Alarm and Locking Problems

Good evening All, I have just bought a 1998 Carrera 2, its done around 64,000 and so far I am loving it. That is not to say that it is without its problems. I have a good list of jobs that need to be done, including a load of things that will need the engine out - something that i won't be taking on. However, i'd like to tackle some of the other things myself. I am a reasonable with a spanner, but most of my time has been spend on 1960's cars, though the most recent was a 1982 Sunbeam Lotus. As you can imagine, the 996 is a bit more advanced. One of the things that is frustrating is an alarm system / central locking that isn't working properly. It seems to have had a TOAD system (Ai606 judging by the fob and the card that's in the owners folder). There are two problems that are obvious. The 1st is that whilst it always locks on fob, it only rarely unlocks again on the fob. So i have to disable the alarm using the fob, and then put the key in to stop the alarm going off (If i am too slow, the alarm is preceded by a number of short warning hoots). Sometimes, as i am getting in, or driving off shortly after having unlocked it in this manner i get a single short hoot on the horn - which as it is normally outside a friends house, or in a carpark makes me feel a bit of a t*t. There is a silver control box under the passenger seat with bullet connectors so i assume that it is indeed a foreign alarm. The Porsche Key Led comes on when it's pressed, but it has no effect on the car at all Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this please? Cheers Tim

I has a similar problem with my Boxster. Everytime i closed the door it gave a hoot. I found out that something in the car is not "shut". By this, i mean it could even be one of the door flaps is up. I phoned porsche and they also confirmed this and gave me a list of things to check. Then was told if the car beeps twice, it's an electrical fault. I booked it in anyway and it was sorted out. I never really asked at the time what the problem was, as i had much more on my mind....wish i had. My friend also has the same problemon his 996, its annoying. My 911 has not has this problem yet, thank god. I would love to know what other people have to say on this.

Thanks for that DCE, Having looked around on the forum, i'd seen that there was quite a bit of chat about things not being closed properly - but i was getting the impression that the single hoot came straight away as you tried to lock it - is that right? Mine does it after its unlocked, sometimes even whilst driving at the start of a run. Cheers Tim

Correct; if something is not shut properly (doors, boot, bonnet, glovebox, between-seats cubby storage etc.) then the horn will beep once when you lock the car off the keyfob. Sounds like your problem is something else; to be honest I'd take it in to an auto-electrician and get it looked at (probably a fairly simple fix, something to do with the aftermarket alarm).

I hope you didn't pay much for it if it needs that much work. What are the jobs reqireing the removal of the engine? TB

I had a problem when I locked the car with the remote control,the horn sounded once,the indicators flashed but the car did not lock.Pressed the remote control again straight away and the car locked normally.This happened every time I tried to lock the car. I checked that everything was shut to no avail.This went on for about three months so I decided to put up with it and to sort it out when the car was next serviced. After washing the car the doors were open so I sprayed some WD 40 into the door mechanism on the edge of the door and the alarm works perfectly ever since,that was about a month ago. The passenger door is hardly ever used and I think that the lack of use caused the alarm problem and needed a bit of lubricant.

Thanks for the input guys. I think it might be an electrictian job, but always like to have a go at these myself - could be something silly like a bad connection or that problem with the radio microswitch as it has an aftermarket radio, but it sounds like the problem isn't quite matching up as its fine when its locked. As for the jobs, i'll let you know when its been compression diagnosed, but fingers crossed are for a broken oil / air separator. Other things are really the standard - RMS, cam cover gaskets, header tank. None of which are causing a huge problem, but if its going to have the seperator done i may as well bite the bullet. One of the more annoying things is that someone jacked it up - using the air conditioning pipes (not far behind the front wheels) as a jacking point. :x Cheers Tim