Hazardc

EDIT: CAR is a 2000 Boxster S


I'll save the story, you all know what happened here. (moist.)

I cleaned everything up, it looks fine.. made sure all contacts were clean and everything was dry.


I put the immobilizer back into the car, andall of the weird stuff (alarm chirping, etc) stopped.. everything works, keyfob locks/unlocks, no random alarms going off, back trunk pops with button, key makes windows go up and down in door. top started working again.. etc etc...


However, I cannot start the car. I broke into the frunk using the "screwdriver between the trunk lever" trick.. I disconnected the battery, remounted the immobilizer, charged the battery to 100%, hooked it back up.


No start. FRUNK/TRUNK levers are stuck locked again.. as I said *EVERYTHING* else is working flawless, the gremlins went away. There is no draw on the battery when i try to start the car (watched with a meter)




I am assuming the unit is *PROBABLY* still good since every function seems to be working, but it doesn't really matter what is working when the car has no ability to run.



My questions


1) Are there any "processes" I can try to get the key to start the car? Is there some kind of "re-pairing" that possibly needs done? I have never removed this box before.

2) Any specific fuses I should check?

3) Any specific places I should be checking for voltage, and WHEN?


I am fairly competent with automotive work, but this is a very specific system where I have found that a lot of the data is often tough to find.



Any help is appreciated. I'd like to get this thing back on the road.

Hazardc

Upon a second removal, i noticed some corrosion still on pin #4 (Immobilizer control)


Any advice other than going back through it, getting rid of any moisture, etc?

Is this the power to the immobilizer? I am not sure what "immobilizer control" entails or where the wire leads to.

Macster

It is very important in these cases to ensure all moisture is removed and of course the source of the moisture is fixed/addressed.

Next any corrosion needs to be addressed.

About all that is open to you is removing the module then plugging it back in should remove any surface corrosion.

If the security module or its socket -- the pins/contacts -- is damaged by corrosion there's not much you can do but replace.

What is the behavior of the car when you try to start the engine?

Hazardc

All functionality that the immobilizer plug works except for start and unlock frunk/trunk levers... only other odd behavior is my steering wheel wouldn't lock

when i go to start it, there's a click from what sounds like the switch in the ignition and what sounds like an audible click in the back.

Battery is full, i even put 10A on it while it was already reading 12.8V .. Same story.

I'm going to try to clean the plugs out better today, even my civic decided to dump on me for the first time in 4 years and tossed an alternator, which was nice enough to seize up and chew the accessory belt, so I am without a car and start 18-21 cr tomorrow, which i do try to walk to either way, but the lab i work at is 30 minutes away. I do not have all of my tools moved to this house, and can't get it into the garage, but I have enough to work on what's necessary at the moment.

Ok, I'll leave it at that.. with a rant;


Any help is appreciated, I have a lot to do today both with the cars and with other things around the house. I'm going to get some compressed air and contact cleaner

Macster

What is the behavior of the car when you go to start the engine?

In the meantime... If the dash remains dark this could be a dead battery, bad battery connection, or a bad ignition switch. (I am ingoring the possibility of a number of concurrently bad fuses.)

If the dash lights up but the you hear a clicking noise that's another sign of a bad battery or bad battery connection or possibly a bad starter solenoid.

If the dash lights up but there is no noise from the starter that is a sign the security module either didn't receive the key module's RFID or didn't like what it did receive.

This can suggest an immobilizer problem.

Hazardc

Everything WORKS except the car doesn't start.. dash lights up,


I am not sure if you read my initial post, but this started with the immobilizer getting wet. I started having the alarm chirp intermittently. I cleaned it really well with contact cleaner and iso alcohol with a brush. I actually went over it again just to be sure i got it all .



There are THREE problems right now

1) The car won't start
2) the Frunk/Trunk levers are perpetually locked
3) the steering wheel will not lock.

I've never had an RFID problem in the past. When i try to start the car I do hear audible clicks. I have charged the battery to a full charge (It IS full and holding pretty well, I am keeping it on a trickle charge

The keyfob works to open rear trunk, the frunk i opened with the screwdriver between the levers "hack" and now i have the cable hanging out of the front so i can open it.

When I turn the key on to start the car, I hear an audible click behind the key, and I hear a relay somewhere in the rear click once. If i leave the dash lights on, a few relays click again after a minute when the "brake wear" and "brake fluid" lights turn off.


Every function in the CLU and immobilizer seems to be working except for being able to start the car, which seems to be necessary to solve this issue.


The most helpful thing right now would be knowing where to put the multimeter to start the process of elimination.

Macster

Yes, I read your initial post. Getting the immobilizer wet is a real problem, to state the obvious, but with a purpose and that is to emphasize that one has to be very sure one removes all moisture from the cabin and address how water got in the cabin in the first place to ensure all the moisture is removed and is not replaced with more moisture.

My very limited experience in dealing with electronics that get wet is everything that is socketed has to be unplugged and the components and the sockets thoroughly dried. A heat gun -- not set too high -- can be used to warm up the areas and dry everything.

For components that are soldered a washing with some residue free electronics cleaner is advised, but one safe to use on circuit boards. The techs in the lab here then use lab compressed air (extremely finely filtered, very very dry, and with *no* compressor oil) to blow dry the boards after washing/rinsing.

I've used distilled water to rinse electronics and as long as one thoroughly dries the electronics after there is no problem.

In the case of the immobilizer aka security module the cabin floor has to be dried and this includes the carpets. If any moisture remains it will cause the security module connections to corrode and for corrosion to develop on the very finely spaced pins of the security module.

Ok, that's out of the way.

At this stage, a multimeter may be of little use to you.

What may be of more use is a Durametric that you can use to check the security module for any error codes. If there are any this suggests a problem with the security module, its connections, or wiring.

The behavior though doesn't really read like a security module problem.

The engine start symptoms suggests a bad ignition switch. Can you wiggle/move the key about when turning on the ignition and affect the car's behavior when you try to start the car?

The dash behavior is not a common problem with a security module.

When it comes to starting the engine its involvement is to when the key is turned to the on position and to engine start to emit an RF signal from an antenna located behind the ignition surround in the dash. This signal energizes the RFID pill's circuits and it then responds with its ID. The RF signal is picked up by the antenna and routed to the security module and if the ID is recognized the starter circuit is energized and if the rest of the car is healthy the engine cranks then starts.

But in the case the RFID is not sent, or not received, or not recognized, partial dash lights and clicks and such are not the usual (or even unusual based on my info) symptoms of a bad security module.

If you want to approach this behavior with a multimeter I can't be of any real help, so I will withdraw then and give someone else a chance to counsel you regarding how/where to use a mutilmeter to trouble shoot this behavior.

Hazardc

Apparently at some point last night I popped fuse E1. I checked it a few times -- including last night, and it was still good. I went over the PCB with a good electronics cleaner and dried it off.

car fired up, ran like crap for a bit because of the battery being disconnected. Drove it for ~10 miles and it feels more peppy than it has in a while (i'm going to attribute that to the 70 degree day with low humidity vs the 85-90 with high humidity days we've had for what feels like all summer)

So, it runs. woo

Yeah, I do need a new ignition switch either way. This one is working but showing the early symptoms of being on the way to the crapper

Still haven't got the trunk/frunk levers to let go, but I have some errands to run and another class today.

At least it's running.. buying a car cover tonight. Once I can get it to a place where i can actually work on it inside I'm going to be drilling some extra holes in the floor along with a lot of other preventative stuff. Every convertible is going to take on some water at some point, but I'm pretty sure I know the current source

Macster

With cabin closed up: doors/windows closed, top up; the cabin is intended to be under low pressure to avoid pulling outside air into the cabin.

If you drill holes in the floor and drive in wet weather this can result in water being *drawn into* the cabin through these holes.

The correct solution is to ensure the car stays water tight. My Boxster has over the years and parked outside in all kinds of weather with one exception and that is the door membranes started leaking due to age.

I detected the dampenss and had the dampness looked into and the membranes were found to be the problem and one was reglued to the door and the other replaced as it had developed a tear.

Keep an eye on the body water drains and check the door bottoms after a wash or some time in the rain. Leave the drill in the tool box.