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In the early 2000's, helpful Rennlister's posted that 993 drivers needed to purchase a spare DME Relay to keep in their glovebox in case of the part's failure -- which would prevent the engine from starting. I bought one and put it in my glovebox.
Well, last month I was parked on a Friday evening, away from home, and for the only time in my Porsche 993 ownership (purchased in 1999) the car would not start: turning the ignition turned over the motor but it would not run. So, I remembered the long-stored DME Relay, opened the hood and easily removed the old relay and replaced it with the new.
And, yes(!) the car started and all was fine--no need to be towed and all the stress that goes with it when you are away from home.
As a bonus, my wife was with me and I looked pretty cool to her!
P.S. I've ordered a new one to store in my glovebox for use (perhaps) within another 20 years of ownership!
Here's the part:
Last edited by Austria911; 03-13-2024 at 05:55 PM.
Great story! And good on you for keeping a spare DME relay on hand. It’s a good idea to test the new one, they’re crap. You can store it safely right in the fuse box, there’s extra room by design.
If you’re really in a pinch and don’t have a spare DME on hand, you can wrap a paper clip around 87, 87b and 30. This will allow you enough time to get the car safely off the road. And your wife will think you’re MacGyver!
Wow those have gotten pricey. You can get the solid-state version from F9-tech for the same price point.
I put a F9 in my 96’ and almost killed me. Car started stalling and running rough and wouldn’t idol while I was on the highway. I barely made it home luckily I was close and boom put back in the OEM Porsche DME in purrs like a kitten. Never an issue since. I reached out to F9 and they refunded me 100%. They said it has happened? Never got back to me on the one I sent in that gave me all the headache. Never again! What’s weird is it took several drives before it went haywire.
No affiliation. I gave the newer solid state a go and it’s superb. Love the diagnostic if anything goes wrong. It works perfectly and I would not bother with an old style and doomed to fail again dme for a 993 anymore. Tech has moved on. Well worth the change and install takes 3 minutes.
The solid state relay was one of the first things I put on the car, put the stock relay in the glovebox for good measure. Looks like they have gotten fancy with LEDs option since I put mine in 2016.
03-13-2024, 05:49 PM
Everyone Needs a DME Relay in their Glovebox.
