Cayman won't start/crank after suspension swap!

Been a member for a while, but first post. Great site! I just swapped out my original Cayman S non- PASM suspension this week (94,000 miles - about time) for a Bilstein PSS9 coil-over setup. Aside from the usual headaches, things didn't go too bad, and the car came back together OK. Except... - When I try to start the car, the warning chime starts off normal, then gets VERY LOUD. - A "Warning brake distribution" message appears in red. - A "PSM failure" message appears. - An "ABS failure" message appears. - A "Depress clutch pedal" message appears. - The coolant fan to the left (front) radiator comes on full blast. Living in Michigan, I've never heard it before! - The car does not try to engage the starter. I did a lot of research, including on this site, couldn't find any fix that worked. Here's some background on things I've investigated. - I read that the "non-crank" issue, and some of these faults, can be from an old or run-down battery. There was certainly enough time for the battery to drain during the project, and I had noticed my remote having less range than normal, which I've read is a sign of a deteriorating battery. I bought a new battery and charged it - no difference. I unhooked it, let it set a half hour, and tried it again. No difference. - I did key it up once when the ABS and brake wear sensors were all unhooked, and that is the first time it did all this. Maybe that blew its mind and it can't recover? Hooking all the sensors back up hasn't helped. - One of the ABS/Brake-Wear sensor connectors did get caught between the brake caliper and the support while I partially tightened it up. But it shows no signs of damage. All of them went back together OK. They've all been double-checked. - It could be that the clutch pedal sensor really is bad, but it would be quite a coincidence (I am ordering one anyway). I've read that the low-battery condition can also falsely trigger a "Depress clutch pedal" warning. But the new battery should have fixed that. - I've read that changing the ride height can trigger warnings, because the steering angle sensor will need to be recalibrated. But since I don't have PASM, I don't believe there are any height sensors, and can't see how height would be detected. - I've read about the "immobilizer," which seems a bit mysterious, and I'm not sure how to get past it if that's an issue. So I've run out of ideas. It doesn't seem like any of the sensors that were unhooked, even if they weren't hooked back up right, should cause a "no-crank" situation. The fact that it even runs the fan means it is very confused. I am too. Thanks for your help!

Hmmm....my first guess would have been battery myself but obviously not if you replaced the battery. Just to be sure though, I'd hook up a multimeter to make sure even the new battery is healthy. (above 12.6V I believe) I've gotten "new" batteries in the past only to find out they never charged it or it was sitting on their shelf too long. Good luck!! Let us know how it goes! -Moto

First make sure the new battery is fully charged.Then check all the abs sensors make sure they are all snapped in . also look to see if you broke a wire on one of them . Did everything work OK before you swapped out the suspension? good luck. carl

Thanks Moto. I did charge up the battery (used a Battery Tender overnight until fully charged), and it didn't change things. I'll check the voltage though. I know what you mean about "new" batteries... Thanks Carl. Yeah, everything was perfect before I tore into it, and the connections still feel like before. None of the wires have obvious breaks, but of course there could be an internal break (hope it's something else).

I just went out to check the battery voltage. It was 12.55 volts when disconnected, and 12.45 volts when connected to the car. So not quite 12.6 volts unloaded (which appears to be a good target), but close. Hmmmm...

It sounds like something wasn't reconnected but not knowing what all was disconnected, hard for me to say. Battery appears to be fine, some other circuit is keeping starter from engaging, so again likely something not connected or not connected correctly.

Maybe check fuse panel to see if a fuse didn't blow at some point during the installation

Have you read out fault codes? The messages you mention are all end result type things. Fault codes might tell you how they got there. Which sensor is unhappy perhaps.

Re: Cayman won't start/crank after suspension swap! - RESOLVED K-Man S and fais, thank you for your additional input. This morning I gave in and sought professional help (car-wise). I had the car taken on flatbed (on CPO, fortunately) to the Porsche dealership in Ann Arbor. It didn't take them too long to find the culprit once it was hooked up to their equipment. When I took out the interior panels, I had nicked a wire in the bundle next to the left rear strut tower. I don't even remember the bundle, and must have cut it with the edge of a trim panel. The wire I hit went to the ECU, prevented the car from starting, and produced about 15 error codes. The actual repair wasn't covered under the CPO since I caused the problem, but the labor they charged me was quite fair. And I still came out way ahead installing the coil-overs myself! As for the battery, the money wasn't wasted. The starter cranks MUCH faster than before. I also nicked my pride a little in not finding the problem myself, but unless I had seen the actual cut, it would have taken me forever to track it down without the diagnostics. So as much as I'm a DYI'er, there are times... Thanks again to everyone who read and commented.

Great story! Thanks for posting. It will help someone else someday.

Glad you got it resolved! Don't forget to post some pics. -Moto

Re: Cayman won't start/crank after suspension swap! - RESOLVED Just for reference, here is a photo of the wire bundle that I accidentally cut, outboard of the left rear strut tower: Thanks again.

These new fangled cars have too many darned wires, by crikey! -- imagine Walter Brennan saying it