Problem with P.C.C.M. Plus and On Board Computer

Hello I've just put a post on the 996 Technical Articles Forum page asking for help/feedback with a particular problem I'm experiencing with my recently fitted PCCM Plus unit. Having read PP I see that Richard Hamilton is our recommended contact for technical issues. Richard if you pick up on this thread could you please give me the benefit of your experience. Obviously I'd be delighted to hear from any 996 or 986 owners who could add to the conversation. Many thanks Phil

Not an answer I'm afraid but might be worth posting in the Boxster forum as well?

Hi Nick thanks for the suggestion. I've forwarded it to Tracey but yes that's a great idea. I'll copy it onto the Boxster forum. I'll have to figure out how to do that. Cheers Phil

Hello please could I ask if any fellow 996 or 986 owners are experiencing the same issue with their recently fitted PCCM Plus unit. Namely the On Board Computer keeping re setting it's self. Mine does this after approximately every 70 elapsed miles. The trip odometer, average MPG and the average speed are effected in this way. The outside temperature and the remaining fuel range functions are working perfectly. Porsche have failed to diagnose the problem. To make matters worse they are also saying that there isn't an issue. They are also saying that there isn't a link between the On Board Computer and the PCCM unit. I can provide much more information if required. However at this point I just need some reassurance that I'm not alone out there and that this is a real issue. To date I can only find one other owner world wide with the same issue (North America Rennlist forum) Thank you in anticipation Phil

Hi Nick managed to copy and paste the post to the Boxster Forum as well. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Thanks Phil

I moved this to the main forum, as it should get more hits. The TA section may not be accessible to non-PCGB members. As for the question, I have to say I have very little experience of PCCM. The OBC is (hard wire) connected to the instrument cluster, and I don't know if the PCCM communicates with the cluster, but I suspect that if it does then it is via the comfort CAN bus. I can't see any reason why the PCCM would reset the OBC functions though. Other than a Ctrl-Alt-Del (disconnecting the battery for a couple of minutes) I don't know what else to suggest. (Note: When disconnecting the battery, turn the ignition on, then off, but leave the key in the ignition. This stops the siren sounding when you disconnect the battery.)

I've been considering a PCCM plus, but haven't committed yet. The trip computer randomly resetting itself seems to be a common issue, & apparently Porsche have a firmware update to resolve it. Some reference to it here: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=144822&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40 hth

Hi Philip. There are a few people discussing their problems on the two following links, Also check yours is running the latest software. Good luck Andy http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=1595906 https://rennlist.com/foru...tionality-problem.html

Hello All thank you very much for your replies and information. My local Porsche Centre is supposed to be contacting me to inform me when any update or solution comes their way. Obviously they haven't done this. Reading about other owners experiences, both in the UK and the USA, it seems Porsche are at best dragging their heels when dealing with customers problems. I shall be speaking to to them on Monday morning. Thanks again.

Hi the response to date has been really good. However I'd still like to hear about other members experiences of the PCCM Plus and how it effects the operation of their On Board Computer. Many thanks Phil

Hi The PCCM communicates on the facelift 986/996's via the CAN bus between the instrument cluster and the heating and PCM. So if you have a facelift vehicle it will utilise the CAN bus and communicate with the cluster (it sends the route info etc to be displayed - and takes the shut down/start up instruction from the cluster, lighting etc). If you have an earlier model then the communication it has with the cluster is to take a feed for the lighting (switch illumination) and it also has a connection to the speed signal (volume control). The power on/off is done in the old fashioned way via terminal 15. So both pre and post facelift vehicles do have a connection to the cluster. However whether or not the PCCM is impacting on your cluster is very difficult to both prove and explain to be honest. I have a PCCM (fitted to a pre facelift vehicle) but it does not seem to suffer this issue - although I do have problems with the sat nav constantly rebooting randomly which i have to sort under warranty. There seem to be a few software type glitches associated to this unit as per other forums - and my own experience. It might also be worth checking out the cluster though. It could be a problem within it. The trip can be reset via the control knob/switch on it - so a dodgy micro-switch might cause this - if this hasn't been checked out it might be worth it. The cluster connectors are also not the best at seating properly - a badly made connector on the back can cause all sorts of issues if it isn't latched home properly. good luck

I had the PCCM installed in November and had been experiencing random resets until a couple of weeks ago and have since covered 350 miles without issue. Porsche are aware there is a problem, my car is booked in on Wednesday for a software update which should fix it. Other than that the PCCM is excellent.

Had mine fitted in November in a 2003 996 4s last year and had random resets ever since. Last reset was when the car was sitting in the car park, engine off but radio on. Did 400miles no problem then another reset. Does not happen on rough roads so I assume not a loose connection. Anyway, my friendly Porsche garage (Edinburgh) is coming to collect the car tomorrow to investigate!!!! Should have the results by Friday.

Hello everyone. Thanks again for the excellent advice. Andy I take it that you have your car booked into Swindon OPC on Wednesday. Can you please let me know how you get on .Porsche Centre Swindon seem to be on the ball with this particular issue. Namely the onboard computer randomly re setting it's self. I rang the centre myself on Saturday. However they close early. I'm expecting a call back from them on Monday morning. At this stage I'm going to ask them for the reference number relating to the Filmwear Update. Then I can pass this onto Porsche Centre Sheffield and get my car booked in. Thanks again everyone.

Once I get the reference number I will post it on the forum for everyone's benefit

Just another fault I have come across, not sure if anyone else has this issue or uses the SD card for media playback? The SD card for mp3 playback just seems a very broken. when I skip a few songs it will jump seemingly randomly to another folder and get stuck repeating the same song as well it will often crash and return to the first song it always plays when first initiated. The shuffle feature seems very badly coded since you realise the second time you use it that it plays the exact same "random" songs in the exact same order every time you select it making it useless. I've experimented using. a 32GB card a 16GB card and the 8GB that came with the PCCM and that doesn't affect the issue still present every time, I've tried with a fully loaded card and a card with just 2GB of music and again this issue is still present for me. Has anyone else had this issue? I am preparing to get in touch with Porsche customer support but just want to check if my unit seems defective or this is another software issue.

Hello I'm afraid to say my experience with Porsche head office wasn't a positive one. All they did was tell me what they couldn't do and the fact that they don't have a system to log problems or any way of checking if other owners are having the same issue.

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If you look at the 911UK post on this they gave him a fix, it may be worth calling you near OPC and saying that you know a fix for this issue has been released can you get it applied since you are affected by this bug. http://www.911uk.com/view...090fcfef743b522eb82abd

Hello Andy Could I ask you if you had your car fixed successfully at Porsche Centre Swindon last Wednesday. I'm expecting Porsche Centre Sheffield to contact me on Monday the 26th to tell me what they can do for my car. Thanks Regards Phil

Hi Phil The update has been done, only completed fifty miles since and no resets so far, fingers crossed.

Hello Andy Thanks so much for the confirmation that you've had the update done. Here's hoping it proves to be the solution to the issue. I also hope other members will be able to get their cars booked in once the knowledge of the fix becomes more widely known. Would you kindly post updates as you do more miles please. Thanks Regards Phil.

I have been reading the thread with interest. I have a 2004 996 (with Bose) and I have been thinking about updating to the PCCM Plus. Are there any other ‘features’ that I should be aware of please other than the on board computer reset issue, which is hopefully fixed with the software upgrade? Would you still recommend upgrading to PCCM Plus having lived with it for a little while please? Many thanks, Tim

Hi Phil Only managed fifty miles since software update, once i have covered a few more I’ll update you fingers crossed it’s sorted. Hi Tim Yes i would recommend the PCCM, reset problem aside its better than a similar system in my Q5 all the best.

Hi Tim yes I too would recommend the unit to any member wanting 21st century connectivity in their car. The unit also looks right in the car as if it always came from the factory. I would however recommend having it installed at a Porsche dealer. Mainly due to the various niggles owners are experiencing.

An Issue I have encountered but have yet to find another user to confirm as it seems no one is using MP3's these day is music playback on the SD card slot cannot deal with any song's with an apostrophe in the title ('). Which in my experience was at least one song in every album I had on it. Whenever you would start playing a song with an apostrophe in the title the unit would get stuck on that song, attempting to skip forwards of backwards would result in the same song just being replayed and with a lot of songs like this the unit would sometimes crash randomly resetting to the first song it would play when you insert the card and while browsing would jump around as you go forward and backwards to seemingly random songs. A work around is as I have used a batch renaming program to remove all apostrophe's from all my songs which seems to have fixed the issue but it's kind of a dirty workaround and not something you would expect from a £1400 system. When I contacted Porsche they wanted £234 for labor to investigate the issue with no guarantee of success and no doubt would tell me what I know. That it's a software bug Pretty disappointing really that getting any support so far on this unit from Porsche has been like pulling teeth.

I confess to being another "shall I, shan't I upgrade to PCCM Plus" driver. Driving home in the dark last night reminded me how much I prefer all my internal lighting on the lowest possible setting on the rheostat which made me wonder how effectively the PCCM dims down on request or whether it lights the cabin like a floodlight especially in satnav mode. So I thought I'd ask here and a quick search brought up this string of problems which is worrying unless everything is now happy ever after? Why might I want PCCM Plus? Well, I find that there's no perfect place for my samsung android to sit and especially when I'm using WAZE to find my way around. Ability to link my phone hands-free would occasionally be useful but I would also like to listen to my choice of music or podcast and not just have to accept radio station selections.

As much as I've had issues getting hold of this update, I do love my PCCM+, It's the best solution for our cars and I've tried fitting aftermarket solutions, the CDR23 and PCM2(with a Dension gateway). Also if you buy a new one you will already have the latest firmware so the bugs will have been fixed on yours that I am trying to get hold of via update software. The automatic dimming does work well but you can also set up a manual screen brightness for when you cars lights are on or off if it doesn't dim enough for your needs but for me even on auto it isn't distracting at night. On an early 996 I would say the PCCM is nice but doesn't offer much over an aftermarket solution for the price other than looking Porsche OEM and being plug and play. But on a later car such as my 2004 996 that is where is works out to be a very good value package. Not only do you get the factory look but you are already set up for with MOST fibre optic, so no having to mess around with converter boxes which for a decent ones like mobridge costs around £500 if you were looking aftermarket radios but also you get instrument cluster information which no aftermarket solution offers. You can see you track information and your turn by turn navigation with distance to next turn and direction on your screen just below the rev counter. For your phone you can then use android auto, I have the media box in my glove compartment so my phone goes in there and then can access maps, podcast and music etc of it from the head unit. I know some others are using Cplay2air but believe there is an android equivalent that you can plug in the media box and have wireless CarPlay so you don't even have to take your phone out to access everything.

Thanks for this. My facelift 2002 Cab might well like it. Perhaps it's time for a chat with my indie who is both indie and young enough to know all about "modern" in car entertainment[:-] I'm guessing that "the media box" is part of the package.

Thank you for the post, which is really helpful. I have a 2004 996 with Bose and the onboard computer and I have been thinking on the PCCM+ option. Could you expand a bit more on the benefits you get with a later generation 996 please? I think you said that you get the directions in the instrument cluster as well as on the Satan’s screen? Could you also expand a bit more please on (I have an iPhone in case that is relevant) the benefits of the MOST fibre optic comment? Is your understanding that the Cplay2air would plug into the media box that they install in your glovebox and that provides a Bluetooth connection to your phone please? Many thanks for any guidance/insight. Tim

See picture attached of what the screen looks like with the PCCM+ showing navigation and information of what I'm listening to. Late 996's like my 2004 C4S and your 2004 don't have simple copper wires for audio signals to the amplifier like all 911's before and most other cars but rather a fibre optic loop. Essentially meaning you can't just buy an aftermarket radio and fit it. Instead you need to buy a converter box to sit in-between you stereo and amp so you can put copper in and get fibre optic out. The cheapest of these boxes are around £120 but are pretty terrible sound quality wise and only offer 2 channels while the ones you need to get a decent signal out cost around £500 a lot of people rip out their entire audio system for new rather than deal with this if they go aftermarket. The PCCM+ already supports optical audio for our cars and is plug and play so compared to aftermarket there is no messing around with buy additional boxes. Yes, the media box has two USB inputs. One for USB sticks marked USB and the other for using CarPlay/Android auto when your phone is plugged in, if you instead plug in a Cplay2air box into this second USB input then you can connect to it on your phone via bluetooth for the benefit of wireless CarPlay, personally I prefer to use the TomTom maps for the unit and bluetooth phone connectivity for calls and music so don't know much more about CarPlay I'm afraid.

Those images don't seem to have uploaded so see my video here showing the navigation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMY10sKXO0 (don't worry about the bug, it has since been fixed) and you can see the media box in my post here on 911UK http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?p=1554094 3rd post down.

I installed my PCCM + myself, its not easy with the MOST system cars, mine is a 2004 anniversary, installed it myself last autumn, contacted my local OPC (they are mentioned in this thread) they couldn't help with the install issues (aerial amplifier issues) so I did some investigation and sorted it myself, then lo and behold the OPC called me up and asked if i had fixed it, yes I said, can you help our tech's please they have the same issue and can't fix it, so I sent them pics and instructions, never heard back from them, which I thought was a bit off , but hey ho, moral I don't disagree with using your local OPC least you have come back and its not easy on the MOST fibre optic cars, and I am pretty competent at diy car work, BUT don't think they have been trained in how to install it, plus I understand (last Autumn) there is no tech bulletin for the MOST cars, I asked for one when I was having problems. However, as has been said it is an AWESOME system, and I love it way better than the one in my latest BMW and my friends Merc, definitely a brilliant upgrade and highly recommended. Oh and no computer reset issues here.

Hello All. Just want to report that I had the software update installed on my car last Tuesday at the Porsche Centre Sheffield. My thanks go out to Mike and his team for looking after the car. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to complete much mileage in the coming months. However I will update the post in the medium term. Thanks should go out to fellow members for posting their thoughts and highlighting their experiences. Thanks Phil

I'm still awaiting my update, been chasing it up for close to 3 months now. Wish Porsche would just have an online page for PCCM+ users to download the latest update to put on and SD card and load rather than the current system of finding out updates exist through forums and then having to repeatedly chase up OPC's to get hold of it.

After 3 months of chasing I finally got the update installed yesterday at Edinburgh. Main problem was the branch personnel would not contact Porsche GB as I kept telling them. They seem to think they knew better, even had the car for 10days and claimed they had fixed it themselves. I eventually had to get a meeting with the Synter after sales area manager who was not happy with the after sales treatment. It also helped that I kept a diary of every phone call and visit since June when this all started. I cannot understand why Porsche GB has not traced every unit sold in the last 2 years and just done a simple recall. The actual fix takes about 30 minutes and once a branch has done one the rest is simple. Could save a load of irritation and bad publicity Only done 50 miles so not celebrating yet.

Evening folks, sorry to resurrect this, but on a slight tangent, am I alone with not having the 2 rotary knobs on my unit light up with the car lights (other buttons on the unit light up amber fine).

All normal, no lights for the rotary knobs on the PCCM+.

Thank you. I couldn’t remember whether they were lit on later (2015+) PCM’s. That’s one less thing on my list to have a headache over.

Sorry to bother you again, but I’ve removed the unit due to a problem with the media box lead/connection. Now the car alarm beeps at me every 10-12 seconds or so & the remote has stopped operating the central locking (although it sounds like the relay is trying to work if I attempt it whilst sat in the car). Then all I get is the double horn-beep suggesting a fault. I’ve looked behind the radio unit again to check no cables have been damaged/disconnected but can’t see anything. The beep is really annoying, plus not being able to lock the doors other than individually on the key is not satisfactory along with the constant beeping as we’re away in the car this weekend and will need to leave it unattended so I need to fix it today Please has anyone any ideas? *edited to add, I’ve realised I can’t actually lock the passenger door as obviously there’s no key hole/barrel!

Having a total nightmare here, I’ve made a video but not sure hot to upload it. Beeping is just constant (will be driving my neighbours nuts soon), when the engine is running it beeps 10/12 times quickly over & over. I’m not able to lock my car & the beeping only stops if the ignition is switched on or the battery is disconnected *another edit: also the windows drop when I open the doors, but they won’t operate with the electric window switches.

Check the fuses. I had a similar problem when the battery was changed. From memory, I think the alarm, central locking and windows may be on the same fuse.

It was just a fuse! A damned fuse!!