Remote locks on my 996 won't work if the car has been sitting for awhile.....

bxtech · 07-23-2012, 06:12 PM

Hello all,

I have a 2001 996. The key remote for the door locks and front trunk works just fine. However, if the car sits for about a week, the remote will NOT operate at all (not even for the front trunk) until I lock/unlock the door manually with the key. Then the remote works fine again. If I wait a couple of days, it will still work. This problem only happens when the car sits for about 1 week or more.

Has anyone had this experience? I am thinking that this is not a part of the design of the system. Or is it?? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

JRoser · 07-24-2012, 12:44 AM

Yes, I had this experience with my 1998 boxster. I upgraded my battery and that did not have any effect. I purchased and had a new key set to the ignition and that did not have any effect. But when I replaced the ignition switch everything worked fine. I replaced the ignition switch by myself who likes to tinker and had no problems. The only difficulty I had was getting my big fat fingers in the little porsche spaces, but was able to accomplish it with minimal scrapes.

DaveBerry · DaveBerry's Garage

Same thing happened to my 996 last month when I went on vacation for a week. When I came back I tried to unlock with the remote. Did not work. So I opened the door with the key. No problems after that.

I have a new battery and alternator as well.

white99c2 · 07-24-2012, 03:30 PM

The system is designed to shut down the remote after X days. Unlock with a key and start the car, hit the door lock button on the dash and bingo the system is back on. It's a feature designed to save battery power when the car sits.

bxtech · 07-24-2012, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by white99c2

The system is designed to shut down the remote after X days. Unlock with a key and start the car, hit the door lock button on the dash and bingo the system is back on. It's a feature designed to save battery power when the car sits.

Thanks for the info! I did not know this, but it makes perfect sense. I'm glad that there's nothing wrong with my system. Thanks for your help!

Thanks also to everyone for their replies. At least we now know that this is normal!