987.1 Boxster failure convertible top ctrl

Hello everyone, I own a 987.1 (2006) Boxster for a few years now. As stated from the title, this regards to the failure convertible top control. A little backstory, two years ago I experience a heavy rain storm and my vehicle sat outside for most of it. I couldn't leave it inside a garage because it was full of junk my parents horded. I'm sure you know where is this going--the control module got soak in water. I try drying the module to the best of my ability. It "worked", but stuff wasn't working right. When I tried opening the top, the convertible would be half open in the air and the clam shell would would open as well. Also, the airbag light would come on. I end up manually closing the top and shell. I end up buying a brand new control module and had the dealer program it, thinking that would fix the problems I experienced. Part# 997-618-260-08 The airbag light went away, but my top and shell won't open for some reason. Every time I would start my car, I would hear a cranking or grinding noise coming from the back. I just want to hear your thoughts before I start troubleshooting it on my own.

I have bought 2 "flooded" Boxsters, a 2006 base and a 2011 BS. Both had the water issues from drains or whatever with the control box ruined. I had a 2006 Cayman and the control box is for the rear half of the car. Not just Boxsters. I had cleaned the Cayman controller motherboard with alcohol and it did work a few days in the 2006. I got a used one for about $400. It was plug and play, no programming needed. I think that claim is a dealer scam. The same issue with the 2011. Got a new used one for that one about the same price. There are some semi sealed cavities in the Boxster bodies that can fill with water. The 2006 I had the carpets out and seats and when I was starting to put the carpet back I noticed a pool of water at the bulkhead and a seepage from a rubber plug in the bulkhead. I removed it and discovered the reservoir of water. Crawling underneath I found more rubber plugs and removed them for a bit to drain that cavity. No further issues with either car after I fixed the bent top links and l replaced the "gutters" in the 2006. One looked like a leather jacket twisted by the top gear arm. There wasn't any gutter in the passenger side. I don't know if the po had tried to repair it and then just made the insurance claim or what but it was not a difficult fix as I have machinist skills in addition to my mechanical skills. The most expensive fix on the 2011 was the amplifier under the passenger seat. $936 discounted online!

Neither the 2006 or the 2011 had any airbag lights on from the "flood" or water damage.

Let's see if I understand this - whenever you turn the key to the run position, there are cranking and grinding noises coming from the back? Are the top and top-panel disconnected from the gearbox? If not - I would do that first. I'd then open the top to the service position, and observe what's going on with the gearboxes on either side of the car that move the lid and top around. Do they move with ignition on? Do they stop moving? If you key-on, key-off, key-on - do the gearboxes move again? This is a case where a Porsche specific diagnostics tool capable of reading the control module would be quite useful. You need to know what the module thinks the gearboxes are doing... If it's not the gearboxes making the noise -- then a bit of detective work on your part might turn up some clues as to what else might be making the noise. BTW - the dealer turned the car back to you with this going on? Did the top ever work after the flood?

It sounds like a wire or two is shorted out, torn loose and grounded. Here's a short story of what you might expect to find. When the control box gets water inside it, all the limit switches that stop when the top gearbox on the driver's side reached the park position are thrown out of the circuit. The circuit is shorted and continuous voltage goes to the motor. It keeps on grinding past the stop position which breaks the plastic ball joints. If you put STEEL joints in thinking you are fixing something, you have certainly moved the problem from a $20 part replacement to a $3-400 + part replacement. In the case of my 2006 it just kept on winding the gear arm around and around snagging the rubber rain gutter and twisting it to an unrecognizable mess. It also broke one of the speedometer type cables that runs the gearboxes, one toward each side of the car. I fabricated one from an old speedo cable I had. When all this wringing of the rain gutter was going on, somehow the driver's side abs wire to the rear axle housing was snagged and the wires in that strand were all ripped apart. After I soldered the wires back together, the ABS light went off and all was well. You should leave the ball joints off the gearboxes until you have determined the motor is driving both sides to the correct stopping point. It takes some measuring and eyeballing. I think the limit switch is only on the drivers side gear box. If the large, steel, flat arms are bent, they can be straightened out to the correct profile by press. The aluminum castings can also be corrected if you have the skills. Otherwise they are about $150-200 each.

I have a 2006 Boxster that exhibited the same problem after the rear control module was replaced. I eventually determined that the module had not been properly programmed by the dealer and every time I started the car / turned the key on, the top would tighten slightly. I purchased the PIWIS 2 and it took some experimentation, but I was eventually able to solve the problem. It's been several months since I did that work and need to break out the PIWIS again to try and retrace my steps to solving the problem, but it was all configuration within PIWIS .