Alarm system fault + magic 1/2 inch drop does not happen...related?

[cadetjoe]

I'm a newbie, but have looked around quite a bit on these forums to see if I might find an explanation for my alarm system fault and window drop problem. Bought an 02 Boxster back in April. This is my first Porsche and I've loved it thus far.

But, just noticed a problem this past week. First, the central locking switch (on the dash) light is always on whenever the ignition is on. The switch seems to be functioning properly (it locks and unlocks the doors), but I don't remember the light being on before. Whenever I unlock the car, whether using the remote or the dash switch, I get the double beep fault. But, the system otherwise seems to be working properly.

The second problem is that the passenger side window will not lower the magic 1/2 inch when I pull the latch. I don't think its the regulator, because it just stopped working all of a sudden, and I don't hear the window motor at all when I pull the latch (the window still rolls up and down fine with the rocker switch, and also retracts properly for lowering or raising the soft top). It simply does not respond at all to the latch being pulled on both the outside and the inside. It might be the micro switch, like I've read in other posts here, but I am wondering if it might instead be related to whatever the alarm system fault is, since I noticed both of these problems crept up at around the same time. I get the feeling that the door does is not "sensing" whether it is locked or not, and therefore the window is not lowering the 1/2 inch like it should. Could the system have gotten screwed up by locking the door while it was open or something similar? Or could it be that the problem with door latch is telling the alarm system that something is wrong? I did try the window reset procedure, holding the up and down switch for 10 seconds, to no avail.

I am aware I should probably get the fault tested with the diagnostic software, but I want to avoid taking it to the dealership if at all possible. Took the car there before to get wheel alignment after putting on new tires, and the quality of customer service was pretty abysmal - they got my appointment date and time wrong, didn't seem interested in helping me out or answering my questions, and then of course, charged about 3 times what a typical alignment would cost at any other place. I could buy the Durametric software myself, but it does not clear alarm system codes for my make/model year, so I would still have to take it to the dealer to get it remedied.

I'd appreciate any help or advice on how to best approach this. Thank you all in advance for your help.

Edited October 14, 2008 by cadetjoe

[Loren]

A double beep means there is a fault in the alarm system.

Further diagnosis really requires a PST2, PIWIS tester or Durametric Software.

[juniinc]

most likely a double beeping faulty zone is caused by your passenger micro switch,,,

[cadetjoe]

So, the fault seemed to correct itself on it's own yesterday. I manually lowered the window so I could open the door - then closed the door again. Tried the 10 second window reset thing again, and voila!, the window 1/2 inch drop started working again, and the alarm system fault went away at the same time (no more double beep). :) Not sure how or why this happened except maybe something in the alarm system was "confused' for a while. But it seems like both the window malfunction and the alarm/locking fault were indeed related.

Anyways, thank you all for your advice and help with this. Anyone care to speculate on what might have gone wrong here?

[chaudanova]

So, the fault seemed to correct itself on it's own yesterday. I manually lowered the window so I could open the door - then closed the door again. Tried the 10 second window reset thing again, and voila!, the window 1/2 inch drop started working again, and the alarm system fault went away at the same time (no more double beep). :) Not sure how or why this happened except maybe something in the alarm system was "confused' for a while. But it seems like both the window malfunction and the alarm/locking fault were indeed related.

Anyways, thank you all for your advice and help with this. Anyone care to speculate on what might have gone wrong here?

Wow, you must be more lucky than me... I've had the exact same problem, except my affected side is the driver's side... I have the same symptoms you had, with the addition of... the main locking system from the key, is now operated from the passenger side rather than the driver's side... It switched sides somehow... I'm guessing since the driver's side is affected, that the system is smart, so it switched the main key control to the passenger side.

So far, from everything that I've read and people I've spoken to, that the problem is one of the driver's side door microswitches. As far as how your system corrected itself, I don't know, but I wish that would happen for me too...

[grdriver]

Same exact problem here, i've changed both microswitches, but still have the same issue, how do i do the window reset thingy?

Thanks