Cab got soaked

After a day if heavy rain I go out to my 2001 996 Cab and find all the windows down and the hood and trunk unlatched. I think the top would have been down also if the battery had not lost charged. It was also making a clicking relay sound below drivers pass seat area. I believe there is a computer in there. Can someone tell me how to get to it ? I disconnected the battery. I used a sponge and got as much water out as possible. Then I charged the battery connected it up. Used the key fob to stop the horn from blaring. Raised all windows and got the car started. I then drove it home and notice the door lock rocker switch was illuminated. I pressed the switch and the light stayed illuminated.

Sorry for two posts could not edit first one for some reason. Anyway i got the car in the garage put the too down and was getting a sponge when the car decided on its own to start putting the top back up and raising the windows. I assume i still have wet electrical contacts and such but i would to know how to get to the computer under the rear drivers side seat if indeed that is where it is

You need to go on the attack now, before things really begin to corrode. Remove all the dampness you can with your shop vac and terry cloth towels. Use a small household dehumidifier to purge the remaining moisture or alternatively open the doors with a fan blowing through it with the doors open. Use electrical contact spray on things you think have been affected. The lock switch comes out, which makes that a bit easier to deal with. Keep us posted - good luck!

You should also remove the control unit under the drivers seat. To do this you will have to remove the drivers seat, 4 bolts, and dry the unit out, make sure it does not corrode. If this happens you will need to replace the control unit and have it programmed which can get very expensive. You will never get the water out from the well under the seat where this unit sits without removing the seat.

Right side seat.

Doors look dry inside. I opened them up at the bottom and no water. The carpet at the bottom of the doors got wet as well as inside the pockets but that was it. Fuse box on inside kick plate area is bone dry Whatever is found under drivers seat appears bone dry. Unless it dried from my drying the floor behind the drivers seat. The ECU is bone dry as well as the square module on drivers side mounted to fire wall. Not sure if they are breakers or part of cab control. There is one yellow pullout Compnent on this relay panel and it appeared loose. It looked like it may be a fuze. I am still at a loss as to what was making the relay clicking sound near it under the rear seat. And of course I am clueless what caused the windows to go down and both hoods to come unlatched. It certainly does not give me a warm feeling for leaving it out in the next rain storm. I really think if the battery had not died that the top would have opened also. Pulled up the front carpets and was wet underneath and have dryers going on both sides.

I see no module under passenger seat. On drivers side there is a module that appears to be bolted to the seat and appears to slide with the seat. I assume it is for the electric seat adjustments. Are you guys saying that there is another unit buried even lower below the seat?

I need to get a Torx E12 tomorrow so I can get the seat out.

In a cab the security control unit is under the drivers seat and the ECU is mounted in the back under the top compartment . In a coupe I think the ECU is under the passenger seat, though I could be wrong.

I got a wet dry shop vac at ACE and a torx E12 set at Advanced. I read last year on a forum that the drain in these cabs do not have enough drain capacity to handle very heavy downpours. Is that true? Now back to work.

The drivers seat controls are dead. Pass side works fine. Both fuses are good. How do I move the seat with no power control to get to the back two bolts?

I pulled the fuses for the seat controls and reseated them. I jiggled the plugs under the drivers seat and now the seat controls work again. I have two bolts in the rear out but still have two front to go as I had to get to work so could not complete the job. I did pull the speaker and than removed this plastic dust/splash panel and was able to see the reservoir. It was full of plastic shards from a broken CD cover I had finding pieces of as I pulled things apart in the back seat. It sure looked to be plugging up a lot of the drain hole. The other side was clean and only had a coil laying in the bottom of it which I feel was not an issue since the drain is out the side of the reservoir and the coin was below the side drain hole. I of course removed the coin anyway.

might try these packs. Things might get smelly. Amazon.com: Dry Packs 1GrCotton-20pk Silica Gel Desiccants Packets: Home & Kitchen Amazon.com: Dry Packs 1GrCotton-20pk Silica Gel Desiccants Packets: Home & Kitchen

Seat is out of the way. I can look right at the computer. It is bone dry and even has dust on top of it. It has a dam around it and water would have to up and over it and I see no evidence of this I felt as best I could around it and felt no moisture. Do to think dampness could have caused issues?

BTW I did use some of those packets as well as a bucket of damprid from Lowes.

Quotes source post: 10442965

Just an FYI, coupe has the ecu in the same location under the rear top cover. What the OP describing with the behavior of windows going on randomly is a sign of a short either in the alarm brain box or some connectors that's gotten wet under the carpet that is connected to the alarm. The clicking he's hearing are the onboard relays going off and malfunctioning due to the short caused by moisture. I would disconnect the alarm and actually open up the alarm box just to make sure. It's very easy to take off the cover(6-7 clips). Also when you disconnect the connectors, you will immediately be able to tell if the connectors are wet or corroded. I recently went through a similar situation, good luck.

Insurance would cover it with no penalty. Have a shop remove carpet, etc.

alpine003, Can I get the cover off the alarm box while it is still mounted in the car? I see two push in plastic tabs on the side pointing toward the steering wheel and a circular piece of white tap that needs to be cut to get the lid to separate. I assume similar push tabs on the other sides.(maybe not on the plug feed through side). tarzancoe, I got his in the rear valentines day morning, it was not a claim on my cars insurance and was completely paid for by the other party but from past experience insurance companies keep tabs on your car even if it was the other persons fault. Plus they might say it is "Flood Damaged". I think maybe the Valentines day accident jostled some of the broken pieces of plastic cd case around which than caused the overflow of water during the rain storm. Sort of the "war was lost for want of a horse shoe nail" or however that story goes.

If my pic gets uploaded correctly the red arrows point to where I think the push tabs are on the one side and the green arrow points at the white tamper sticker.

Try to get ahold of user marky522; he is a porsche tech who says that boxster and cab owners come in in droves with problems like this after heavy rains. Apparently there is a linkage in the soft top somewhere, like a ball cup or something, that wears out and pokes a hole where it shouldn't, allowing water intrusion and ultimately problems with the alarm and other systems.

I tried posting a pic of the alarm computer standing on edge and some water that dripped out of it but apparently I have already exceeded my quota of uploads by 31 kbs Anyway I was attempting to get the cover off the computer so I could view water or damage by water. I did not expect to find any since it looked so dry on and around the computer. I was working on getting the last clip loose when out came the complete computer. Not sure what I did but it was than easy to tip it on end and that is when i saw the water drips come out. I now have it sitting on edge to help get any additional water out. I still did not succeed in getting the cover completely off. It looks like one of the wire bundle connectors is keeping it on. knfeparty, Thanks for the info on the linkage wear.

The cover is off and plenty of evidence of corrosion. On the Black relays is a dirty white line that more then likely indicates the level that water got to in the alarm computer. It even is at an angle which probably corresponds to the angle the car was parked in the parking lot. I found corrosion on both sides of the board. On the top populated side there were two areas where there was excessive corrosion. I got out my Radio Shack tuner cleaner and my CRC contact cleaner, cue tips, small artist paint brush with bristles cut short, some paper towels and my large lighted magnifying glass and went at it. I found that the Radio Shack cleaner worked much better then the CRC which surprised me. It all cleaned up nicely and I would post before and after pics but assume I still can add pics because of the quota. I am now letting it dry. It may or may not work. It was mostly working before I removed it but I have no idea how much additional corroding took place before I actually got the board out of the car. Also there could be issues inside the enclosed relays. I need to check how much one of these boards cost. I looked on Ebay but no one was selling any Board called an "alarm" board. I found a Alarm Module on Ebay: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ceo8o94 Unfortunately it Includes ignition switch, keys, the Alarm Module M535, and Engine computer. The prices are not outrages at around $600.00 but what concerns me is I don't want to have to swap out my keys and so on. I just had a second electronic key made up about 4 months ago. My Alarm Computer M535 has part number 996.618.262.01 the one on ebay that I have included the link to ends in .03 not .01 and I am not sure if they are compatible or not. The ECU that is included in these packages - do I have to use it to keep the electronic parts compatible or can I stick with my present ECU? I guess the main question is - Can I just use the Alarm Module M535 that is included in these package deals and not use the rest? Hopefully I don't need a replacement M535 Alarm Module but I still don't know until I hook mine up again. I just checked dcAutomotive.com and they sell the M535 separately and the one displayed is the same number as mine. Apparently I have to ship them my unit and a key and they program the new unit for me. Cost is $750.00 So I guess I have answered some of my own questions.

I like your tenacity. GL with a fix.

Best is to put the dry Alarm module back and try things again. See what works. You may be worrying unnecessarily right now. IF thing's are still wrong you can get a Porsche Garage who have the correct testers to check the alarm module out. Only Porsche dealers have the PS2 tester which is needed for a correct diagnosing. I was having trouble with my alarm module (which had slipped back into new car delivery mode). For less than $100 they tested it and rectified all the problems I was having by returning the module into the correct mode for the car. I am telling you this so you don't go and splash out on a new or used module if not really needed. Porsche will tell you if the module is repairable or not. Then is the time to splash out. It would be wise I think to spend that small amount with Porsche. If one is needed, you don't HAVE to buy from Porsche or even let them proceed with the job. At least you will know for certain what is needed for you to complete the job. GL with your DIY ing.

Barn996, Thanks for the words of encouragement. Hurdigurdiman, Good idea on my local dealership running the diagnostiics.

I second the posts from Barn & Hurdi. Hang tough & GL!

As hurdi said, I would try drying out the alarm completely and make sure your floor and carpet and any connectors below them are COMPLETELY dry. Also check the onboard fuse on the alarm and also all the fuses in the fuse box. If you're unlucky and the above doesn't work, you'll have to buy the exact alarm part # but headaches won't end there. Each alarm is coded to the original ecu so a dealer will need to program the new alarm brain to your ecu. But then obviously, your keys won't work with the new alarm and will need to be recoded as well. Forget about getting a ecu, alarm, key combo from another car as that will still have the original car's vin assigned to it so you might have issues during emissions test or when you're trying to sell it. Unfortunately you'll probably have to have the dealer do it or an Indy that knows how to do this sort of thing that has a pst2 device. There is an alarm ecu specialist that does these repairs too(IIRC in FL) but those services run around $800 IIRC.

After cleaning the circuit board I reinstalled it in the "Well". I took the car on some test runs and even had a nice 914 or 916 following me. I kinda thought that was a good sign. I drove it to work today. I have not tested the lock mechanism but seats move, windows work, door lock switch lite is no illuminated. Car started this morning after having battery hooked up all night so at least if the board is causing any residual battery drain it is a slow draw. Also the top did not decide to go up and down on its own. OF course locking up the car will be a big test which I avoided since of all things the Jeep Commander Oil light came on last night as I was dropping off the better half while sharing cars. So I decided to take the chance and drive the 996 until I have a chance to narrow down why the jeeps oil light came on. It has happened with other jeeps we have owned so I am pretty sure it is just the sending unit acting up since oil level was fine. I hear no low oil internal engine sounds and light went out as soon as I cycled the ignition.

Consider yourself lucky and congrats on getting the car working again.

That's good news. Always lock your 996 via the fob even unattended in your own garage. Believe it or not but that action takes less out of your battery then it would if the car was left unlocked. You should get two flashes on the front lights after one click with the key fob on locking the car and no beep from the horn to say all is OK. A beep from the horn says something is open. You need a fully charged battery at all times for things to work correctly on these cars especially the cabriolet.

That's good news for you. Your work paid off.