pump and put some fresh gas in it!

Anyone have any experience with the fuel pump? When I bench tested it - worked and filled a bottle I had setup to catch the water I ran through it. When it wasn't submerged in liquid it squirted water out of the top of it? I'm thinking either thats normal to mix the fuel around perhaps? Or maybe its broken?

Shawn Stanford

Congratulations on getting it started!

Sorry, I have no idea about the fuel pump. You might want to check on Pelican or 986Forum.

dan_189

Thanks!

I'll reinstall it and see how it goes

dan_189

SUCCESS!!

Was able to get it to roar to life a few days ago.

Been awhile since I was able to work on it but here was the final list of what I had to do:

- Re code key (the pill wasn't being recognised by the car)
- Drained fuel (was so bad it was like mud)
- Changed the fuel pump
- Changed oil + filter
- Checked coil packs
- Replaced spark plugs
- Replaced injectors - found that only cylinder 6 was firing, the other cylinders weren't getting fuel with the old ones
- Flushed fuel again (got too old)

Then with a cough it came to life!

Although have a new problem though... There seems to be a bit of milkshake in the coolant... I don't know the back story to this car so i'm not sure if it does. I've pulled the heat exchanger and it was full of oil and coolant. I'm hoping this is the source of the intermix. I'm going to fill it with water and run it to see if there is a slipped liner, D-chunk or a cracked head. Hopefully it was the heat exchanger.

Starter986

Awesome! What a story! Glad to hear you at least got it to fire up... now you can focus on that intermix.

Thank you for returning 6 months later with an update. Cheers!

dan_189

Was hoping to get it running sooner! Unfortunately it's just for parts but was great to be able to troubleshooting getting it going. A special thanks to @Porschetech3 as well!