Key Fob Failure & Now CDR23 Failing

[dtwinters]

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

I've read too many posts related to remote key fobs failing. None of the posted fixes have solved my challenges. Bulleted out:

• Third owner of 2003 Boxster bought with 28,000 miles in August 2008. Both key fobs worked properly at time of purchase.
• Roughly 18 months later my wife's key fob stopped working.
  • She drives the Porsche maybe 5% of the time it is driven.
  • I read up on fixes but nothing worked.
  • Didn't take to dealership as I expected a fix to be too expensive for value received.

  [*]One month ago my fob stopped working.

  • Read even more posts and no fix has worked.
  • I'm a FIY type guy and dreading what dealerships might charge.

  [*]This morning my CDR23 base sound system stopped working.

  • It simply displays "Porsche" and only the power switch works.
  • None of the posted fixes involving locking and letting the car site and removing the appropriate fuse have fixed the problem.

The symptoms include:

• Pushing the buttons on either key fob result in what appears to be proper lighting of the LED on the key fob itself.
• The red light atop the dashboard seems to flash properly when manually locking and unlocking with the physical key.
  • It does not flash any confirmation strings when any of the key fob buttons are depressed.

  [*]When I get in the car and start the ignition the red dashboard switch light goes on solidly.[*]When I switch off the car sometime the locking mechanism cycles making it so that I have to pull the driver side door handle twice to get out.[*]Opening the passenger side door is a true hassel as I must get all the way in the car, lean over, and pull the door handle twice as the dashboard switch doesn't seem to work.

Does anyone have a feel for what is going on here and how I should go about fixing the problem? This drama of risking the alarm going off every time I get in the car if I fumble getting the key in the lock together with the challenge of getting into the passenger side and the new lack of a radio is taking much of the joy out of my otherwise magical mid life crisis antidote!

Please let me know if there is any more information I should provide.

Thanks again,

Trevor

Austin, TX

[Loren]

Best have a look at any alarm system fault codes.

[dtwinters]

I swung by the Austin dealership and learned they will need to charge me a 1/2 hour to read any error codes and try to resync my old fobs. Sunset Imports had the best price on key fobs so I ordered two to have on standby in case my old ones can't be mated. Hopefully, I will have this addressed on Friday. More to come...

[dtwinters]

And my radio started working on its own four days later! No hiccups since on that front.

[dtwinters]

Roger Beasley Porsche in Austin worked on my car this morning and the new key fobs are programmed and working. The lead tech shared that all four program slots were taken in the control unit, likely meaning that one of the two earlier owners had likely lost keys or had this same issue. The service manager had shared that if the lights on the keys are working but not unlocking the doors there wasn't a way to re-sync the original keys. So, $289 later ($67 for half hour of labors and $222 for two keys) I'm back to where I was earlier. On the bright side the dealership was nice enough to wash my car so it will look good for the weekend!