981…Waiting in anticipation – Running Report page 24

Stuart21UK – Posted June 15, 2019

andymac thanks for the info…well I have park assist errors and start/stop too

does anyone know the complexity of removing seat and carpets?

do the bolts for the seat fixing have captive nuts or if I undo them to nuts drop onto the under car plastic tray (and therefore do I have to remove the under tray to get the seats out?)

RPM said they would also have to remove the centre console to get the carpets out, I assume maybe the door kick strips maybe too?

I thought that maybe I might remove the seats and carpet and try to dry the area, whilst keeping the car dry (by buying a cover like Matt suggested).

Perhaps this would mean I’d undertaken half the work RPM would need to do and I’d minimise the cost, also using the 10 days beofre they can book it in to start the drying process and mean the car is with them for a shorter period?

It looks like I’m without the car for the best part of 2-4 weeks whatever happens..

Ian @ RPM suggested I go back to the OPC to reinvigorate the roof issue (drivers window touching roof seam again), he said that the moment they touch the roof it’s possible that if I did go back to Porsche they would claim that the RPM involvement effectively cancels their responsibility for the other issue with the roof, also that the roof issue could have contributed to the leak (I’m not convinced it is and I think Porsche would claim some other reason which means it was fully chargeable).

Oh what to do!

…anyway I checked on the under carpet area and whilst there was a little wetness (and it has rained here lightly today) I think it possible this was just the remainder of the water settling to the low point…in any case it wasnt 2″ deep like it was on Friday!

Stuart21UK – Posted June 17, 2019

Monday 17th June 2019

car is booked in to RPM for investigation and unblocking of drain holes (if necessary still) for next Tuesday as a preliminary

I’d pulled the passenger seat belt out to its full extent and left it wrapped around the passenger seat so it could dry, this seems to have worked over the weekend

The area under the seat hasn’t refilled with water and although the carpet is still damp, its not got any worse (probably helped by the lack of rain)

The car was used for a very short journey by the missus this evening (as I had her car for a client visit) and it started and ran fine, the Start/Stop error was not present but the park assist did throw an error (now its working at rear but not front, previously it didnt work on either end)

We have a hire car to pick up tomorrow (yey a Corsa!) for a week or so (£142) and also have booked an eGolf for a week afterwards from the EV centre in CMK for £85 (for the week!). The wife couldn’t be persuaded to take an i3 🙁

Clivescoobydo – Posted June 18, 2019

Hi sorry to hear your predicament if it was me as the cars booked in anyway what have you got to lose by tackling it yourself. First stop water getting in the car either cover or clear the drain holes. As the previous 981 owner said its the bottom hole indicated by your blue mark, rod that through with the hood in a halfway position. Should be no need to put the hood in the full maintenance mode to access the engine bay. Then try to take the passenger seat out (at least you can still drive it). Should be mounted to the floor with captive nuts of some kind I cant believe on a car of this year its bolted straight through. Disconnect all electrics beforehand once out you have access to the ECU, remove dry and assess for water damage. Then remove all carpets to dry. The main thing is to make sure the drains are clear so you’ve solved the root cause. I doubt whether the console needs to come out unless the water has transitioned up the carpet? Check. If this fails you have it booked in anyway and you may have lessened the bill in the meantime……Difficult as it sounds like its your daily runner – good luck.

Boxob – Posted June 18, 2019

On a 986 (but surely it can’t have changed on a 981) the seats are each held in by 4 bolts (on a 986 torx headed). Move the seat forward to expose and remove the two rear bolts (visible in one of your photos) then rearward to reveal the bolts holding the front of the seat. There is a clip-on plastic cover over the front of the seat runner obscuring the front bolts. All the bolt fit captive nuts.

Once the seat is free then an electrical plug must be disconnected to remove it from the car. That should reveal the electrics under the seat (ACU?RCU?) which need to be dried.

Removing the carpets would be idea but a lot of water can be removed with the carpet in place. It is possible to lift the carpet at the joint with the firewall and slide newspapers, towels etc under it. Then stand on the carpet to squeeze out the water from the foam. Repeat several times!

As an aside, after several versions of the Boxster, I find it astonishing that Porsche haven’t solved the issue of blocking drain holes, flooding cabins and they still put vulnerable electrics under the seat!

Hope you get this sorted quickly without too much expense.

Stuart21UK – Posted June 22, 2019

Posted June 22, 2019
On 6/18/2019 at 5:26 PM, Clivescoobydo said:
Hi sorry to hear your predicament if it was me as the cars booked in anyway what have you got to lose by tackling it yourself. First stop water getting in the car either cover or clear the drain holes. As the previous 981 owner said its the bottom hole indicated by your blue mark, rod that through with the hood in a halfway position. Should be no need to put the hood in the full maintenance mode to access the engine bay. Then try to take the passenger seat out (at least you can still drive it). Should be mounted to the floor with captive nuts of some kind I cant believe on a car of this year its bolted straight through. Disconnect all electrics beforehand once out you have access to the ECU, remove dry and assess for water damage. Then remove all carpets to dry. The main thing is to make sure the drains are clear so you’ve solved the root cause. I doubt whether the console needs to come out unless the water has transitioned up the carpet? Check. If this fails you have it booked in anyway and you may have lessened the bill in the meantime……Difficult as it sounds like its your daily runner – good luck.

thanks for the advice…have taken that view without the full removal procedure, see below

On 6/18/2019 at 7:41 PM, Boxob said:
On a 986 (but surely it can’t have changed on a 981) the seats are each held in by 4 bolts (on a 986 torx headed). Move the seat forward to expose and remove the two rear bolts (visible in one of your photos) then rearward to reveal the bolts holding the front of the seat. There is a clip-on plastic cover over the front of the seat runner obscuring the front bolts. All the bolt fit captive nuts.

Once the seat is free then an electrical plug must be disconnected to remove it from the car. That should reveal the electrics under the seat (ACU?RCU?) which need to be dried.

Removing the carpets would be idea but a lot of water can be removed with the carpet in place. It is possible to lift the carpet at the joint with the firewall and slide newspapers, towels etc under it. Then stand on the carpet to squeeze out the water from the foam. Repeat several times!

As an aside, after several versions of the Boxster, I find it astonishing that Porsche haven’t solved the issue of blocking drain holes, flooding cabins and they still put vulnerable electrics under the seat!

Hope you get this sorted quickly without too much expense.

thanks Boxob, suspect it will be a classic Porsche ‘they all do that sir’ – which is ridiculous…kind of an admission to a fail in the design process despite having 20 years to re-engineer and resolve it!

Stuart21UK – Posted June 22, 2019

updates…

Saturday 15th June 2019

So Ive been keeping an eye on the dampness, trying to see if water is still coming into the car as a result of the continues wet weather.

I think I can safely say its not getting worse except the odd bit of dampness settling in the ECU area (its raised on a platform and wet was only minor in the pan on which the raised bit sits, not the ECU itself). I’ve used a bit of kitchen roll to soak up the minor dampness that was there.

I’ve also figured that I should do something about the damp seat belt. It’s damp as you unravel it. So I pulled it out to its full extent and wrapped it around the seat and gear stick to make sure it stays fully extended, and can dry naturally.

Picture below, this dried in about 24 hours as a result of this action 🙂

Stuart21UK – Posted June 22, 2019

Wednesday 19th June 2019

So the weather has been drier and a little warmer (still only about 18c) BUT this gives me the opportunity to try to dry the car out a little more.

The car is booked into RPM to have drain holes checked/cleared and decide on any additional actions needed but if I can dry the car out before next Tuesday then it will save time (and money!) with that process….

So I connected up a fan heater and left the car closed and getting nice and toasty for the best part of the afternoon. I mainly work from home and sit at a desk looking out at the car so I could also keep an eye on it whilst this was happening too.

Stuart21UK – Posted June 22, 2019

Friday 21st June 2019

continued drying with the fan heater….you can see at the rear of the seat rails there is no longer any pooled water in the carpet (which is a slight low point) which is a very good sign.

Also feeling the area under the seat where the ECU is, there is little dampness now too.

I’d noticed there was also wet under the passenger floor mat (only slight dampness I think caused by capillary action) so that was pulled out so the carpet underneath could dry too.

I also hired this puppy for use whilst the 981 is out of action!

a 19 plate Vauxhall Corsa –

0-60 is nippy enough, anything over 60 mph feels like you are driving on the edge and the steering is plain odd…

….at low speeds its ok, at higher speeds it seem overly sensitive/slightly wooly and I’m constantly over-correcting.

it has one of those manual handbrake things of yesteryear too!

Hertz via Costco car hire (at £130 for 8 days!) although the online link between the two companies cocked up again so there was a face off in the Hertz office, with me refusing to pay an additional £22 PER DAY so that two of us could drive it (i.e. £176 more so that I could drive it as well as the wife ?!).

We’d had to complete the hire over the phone (when the online link failed) and the Hertz central booking line left off the additional driver that you get free via Costco. This only came to light when we went to pick up the car. They eventually waived the additional charge.

Next week we have an eGolf on hire from the EV Centre in CMK at £85 for a whole week!

Andy Mac – Posted June 22, 2019

Looks like great progress – this weather has to help 👌🏽

Tempted to try something EV from CMK after the above mention ⚡️.

Stuart21UK – Posted June 23, 2019

driven today and all good, seems relatively dry (worried about the very hidden places mind) and no start/stop errors, the heated steering wheel error (I dont have one) hasn’t reoccurred…

the only ongoing issues are the park assist from and rear is sporadic (and throw error messages) and a weird horn sound coming from the instrument binnacle when you switch on sometimes

almost 🙂

Stuart21UK – Posted June 23, 2019

the ashtray flap in the centre console has decided to open but not latch close…..

I posted a new thread with a request for pointers how to remove the assemble as I can’t find anything on Google…

https://stuart-brown.photography/doorcardrattle

Stuart21UK – Posted June 26, 2019

I have some pictures to upload after my visit to RPM today but in the interim an update…..

They tested the drain holes and the passenger one was still blocked partially so the blew through the rear ones with an airline

(they said they are only in the rear and the ones in the front aren’t tubes like the back ones ?!)

After doing so they tested that the water flowed through and it was apparently fine

I asked if there was a catch pan of sorts in the bottom and they said it just drains into the cill area, then out of the car through gaps in the under tray (sounds like a stupid idea, why not have a hole straight through from the top through the plastic under tray?)

Anyway the car is relatively dry inside now, the carpet is still not completely dry but not really wet as such to the touch, they said that there shouldn’t be an issue with wet affecting the shell so the plan is to dry it out by leaving the car roof down in the very good hot weather I think we will get in the next week or so and see what happens.

Certainly the only error I currently have is a park assist (rear/front both temperamental), no more stop/start errors and all the other electrics are fine. They cleared about 40 errors on the system too…

So for the sum of £145.80 I am so far a happy punter…. (initial estimate was circa £2300)

I’ll wait and see what happens and if the park assist doesn’t sort itself out when the car is properly dry then I’ll likely have it in to them to take out the seat, check for other dampness (which I don’t think they’ll find) and replace the ECU responsible for that if possible….. 🙂

@Richard Hamilton do you know what set up is with ECU’s on a 981? is there one? one with additional/different boards (dependant on options) or several?

guest1 – Posted June 26, 2019

Fingers crossed for you 🤞 between this and the ashtray, you are not having the best of time at the moment. I am convinced it will all come good.

Rowbos – Posted June 26, 2019

Sounds like you are getting there Stuart. Hopefully the end of the niggles is nigh 👍

Menoporsche – Posted June 26, 2019

Glad it is sorted for now. My fear would be gradual corrosion in the circuit boards. Wonder if there is a way to stop or slow that.

Patt – Posted June 26, 2019

just spotted this – MAN you are not having much luck !

Glad to hear you are almost back in the clear.

Happy Days – Posted June 26, 2019

I really wish there was definitive video guide to checking the drain holes on these cars. I had a 986 for 11 years but it was garaged for 7 of those until we moved house. My 718 is 2 1/2 years old and at the last service I asked if the drain holes had been cleared. The SA said they had been checked but not cleared. I don’t think that checking is part of the normal service schedule.

I’d love to be able to check by pouring a litre of water in and seeing if a litre comes out, but where to put the catch pan?

Richard Hamilton – Posted June 26, 2019

On 6/26/2019 at 12:37 AM, Stuart21UK said:
@Richard Hamilton do you know what set up is with ECU’s on a 981? is there one? one with additional/different boards (dependant on options) or several?

Not sure exactly what you mean Stuart. There are about 35 individual control units dotted around the car, dependent on spec, each with its own coding setup.

T24RES – Posted June 26, 2019

On 6/26/2019 at 6:56 PM, Richard Hamilton said:
Not sure exactly what you mean Stuart. There are about 35 individual control units dotted around the car, dependent on spec, each with its own coding setup.

May be referring to the pdc controller

Stuart21UK – Posted June 26, 2019

On 6/26/2019 at 6:56 PM, Richard Hamilton said:
Not sure exactly what you mean Stuart. There are about 35 individual control units dotted around the car, dependent on spec, each with its own coding setup.

Well anything that is under the passenger seat really…I’m not worried about the controllers in the boot for instance as it didnt get wet, just under the passenger seat and whatever is there…

Do you have any diagrams (parts or servicing/maintenance ) of the under seat area that would indicate what’s fixed underneath?

Richard Hamilton – Posted June 27, 2019

Unfortunately, I’m not aware of a single drawing showing the locations of all the control units on one page. The 987 had the Rear control module under the passenger seat, but I’m not sure about the 981. I’ll see what I can find tomorrow if I get a few minutes.

Richard Hamilton – Posted June 28, 2019

The Rear Body Control Module and Park Distance Control modules are definitely under the passenger seat (RHD) but I haven’t found anything else under there (yet). The passenger seat control module is under there too, but I would have thought it is in the seat itself.

Patt – Posted June 28, 2019

Roof module is under there too – as the Smartop needs to be spliced into the wiring on a 981

Stuart21UK – Posted June 29, 2019

Ok, well today I used it and (fingers crossed) there were…

NO auto start/stop errors

NO park assist errors

also the heated steering wheel, that I DON’T have, didnt throw up any errors

and…it drove like a dream, roof down in the sun today for 35 odd glorious PSE enhanced miles 🙂

Kevin G – Posted June 29, 2019

Welcome back Stuart to the land of the living Boxster😀