1998 Boxster will not turn over.

[otisdriftwood]

Long story short, my battery was acting like it was low yesterday, so when I got home from work, I popped the front trunk in order to put the charger on my battery, as I have done in the past. I locked my car as is habit with me. Went in the house for a while, came back out and opened the front trunk to put the charger on, the alarm went off, minus the horn, (never had that option), so I turned the alarm off with the fob, charged the battery. Went out go to work this morning, turned the key and nothing. I've checked the fuses, except for the 15 amp in the immobilizer under the seat. All are good. I have already replaced my ignition switch, and the neutral safety switch located on the tiptronic was done about 2 years ago.

Anyone have any ideas? Already disconnected the battery for about 30 min to reset, and still nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks

[JFP in PA]

Long story short, my battery was acting like it was low yesterday, so when I got home from work, I popped the front trunk in order to put the charger on my battery, as I have done in the past. I locked my car as is habit with me. Went in the house for a while, came back out and opened the front trunk to put the charger on, the alarm went off, minus the horn, (never had that option), so I turned the alarm off with the fob, charged the battery. Went out go to work this morning, turned the key and nothing. I've checked the fuses, except for the 15 amp in the immobilizer under the seat. All are good. I have already replaced my ignition switch, and the neutral safety switch located on the tiptronic was done about 2 years ago.

Anyone have any ideas? Already disconnected the battery for about 30 min to reset, and still nothing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks

Get the battery load tested to either identify it as a problem or eliminate it from consideration.

[otisdriftwood]

Just for S*%#% and giggles, I checked the fuse in the immobilizer. It was good. This is exactly how it acted when the trans position selector switch went out.

[Ahsai]

Brake switch is good? Can you jump start it?

[flyingpenguin]

Went through this a few weeks ago. Had the battery load tested. Most part stores do this for free, also Walmart. Starting issue was intermittent though, and would act up when warm. Cold starts were without problem.

Replaced the starter motor which solved the problem. A rebuilt one from Rockauto is cheap.

Took the old one apart, and it's really a matter of the old grease in the gear mechanism caking up. If you're comfortable taking it apart and do a semi-refurb / reconditioning yourself, you could keep the money in your pocket.

[otisdriftwood]

Really tired of this with the box. Took it , rather towed it to my mechanic. He said the battery being weak may have messed up the programming with the keys?? This doesn't make sense to me as the locks ans security system were still operable with the key. Said it may have to go to the stealership for reprogramming? Does this sound right or do I need to find another mechanic?

[Ahsai]

Really tired of this with the box. Took it , rather towed it to my mechanic. He said the battery being weak may have messed up the programming with the keys?? This doesn't make sense to me as the locks ans security system were still operable with the key. Said it may have to go to the stealership for reprogramming? Does this sound right or do I need to find another mechanic?

I don't buy that. If he meant the car battery, the immobilizer is designed to tolerate a dead battery so once a good car battery is put in place, the engine should fire up.

If he meant the key battery, that's not reasonable either. There's a transponder inside your key fob, which is a passive component that does not require any battery to operate. Around the ignition key hole, there's a ring inside the ignition that radiates RF signal to read the transponder. If the signal read matches that of the immobilizer, the DME will activate ignition, fuel injection, etc.

[Ahsai]

Can he fire up the engine at all?

[otisdriftwood]

No fire at all.. Said the current stops at the immobilizer.

[Ahsai]

No fire at all.. Said the current stops at the immobilizer.

Are there any error codes and the fuse on the immobilizaer is good? Sounds like they are saying the problem is a bad immobilizer.

[JFP in PA]

Have they checked the crank position sensor? A bad one will stop the car from starting.

[otisdriftwood]

He said its an error code from the immobilizer. I had checked the fuse, and it was good. He was coordinating with the only Porsche dealer in the Portland area to see if they can figure it out.

[otisdriftwood]

OK got my car back from the mechanic yesterday. Wife picked it up. Had to replace the Theft control unit, remote control head. Now the blower motor doesn't work. All lights light up, but no air. Any ideas? Checked the fuses. About ready to sell this for 500....

[otisdriftwood]

The mystery is finally solved. Blower motor resistor went out. Hopefully have it back mid week

Thanks for all the input..