Head Unit PCM 3.1 cycling off and on repair

[mattski]

A couple of days ago my head unit started cycling off and on every minute or so.  I found some posts that these things are notorious for failing so I started looking for a place that would repair it.  Luckily I found the Becker office in Saddle Brook NJ, called them, and they emailed me instructions how to fix it.  Apparently my XM SAT provider caused the problem.  It required a reboot as per below:

WARNING

It was brought to our attention, that the PCM 3.0 and 3.1 units have been rebooting continuously on a number of Porsche vehicles at the moment. 

It seems that a signal was sent by SiriusXM which has caused this issue. SiriusXM and Porsche are investigating currently and are working on a fix.

VERY Important: Please DO NOT replace any parts or hardware on a vehicle, due to this issue.

In order to rectify this issue, you will perform a “PCM handover” (also known as a PCM Hard Reset). Instructions are listed below;

• Press and hold the PCM>>Info button for approximately 10 seconds until the PCM reboots.
• Immediately select the following from the PCM;  CAR>>OPTION>>Set PCM System>>Reset PCM>>Vehicle Handover>>Yes>>Yes

These instructions can also be found in the respective Owner’s Manuals for affected vehicles. Hopefully this may prevent Dealership / workshop visits. If your vehicle is already at the workshop, recommend that the technician update it to the latest available software level.

**PLEASE NOTE: Performing a PCM Hard Reset will also erase all of the radio presets and Bluetooth connections and these will have to be reentered by you after the reset.**

In order to rectify this issue, you will perform a “PCM handover” (also known as a PCM Hard Reset). Instructions are listed below;

• Press and hold the PCM>>Info button for approximately 10 seconds until the PCM reboots.
• Immediately select the following from the PCM;  CAR>>OPTION>>Set PCM System>>Reset PCM>>Vehicle Handover>>Yes>>Yes

WARNING Reboot for PCM 3.1.docx

WARNING Reboot for PCM 3.1.pdf

Edited June 8, 2020 by Loren
Added PDF for those without Word

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My 2011 CTT with PCM v2.4.7 had the same issue recently. I messed with it for a couple days, charged battery, checked fuzes, checked/cleared scan codes,  removed phone data, removed phones, tried Factory Reset, tried some percussive maintenance, then finally tried the only thing that worked--Vehicle Handover.

One day later, up pops your post!

I can confirm this works. It is a minor pain to reinput all your settings, but sure beats the continual 2 minute reboot merry go round.

Thanks Mattski

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**Bonus repair**

After accomplishing "Vehicle Handover", 2 longstanding issues with my PCM were cured also!

1. When playing music via Bluetooth there would be a dropout on a semi regular interval.

and

2. When manually advancing a music track on the USB input, the display would not immediately cycle to the next song--sometimes not until the next song automatically sequenced would the display catch up to the actual song playing.

All in all, this turned one problem into three repairs.

My recommendation for ANY PCM problem is accomplish the Vehicle Handover.

 

[P. Krebs]

PCM 2011 Cayman S:

would like to reboot but my system has no “CAR” button to press…Any idea?