An alarm(ing) question (possible to upgrade)?

My alarm set's itself if the car is left unlocked with the door closed, even if I'm sitting in it (provided I don't move much for a while). And then if I open the door or move, furious beeping ensues :-( I learned this was normal for Targa's and Cabrios, and after asking a Porsche dealer and specialist if anything could be done, I figured I'd have to live with it. But then I spent some time driving a newer 996 Targa, and the alarm had no such bad habits, so apparently Porsche made some improvements. And I'm thinking it should be possible to make the same improvements to any 996. Two ways come to mind: (1) replace the alarm hardware, particularly the unit under the seat, or (2) reprogram the alarm (or the entire car?) to think it's a later model. Anyone have any idea if either would work, or if I have missed any options? Thanks!

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Before you spend any money suggest you re-read the owner's manual.

Aren't all 996s the same from 1997 to 2005? Because if there were differences I'm sure that OP would have mentioned what year he has so that someone might be able to help.

There were some changes to the alarm module for 2001 (changes the sequence of operations to wake-up the remotes). I don't know if there were more after or not but I wouldn't be surprised.

ANY PORSCHE DEALER or some one with a piwis or pst2 tester can go into the alarm comfort settings and change the settings to various options all of which I cannot recall with out referring to workshop manual. examples are 1) the alarm will relock the doors after 30 seconds or longer depending on what number stored in alarm settings 2) doors will lock as soon as car drives over five mph 3) alarm doors will not relock at any time unless remote used or key used in external door lock and car doors are shut as not ajar 4) car doors will lock as soon as key is inserted into ignition on the fact you are saying your car doors lock with you sitting in it is strange ? unless you unlock the door with remote and enter car but do not turn ignition just sit in the car then maybe if you have a faulty door switch ??? then the car has not realised the door has opened and closed and re self armed itself. which is the norm because if you accidentally press the remote in your pocket and have no intention of getting in the car then the car alarm is programmed to relock the doors after a set time (30 secs) in an any case as previous posters mention read the user manual if you have one!

Mine locks up if I do not open the drivers door after 30 seconds. I thought it was the norm for all 996 cars. I do not like the options 2 or 4. What happens in the event of an accident where someone needs to drag anyone from a blazing car? Worse a car under water. You can't break a car window when it's under water.

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Done, before I posted. And before I asked the Porsche dealer and my local specialist for help. The only way I can imagine that there might be a solution in the manual is if I have a manual from a later model year. So if you know of some solution in the manual, it would be hugely appreciated if you could share it!

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Actually, sorry if there's any confusion, but I did not say anything like this. I said the alarm sets itself. Not the locks. The alarm includes a motion sensor, so once it sets itself, either motion in the car or opening the doors triggers lots of noise.

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Both my local dealer and my local specialist thought this might be a matter of changing the settings, but both looked into it and told me no, it isn't, and they can't change how the alarm works. As I think I said a bit more concisely in my original post. Anyway, if you (or anyone) have any info from a workshop manual or elsewhere about how to solve this, please let me know!

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I assume you mean aren't all alarms the same? All I know for sure is that a 2005 model year car which I've spent a lot of time driving doesn't do this, whereas my 2002 model year car does.

rs10, I can't really help you but the first step in getting help was to let us know what year your car is as there have been some changes to the alarm system over the years. So if I read this correctly you have a 2002 Targa. Is that correct? I do believe that the Targas and Cabs are the same (and a little different from the coupes--having to do with the possibility having the top open). They are programmable by the dealer with the PIWIS or the PST2 and possibly by the Durametrics. CBR786 gave a good overview of some of the functions. My first 996 was programmed to lock the doors once speed exceed some number (I think it was 5 or 10 MPH) and when I unlocked the car it stayed unlocked. My current 996 is programmed to never automatically lock the doors but if I lock it, it stays locked until I unlock it and if I unlock it but do not enter within 30 seconds, it re-locks. This includes the frunk. If I open it the locks remain off until I close it, but once I close it if I don't open the door within 30 seconds the car re-locks. I did read all of the options somewhere once but I don't remember where. I know the cabs and targas have additional settings to allow for leaving the top open but in all cases once the alarm sets the interior detectors activate but there is a way to tell it that the car is locked but occupied (turns off the IR sensors), a double-tap. It sounds like yours is programmed to automatically lock after so many seconds if off and unoccupied. That could be annoying or very handy depending on how forgetful you are. I don't remember seeing a setting like that. EDIT, out of curiosity does it do this even if the key is still in the ignition? Off-the-wall but maybe a malfunction in the ignition switch.

Yes, 2002 Targa. And yes, it will set itself when the car is unlocked if the key is in the ignition, and if the key is not in the ignition. It will not set itself if a door is open. (I'm not sure what it will do it a door is open and the key is in the ignition.) I had not thought about the ignition. Perhaps this has something to do with this, but given that the alarm sets itself when the key is not in the ignition, I'm guessing there this would not be a complete solution.

Well we do know that it sees all of the interlocks as closed or the horn would beep. It seems it sees the door switch just fine as well. I can't believe that even a totally **** designer would have an alarm set with the key still in the ignition except for an emergency situation (like the panic buttons on some remotes). I'm thinking that the alarm is somehow not seeing that the key was ever put in the ignition. Although, how it would allow you to start it and drive it is beyond me. The ignition switch in the 996 is a bizarre contraption that seems capable of all sorts of strange behaviors. Look at how often someone thinks they need to replace the tumblers when it is the switch or how it will hold onto a key and not release it. This is totally off-the-wall and I have no scenario to present that adequately explains it but I cannot believe that Porsche would design an alarm that would lock itself automatically with your key still in the ignition. The switch may not be the whole solution but it may be worth a try. It certainly seems it could at least be a contributor to your problems.

Before you contemplate spending time and money with my half-baked idea, I have another question. When you shut the car off and leave the key in the ignition does the car ding if you open the driver's door? If it does then it knows the key is in the ignition. That would make the switch less likely, although I suppose, still possible. My next guess would then be the immobilizer itself as I do not believe that the car can be programmed for the sequence you describe and even if it could I don't believe anyone would think it was a good idea. I'd carry a spare key on me all the time just in case I got out and accidentally closed the door with the key in the ignition.

Thanks Tharbin, Not sure what the car does if I shut the car off and open the door when the key is in the ignition. I'll have a look Thursday or Friday. To clarify one thing, the doors do not, to my knowledge, lock by itself when the car is not moving. I'm not even sure they lock when it's moving. The problem is that the alarm sets itself, not that the doors lock themselves.

rs10, in that case, I have just wasted your time. I did not even know you could set the alarm without locking the doors. Neither my 99 or my 01 did this. I'm not sure why you would set an alarm on an unlocked car. After reading the other currently active alarm thread I humbly withdraw my suggestions. I hope you can find a solution.

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I probably do. I didn't find a clear indication in the owners manual, but there is a code on the spine and on one of the first pages that ends on "04", and there is also 05.03 on one of the first pages, suggesting it was written or printed in May '03. Mine is, again, a 2002. For those of you with '02 or '03 model year cars, particularly cabrios or targas, is there some magic trick mentioned in the manual (clicking the key twice, or something like that), or some way to change the settings mentioned in the manual? Any help with this would be hugely appreciated!

rs10, don't know if this will help but I happened to be looking at my workshop manual pdfs for something unrelated and I decided to see if they said anything about the alarm. There isn't much but there is a mention that the alarm system for Belgium has passive arming 30 seconds after removing the key from the ignition that does not lock the doors. I don't know what country you are in but I would imagine that there is probably a country specification when an immobilizer is set up. Maybe you are set to Belgium? This is sketchy, I only have the "free" pdf downloads so not really complete but maybe it will give your dealer an idea of where to look. The description given in section 96 62 01 (page 140 in my copy of section 8-9) sounds very similar, at least to me, to what you describe. There are some differences with England as well but I'm not sure I fully understand what I read.

The pdf is protected so it would not be okay for my to post the page here so I typed the text of one paragraph here: This is part of the text on the remote system shutting down after 120 hours but the alarm activating through "passive arming" after 30 seconds without locking the doors seems to be the same core functionality. I know the other thread is more active but I don't want to cross post. I would look into country settings if this does seem like like the same type of system response.

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Tharbin, thanks, I really appreciate your going out of your way to post all this!