OBC Hack

[kbrandsma]

I purchased the 4th stalk in November and I am just now starting the hack. The previous owner had used an Indy in the Bellevue, WA area. I called them up and asked about using the PST2 tool to turn on the OBC. I was surprised that they had never heard of this. The asked me to come in and show them how it's done at no charge. The good folks at Squires Autowerks enabled my OBC. If you are looking for an Indy in the Seattle area check out Squires in Bellevue, WA.

[bmohr]

what is the 4th stalk and what hack are you talking about? Please explain in noobspeak so i can understand:) lol

bmohr

[gandrade1]

what is the 4th stalk and what hack are you talking about? Please explain in noobspeak so i can understand:) lol

bmohr

That would help me too!

Sorry for the ignorance...

Gus

[Loren]

The 4th stalk sits below the turn signal stalk (similar to the cruise control on the right side of the steering wheel).

The 4th stalk controls the display for the OBC (On Board Computer) which gives you outside air temp, mileage info, speed gong, etc.. See your Owners Manual for details of what OBC function are in your model year car.

This OBC hack (mod) process is a common add on for many owners. Step one is to have someone turn the OBC function on in your car (using a PST2 or PIWIS tester).

[kbrandsma]

There are lots of threads on this Board and others regarding this mod. Here are 2 good ones.

Yoseif's Home Page

D2 Performance

Edited April 9, 2008 by kbrandsma

[kbrandsma]

I finished adding the 4th stalk this evening. I ordered all parts from Sunset Porsche in Beaverton, Oregon. Jeff knew all the parts to include. Here are the part numbers and the price I paid.

1) 996-613-219-10 EWC 4 coulmn switch - $166.29

2) 999-650-513-40 Plug Socket (for wiring harness) - $2.86

3) 000-979-009 VW Wiring Set (5 of them) - $13.05

4) 993-552-573-01-01C Steering Wheel Switch Cover (additional opening for 4th stalk on Left hand side) - $6.06

Here are some photos of the wiring harness I made with #2 and #3 above.

When I went to add the wiring harness there was already a plug (#2 above) with one wire that went to the white harness #22. Since I already had the new harness made I decided to leave the one I found in place and remove the wire from the white harness (#22) and replaced it with my new #22.

Pointers I learned and would recommend.

A) Remove the Instrument Cluster 1st. This will make room for removing the drivers airbag

B ) Protect your dash when placing the cluster upside down on it. Leather gets scratched easily

C) Invest in a long T30 screw driver for removing air bag screws

D) The airbag screws where really tight and I used a pair of vice grips to gain additional leverage

E) After removing airbag turn steering wheel and front tires dead center before removing the steering wheel for reference on re-install

F) Sunset sent all 009 wires (#3) and they where very tight in the white plug behind cluster. Most posts listed on this forum and others suggest having 010 wires for the white plug and butt them into the 009s from the 4th stalk. Although it was very tight I managed to use all 009s and everything worked. If I had to do it over I would use the 2 different sizes 009 and 010

On a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10 I would rate this mod a 3.

Other sites for reference:

Yoseif's Home Page

D2 Performance

More Photos of 4th Stock and OBC Hack

The White plug is in the middle

Cluster placed on dash

4th Stock is placed on steering column and beginning re-assembly, you can see wiring harness coming out of dash

Edited April 10, 2008 by kbrandsma

[Tool Pants]

I don't follow this part.

"When I went to add the wiring harness there was already a plug (#2 above) with one wire that went to the white harness #22. Since I already had the new harness made I decided to leave the one I found in place and remove the wire from the white harness (#22) and replaced it with my new #22."

Other than you are supposed to put a wire in slot #22 of the white connector.

[kbrandsma]

I don't follow this part.

"When I went to add the wiring harness there was already a plug (#2 above) with one wire that went to the white harness #22. Since I already had the new harness made I decided to leave the one I found in place and remove the wire from the white harness (#22) and replaced it with my new #22."

Other than you are supposed to put a wire in slot #22 of the white connector.

I thought that might be hard to understand. This was strange. Let me see if I can try again.

When I went to add my new harness with the five yellow VW wires, there was already a factory installed harness with only 1 wire in place. The the clip portion of the harness was not attached to anything (because there was no 4th stock to attach it to) and the one wire went to the white harness and was installed in slot #22. I knew it was factory installed because it was wrapped in the original factory black tape with all other wires . I probably should of snapped a photo. Go Figure!

[Tool Pants]

Now I get it.

I have done a 100 OBC retrofits over the years on 1997-2003 and never saw anything like that. Should have taken a picture.

But perhaps a prior owner attempted to do the retrofit and gave up, and could not figure out how to get the pins out of the connectors.

As for the factory black tape, it is a cloth tape. Years ago Peter Smith showed me a roll a black cloth hockey tape that he split with a razor blade (otherwise it would be too wide to look like the factory tape). He used it for electrical repairs because it looks just like the factory tape. I bought a roll and sometimes use it when I make an OBC harness.

[AutoEuropeCars]

I have the new 4-stalk unit ready to install, but I do not know which pin socket # on the white cluster connector each of the wires on the new stalk connects.

Is there a pin# to wire color correlation? I have everything disassembled, and will buy the wires tomorrow.

Thanks,

Danny M

[Tool Pants]

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...entry8128

Your profile says you have a 2001 996 and it is wired the same way as a 1997-2000 Boxster.

[LowFlyR]

When I did this on mine, I did not take steering wheel off. I just disconnected the 4th stalk off the new unit, unscrewed steering column screws, separated column covers, screwed 4th stalk to its place, did the wiring (of course instrument cluster needed to be removed) and put it back together. Worked fine. :clapping:

I did not need to replace my other stalk switches, they all work fine.

Hope this helps. :renntech:

[AutoEuropeCars]

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...entry8128

Your profile says you have a 2001 996 and it is wired the same way as a 1997-2000 Boxster.

No, that is a mistake, its a 2000. I must have been a little optimistic.

I found the following wiring info on the PCA site and ordered the wiring/connector today;

INSTALL THE WIRE FROM TERM 2 ON THE TRIP COMPUTER CONNECTOR INTO SLOT 20 ON THE WHITE CONNECTOR,

TERM 3 TO TERM 21,

TERM 4 TO 22,

TERM 5 TO 25.

ATTACH THE #1 WIRE TO ONE OF THE GROUND TERMINALS UNDER THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_question.a...7-19FFEA6741AC}

[Tool Pants]

Those instructions are the original prepared by Peter Smith. I have known Peter for 9 years because he was the shop foreman at my local dealer. The part numbers have changed a bit over the years, as has the wires used for the newer cars. Peter has updated the instructions since then.

[Thumper]

When I did this on mine, I did not take steering wheel off. I just disconnected the 4th stalk off the new unit, unscrewed steering column screws, separated column covers, screwed 4th stalk to its place, did the wiring (of course instrument cluster needed to be removed) and put it back together. Worked fine. :clapping:

I did not need to replace my other stalk switches, they all work fine.

Hope this helps. :renntech:

That's exactly how I did mine. Just took off the 4th stalk from the new unit and added it to my existing 3 stalk unit. Purchased the parts from Jeff at Suncoast, made my harness per ToolPants instructions (I used heat shrink vs. the cloth tape to keep the harness wires together) and put it all back together. I did not have to have my OBC turned on as I swapped out my 986 cluster for a 996 cluster which already had the OBC activated. The only hassle was taking the column plastic off and putting it back on without taking the steering wheel off. You can access the screws by turning the steering wheel 90 degrees either direction which exposes the screws.

[cayvman]

Can this hack be done on an '02?

[Loren]

Can this hack be done on an '02?

To quote Tool Pants "I have done a 100 OBC retrofits over the years on 1997-2003."

[AutoEuropeCars]

Is it normal to only be able to scroll through the menu by lifting the lever, and not by pressing it down toward the floor?

[JeTexas]

Is it normal to only be able to scroll through the menu by lifting the lever, and not by pressing it down toward the floor?

On my 996, it scrolls either way

[Tool Pants]

Can this hack be done on an '02?

Here are two 5 year old pictures of Josh doing it on his 2002.

[towney]

Can this OBC hack be done on a 2004 S? Would the instructions and parts be the same?

[Loren]

I beleive MY03 and newer should be the same.

[Tool Pants]

Use the parts listed by Kbrandsma for your 2004. Item (4) he has on the list for the rubber gasket where the stalk pokes out of is optional. You can take you existing gasket with a single hole and cut the additional hole for the obc stalk with a utility knife.

[ragman]

Just added the 4-stalk and wiring harness this last weekend for OBC and cruise control. Ordered the parts from Sunset (good group of guys). I took it to a local high end sport car mechanic in the Seattle South Sound area this morning to have the OBC and cruise enabled, but they were unable to initiate the advance scan, and never got the options to enable OBC and cruise. I think they had the laptop version of the PST2 and not the actual device. I took it to Squires in Bellevue this afternoon and it only took Tony about 10 minutes to get it done (including a test drive for the cruise) using his PST2. Kbrandsma, thanks for the info on Squires in Bellevue. B) Everything works great now! The DIY's on this and other boards made the job a breeze....

2003 Boxster S

[kbrandsma]

Good to hear!