jfoxny

I read the post you directed me to last night but I didn't have the tools to do the diagnosis. I am at the dealer now and am pushing them to try to look for a voltage drop. They claim that they would see a "low voltage fault" if there was a voltage issue in the system, which they are not seeing. They did notie that it is cranking slowly and said they would try to figure out why that is happening which might lead to something. However, the tech said he feels that they are separate issues. :-

Best to get the fault codes - but many strange electrical things happen with a bad battery or charging problem.

Here are the fault codes from last year when I brought the car to the dealer while the fault was up. Only the PSM Failure was active this time (not the Spoiler Failure or Check Engine). However, I want to stress that the problem stopped happening during the cold months (I drive it every day here in Upstate New York) and then started happening again now that it's hot and wet (we've been getting a ton of rain here).

Control Unit, Priority, Fault memo, Status, DescriptionPSM, 1, C101, ACTIVE, Control unit faulty (No fault symptom available)PSM, 1, C150, ACTIVE, Communication DME control unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)PSM, 1, C153, ACTIVE, Communication steering wheel electronics unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)SEAT MEMORY, 1, C152, ACTIVE, Communication PSM control unit (drive)DRIVER'S DOOR, 1, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)PASSENGER'S DOOR, 5, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)

Best to get the fault codes - but many strange electrical things happen with a bad battery or charging problem.

Here are the fault codes from last year when I brought the car to the dealer while the fault was up. Only the PSM Failure was active this time (not the Spoiler Failure or Check Engine). However, I want to stress that the problem stopped happening during the cold months (I drive it every day here in Upstate New York) and then started happening again now that it's hot and wet (we've been getting a ton of rain here).

Control Unit, Priority, Fault memo, Status, DescriptionPSM, 1, C101, ACTIVE, Control unit faulty (No fault symptom available)PSM, 1, C150, ACTIVE, Communication DME control unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)PSM, 1, C153, ACTIVE, Communication steering wheel electronics unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)SEAT MEMORY, 1, C152, ACTIVE, Communication PSM control unit (drive)DRIVER'S DOOR, 1, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)PASSENGER'S DOOR, 5, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)

Second, while not completely the same, I can't help but to notice some very similar symptoms to when my previous car (a Carrera 4S) had a bad alternator and/or wiring harness. For one, you say this seems to happen the most when the weather is hot. Specifically with respect to that wiring harness, resistance builds as heat increases....and this problem also occurred in my situation on one of the hottest days of the year. That's no coincidence. The wiring harness is a known culprit in these vehicles (been revised at least a couple times and I think there's even a TSB on it) and if you do a search on this you will find tons of info and posts. A failing alternator or bad wiring harness, like many electrical issues, can manifest itself in a number of odd kind of ways. With mine I got the "ABS/PSM" errors you are describing as well as some other weird

Thanks for the reply and pointing me in that direction; I will check it out when I get home. To clarify, in your case, they replaced the wiring harness or the alternator or both?

I have heard of the wiring harness issues, specifically with the cars not wanting to re-start after getting hot. I personally have noticed slow cranking on a hot day or after driving for a long time, but, it's never refuses to start. Perhaps, it is the same issue though. I am taking the car in tomorrow and will mention this.

Thanks again,

Jason

Just wanted to clarify that I drive the car year round in the Northeast and the problem went away during the winter but now that the temps are rising again it's back. I'm guessing that's a clue. Also, the battery was replaced right before these problems started (around this time last year). I had the techs check the connection and they assured me that it was sound.

Tech said that the re-programming "wouldn't take" and that the software was already up-to-date. Does that make sense?

Any other ideas on how to reproduce this? It's happened a few more times, but, I'm at a loss as to how to reproduce. I'm also a bit concerned that the ABS is not going to work when I need it. However, I do not want to shell out $4k of my own money to fix this when I have a $4k warranty that should cover it. :-/

Jason

At the dealership now. Tech will try reprogramming the front and rear control units. I'll update the post after a few weeks, unless of course, the fault happens before then.

Stuck on the dash - Tacky !!!!

Actually, the antenna was stuck on the hard-plastic part of the dash near the windscreen, the unit was mounted on a bracket SCREWED into the underside of the driver's side footwell. I ended up removing the bracket myself (leaving the screws in the holes) and then had the dealer do the rest. Though, I think the dealer just cut the wires anyways. Goo Gone worked wonders on the sticky stuff, by the way.

Is it correct that potential failures were/are more common in earlier 997's (05 to 08)?

The bottom line is no one knows for sure. However, I wouldn't necessarily say IMS failures are "common." IMS failures do happen, however, from the techs I've talked to at various dealerships, it's not actually that common. Keep in mind two things: 1) people in the forums represent a small percentage of Porsche's overall customer base and 2) people tend to talk about the bad things that happen to them rather than the good, e.g., I've never seen a forum post entitled "NO IMS FAILURE!" :-)

Jason

PS - You might be interested in this thread over at rennlist: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/997-forum/629870-ims-failure-for-your-997-car-y-or-n-tell-us-yr-997-1-2-m96-m97-failure-mode.html

I would never assume they checked it. I always cover the basics first to eliminate them.

Battery connections appear tight. I'm going to ask the dealer about reprogramming the front and rear control units.

I agree with Loren about having the units reprogrammed but I would also verify the battery and main cable connections are sound. Never hurts to check the basics first.

According to the previous owner this started happening after the battery was replaced. Could it be that simple?! I'm going to check this later, though, I assume the techs would have checked this at Porsche.

Exactly - they re-program the module using a PIWIS tester and it uploads the latest firmware and then checks it for consistency. Less than 1 hours work.

Gotcha, ok. The fault happened on start-up today in the garage. I was hoping maybe it would stay on but when I restarted the car it cleared again.

Could be but I would try re-programming first.

What exactly is "re-programming" of the front and rear control units? Is that like resetting the variables in the computer to factory settings or is it upgrading the firmware or something else?

Well, if I were working on the car I would reprogram the front rear control units and see if that does not take care of it.

997-1 had a number of quirky that could cause odd not real faults - and in 99% of the cases a reprogram fixed it.

Interesting. I will ask them about that. So you don't think that it's a faulty AS ABS Hydraulic Unit Pump (997-355-955-06)?

That's what they told me and that's what I'm trying to get the warranty company to pay for.

I do not see anything int he PSM circuitry that would trigger a spoiler failure.

I wonder if they also reprogrammed the rear control unit too?

Sounds like two different issues.

They actually didn't do anything at all since the warranty company won't cover it without seeing the fault for themselves live in the car. The spoiler fault would show up right before the PSM Failure, like immediately before. When I brought it to the dealership and they scanned the car while the fault was up only the PSM Failure was present at that time. Sometimes I get two faults, Spoiler + PSM, and other times I get just the PSM Fault.

I would be curious to know what fault it came up - if you get a chance please ask them.

Got the print out. There are a few faults listed. These faults were just from the PSM Failure (not the Spoiler Failure). Can you decipher these / provide any guidance on how to reproduce?

Control Unit, Priority, Fault memo, Status, Description
PSM, 1, C101, ACTIVE, Control unit faulty (No fault symptom available)
PSM, 1, C150, ACTIVE, Communication DME control unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)
PSM, 1, C153, ACTIVE, Communication steering wheel electronics unit (drive) (No fault symptom available)
SEAT MEMORY, 1, C152, ACTIVE, Communication PSM control unit (drive)
DRIVER'S DOOR, 1, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)
PASSENGER'S DOOR, 5, C174, PASSIVE, Fault, convertible top control unit (comfort) (Signal implausible)

The part that needs to be replaced is: 997-355-955-06

I would be curious to know what fault it came up - if you get a chance please ask them.

Hi Loren,

I'm going to get the print out today when I get the car.

So, the warranty company will not cover the claim unless THEY can reproduce it. They drove the car for seven miles but the fault did not show up - probably because they were driving on smooth roads. I can reliably get the fault to throw on my drive to work everyday since the road is bad. It seems that the fault only throws when PSM is activated. So now I have to figure out how to reproduce the problem reliably, tell a tech (because they won't test drive it with me - only with a tech) and hope the tech can reproduce the issue with the adjuster in the car. :censored:

Do you (or anyone) know how to reliably activate PSM so these dopes can see the fault in action? Are there any tricks? There is a set of railroad tracks near the dealership and I'm thinking if you hit those at speed it should trigger PSM. Going to try that today after I pick-up the car.

Thanks,

Jason

I would be curious to know what fault it came up - if you get a chance please ask them.

Ok, I'm bringing the car back in on Monday to leave it with them for a few days. Warranty company wants to "inspect" the vehicle before paying out. Service manager said they'd show them the scan output. I'll ask them when I drop it off on Monday.

Jason

Fault went off again this morning. I brought it to the dealer and left the car running so that they could scan it while the fault was active. Bad PSM control unit. $3500 but should be covered under my Fidelity Platinum warranty. Glad we got to the bottom of that finally.

This part (http://goo.gl/V5I3p) is missing on my 997.1. I can't tell from the diagrams how it is installed. Is this just snapped in somehow?

Thanks in advance,

Jason

At the dealer now getting it looked at. Spoiler Failure/PSM Failure went off again on my way here Also, after the failure went off a message came up saying to bring it in for service and the car wouldn't rev over 3000 RPM. I'm guessing it went into some sort of "limp mode."

After a restart rev'ing was back to normal but the PSM failure stayed on. The techs said there are no error codes and seem to be at a loss. The failure has happened at least a dozen times since I got the thing on Friday.

I've read that a "brake switch" can cause the PSM problem if coupled with an ABS failure, but, I haven't seen anything about a PSM + Spoiler failure.

Any ideas anyone?

Recently made the move from a 2005 987.1 to a 2006 997.1. Had the car inspected by Porsche prior to purchasing it. Previous owner told me that the PSM/Spoiler Failures started after he recently put a new battery in it. The Porsche tech who did the PPI also noted the faults but said that there were no error codes. I've read that these failures are common after a battery change, however, it's been going on for some time now.

The failure seems to happen when hitting a bump (I think usually at high speeds). Sometimes it's both a Spoiler Failure followed by a PSM Failure and other times it's just a PSM Failure. When the car is restarted the fault clears.

My question is, how long will this continue or is there something else going on?

Thanks in advance,

Jason

I would imagine the 987 key is 3-button, and the 997 Cab a 2-button, but I'm not sure. I would think that if the 3-button remote is programmed to a "2-button car" then the 3rd button would do nothing. During programming, you only press the door lock button, which would be the same for both. One would assume that the front lid button would be coded the same on both key types.

Spoke with a tech and he said that it's not possible to "undo" the programming of a key. He said that once it's mated to the car you cannot un-mate it. Guess I'll have to spring for a new key. :cursing:

Jason

I am buying a 997.1 that has an aftermarket sat radio installed which I would like to remove - hate the look, don't use sat radio and my knee bumps up against it. It was installed on a metal bracket that was screwed in underneath the dash. So, that part seems simple; just unscrew it. However, the antenna pops out where the window meets the dash and I'm not sure how they got it there.

I am not a car stereo buff and I have no idea what's involved in uninstalling this setup. Do you have to remove the dash to get rid of this thing or just pull out the PCM head unit or can I just unscrew the mount, cut the wires and pull (probably a bad idea :-P)?

If anyone has dealt with this before and could provide some insight it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Jason

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