Boxster 1999

[Boxy99]

My 1999 convertible suffered water damage to the immobiliser unit and wouldn’t crank. Unit was replaced, recoded but still nothing. After over a week diagnosing (and £700), Porsche are saying it’s the DME unit which needs replacing and quoting over £6k for parts and labour. Seems very high and more than I paid for the car! Any advice gratefully received!

[frozen-in-wiltshire]

have been told previously that the DME is behind drivers seat area in boxster, and when the hood drains get blocked, it can overflow and then leak into DME and then you're in trouble. Drains for hood need cleared regularly to avoid that.
If water has got into DME then problem for sure - don't know about cost but expect it to be substantial. independent will be cheaper to fix (a bit) but could happen again if hood drains are still blocked so would check those out asap.

best of luck with it

[Buggyjam]

Don’t know if this is a lead. There’s no mention of 6k in the thread which is a start I suppose

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[mlsporsche]

Maybe a bit late now but an ECU kit from ebay for about £500 would have included the DME

[Boxy99]

Thanks all.

I have cleaned out the drains - too little too late! Agreed that I can get a unit on eBay for 500 so I’m not going with Porsche’s generous quote to replace and fit.
The cars going back to the indie specialist garage and hopefully he’ll be able to get a fix in.

Lesson definitely learned about the importance of keeping the drains clear - that’ll be happening on a monthly basis if I get the car back!

[matfinch]

Had the same issues a few years ago. Porsche specialist was able to source a replacement used DME and fit for a few hundred pounds