Re: The final update on my airbag warning light issue... |  |  |
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| The final update on my airbag warning light issue... MarcW - 8 years ago |
Took the car in April 4 to have the oil/filter service done and to have an airbag warning light on issue looked into and I expected fixed.
To briefly recap, the airbag warning light of my 2002 Boxster was on. No error codes were found with the airbag control unit.
Various things were tried, well, a new airbag controller at least, which didn't help. By luck an instrument cluster out of another car was available and with the owner's permission the tech tried the instrument cluster in my car and the air bag warning light was dark.
Diagnosis: Instrument cluster.
A new one was estimated to cost $2500. Going with a new one obviously out of the question.
A "rebuild" of the original cluster was chosen. The VDO facility in Lake Havasu City AZ was selected and after calling and speaking with one of the techs there I ok'd having the unit sent there for the rebuild.
At the facility I was told the tech unsoldered some chips -- several -- and soldered in new ones. The chip that retains/stores odometer info among other things was left alone.
The tech said he had no way of testing the unit -- it needed to be installed in the car -- and the unit was on its way back to me. The tech at the facility said that in the event the unit was not fixed there was the option of replacing the IIRC circuit board with one out of another donor unit. The cost was $150. (Is that right? That's what I recall him saying. I was struck by the "low" price as a salvage instrument cluster was $475.)
So the unit arrived the other day and was installed and .... the airbag light is still on.
In more normal circumstances I'd have the unit pulled and sent down and have the circuit board swapped out. But the car has been in the shop now nearly 2 months and my other car I have been using for my DD -- racking up 300+ miles a week mostly from my 60 miles per day commute -- is 500 miles over its 5K mile oil/filter service threshold.
So I picked up the Boxster yesterday -- there was a delay this week waiting for new seat belt bolts from Porsche -- and because it had been off the road nearly 2 months was not ready to trust it enough to put it back into service as my DD just yet. But I drove the car around 3 or 4 miles and it was just fine, felt just fine, ignoring the airbag warning light but left the car on the Porsche dealer lot and drove the other car instead.
Today I'll arrange to bring the Boxster home and spend some time driving it giving it a shakedown before I resume using it as my daily driver so I can get the other car in for its service.
(Another complication is I was late mailing in the Boxster's registration renewal. I remembered the registration -- too late to send it in on time though -- and opened the envelop and wrote another check to cover late charge and then put the two checks and the registration form in another envelop and mailed this but I received a letter from the DMV informing me because I was late I need to send in another $25 before the registration sticker will be mailed. I thought the 2nd check covered the late fee -- I will dig out the registration renewal packet from my files later this AM and consult my check register to see if I made a mistake and then see what checks have cleared my checking account -- but in the meantime the Boxster's registration is expired and my luck is I'll get pulled over and cited.)
While I do not like the airbag warning light on I'm going to mask it with something for a while. A hack you say? You bet. But it will have to do until I'm ready to try to resolve the airbag warning light issue again.
To briefly recap, the airbag warning light of my 2002 Boxster was on. No error codes were found with the airbag control unit.
Various things were tried, well, a new airbag controller at least, which didn't help. By luck an instrument cluster out of another car was available and with the owner's permission the tech tried the instrument cluster in my car and the air bag warning light was dark.
Diagnosis: Instrument cluster.
A new one was estimated to cost $2500. Going with a new one obviously out of the question.
A "rebuild" of the original cluster was chosen. The VDO facility in Lake Havasu City AZ was selected and after calling and speaking with one of the techs there I ok'd having the unit sent there for the rebuild.
At the facility I was told the tech unsoldered some chips -- several -- and soldered in new ones. The chip that retains/stores odometer info among other things was left alone.
The tech said he had no way of testing the unit -- it needed to be installed in the car -- and the unit was on its way back to me. The tech at the facility said that in the event the unit was not fixed there was the option of replacing the IIRC circuit board with one out of another donor unit. The cost was $150. (Is that right? That's what I recall him saying. I was struck by the "low" price as a salvage instrument cluster was $475.)
So the unit arrived the other day and was installed and .... the airbag light is still on.
In more normal circumstances I'd have the unit pulled and sent down and have the circuit board swapped out. But the car has been in the shop now nearly 2 months and my other car I have been using for my DD -- racking up 300+ miles a week mostly from my 60 miles per day commute -- is 500 miles over its 5K mile oil/filter service threshold.
So I picked up the Boxster yesterday -- there was a delay this week waiting for new seat belt bolts from Porsche -- and because it had been off the road nearly 2 months was not ready to trust it enough to put it back into service as my DD just yet. But I drove the car around 3 or 4 miles and it was just fine, felt just fine, ignoring the airbag warning light but left the car on the Porsche dealer lot and drove the other car instead.
Today I'll arrange to bring the Boxster home and spend some time driving it giving it a shakedown before I resume using it as my daily driver so I can get the other car in for its service.
(Another complication is I was late mailing in the Boxster's registration renewal. I remembered the registration -- too late to send it in on time though -- and opened the envelop and wrote another check to cover late charge and then put the two checks and the registration form in another envelop and mailed this but I received a letter from the DMV informing me because I was late I need to send in another $25 before the registration sticker will be mailed. I thought the 2nd check covered the late fee -- I will dig out the registration renewal packet from my files later this AM and consult my check register to see if I made a mistake and then see what checks have cleared my checking account -- but in the meantime the Boxster's registration is expired and my luck is I'll get pulled over and cited.)
While I do not like the airbag warning light on I'm going to mask it with something for a while. A hack you say? You bet. But it will have to do until I'm ready to try to resolve the airbag warning light issue again.
It sounds like a frustrating situation, especially since you have invested so much time and money without results.
You can actually program a cluster from another car with the information from your cluster. You can read about the process here: Boxster Cluster Programming and find a link to the instructions here: Coding Instructions (You will need to be a Renntech member to access this.)
This was done as part of the project for swapping a 996 cluster into a Boxster. You can read about the basics of that process here: Cluster Swap It would be even simpler to just transfer the code from one Boxster to another. Please note that there are several different types of Boxster and Carrera cluster designs depending on the year of your car and whether it is a manual or a tip. You need to be sure to buy the right one for your car.
If you can find a good used cluster for a decent price and can do the programming yourself you will be able to fix your problem fairly quickly and inexpensively. You might check this posting for a good cluster:Boxster Part Out
If you cannot do the programming, check on Craigslist for an electronics repair person. They should be able to understand the instructions and help you.
Good luck.
You can actually program a cluster from another car with the information from your cluster. You can read about the process here: Boxster Cluster Programming and find a link to the instructions here: Coding Instructions (You will need to be a Renntech member to access this.)
This was done as part of the project for swapping a 996 cluster into a Boxster. You can read about the basics of that process here: Cluster Swap It would be even simpler to just transfer the code from one Boxster to another. Please note that there are several different types of Boxster and Carrera cluster designs depending on the year of your car and whether it is a manual or a tip. You need to be sure to buy the right one for your car.
If you can find a good used cluster for a decent price and can do the programming yourself you will be able to fix your problem fairly quickly and inexpensively. You might check this posting for a good cluster:Boxster Part Out
If you cannot do the programming, check on Craigslist for an electronics repair person. They should be able to understand the instructions and help you.
Good luck.
I have printed (to PDF) the pertinent info and saved it to my Boxster folder. I will consider this perhaps even installing a 996 cluster to get voltage and oil pressure readings.
Been a long time since I've touched those clips that fasten to an EPPROM chip and used and EEPROM programmer.
Thanks.
Been a long time since I've touched those clips that fasten to an EPPROM chip and used and EEPROM programmer.
Thanks.
| Re: Very interesting. And I think the link details how to remove the cluster... KevinH2000 - 8 years ago |
Here's a 996 cluster for sale at a good price. Carrera Cluster I think a 2002 Boxster uses this "new style" cluster with the dot matrix read outs, but please verify with the information from the articles. Too bad the lenses are scratched, but you may be able to use the lenses from your Boxster cluster to replace the 3 center gauges on a 996 cluster.
The Pelican site has complete instructions for removing the cluster. If I recall correctly, they are in the article for the On-Board Computer "hack."
Good luck.
The Pelican site has complete instructions for removing the cluster. If I recall correctly, they are in the article for the On-Board Computer "hack."
Good luck.
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