Kessy Removal in RHD vehicle

[darrinsmith]

Hello

After reading clarksongli's excellent tutorial on fixing a broken Kessy, I was finally motivated to fix mine.

However I can only find information relating to LHD cars.

On a RHD car, the Kessy is located on the firewall side (not the centre) of the vehicle. Porsche have simply moved the entire dash assembly to the right of the car, and not "mirror imaged" it, which makes sense from a $$ point of view.

However, this places the kessy (and the module in front of it) directly above the main vehicle wiring harness that runs up to the dash, through the firewall to the engine, and down the side of the car.

I spend about an hour trying to work the Kessy unit past this massive wiring harness but with no luck.

I simply cannot see how it can possibly be removed without removing the main wiring harness.

Here's a picture of my dilemma...

You can see the smaller wiring harness with 5 into 1 wires, and them the massive main harness directly underneath it.

The smaller oval shaped connector to the right is the Kessy power supply.

I could disconnect the cables from the 5-1 harness (although I have no idea what the module is in front of the Kessy and whether I should disconnect the battery before I do it), but even then, there would not be enough room to side the Kessy down to remove it from it's holder.

Can anyone help with specific instructions for a RHD vehicle, or give me any tips.

Thanks!

DS

[wvicary]

Always disconnect the battery when unplugging/plugging in such modules and have the key removed from the ignition. The other module is the vehicle electrical module. The KESSY module isn't nice to remove if you're of a bigger size, I remove the lower wires going to the electrical module then the wiring to the KESSY module and slow tease it from it's home. Takes a bit of mucking about and is a tight fit but it should slip out.

[darrinsmith]

Thank you, I'll give it a try.

It's the big wiring harness that is really stopping me, but I'll persist.

Thanks again!

[clarksongli]

Good info on the RHD thing....I am a small guy, so it was cake for me to get in there and pull the KESSY down, but i can see this being more difficult for larger people.

[darrinsmith]

Yeah I'm 6'2" so it's a real struggle to get under the dash for me, even with the seat all the way back.

As per my other post, I'll have to wait till the week after next to have a go at it, as I've got a road trip coming up, so I don't want any drama's while I'm miles away from civilisation.

If I get it out, I'll take some pictures and add them to the support topic for your DIY.

Cheers!

DS

[wvicary]

Being a regulation sized fellow myself ( 6'3" and 365lbs ) I just unbolt the the front stage of the drivers seat and tilt it back for more room under the dash. Not sure if the passenger seat is hinged but it only takes 2 mins to remove the bolts and just slide it back.

[virkdoc]

What is the KESSY?

[Loren]

What is the KESSY?

Now a keyword tooltip - hover your mouse over KESSY.

[darrinsmith]

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I finanally got around to removing the Kessy and fixing it.

Some notes to help RHD vehicle owners.

1) disconnect the battery - important as you'll be disconnecting the vehicle electrical control module (VECM).

2) remove the lower dash panel AND the upper dash surround (you'll need unhook the park brake release cable - it's not hard, use a small flat screwdriver to lever out the "ball" on the end of the cable), disconnect the headlight and light level adjustment switches

3) disconnect the connectors to the vehicle electrical control module. This is the 5 wires in the forefront of the photo about they have black, red and brownish connectors.

4) put those cables out of the way, however do NOT try to remove the VECM, it's not necessary.

5) remove the smaller round connector from the Kessy easy.

6) Remove the large connector. This one is a real PITA as you need to slide the grey part of the connector toward the RHS of the car. There is zero room in there, so I ended up using a large flat bladed screw-driver to push the grey "handle" part while pulling the large black part off. The handle is spring-loaded so it's quite difficult to get off.

7) Gently push the large connector behind the KESSY unit.

8) You'll be able to easily unclip the KESSY and it will come down a little but, but then it'll get stuck on the main wiring loom. I used the large flat screwdriver to GENTLY prise the wiring harness to the right and wiggled the KESSY down. This was quite a chore, and took about 15 minutes to get out.

The repair itself was quite simple and took me about 30 minutes, having done it once I could do it in 10 now. The main problem is getting the old Mosfets off the board. Only one of mine had failed, but I replaced both also replace the small resistors as you can't test them in circuit. Try Googling "desoldering mosfets" for a video, but basically use your iron to gently heat the top of the heatsink/drain and apply solder to conduct the heat. The mosfet will pop off after only a minute or so of heating.

Replacing the Kessy is fairly much the reverse, but it takes a LOT of wiggling to get it back past the main wiring loom and into place. Be patient and you will be rewarded.

Put everything back together and reconnect the battery.

Don't forget to re-set the throttle position (basically turn car on without starting or moving the throttle for 30 seconds and then turn off) and the steering angle sensor (basically go for a short drive).

Cheers!

DS

Edited November 23, 2015 by darrinsmith