Water damage to rear control unit?

[blake.denkinson]

Hi, I recently found a huge amount of water behind both passenger and driver seats. Boxster was left in a garage with a cover on for 3 weeks. When returned, the batter was completely flat. Jumped the car. Car started but rear spoiler up, reversing lights and rear lights stuck on and the roof won’t go down into service mode.

Passenger seat taken out, I removed the ECU from loads of water.

ECU testing in Heanor looked at it but can’t diagnose if it’s ok or not for some reason. Porsche dealership Notts over the phone think it’s a fault with the rear control unit as if the main ECU was down, the car wouldn’t start / drive.

Very new at this. Could someone tell me where the rear control unit is located please?

 

[Motorhead]

Hi Blake,

Sorry to hear about your electronics woes.

I think you’ll find that the actual engine control unit [DME in Porsche-speak] is mounted somewhere high up on the engine side of the rear bulkhead, but I don’t know what module has been waterlogged in your case. Here’s a link for you to find the PET for your car which may be of use in identifying what you’re looking for:

Porsche Classic Genuine Parts Catalogue - Porsche Great Britain

The fascination of Porsche is timeless. How can you tell? Because more than two thirds of all the Porsche vehicles ever built are still on the road...

www.porsche.com

The water ingress you’ve described most likely is due to blocked rear drains and is a common Boxster problem, so you’ll need to clear them and keep them cleared to avoid future problems.

Jeff

 

[blake.denkinson]

Hi Blake,

Sorry to hear about your electronics woes.

I think you’ll find that the actual engine control unit [DME in Porsche-speak] is mounted somewhere high up on the engine side of the rear bulkhead, but I don’t know what module has been waterlogged in your case. Here’s a link for you to find the PET for your car which may be of use in identifying what you’re looking for:

Porsche Classic Genuine Parts Catalogue - Porsche Great Britain

The fascination of Porsche is timeless. How can you tell? Because more than two thirds of all the Porsche vehicles ever built are still on the road...

www.porsche.com

The water ingress you’ve described most likely is due to blocked rear drains and is a common Boxster problem, so you’ll need to clear them and keep them cleared to avoid future problems.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, thanks very much for your comments and link. Since writing this post, I took the Boxster to Cavendish Porsche, Nottingham. It now requires a new rear control unit as it was completely water damaged.

Due to the car doing its weird “ I’m in trouble” dance, it snapped the under roof rods when it tried to open by itself while still in the clamped closed position so this needs replacing too. It all seems common like you said so hope it will all be fixed and back on the road soon.
They are going to sort out the rear drains and widen underneath to help them work better too I believe.

 

[Schuey]

Which model of Boxster do you have?

 

[blake.denkinson]

Which model of Boxster do you have?

Hi, it's a 2005 2.7 987.

 

[Schuey]

Hi, it's a 2005 2.7 987.

Ok thanks. I hope your problem gets resolved soon. All the best!

 

[mikewalden]

Sorry to hear about your problems, if the roof rods have snapped it is likely that it is the nylon ball joints on the end of the rods, Porsche will sell you the rods for circa. £50 each but you can get the ball joints only on E- Bay for approx. £5 simply screw the old joint off and screw the new one on ensuring that the rods measure the same length as the originals.

Hope this helps.

 

[malarcy]

Due to the car doing its weird “ I’m in trouble” dance, it snapped the under roof rods when it tried to open by itself while still in the clamped closed position so this needs replacing too. It all seems common like you said so hope it will all be fixed and back on the road soon.
They are going to sort out the rear drains and widen underneath to help them work better too I believe.

chances are they are blocked by leaf debris at the top - they tend not to block at the bottom ( thats the 981 and 718 version of the same problem) - you can get little "baskets" that fit in the top of the drains - you still need to keep them clear - but it stops stuff going down the pipe - so clearing becomes a quick wipe rather than an adventure with compressed air or a trombone cleaner - they are standard on a 987.2 but fit 987.1 and 986's - only about £20 for the pair from OPC.

Drying the carpet out is a time consuming task - hope they get it sorted for you soon.