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I had this Boxster for about 6 years. Been through numerous rains, winters and so on.
Just recently I noticed the alarm went off by itself, and then when I tried to start it it would not crank (all lights in the dash come on, and the key imobilizer LED stays on as if unable to recognize the key)
Upon inspecting I noticed a really wet area behind the left seat. The windows were closed and there is no visible hole in the top. I did not notice any water coming in when driving in rain. Just a few months ago I stuck my finger in what I assumed were 2 tubes in the compartment where the top folds with the intention to unclog what I thought were some sort of water drain holes. Not sure if I did a good job, I just removed the debris but I did not do any testing afterwards.
1) how did the water get in there?
2) how do I prevent it from getting in there in the future
3) What's my best course of action to return the car to operational status? I am mechanically inclined and I own Durametric diagnostic cable. But I don't want to dig and do more work than necessary. I want to be as noninvasive as possible.
Those are, indeed, drain holes and they are, indeed, clogged. Once that happens, rainwater will do exactly what you describe, and run down under the seats. If that happens on the passenger side, you end up with wet carpet to dry out. On the left side, you have wet carpet and a fried immobilizer to deal with. There are plenty of writeups here and on other sites as to how to deal with that.
What's my best course of action to return the car to operational status? I am mechanically inclined and I own Durametric diagnostic cable. But I don't want to dig and do more work than necessary. I want to be as noninvasive as possible.
One of the biggest engineering mistakes that Porsche made with the 996 cabriolet and 986 is locating the security (immobilizer) module under the seat. When the convertible top drains get clogged, water ingress happens, and the water will pool up under the seats thus causing the immobilizer to short out and the internal electrical board will eventually corrode.
You have a couple of options -
1. Tow the car to a Porsche dealership. They'll charge you for replacement and reprogramming of a new replacement module. This will be the MOST expensive option.
2. Remove and ship the immobilizer, ECU, and keys to ECU doctors for service.
One of the biggest engineering mistakes that Porsche made with the 996 cabriolet and 986 is locating the security (immobilizer) module under the seat. When the convertible top drains get clogged, water ingress happens, and the water will pool up under the seats thus causing the immobilizer to short out and the internal electrical board will eventually corrode.
You have a couple of options -
1. Tow the car to a Porsche dealership. They'll charge you for replacement and reprogramming of a new replacement module. This will be the MOST expensive option.
2. Remove and ship the immobilizer, ECU, and keys to ECU doctors for service.
Either way, open up your wallet.
ah great, so what are some options as far as fixing the immobilizer? where do I find such ECU doctors?
Looks like it got wet. I would trust ECU doctors on this one, unless you have mad circuit board repair skills.
ECU doctors also sells a kit to help prevent this from happening again. It’s a plastic case the Immobilizer sits in, and then you smother a silicon-like liquid all around that seals everything up.
The benefit of ECU doctors is that they test everything to verify there is no problem after the repair. I believe you send them 3 things: Immobilizer, key, ECU.
06-03-2024, 01:08 AM
water ingress 1999 Boxster
