Gogsck Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 My friends Boxster 981 S's battery went flat. Now the hood (roof) won't open. it starts to open then closes again. It has been in the OPC twice now. First time charged £195 and fault not diagnosed. Second time £600.00 but OPC says it requires a further £750 to fix!!!! but we are doubtful that they have any idea what is wrong. Astounding that a flat battery can cause £1545 to fix!!! 😰 Anyone got any suggestions what could be causing this or had a similar experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iborguk Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 Welcome. Internet based diagnosis and crystal ball say "microswitch". What state is your battery in now ? Has it been fully charged or diagnosed as shot ? Please elaborate on what you mean by the roof starts to open and then closes again. Assume no fault codes returned from the first OPC visit ? Re the 2nd visit what did they do for the £600 and what were they proposing to do for the £750 ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iborguk Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 (edited) If your mate is willing to share their location/location-ish it might help re suggestions of people with diags/"go to" garages. Edited May 23, 2022 by iborguk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menoporsche Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 14 minutes ago, Gogsck said: First time charged £195 and fault not diagnosed. Second time £600.00 but OPC says it requires a further £750 to fix!!!! WTAF? At 600 quid it should be accurately diagnosed, if not fixed. Either there is some miscommunication here or someone needs a stiff letter to higher up. Microswitch errors on 981 are yet rare, I'm wondering if it is something with the goosed battery and the price is a (Porsche tax) new battery. But 600 to diagnose?! More info, or better diagnosis, needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogsck Posted May 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 The battery has been replaced and now fully charged. I will try and get more info if there is an error code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon61 Posted May 23, 2022 Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 The first time I used mine this year, after quite a long period unused, I tried to open the roof with the remote key - it unlatched and opened perhaps 10cm then stopped. I couldn't get it to open any further but I could close it again (with the key). The same thing happened a second time, but then on the third it opened normally and has been fine ever since. I didn't get as far as trying to open it with the normal interior switch, so don't know if the same would have happened from there. (Sometimes I wonder if the signal from the key - particularly when keeping the button pressed to put the windows/roof down - can get interrupted by something nearby, or affected by a slightly weak bettery in the key, though the way it stopped in exactly the same position made me think it probably wasn't that.) Also, I don't have a code reader so don't know if the glitch generated any error codes. Anyway, I didn't worry too much about it as I put it down to a sticky microswitch inthe mechanism (though lack of use) - I think there are various ones that detect when the roof has successfully got to certain positions. The battery had not been flat in this case though - it's always on a trickle charger when it's in the garage. But the flat battery could be a red herring in your case too, particularly if the car has been unused for a while (which a flat battery suggests is likely), so I'd also suspect a microswitch in the first instance. I think the OPC has been worse than useless and I'd be pushing back on paying what they've already asked for, let alone any more, unless it sounds like they know what needs doing and there's a good reason it should cost so much. But I'd have a go at fixing it yourself first: I'd say it's always worth being aware of the manual procedure for operating the roof in case the mechanism fails - so that if you get somewhere away from a lockable garage with the roof stuck down you can get it back up again. There's something in the manual about it, or various videos online (eg the one linked below) that tell you how to do it. In this case, as it sounds as if it unlatches properly, I think I'd have a go at disconnecting the mechanism behind the seats (using the manual or following the video) and moving the roof manually a few times to see if that fixes it by freeing up the microswitches. The video also talks about the microswitches in the latch mechanism (which the manual doesn't talk about) so may give you some other ideas what to look at. And if you get it fixed, I'd suggest sending the OPC a suitable bill for your time 😀 Good luck. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogsck Posted May 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2022 Wow that's a great video. I will show that to my friend. certainly looks like that could be the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moospeed Posted May 24, 2022 Report Share Posted May 24, 2022 That is a good video, I learnt something new today 😁 I'm not sure how I feel about seeing how these things work "under the covers"... having spent years in Lotuses you tend to get familiar with how most things operate, however there's all this "magic" going on in the Porsche which also has an appeal. I don't feel like putting the hood up or down when parked because after a decade of doing that outside the car with an allen key on the Elises it feels almost compulsory to put it down whilst driving now. Now I've seen that video it's like when I see magic tricks on the telly and no longer enthralled or amazed because for the most part I can deduce how it's done. It's good to have the knowledge available but now I need to un-see it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon61 Posted May 24, 2022 Report Share Posted May 24, 2022 42 minutes ago, moospeed said: It's good to have the knowledge available but now I need to un-see it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted May 24, 2022 Report Share Posted May 24, 2022 Good video,don't pull your carpet off without removing those speaker grills off or you might damage the clips. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guvs Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Very good video, I didn't realise it was so simple to do. Guvs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gogsck Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Finally fixed £1400 later! Not sure what fixed it but a pricey flat battery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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