Boxster S 987 - heavy rain causing alarm to go off and more

Boxster S 987 - heavy rain causing alarm to go off and more

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Discussion

Freakuk

Original Poster:

3,105 posts

150 months

Sunday 28th July 2013
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Just been awoken by my alarm going off, the rear lights are on permanently and the windows down by say 4 inches, starts up fine and I can close the windows, I'm unable to open the boot and the dash is reporting a system and rear spoiler fault. Took it for a spin around the block all seems well engine wise but the interior lights flick on/off at will and the brake light is still on.

The roof won't operate but the rear cover has now come up and stuck also, the windows didn't drop as expected and the tail lights are still on.

Any ideas?

Pope

2,633 posts

246 months

Sunday 28th July 2013
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Sorry to hear about your woes; the fun and pain starts now!!
The cars Rear Body Control Unit under the passenger seat is full of water - either the drains have blocked under the roof or another ingress has occurred. The floor behind the passenger seat will be flooded. You'll need a new ECU as the water decimates it. The carpets will also be wet so will need drying out too. The roof wont work correctly without a functioning ECU and may self-operate without stopping until it breaks - disconnect the battery and get the car recovered.

Porsche issued a TI with drain covers to reduce the chances of blockage under the roof so when its all fixed make sure the car gets a pair of covers (about £2 iirc) and should have been installed as a cost to customer service item by OPC.

If you have Warranty it can be covered


Edited by Pope on Sunday 28th July 07:34

Freakuk

Original Poster:

3,105 posts

150 months

Sunday 28th July 2013
quotequote all
Hmmm sounds about right, carpet soaking could be the drains I guess but the windows were down by 6 inches in pouring rain... AA here first thing, not much the could do to be fair but followed me to the OPC (Wilmslow) gave them a some info and brought me home, will ring the OPC tomorrow.

Weird thing the spoiler had gone down and the convertible clam had also this morning.

Trev450

6,314 posts

171 months

Monday 29th July 2013
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Hope you have a warranty. Good luck in getting it sorted anyway.

Freakuk

Original Poster:

3,105 posts

150 months

Monday 29th July 2013
quotequote all
I have extended warranty yes, however I spoke to the OPC this morning and they were a little cagey as to whether this would be covered or not until they have investigated further.

I'm not sure what the position is on the drain holes - if they are blocked and the car is under warranty will they honour this? That seems to be the crux of the issue at the moment, I explained both driver and passenger windows were down by 6 inches in torrential rain so the car interior was soaking anyways.

Why the windows went down is the question that may drive the warrantly claim, any advice here is appreciated.

I asked about rough costs if the warranty wouldn't be honoured (I'll be challenging this if it comes to this), they said the ECU was around £600 which they think would need replacing anyway given the faults plus somewhere between £1000 and £1400 to strip, dry and rebuild the interior.

Fingers crossed they'll just do the work without any issue.

Pope

2,633 posts

246 months

Monday 29th July 2013
quotequote all
On a few cars I have seen; one of the roof arms had broken and pierced the roof drain panel during subsequent use - the roof still worked so went unnoticed until water went through the extra hole wink

artdon

22 posts

183 months

Tuesday 30th July 2013
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hi I had the same problem a few months ago I bought a s/hand alarm ecu and engine ecu also matching key fob on ebay for £200,the new ecu I wrapped in plastic bag before refitting,best of luck

Pope

2,633 posts

246 months

Tuesday 30th July 2013
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Different vehicle type and ECU but same cause/effect.....

Freakuk

Original Poster:

3,105 posts

150 months

Wednesday 31st July 2013
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Good news so far, OPC has confirmed this will be covered under warranty and depending on how long the interior takes to strip/dry/refit I should be back in my car within a week.

Fingers crossed I'll have something new to play in for the weekend to tide me over.


s3uly

40 posts

168 months

Wednesday 31st July 2013
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I had blocked drain holes about a year ago, which leaked into the front boot after heavy rainfall, I had extended warranty but my local OPC said this wasn’t covered, ended up paying nearly £400 to have this fixed.

Which OPC are you using if you don’t mind me asking

Freakuk

Original Poster:

3,105 posts

150 months

Saturday 3rd August 2013
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Wilmslow for me, picked up a new Boxster yesterday as a courtesy car also 47 miles on the clock... Very very nice indeed, hmmm it's got my brain thinking.

Ice White Socks

72 posts

197 months

Saturday 3rd August 2013
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Had just the same happen to me this morning (Alarm off at 5am- looked out of the window and the spoiler is up and the rear brake lights on).

Drained/dried out the ECU and 30 mins with a wet vac to dry the carpet and foam- haven't reconnected the battery yet but at worst its £189 for a genuine ECU from Design 911- insane to think a dealer has quoted potentially £2K for a fix.

If it helps my leak is through the inner door card (you notice the wet carpet on the side of the door).

IWS

Edited by Ice White Socks on Saturday 3rd August 14:22

Oliver33

1 posts

127 months

Wednesday 14th August 2013
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Hey mate, I'm having the same sort of problem with me car, my misses has spilt coffee on the ecu, I've dried it out got everything else working apart from the hood, was hoping i could ask u a few question about it, if u don't mind, could u send a number I could speck on. Thank you oliver

Pikey66

5 posts

44 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
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Hi, I know this post is old, but I've just had the same thing happen this afternoon. Carpet under passenger seat soaking, windows won't go up, brake lights staying on. Have dried carpets best I can, put a tarpaulin over car, what's the next step? And if control unit gone, where's best to get a new one? Thanks..