Navman

I have just completed an OBC and Cruise retrofit to a UK spec 2002 Boxster S (pre facelift). Much of this was possible due to EdBs great work as you will see. Apologies for UK shop names, currency and measurements but this is a direct copy from my post on Boxa.net. Parts List Porsche 996.613.219.10 4 Stalk Steering Wheel Assembly (£80 delivered Porsch-Apart) 999.652.972.40 Cruise Control Connector (£0.29) 999.650.513.40 OBC Connector (£2.86) 999.652.901.22 Pin Connector (9 for Cruise) (£0.27) Unknown Fuse holder connector for 1.00mm2 cable Volkswagen 000 979 009 Wires for OBC Connection (5 Reqd) (£0.99) General 1 off 6mm Eyelet Crimp Connector. 1 off 25mm rubber grommet. PVC coated copper wire (0.5mm2-0.63mm2 conductor area). 4 off 5m runs (Blue, Yellow, Brown, Black) and 1 off 2m (Black) required for Cruise. If you buy another 9 pin connectors and an extra 5 off 0.5 m of wire you can make your own wire runs for the OBC and do away with the VW set. (I used the standard 16/0.2 Equipment Wire from Maplin (£1.10 for 10m) and ran the loom inside the sheathing from standard networking cable. Even with the long wire run the voltage drop is acceptable). Porsche seem to use standard vehicle (9/0.3) cable that you can get from motor accessory shops (not Halfords). I shamelessly used, and totally relied upon, EdB’s Cruise control hack from the RennTech Forum, the Porsche Cars of America OBC hack and various snippets and advice from Boxa.net. I found the pictures from D2 Performance on the Whiteson site particularly useful for fitting the stalk assembly although I had to make allowances for my car being a 2002 Boxster S. I will comment no further on the OBC hack or fitting of the new Stalk Assembly as they are well covered already. Just remember that on a 2002 car without factory OBC you will get full functionality but on the old type of display, i.e. you will not get the dot matrix display as in the Owners Handbook. Just in case you attempt his in isolation you will need to open both rear and front luggage compartments, open the driver’s door, partially open the hood and then disconnect the battery (having left the ignition on for the sake of your ears!) All wires in the Cruise Harness, with the exception of the Fuse Box, need to be terminated with the Porsche crimp connectors above. You will need a decent crimping tool for these little devils. Work from front to back of the car, leaving the connectors at the rear of the car until you have the rest of the loom in place (you can’t stretch wire!) The Cruise Connector from the 4 Stalk Assembly exits to the left of the steering column. One of the wires (Black/Pin no 2) needs to run across to the right and into the back of the fuse box. I found a cable run, just to the right of the steering column and below the instrument cluster, that exits onto the main wiring harness under the dashboard and against the right side of the car above the fuse box. To get access behind the trim to the right of the drivers footwell, pull off the Fuse Box cover and undo the 4 philips head screws. Pull the panel forward at the bottom (lift or remove the floor mat) and it will come away. You have now uncovered the main loom running down to the Fuse Box. The Black lead (Pin No2) from the Cruise connector needs to join the Black wire running to Fuse B7. This is the brake circuit and provides the brake cut off signal to the cruise control logic. At this point you can either splice into the brake wire (easy but less elegant and I was concerned about causing voltage drops in the brake light circuit) or spend ages removing the Fuse Holder Crimp connector from the back of the fuse box and replacing it with another, this time with both cruise and brake wires crimped in. To achieve the latter, spring the front of the fuse box off the bulkhead by lifting the catches that sit behind the, now empty, screw holes. The Fuse Box drops forward so that you can remove the entire second row of fuses by lifting the plastic sprig clips at each end. A white retaining rod runs down inside this fuse matrix and is withdrawn by simply pushing on the narrower end. Remove fuse B7 and use 2 small screwdrivers to release the spring retaining clip from the front of the matrix to release the spade type fuse connector. Cut off and replace with the new connector, crimping in both original brake and new cruise wire. This is undoubtedly the hardest part of the whole job and I must admit that I have simply soldered the new wire to the existing fuse connector until I can get the correct part from Porsche. The remaining cruise wiring harness is made up of 3 wires from the Cruise Connector and 1 wire from the back of the instrument panel (Cruise Indicator). It is strongly recommended to use different colours for all of these wires, as they need to run to the back of the car. The wire to the back of the instrument panel connects into the left hand or White main instrument connector. It needs to slide into pin 17 for the Boxster S. See EdB’s instruction for the Boxster pin assignment. I ran my harness down the right hand side of the car, although, the left side would follow the Porsche convention and be easier if you were running the rear speakers at the same time. It really is personal preference. I ran the harness alongside the single black wire (actually all the same bundle) until reaching the bottom of the driver’s door pillar. I removed the trim running along the sill by using a 5mm hex spanner inserted into the 2 small, blanked off, holes on the inboard side of the trim. Loosen these bolts 2-3 turns and then firmly lift up the trim panel. I had to move the driver’s seat forward and then back to get the spanner into the holes. I ran the cable through the void on the inside of the sill trim, using cable ties to stop rattles. At the rear of the sill I removed the carpeted panel running up to the rollover bar. This was done by undoing the small Philips had screw concealed in the carpet about 4 inches from the floor, and then loosening the small 8mm nut at the top of the panel just behind the rollover bar. By lifting and twisting the bottom towards the driver’s seat, the panel can be removed from the car. The wiring harness was passed up through the plastic sill trim (don’t use the hole for locating the carpeted panel that you have just removed) and around behind the seat belt inertia reel. For the next phase you will need to lift the rear of the hood to provide access to the deck above the engine bay. As part of the preparations for this job you need to have operated the hood mechanism until the tonnaeu cover reaches the highest point. From outside of the car locate the small plastic gutter at the rear of the fabric top and slide it downwards and out of the retaining clips. Next slide your hand under each side of the hood just below and behind the rollover bars to locate the ball connectors on each end of the hood tensioning wire. Simply pop these off the ball joints. The rear of the hood can now be lifted to reveal the top deck. At this point you also need to remove the lining from inside the rear luggage compartment. The simplest way to do this is to remove the bottom first and then the back as they interlock. You can remove only the back but this requires some confidence. To remove the bottom carpet remove the boot catch cover by undoing the 2 philips head screws. Next pop out the 2 press connectors to each side and finally unscrew the connectors above each of the light clusters. To the right of the boot opening you will find 2 plastic slotted connectors, these must be turned a quarter turn to release them. The bottom carpet can now be removed. The back panel is held in place along the top edge by 3 push fit connectors. Simply pull the bottom of the panel forwards, disconnect the lamp and remove the carpet from the car. I had taped a large cable tie to the cruise harness and managed to feed this from inside of the car, along just inboard of the rollover bar and out under the lining of the hood stowage. I ran the wires under the soundproofing on the deck and out to a hole at the rear right hand corner of the deck. This hole ran straight into the top right hand corner of the boot. I used a standard 25mm (20mm hole) rubber grommet to prevent chaffing on the wires. At this point you can run the wires directly to the Cartronic Engine Management Unit, or up and over through the hoop frame to join the remainder of the cars wiring. I did the latter which in retrospect serves little purpose. Once you have worked out exactly how long a harness you need, crimp the remaining 4 connectors to the wires. The new harness has to be added to the second connector down from the top of the Cartronic Unit. Once you have removed the connector you will see it is numbered 4 on the mounting plate for the unit. To get access to this 40pin connector you will have to remove the gold coloured anti-tamper shield. This is bolted in place using security nuts, however, they were easily removed using strong pliers. Remove the top connector that gives access to the one that you want. At the bottom of the plug are 2 small plastic spring clips, which release the connector blocks (2x20 pins). Pin No 1 from the Cruise plug (Blue) goes to Pin No 27 on the Cartronic Unit. Pin No 3 from the Cruise plug (Yellow) goes to Pin No 25 on the Cartronic Unit. Pin No 4 from the Cruise plug (Brown) goes to Pin No 19 on the Cartronic Unit. Pin No 17 from the Instrument Panel goes to Pin No 18 on the Cartronic Unit. Now all you have to do is put everything back together! The system will not work until the car’s computer is updated from a PST2. It cost me 30 mins labour to get his done for both OBC and Cruise. Be aware that 1 OPC refused to activate the cruise for me on safety grounds after talking to Porsche GB. They had previously told me that they would be happy to do the work (I did check before I started!). I have some pictures for those who may want them but don't want to clutter the site unnecessarily.