Are you 100% certain no work was done after the key worked?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I recently had the control unit below the driver's seat replaced because of flooding by my trusted indy mechanic, and a new key from the local (less-trusted) dealership. Everything works more or less ok except the key stopped working remotely to unlock the doors (at first it only would not remotely unlock the trunks). Now I have to unlock the door manually and when I do, unless I start the car quickly, the flashers start going. This latter business, I assume, has something to do with the alarm system.

My mechanic cannot figure out what it is -- and this is a very good guy, he's replaced the engine in this car and done quite a bit of work on this car and our BMW 3 series over the last 10 years, so I trust him. He says I might go back to the dealer and ask them if they've badly programmed the key or something, but I (and he) do not have much faith that they will do anything other than figure out a way to gouge me out of money. Any advice on this from the board? I have to say that for a 15-year-old car, this is a minor inconvenience, particularly compared to the engine dying at 70 miles an hour a few years ago, but I'd like to fix it if it can be done without too much bother.

2001 Base, purchased in 2004, replaced engine at 130K+, RIP 2017

If the remote buttons worked when it was programmed, the programming was done correctly.
Programming doesn't change over time. My car is 18+ years old and still using the same original key and remote.
What could happen is that the circuit board on the fob develops hailing cracks because of the pressure when depressing the switches.
Initially these cracks make it intermittent, then it stops working.
My recommendation is to check the remote.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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You mean the key? It's brand new -- or should be.

Quote
JackintheBoxster
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I recently had the control unit below the driver's seat replaced because of flooding by my trusted indy mechanic, and a new key from the local (less-trusted) dealership. Everything works more or less ok except the key stopped working remotely to unlock the doors (at first it only would not remotely unlock the trunks). Now I have to unlock the door manually and when I do, unless I start the car quickly, the flashers start going. This latter business, I assume, has something to do with the alarm system.

My mechanic cannot figure out what it is -- and this is a very good guy, he's replaced the engine in this car and done quite a bit of work on this car and our BMW 3 series over the last 10 years, so I trust him. He says I might go back to the dealer and ask them if they've badly programmed the key or something, but I (and he) do not have much faith that they will do anything other than figure out a way to gouge me out of money. Any advice on this from the board? I have to say that for a 15-year-old car, this is a minor inconvenience, particularly compared to the engine dying at 70 miles an hour a few years ago, but I'd like to fix it if it can be done without too much bother.

The alarm sounding if you unlock the door with the key blade and if you do not start the car within a short time -- seconds -- is normal. Whenever my cars are serviced often the dealer SM will put the car outside and locks the car with the key hidden inside and then later in the evening I arrive to pick up the car and I open the door with the valet key. If I don't insert the valet key in the ignition and turn the key on the alarm sounds after IIRC 10 seconds.

Even though the key is new that doesn't mean it can't go bad but it doesn't read like a bad key. The symptoms/behavior describe a worsening problem. This doesn't really read like a key module circuit board problem.

Knowing the alarm module has been replaced due to water in the cabin the behavior then suggests to me a deteriorating security module. Well, not the module directly but its electrical connections. Probably not from more water getting in the cabin but from the moisture that remained in the cabin from the previous exposure to water.

It is possible corrosion is occuring at the alarm module connector(s) and as some pins/contacts have become corroded this has resulted in the symptoms. I trust the doors are dry and the bottoms of the doors are not damp even after a washing or the car being outside in the rain?

It is also possible that with the proper Porsche diagnostics computer (or possibly a Durametric) one could query the security module for any error codes and these would provide more info that would help to confirm (or not) my "diagnosis" above.

Now it could be just the RF antenna that picks up the RF signal that the key transmits whenever you push a button. This antenna is not the same one that picks up the RFID RF signal from the RFID pill in the key module that allows the engine to start. The antenna that picks up the key module button presses is IIRC in the windshielf frame. But its connection is to the security module and this is where I would look -- with care! you do not want to static discharge into any of the car's electrical circuits! -- to see what the electrical connection is at the security module.

If that were not the case this would be easy to explain: bad programming.

Dumb question: is the area under the driver's seat (including the carpet) now completely dry? It is of course possible that they didn't actually fix the water leak and that the alarm unit got wet again.

Every time the alarm sounds the car stores which sensor caused it. I would check the code. I'm guessing you'll find that it's the opening of the door or possibly the motion sensor, which just means that unlocking the car didn't turn off the alarm.

Did the mechanic disassemble any part of the door? When you open the door with the key do you get the power-assisted unlock? Does the passenger door lock and unlock when you use the key in the driver's door?

No work after the kehy worked, the area is dry. The alarm does not sound, the flashers go on. The mechanic did nothing with the door.