Newbie. Just bought a 987, OBD not communicating. HELP

Hi, just bought a 2006 cayman S not so long ago. Always wanted one, found one on the cheaper side with high milage(75k). It has some ocassional track time and came with some mods which I didn't mind but unfortunately when I was trying to get my inspection done the mechanic said they can't communicate with the car. I also tried using my cheap OBD II reader I had from autozone, it recognizes the car and recognizes certain things but a lot of it says N/a or incomplete. Spoke to the previous owner and he said that he tunned it with softronic, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. Also took the obd plug out and inspected the wires back there but didnt see any signs modification. I'm baffled and have 30 days to figure out whats going on to get the car inspected. Thinking of getting the durametric cable to see if theres something I can do with that but don't know if I need the pro or enthusiaist kit. Any info would help or point me in a direction for things to look for. I knew I was gonna invest some money in the car, but didn't see that issue popping up so soon. Still happy with the car though. Thanks

The Softronics tune does not impact the OBD connector, in fact it uses the OBD connector to flash the ECU . Did previous owner give you the Durametric cable that came with the Softronics tune? I would check for blown fuse or a loose connection to ECU . ECU is in the back of the car behind rear carpeting.

Contact Softronic and give them the VIN number they can tell you if it has been flashed by them. It shouldn't affect anything if the car was flashed. But at least you will know plus they maybe able to help in some way to figure out what's going on or at least get you going in the right direction. Cman21

Thanks for the response. The previous owner said he gave the cable to the delership that sold me the car but guess they kept it. I emailed softronic but haven't gotten a response yet. I've been suggested that they might have my base tune which I might be able to use to flash my ECU . To do this I would need the durametric cable correct? Would the enthusiast kit work for this? I quickly went throuhh all the fuses last night but it's possible I may have missed a couple so I'll check again. Are there fuses in a different location aside from the ones in the panel by the clutch pedal? Should I also inspect the ECU itself in the back under the carpeting?

There are a few fuses in the back near ECU

Best way to check connectors is to separate them, apply silicone grease sparingly all around each pin with a Q tip, and then put it back together. You get a wipe and the Si grease will keep O2 away from the pin contact area. Fuses too, especially in older cars. You can get this grease at any auto parts store. e.g., Permatex Silicone Dielectric Grease.

Did you get that Cayman in Virginia Beach?

I would start with referencing an obd2 pinout to check for battery power between pin 4 chassis ground and pin 16 battery power. Otherwise you are probably going to be checking continuity between each pin and the ECU . Good luck.

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if the Durametric cable is going to help in this case because even if it can connect, it doesn't mean that it will for the mechanic. I mean, if you're planning on getting one anyway, by all means go for it but I would think twice before making such investment when you might be better off taking it to the dealer and having them figure it out. Also, just curious if this car has been sitting around lately without being driven. I just recently took my car to be emissions tested and they said that they couldn't get a read on it due to "unset readiness monitors". They told me to drive around a little more and come back after 8 days or so. I also have a Softronics flash also and never had an issue before. Just a thought. Good luck and let us know what it is! -Moto

I bought it in springfield virginia, how come? Could be talking about the same car.

I drive it everyday, all the test should be ready to be read. I haven't unplugged the battery either so they shouldn't have been erased. Thinking of bring it to a dealer or and infie porsche mechanic to see what they can do. Someone suggested the dealership can reprogram the ECU back to stock and that could help. Don't know how much that would cost though.

I looked at the ECU in the trunk and everything seemed normal, didn't see any fuses back there though. I'll check again, where are they exactly?

I'm not sure exactly how to check the power in the pins but It's a good idea to check if all those pins are working

The additional fuses in rear are on LHS

I looked at the wiring diagram finally. The OBD port is powered by fuse F2 which is located in driver's foot well (LHS). This fuse feeds switched 12 VDC to pin one of the OBD connector. Good luck Rob

Thanks rob, I checked all the fuses in the box by the clutch pedal and theyre all ok. When I get home later I'll have a look at the ones in the trunk. Still waiting on a response from softronic, if all else fails Might have to bring it in to have it looked at. I appreciate all the responses, never had any obd problems in any of my other cars so i don't know much about diagnosing and fixing them. Hopefully it's something minor.

I would suggest CALLING Softronic...

They just got back to me, I left them a voicemail earlier. He basically said that flashing the ecu with softronic wouldn't interfere with the obd diagnostics and should have no problem getting inspected. He also suggested having me bring it back to porsche or indie mechanic to have it flashed to the original factory tune. So guessing that's my only option at the moment. Figuring that's about an hour of labor at the delership? Assuming there's nothing physically wrong that's causing the obd to not communicate.

Since you didn't go into specifics about the mods that the car has. Just a heads up if the car has the Softronics Race Plenum with the GT3 throttle body the engine will not run properly/smoothly with the stock Porsche ECU / DME image.

these are all the mods the car has, dont think bringing the car back to a stock tune should have any begative sode effects but correct me if I'm wrong. LN Engineering Oil Pan Baffle LN Engineering Spin on filter adapter BBI Under-drive Pulley Rennline tie downs/stabilizer mounts Rennline Jack Plate RSS Sway Bars and Drop Links OZ ALLEGGERITA Wheels Nitto Motivo Tires Wheel Studs to replace lug bolts Performance Friction PF-06 Brake Pads Softronic Tune Flushed Power Steering Fluid with RedLine Power Steering fluid

Long shot, but curious how you solved this problem?

Not sure this solves any problems of OBD not communicating but there's a fuse in Row B fuse 1 that's for the Diagnostic socket/terminal. Porsche Cayman 987 (2006 - 2013) – Fuses Box Diagram and Amperages List 2006-2013 Porsche Cayman Fuses Box Diagram and Amperages List This fuse box information is ONLY for the following Porsche models and years: – 2005 to 2013 Porsche 987c Cayman and Cayman S – years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Fuse Box Location The fuse box in the... www.stuttcars.com