996 2001 Carrera 4 - Exactly How to Enter Radio Code After Battery Disconnected/How to re-enter after getting WAIT message

[MyNameIsAlice]

Posting the exact steps here after not finding precise information on this forum/elsewhere. For those of you who have the misfortune to be greeted by the CODE **** or the WAIT message on the radio screen.

 

I have a 2001 Carrera 4. Above the orange-lit display of the CD player are the tiny white letters PORSCHE CDR-220. That is my radio unit model number. If you have the same fact pattern, read on.

 

1. Battery was replaced in car. Technician returned car without resetting my displays. Clock was wrong, and CD player/radio unit, when turned on, just said "CODE ****". I had a "WTF" moment. Punched in a bunch of buttons hoping to reset - do NOT do that. This freezes up unit and you will get a WAIT message on the screen.

 

2. If you get the WAIT message: leave radio on, turn off everything else, lock car and go do something else for 60 minutes. Leaving the radio on did not drain my battery. You MUST leave the radio on for this to work. Set an alarm to go back in 60 minutes. (30 minutes was insufficient, contrary to what other posts said).

 

3. While you are waiting, go find your radio code. The radio code is unique to your unit. Therefore, it is NOT published in the thick or thin car manuals or any little flip books that came with the car, nor do those manuals even give you any of the information in my post. They are useless, I have read them all. The radio code is NOT in the radio operating manual (contrary to what I have read). I didn't even have a separate radio operating manual. The radio code MAY be in a computer printout from your last check at the technician's. In my case, my computer printout from the car's computer just said Radio Code 00000. Which was NOT the radio code, it is just a blank value.

 

4. In my case, the radio code was on a silver card that looks like a credit card that was tucked in a pocket in the car manual's faux leather wallet. It was a 4 digit code. I had never noticed this dumb thing before and never knew why I needed it. DO NOT go online and pay for a third party service to get your radio code - chances are you have it, just go find all your original car materials and really exhaust your search before you try to pay someone to get this for you. 

 

5. In 60 minutes, return to your car. The radio would have turned itself off and be dark/silent. Turn it on. You will once again get CODE ****. You will see that there is a row of buttons numbered 1,2,3 and so on - the buttons you normally use to pre-set your radio stations. Enter the 4 digit code using those buttons. Enter slowly and carefully, you do not want to get frozen again and have to repeat steps 2 -5 again. There are online users who say that you can get permanently frozen out if you enter the wrong code too many times, then you will really be in trouble.

 

Hope this works. It worked for me. After an entire wasted day of reading my Porsche hobby books, online boards, and experimenting/freaking out.

[dporto]

Most people write the radio code either in the front cover of the owners manual or somewhere on the options sticker in the frunk. In my case it's in both places from a previous owner... Glad you got it figured out 

[Loren]

On 9/27/2017 at 3:37 PM, MyNameIsAlice said:

Posting the exact steps here after not finding precise information on this forum/elsewhere. For those of you who have the misfortune to be greeted by the CODE **** or the WAIT message on the radio screen.

 

I have a 2001 Carrera 4. Above the orange-lit display of the CD player are the tiny white letters PORSCHE CDR-220. That is my radio unit model number. If you have the same fact pattern, read on.

 

1. Battery was replaced in car. Technician returned car without resetting my displays. Clock was wrong, and CD player/radio unit, when turned on, just said "CODE ****". I had a "WTF" moment. Punched in a bunch of buttons hoping to reset - do NOT do that. This freezes up unit and you will get a WAIT message on the screen.

 

2. If you get the WAIT message: leave radio on, turn off everything else, lock car and go do something else for 60 minutes. Leaving the radio on did not drain my battery. You MUST leave the radio on for this to work. Set an alarm to go back in 60 minutes. (30 minutes was insufficient, contrary to what other posts said).

 

3. While you are waiting, go find your radio code. The radio code is unique to your unit. Therefore, it is NOT published in the thick or thin car manuals or any little flip books that came with the car, nor do those manuals even give you any of the information in my post. They are useless, I have read them all. The radio code is NOT in the radio operating manual (contrary to what I have read). I didn't even have a separate radio operating manual. The radio code MAY be in a computer printout from your last check at the technician's. In my case, my computer printout from the car's computer just said Radio Code 00000. Which was NOT the radio code, it is just a blank value.

 

4. In my case, the radio code was on a silver card that looks like a credit card that was tucked in a pocket in the car manual's faux leather wallet. It was a 4 digit code. I had never noticed this dumb thing before and never knew why I needed it. DO NOT go online and pay for a third party service to get your radio code - chances are you have it, just go find all your original car materials and really exhaust your search before you try to pay someone to get this for you. 

 

5. In 60 minutes, return to your car. The radio would have turned itself off and be dark/silent. Turn it on. You will once again get CODE ****. You will see that there is a row of buttons numbered 1,2,3 and so on - the buttons you normally use to pre-set your radio stations. Enter the 4 digit code using those buttons. Enter slowly and carefully, you do not want to get frozen again and have to repeat steps 2 -5 again. There are online users who say that you can get permanently frozen out if you enter the wrong code too many times, then you will really be in trouble.

 

Hope this works. It worked for me. After an entire wasted day of reading my Porsche hobby books, online boards, and experimenting/freaking out.

 

 

You could have read the Lost Radio Code FAQ

[gregoogle]

Heyyyy, I know this is a super old thread BUT, I can’t find the answer to my question anywhere. In my 996 C4 I have a used CDR23 installed and I have a code that should work. BUT the radio won’t let me enter the code. It will ONLY show the “PROTECT” screen. 
 

Any ideas? 

Thanks!
 

btw Loren, it’s great to see that you’re still super active on here. You actually helped me with my first Porsche (Boxster) locally about 13 years ago… 

[Loren]

Read the Lost Radio Code FAQ please.

[gregoogle]

Thanks again, Loren. I had skimmed that but now I’m seeing that I’m kind of screwed (CDR23) unless I have a shop use their tools to reset/program it. 
 

I guess I’ll do better research and make sure to buy one with a code. Thanks