Boxster 981 - Airco and heating stopped working

[b2tus]

bcr5784 said:

Mine was replaced under warranty - albeit 12 months ago - and I was led to believe that the new fan would fix the problem - which so far it has.

Same for me. Fixed 12 months ago by OPC at Tonbridge with no quibble and under warranty. New fan and no problems since.

[andyman_2006]

Had exactly the same issue on my 2015 981.

Same fix as well, actually called the Porsche assist (who sent AA but silver van) and he knew exactly how to fix it. I would not hesitate to do the fix mysefl having watched how simple.

The issue is it seems to have been affecting owners for years now, and there seems no sign of the issue going away. I've only had the issue once but if it happens again car is under warranty until Feb 2019 i will be insisting they replace the Fan motor/unit.

Persistence is the key i suppose.

Andy

[StevenRugg]

I'm going to pick mine up tomorrow, but they've apparently fixed not replaced it, and said they'd seen it before and were confident that it wouldn't fail again, etc. Fine with me as it's a warranty thing anyway. Is it just a leaf getting in and blocking the fan or something?

[RichB]

StevenRugg said:

I'm going to pick mine up tomorrow, but they've apparently fixed not replaced it, and said they'd seen it before and were confident that it wouldn't fail again, etc. Fine with me as it's a warranty thing anyway. Is it just a leaf getting in and blocking the fan or something?

No, if you look at the fan (it's a rotor type, not a blade) nothing gets in, the motor simply stalls. I wondered about trying to lubricate it but others have said not to bother. I'm not confident Porsche can have "fixed" the problem on yours but good luck.

[ATM]

RichB said:

StevenRugg said:

I'm going to pick mine up tomorrow, but they've apparently fixed not replaced it, and said they'd seen it before and were confident that it wouldn't fail again, etc. Fine with me as it's a warranty thing anyway. Is it just a leaf getting in and blocking the fan or something?

No, if you look at the fan (it's a rotor type, not a blade) nothing gets in, the motor simply stalls. I wondered about trying to lubricate it but others have said not to bother. I'm not confident Porsche can have "fixed" the problem on yours but good luck.

I think the only option is to pull the thing apart and see what motor is in there. Then surely it can be replaced. Years ago when i was a lad you could get hand wound motors for radio controlled electric cars. Different gauge wire in different windings - not sure of technical terms here - gave different rpm and battery drain times.

[DJMC]

This happened to me on Friday. No fan, no heat.

(Think I'll buy an Alpine A110 now, for more reliability).

Anyway... has anyone experiencing this failure noticed the regular clicking noise coming from the dash, around 80 clicks per minute, whilst the heating is out of action? After 75 miles of coldness I stopped for 10 minutes, restarted, and the heater immediately started working with no clicking noise.

It's under warranty. What recent fixes have others had for this issue? Is it still fan replacement, even though some posters here have said the fan hasn't been updated?

Thanks for info.

[ATM]

DJMC said:

This happened to me on Friday. No fan, no heat.

(Think I'll buy an Alpine A110 now, for more reliability).

Anyway... has anyone experiencing this failure noticed the regular clicking noise coming from the dash, around 80 clicks per minute, whilst the heating is out of action? After 75 miles of coldness I stopped for 10 minutes, restarted, and the heater immediately started working with no clicking noise.

It's under warranty. What recent fixes have others had for this issue? Is it still fan replacement, even though some posters here have said the fan hasn't been updated?

Thanks for info.

I've not had clicking just complete failure.

[bcr5784]

DJMC said:

This happened to me on Friday. No fan, no heat.

(Think I'll buy an Alpine A110 now, for more reliability).

Perhaps you might it you'd had an IMS or Bore score failure. In years gone by Porsches were the one sports car that you could rely on to be reliable and durable. Other brands have now caught up and passed them, and regretably Porsche seem to have gone backwards.

[bob2146]

You might need some aircon in the A110. I’ve heard they can get pretty hot...

Bcr have you cancelled your order ?

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/top-gear/news/a853754...

[bcr5784]

bob2146 said:

You might need some aircon in the A110. I’ve heard they can get pretty hot...

Bcr have you cancelled your order ?

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/top-gear/news/a853754...

Old news. I haven't placed an order yet - but I haven't withdrawn my deposit . As I have said elsewhere the problem has be identified (petrol hose fastener) and unlike the GT3 fires the problem has been fixed on all cars before shipping to customers. Chris Harris was very positive about the car on Top Gear.

[Jim A]

Just had the exact problem on my 2014 Cayman. Fan started working again on the way to dealer (I decided to drop in on my way past). I took it to Swindon Porsche who immediately agreed to replace it under the extended warranty, with no quibble at all. That has covered the cost of the warranty for the year.

[burman]

I am another who owes Pope a virtual pint 64reg CaymanS same problem thanks mate,I have also tried a mist spray of silicon spray so I will see if that helps
cheers Roy

[535dBoy]

Ours has gone, I think for the 3rd time!! (981s)

Back to dealer on Monday

I understood that they replaced the unit 2 years ago so that didn’t work!!

[RichB]

Mine stopped working when I left for work this week but it started of its own accord after a few mins, perhaps it got jolted into life!

[Spinneyman]

What a great platform this is. One minute my heater packs in, well the fan and my short journey with the windows open didn’t give me time to determine if the heater works or not.

So groan, a expensive time consuming trip to sort it methinks? But no, a quick search and up pops this thread.

Two minutes later, having lifted the bonnet and the battery cover, I unclipped the fan cover and reached inside (ignition off!) and moved the fan (could just feel it was stuck) and then bobs your uncle, worked perfectly.

Thank you 🙏 😊 To Pope the original poster of the solution.

[RichB]

Spinneyman said:

...Two minutes later, having lifted the bonnet and the battery cover, I unclipped the fan cover and reached inside (ignition off!) and moved the fan (could just feel it was stuck) and then bobs your uncle, worked perfectly...

Unfortunately i will keep stopping randomly until the weather warms up! Seriously it only happens to me on cold weather.

[Jim A]

Jim A said:

Just had the exact problem on my 2014 Cayman. Fan started working again on the way to dealer (I decided to drop in on my way past). I took it to Swindon Porsche who immediately agreed to replace it under the extended warranty, with no quibble at all. That has covered the cost of the warranty for the year.

Update......although when I first reported the problem, they said they would change the fan, when I picked it up yesterday, they told me they had in fact ‘fixed’ it. I’ll see how long it lasts. He insinuated they would replace it if it broke down again.

[RichB]

Jim A said:

...they told me they had in fact ‘fixed’ it...

That involves flicking the fan bad (rotor) to unstall it and putting the cover back on.

[ATM]

RichB said:

Jim A said:

...they told me they had in fact ‘fixed’ it...

That involves flicking the fan bad (rotor) to unstall it and putting the cover back on.

I've fixed mine a few times. Generally it fails again after a couple of weeks unused.

[R1nur]

Pope said:

The brushes stick within the motor; open the bonnet, lift the cover and locate the pre-filter (it curls upwards on the nearside). Lift the plastic lid that covers it and you see the fan inside - maybe need a torch. Reach in - ignition off! - and spin the fan by hand - if it's indeed stuck it will free off with a gentle twist.

Test system, refit covers.

The fan has been modified in the last year or so to counteract the issue

Thank you so much Pope. Saved me a lot of wasted time.

My car was sat for about 2 weeks and suffered this issue.

This might help some ...

Remove this cover:



Then this cover:



Move this fan:



Replace the covers and pull this foam seal back into place: