Planet 9

I recently purchased a used 2005 Boxster S, which after investigation I am pretty sure has PCM 2.1 (with Bose)

After only one week of ownership I got into the car, turned on the ignition and the screen lit up in a very strange and garbled way (lines and general messy looking appearance) and then went black.
There is a backlight on, however the screen is black and has various 'lines' going vertically. Radio and music and CD changer works just fine, however I can't see anything on the screen, so it's pretty disturbing.

Any ideas as to what may have gone wrong?

Thanks!

Hmm being an 05 +4 yrs of warranty that's 09! I hope the car is still under warranty!! if so, take it to the dealer... if not, take it anyway and they should be able to tell you and give you a quote.

Hmmm... You could follow Alfred's advice. I'm thinking they'll tell you you need a new unit for $2K or something.

After you recover from that, you might check or have your mechanic check all the connections to it and especially the ground connectors for the dash. Lots of scary problems can be solved with something simple if you just poke around and look for things wrong. I've seen a lot of odd things occur when the ground straps corrode on cars about this age. I'm not sure where these are on Boxsters and Caymans yet...I'm still new to the breed, but I'm sure I'd check for that and for loose connections before spending the big bucks on a new PCM..

..and before I'd let the dealer replace it, I'd buy one off one of the members here or from a reputable boneyard and either replace it myself or have a good non-dealer mechanic do it. So far as I know, it's not typical for these to fail, so I'm thinking it's a connection somewhere.

-Six

sixisenuff is right, you can check the connections. Here's the link to Ken's article on how to remove the PCM unit.
PCM 2.1 Install (CDR-24 Radio Removal) - My Articles

First thing, look through some of the posts here in the electronics form and determine which fuses run the Bose and PCM systems - pull them and let the system reset for about 10 minutes... plug them back in and see if this changes things - this seems to have fixed many PCM/non-CM Bose problems - especially then ones where ASDS (audio sudden death syndrome) appears. If that doesn't work, then a plan B would be to check the connections, etc. as described by the other posters.

brad

__________________
22-year PCA Member
PCA DE Instructor

Well.....I am sitting at the dealership drinking their free coffee (I'm assuming nothing else here is in that category) while they "check it out". Based on my description of the issue, without seeing it they jumped immediately to the "the LCD is probably blown" conclusion. So, I will wait to see what the tech says when he actually looks at the car.

Thanks for all the posts so far...I will absolutely be trying out these 'quick fixes' before dropping serious $ on a new system.
Maybe I will just live with the lack of screen and NAV for a while if it proves to be a dead LCD screen....I can still listen to all my music, which really is my main focus in the car. To be honest the PCM NAV is pretty crummy having used Garmin's and Tom Tom in the past. The PCM is pretty, but not as good as the others...IMO.
I'll let you know the outcome!
Sean

I don't know if the car is under warranty... but if "the LCD is blown" would that be covered?

Good luck!

Good luck. You're starting in the right place. I'm sure they'll try and suck you wallet dry. They don't get as much money from Porsche as they get from you for a repair, so they always try to squirm out of a warranty issue. I doubt that the PCM is "blown", but if they want to put a new one in for free, I'd definitely let them.

The guy who said disconnect the fuse and let it sit for 10 minutes is a genius!

The point of my post was "Always try the simple stuff first." and "If there is a chance of a mechanical failure in an electronic system, it's likely that the mechanical item (connection, switch, fuse etc.) failed and not the sealed electrical device.

Exception to that rule is any item where "Yeah, they all go at 55,000 miles" sort of items. PCM 2.1 is not one of those.

-Six

Two hours later and I still dine on free coffee and TV.
I sincerely hope they are actually doing something back there........ my afternoon meetings have been 'blown' so far, so I hope to have a positive result at the end of this!

I hope it worked out for you. I just saw this thread. The screen went on my '06 CS PCM in a similar fashion except it gasped a few times over the last few times. I was lucky that it was dead when I got to the dealership since so many things work only for the mechanic. He knew right away that it had to be replaced and they ordered one for me and replaced it a few weeks later.

Hopefully your experience was as good.

__________________
___________________
2006 Arctic Silver CS
2005 Yamaha FJR1300
2001 Audi allroad
1994 Nissan 300ZX TT

My warranty had expired 8 weeks ago so they want cash....they are talking $1600 to replace with aftermarket.....not so cool, I was hoping for a little empathy.....

I have one for sale on the classifieds hereif interested. I also have an auction running on ebay.

Is this still available? I saw a unit on eaby last week that sold for $800 plus $20 shipping.
What would be the total cost shipped to WA?
Thanks!

It is still available. I suspect it will sell today as several are "watching" this auction on ebay. Shipping is $35 anywhere in US.

Thanks,

David