996 Alarm/immobiliser

Hi. I have just purchased a 1999 996 Cabriolet (to join my 3.2 Coupe). The previous owner told me he had recently changed the battery in the key fob and it had stopped working. I understood that the door would lock and unlock with the key. It does but the alarm goes off as soon as I unlock the drivers door: it will stop when I put the key in the ignition and start the engine - which does start ok. So: please can anyone tell me how to stop the alarm going off when I unlock the door (it is rather embarrassing !). Also, is there a way I can 're-programme' the remote fob so that is locks and unlocks the door by a press of the button. Thanks. Dennis

I cannot help with the re-programming but to get into the car without setting the alarm off (which I have to do when I haven't used it for more than 5 days and the alarm sensor switches off to conserve power) then what works for me is as follows. I slowly turn the key clockwise in the door lock until I see the inside opposite door light comes on, I then hold at that position and the driver side window goes down. I reach in and put the key in the ignition and turn it until the dashboard lights up. This then de-activates the alarm and I can now turn the key fully in the lock to open the door - and no more disturbing the neighbours!

I have recently had a similar problem and PC Wolverhampton were brilliant ..they found that a fuse under the passenger seat was all that had failed...once changed everything was fine !! Good luck !

The fuse on the back of the alarm control unit (under the passenger seat) is for the central locking part of the alarm system, and when it fails you have no centre locking at all. I think Dennis' problem is that the key remotes have failed, an all too common problem. You can try Porsche's recommendation of inserting the fob battery the wrong way up (reverse polarity) for a couple of seconds to re-start the processor, and then put it back in the right way round. It seldom works though. By the way, the LED on the key should rapid-flash when you press the button. If it flashes slowly, or stays on, the remote is toast. Unfortunately, even working remotes cannot be re-programmed to the car, unless you have the code from the original bar code label that came with the key. The problem with the alarm going off as soon as you turn the key is common to all early 996s, and as far as I know there is no way round it. If Steve's method works for you, then you are lucky. I could never get round it with my 1998 996.

I have found on my 996 model year 2002 after the 5 day alarm saving mode starts, I put the key into the door lock, unlock then lock without opening the door, take the key out, this resets the remote, then open/close using the remote which means you do not have to open the door and resets the 5 day mode. This is useful in winter when the car has cover fitted. On the original post, make sure the battery fitted in the key is from a reputable source as recently had this problem on an Audi, a cheaper battery would not work the remote lock/unlock, replaced with a quality one and it was sorted.

Hello to everybody I can help I can learn used key fob for all 996 986 ,I need only PAS unit and key fob (old without code) ,or you can ship me your old key fob and I can read 24 character code from each remote control. Regards for more info contact me on [email removed] I'm from Slovakia Bratislava