Jump start weirdness

[ricof]

I had to pop the front boot (ridiculous Porsche over design) to jump start the 987 today. After that, I got all kinds of warnings on the dash (PSM failure, ABS failure), the windows dropped and the roof doesn’t function properly and the spoiler has raised.

Any ideas? Do I need to reset something?

Do I need to replace the battery? The current battery is only two or three years old and is a high quality item. 
 

Thanks in advance. 

[Nobbie]

Why did you need to jump the battery? Has the car been left a long time without use? Most of those things should clear themselves with a bit of driving, but the windows might need resetting. Have a search on here for how.

The battery won't last long if it's allowed to discharge completely on a regular basis.

[ricof]

It hadn’t been driven in a while, I’m sorry to say. 

[Paul P]

PSM error normal after flat battery  clears after a few mins  

Roof and spoiler ring alarm bells with me.  
 

check under the seats (left hand especially) for water.   The control unit lives under there. If it’s been stood,, outside and the roof drains are blocked then water makes it’s way in and that’s where it pools. 
 

 

[ricof]

15 minutes ago, Paul P said:

PSM error normal after flat battery  clears after a few mins  

Roof and spoiler ring alarm bells with me.  
 

check under the seats (left hand especially) for water.   The control unit lives under there. If it’s been stood,, outside and the roof drains are blocked then water makes it’s way in and that’s where it pools. 
 

 

It’s been garaged since it was last used and it’s as dry as a bone. 
 

Car was function perfectly when I last drove it so I’m hoping a new battery will sort it. 

[Paul P]

hope so. 
 

There is also some cases where disconnected battery results in some “amnesia” from the car as to what options are installed. You need to get a handover reset done in those cases to ge the car to recognise things that were just fine before the battery disconnection. 

[DaveEFI]

22 hours ago, ricof said:

It’s been garaged since it was last used and it’s as dry as a bone. 
 

Car was function perfectly when I last drove it so I’m hoping a new battery will sort it. 

Charge the battery and have it tested before just replacing. If you intend leaving the car unused for more than about 3 weeks, disconnect the battery.

[ricof]

2 hours ago, Paul P said:

hope so. 
 

There is also some cases where disconnected battery results in some “amnesia” from the car as to what options are installed. You need to get a handover reset done in those cases to ge the car to recognise things that were just fine before the battery disconnection. 

Hi Paul,

What is a handover reset, and where does one obtain it?

thanks!

[BTM520]

Can I ask how you got into your front boot to access the battery if there's no power? I'm thinking if you manually unlocked the car the window doesn't drop to open the door to access the manual release? I have a 986 but I imagine it might be a similar issue in a 987?  I intend on driving my car at least once a week over winter to keep things moving but I am just anticipating problems with my first winter with the car. 

[sa utah]

How about one of the ctek permanent cables wired in and left just under the front bonnet? Past the weather seal so it’s easy to grab by the wiper tray?

they come with a waterproof cap so I can’t see an issue.  

[ricof]

1 hour ago, BTM520 said:

Can I ask how you got into your front boot to access the battery if there's no power? I'm thinking if you manually unlocked the car the window doesn't drop to open the door to access the manual release? I have a 986 but I imagine it might be a similar issue in a 987?  I intend on driving my car at least once a week over winter to keep things moving but I am just anticipating problems with my first winter with the car. 

In my 987 you need to manually unlock the door, pull out the positive front boot release electrical terminal from the fuse box and use a battery charger/spare battery to pop open the front boot. It’s a faff. 

[ricof]

1 hour ago, sa utah said:

How about one of the ctek permanent cables wired in and left just under the front bonnet? Past the weather seal so it’s easy to grab by the wiper tray?

they come with a waterproof cap so I can’t see an issue.  

This is a good shout. Any advise regarding ctek models?

[sa utah]

I’ve got a couple of the MXS 5 ones which I use all the time.    
 

it’s great also for reviving seriously depleted batteries as it has a reconditioning mode 

I have to say I’m a bit belt and braces as I have a spare battery for each car also which I can swap straight in if the battery does happen to be flat 

[Paul P]

4 hours ago, ricof said:

Hi Paul,

What is a handover reset, and where does one obtain it?

thanks!

Its a diagnostic procedure - requires a porsche PIWIS diags unit - good independent specialists and (obviously)  porsche dealers have them - there are a few members of this forum who have a PIWIS unit - there's a sticky thread at the top of the technical question section which has a link to map.

It basically "crawls" the car systems and sets up when it finds - god knows why it forgets - and I had the battery out of my 987 for a couple of hours and no issue (other than the PSM errro) - for some reason things like memory seats, headlights and interior commonly just simply go missing - not heard of issues related to spoiler and roof specifically - but anything is possible - as I said before, spoiler, roof, rear lights, brake lights, boot are all controlled by a single unit - so it's possible that it may have been forgotten by the car, but if a new battery doesnt fix all symptoms you need to get to someone with a piwis to figure out whats happening.

good luck 

[ricof]

By way of an update I put a new Bosch battery in and it started first time. Bit of initial weirdness but seemed to settle down.

I couldn't take it for a drive to clear the PSM fault etc but one thing still remains. The windows have dropped as they would if you raise/lower the roof and I can't for the life of me work out of to reset them. I've tried holding the button down for 10 secs then raising it at holding it again. Any bright ideas?

[Davey P]

The user manual says this:

Storing end position of the windows
If the battery is disconnected and reconnected,
the windows will not be raised automatically when
the door is closed.
1. Close the windows with the rocker switch once.
2. Press front half of rocker switch again to store
the end position of the windows in the control
unit. 

I hope that helps anyway mate.

[Menoporsche]

^^ He read the manual.  Stone him ^^

[Davey P]

9 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

^^ He read the manual.  Stone him ^^

Ha ha, yeah sorry mate, I know it's not something I should have admitted on a public forum - What was I thinking?  

[Paul P]

Have the roof and spoiler sorted themselves out ?  

i *think* the window reset only affects the one touch closing / opening when I had my battery disconnected that needed resetting but the windows closed if I pressed the buttons  

if the windows are down like the roof is about to open then make sure the roof latch is properly closed and perhaps poke the little plate where the hook sits to make sure the switch isn’t stuck.  
 

if they are down a “little” bit then the car thinks the door is open or the inside or outside handles are pulled.  Unlikely to affect both at once for sure so worth a poke and a wd40 squirt on the latch switch in my opinion. 

[EVO Chris]

11 minutes ago, Paul P said:

Have the roof and spoiler sorted themselves out ?  

i *think* the window reset only affects the one touch closing / opening when I had my battery disconnected that needed resetting but the windows closed if I pressed the buttons  

if the windows are down like the roof is about to open then make sure the roof latch is properly closed and perhaps poke the little plate where the hook sits to make sure the switch isn’t stuck.  
 

if they are down a “little” bit then the car thinks the door is open or the inside or outside handles are pulled.  Unlikely to affect both at once for sure so worth a poke and a wd40 squirt on the latch switch in my opinion. 

I see your in Rochester Kent, I am in Wigmore Gillingham Kent, will have to have a catch up in the summer and we have the same car.....sorry to go off track...

[Paul P]

8 minutes ago, EVO Chris said:

I see your in Rochester Kent, I am in Wigmore Gillingham Kent, will have to have a catch up in the summer and we have the same car.....sorry to go off track...

Sounds like a plan ( and I have 2 pug 107's as well - or rather wife and daughter have )

[ricof]

52 minutes ago, Paul P said:

Have the roof and spoiler sorted themselves out ?  

i *think* the window reset only affects the one touch closing / opening when I had my battery disconnected that needed resetting but the windows closed if I pressed the buttons  

if the windows are down like the roof is about to open then make sure the roof latch is properly closed and perhaps poke the little plate where the hook sits to make sure the switch isn’t stuck.  
 

if they are down a “little” bit then the car thinks the door is open or the inside or outside handles are pulled.  Unlikely to affect both at once for sure so worth a poke and a wd40 squirt on the latch switch in my opinion. 

The roof and the spoiler have sorted themselves out yes.

I am inclined to agree with you regarding the window reset.

The windows are indeed down as if the roof is about to open and in actual fact, they did return to their normal position, then partially drop, then return and it repeated a couple of times. The roof latch is closed but maybe the little plate needs a jiggle. Is it obvious what part needs jiggling?

[Paul P]

5 hours ago, ricof said:

The roof and the spoiler have sorted themselves out yes.

I am inclined to agree with you regarding the window reset.

The windows are indeed down as if the roof is about to open and in actual fact, they did return to their normal position, then partially drop, then return and it repeated a couple of times. The roof latch is closed but maybe the little plate needs a jiggle. Is it obvious what part needs jiggling?

Should be easy to see if you can contort yourself to look up into the part that’s fixed to the top of the windscreen.  There’s a “knob” on the top side of the roof “hook.”   That pushes up into the windscreen latch.  That bit it pushes on is actually the microswitch the tells the car roof latched. 
 

 

[ricof]

I managed to get round to investigating this today. Gave the micro switch a good squirt of wd40 and did my best to try and get it in the mechanism. Activated it with my finger multiple times but the windows didn’t move at all. Is it due for replacement?

[Paul P]

if you can get it to someone with the porsche diags then you can check if it's the switch - I am always cautious of throwing parts at a problem without a conclusive diagnostic but i guess that's a good a start as any.