Richard Hamilton

A friend of mine has bought a 1999 C4 Coupe (RoW LHD). It's a long story, but the car had been sitting unused for over 5 years, and of course the battery had gone totally flat, and the PCM codes have been lost.

I know very little about PCM, but before taking an (expensive) trip to the dealer:

Is there just one security code?

Is there a way of retreiving the serial number(s) without removing the units?

Is the system made by Becker, and if so will the "junk" decoder I have work?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I had it installed for me, as it was free fitting: http://www.audio66.co.uk . It won't show fuel economy, but it has Bluetooth Phone, iPod connectivity, Hard Disk Drive Music Library, Voice Command, DVD Player, etc. It also has provision for reversing camera if you want that. I bought a speed camera database from TeleAtlas, as we are plagued with those things over here.

I moved the aircon panel to the lower position myself, but presumably yours is there already. It should fit into the same slot as PCM1 as it is 2-DIN standard size. Mine just has the standard Pioneer trim around the unit, and I had to make small trim piece for the top. (I had a standard 1-DIN radioo before).

If I were you I would forget PCM1 and buy a far superior aftermarket system, such as the Pioneer AVIC. Much more up-to-date, and far more versatile than PCM. Looks good too:

Someone on PCGB found this - a very early 356 and what looks like an MGTA to me.

Well done! On cars with DME7.8 the cruise is controlled in the later instrument cluster, not like 7.2 where it was controlled in the DME. However, if you are using the original cruise system for 99 cars, this is totally independent of the DME, so it's strange that it stopped working.

I think there have been cases of oil gallery plugs popping out, and it sounds like that has happened to you. I'm sure Tool Pants will be along with the answer soon.

I can't comment on the Strosek spoiler, but as far as the Porsche spoilers go, it depends on which spoiler you are talking about. These were taken from TSB's:

"Carrera" Rear Spoiler:

The rear spoiler has been developed, tested and approved for the following combinations:

Carrera rear spoiler with standard front spoiler;

Carrera rear spoiler with standard front spoiler and side member trim of the aerokit Cup;

Carrera rear spoiler with front spoiler (without lip) of the aerokit Cup;

Carrera rear spoiler with front spoiler (without lip) and side member trim of the aerokit Cup.

Other combinations are not permissible!

Aerokit "Cup II":

Authorized retrofitting options:

1. Front spoiler with spoiler lip only in conjunction with rear spoiler.

2. Front spoiler with spoiler lip only in conjunction with rear spoiler and both side member panels.

3. Only side member panels.

Other retrofiitting options are not permissible!

I think that is where some of the confusion lies.

Your '99 2.5 does not have eGas (Electronic Throttle). Therefore retro-fitting cruise isn't as easy as shown on this thread. On 97-99 cars the cruise has a separate actuator which is mounted on the steering column, and has a cable which pulls on the pedal box to give cruise. I have fitted it myself, but it is no easy job. You need the actuator and pedal assembly, and a lot of wiring.

The OBC is a very straitforward hack, and well documented. You shouldn't have problems with that.

I have a similar issue since updating from IE6 to IE7. Every time I connect to Renntech from a different location (home, work) with the same laptop I have to log in. Once logged in I can come and go without logging in again, but when I change location I have to log in on first connection. It's no big deal for me, as I just double-click on the username box and it brings up my username and password from the cookie. I just thought it might help to know, and that maybe its an issue with IE7. These things never seem to affect people in exactly the same way.

I doubt if the load from the OBC display would drain the battery overnight. If it was me I'd disconnect it though, as it is only a 5 minute job.

I think the footwell switch is a simple changeover switch. You will see that the heated switch isn't quite that simple.

It does not turn off after I lock the car.....I put the car in the garage last night...locked her up....and it was on this morning. It could very well always do that and I just never noticed it. The speedometer (on the left), the odometer (in the middle) and the clock (on the right) all seem to be on all the time now. So to is the little red light in the switch that I installed.

I'm more concerned about battery drain if I don't drive the car for a few days. I'd also be concerned if there is any potential for "serious" electrical damage.

Thanks for your continued help on this.

The little red light?? Sounds like you have the switch connected incorrectly. I'm not sure about using a heated seat switch, but on the footwell lighting switch you use the three centre terminals.

The numbers you are quoting there are 986 (Boxster) numbers. The latest numbers for the MAF on the 996 are:

MY1998-9 (non eGas): 996.606.123.00

MY1999-01 (eGas 3.4L): 996.606.124.00

MY2002 on (eGas 3.6L): 986.606.125.01

You need the 124.00

Edit: OOPS! - Todd and Loren are correct (see below) - Sorry about that - Not being careful enough!

The warm-up program is very noticable, and personally I think that the shift to second is at too high an engine speed - I like to keep the engine speed down as I creep out of my road early in the morning - especially with a sports exhaust. Your tip' box is different to mine, and I'm not sure the characteristics or programs are the same in all respects.

I agree that it would be fun to try the same program with a warm engine though. There doesn't seem to be a direct connection to the tiptronic control unit for engine temperature, so I suspect it reads it via the CAN connection to the DME. I checked the wiring diagrams for 1998 and 2002. Nice idea, but I have a feeling it might be a non-starter.

There aren't any programming options for tiptronic. You will find that if you are in 'D' and hit the gas pedal fairly hard it WILL pull off in first. The control unit has several drivibg programs, depending on how agressively you are driving. There is some info in the owners manual, but see the excellent Service Information book in the Contributing Members section for a detailed description of the system. I always drive mine on the switches though, unless I am feeling incredibly lazy.

You have PM

Hi John!

You might want to check out the current thread on the PCGB forum about this:

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/fb.asp?m=277390

There is a reference to the 'orange cap' modification there.

A friend of mine has done quite a few rebuilds on G96 gearboxes. All I can tell you is that he had to have special tooling made to remove the gears and his hydraulic press is close to the limit when pressing off the gears. The synchros are very expensive - Porsche jacked up the price just after releasing the parts - about £150 (GBP) each for 1st and 2nd gear.

I think he means just remote locking/unlocking from the key remote. It was an option in some countries - Australia being one I know of.

It would be a lot cheaper to fit an aftermarket kit, as I think you'll find that a lot of expensive parts are required.

Individual gearbox components ARE available from Porsche now, so it could be rebuilt.

I installed the switch and relay today. To my dismay, the switch has a different finish than the rest of the switches in my '00 S. It's more matte-looking.

I had the same problem with my garage door opener (Targa blind) switch. A coat of gloss clear laquer did the trick, and now matches the other gloss switches nicely.

The chap you want to speak to is Gerard Mahoney at http://www.satnavshop.com/ Phone: 0121 773 7000. He has helped out several guys on the PCGB forum and comes highly recommended.

Michael, it might be worth trying here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/NAVTEQ-u-Tele-Atlas-NaviShop24-de

These people do up-to-date maps for PCM1 16 bit, but there might be a chance they could help you.

You need to find an independent specialist with a PIWIS and I doubt if there are many around at the moment. The only one I know who profess "We are the only UK Independant who can offer full diagnostic checks on all Porsche models inc 997" are Ninemeister. Whether they have the PIWIS or not I don't know, but it would be worth a phone call. Maybe they just have the Durametric, as this would make the same claim possible. There is also another computer from Autologic, but I don't know if development of the Porsche software is complete yet. I do know that Autologic have a PIWIS which they use for development. They are based in Whitney, Oxon. It might be worth a call to them too. Speak to Jerome.

http://www.diagnos.co.uk (Autologic)

http://www.ninemeister.com/site/39.html