RacerX1166

For those who have purchased new key fobs, have you found they work more consistently than your originals (obviously excluding the originals that have died). Mine (only working one at the moment) will lock doors perfectly, without issue. However, unlocking is becoming more of a challenge.

As examples, the past few times I drove the car:

- Dinner last week: car sat for two hours and I wound up standing looking like an idiot holding the button down waving the remote around the car. Thankfully, my date (our first date) had already departed, so I only looked foolish in front of strangers. Anyway, I was ultimately successful in unlocking with the remote.

- Grocery run today: In and out in ten minutes. No amount of waving seemed to work, so I used the key. Remote disabled the system, once I had the door open.

- As a test (thinking the issue might have something to do with heat), I locked the doors after I parked the car in my garage. Waited fifteen minutes, then tried the remote. Darned thing unlocked the car from the back door.

All of the above were with a fresh battery in the remote and a healthy battery in the car. I'm wondering whether a new remote would remedy the situation.

TIA

Drisump

No one seems to be chiming in so I will. The locking/immobilizer system is quite a complicated one on our cars. A lot of things can create spotty responsiveness in the system....one of which could be the fob. So, most likely a new fob would clear up that spottiness but I can't say for sure. I bought two new ones a year and half ago and both operate as they should. When pressing the button on the fob, does the LED always indicate the fob is broadcasting? My old one was unreliable but always worked if the LED lit. In my case, the micro switch was the problem. Cheers

bcameron59

Do you have two fobs? If so, how does the other one work in comparison? If not, you probably need a spare anyway, so buy a new one as a precaution against the dreaded "I can't find my keys" syndrome.

Either way you will have a second point of reference, ie a second fob to test with - does it work better than the one you describe?

If it does, you know the old fob is getting dicey. If it doesn't, problem is somewhere else as implied by Drisump.

Gbos1

Betting it's the Fob. Get a new one and have it programmed at Stealer.

Kika

In my opinion, and others, including many mechanics familiar with our cars, is that a lot of the issues people experience with their immobilizer are due to the remote, specifically the micro switches. Many of us keep our fobs in our pockets, and there is an unbelievable amount of lint that can get into the remote, not to mention pushing too hard can misalign the switch.

JB 911

Since I hid my spare key in a really good place, I am in the market for a fob? Where's the best place to buy? Anyone?

To the op, this probably isn't your problem, but I find my remote works better if I press and hold for like a second rather than just press and release like newer car fobs.

RacerX1166

I only have one working remote because the switch on the other one died. The plan had been to locate a replacement switch but after a first attempt failed to find a drop in replacement, that particular project hasn't bubbled back to the surface.

One thing that seemed to work on occasion was the old trick of holding the remote to your chin and opening your mouth. Yes, it really does increase the range of your remote.

Having a working remote has become even more important since that first date I was concerned about looking foolish in front of turned out to be a complete loon. So, there will be at least one more first date in the coming weeks.

bcameron59

Plus, you might need to quickly enter your vehicle and safely lock yourself inside if the next date also turns out to be another head case.

JB 911

^

fatmike

change your battery.

/

Allen

The previous owner of my car had (2) FOBs when I bought my car. One of those had a broken spring, so he ordered a new one from Porsche and delivered it to me with the car. I find that it works exactly the same as the (2) original FOBs.

bcameron59

Sonnen and Sunset both have really good prices on Porsche parts, they are both dealers who sell parts at cost +15% IIRC.

You need the transmitter (with correct frequency, they can tell you what this is for your car), the shell (switchblade or regular fob) and a blank key.

The transmitter is the spendy part. If you don't care whether the fob is porsche branded, there are some lower cost fobs on fleabay that work ok.

Key will probably need to be cut at the dealer although an automotive locksmith might be able to do this for you. Pretty sure there is no chip in the key that requires programming for the 993.

You can program the transmitter fairly easily, search the forum for DIY instructions. Apparently there are slightly different steps depending on the model year.

pp000830

Try new batteries as even new ones frome the store csn be old stock.

pp000830

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...ight=Made+easy

RacerX1166

An Update:

I purchased and programmed a new fob, followed by some ongoing field trials. Whenever I drive the car, I bring both remotes with me.

When I'm next to the car, I'll try the original unit, that's been giving me trouble. If that doesn't work, I'll go to the new fob. 90% of the time, the new fob is needed. It's been 100% reliable, so that'll be my primary remote going forward.

The old board will go into my switchblade, which sort of annoys me. I tried to order a new key head when I bought the fob, but Suncoast's website only allows me to have one item in my cart. When I try to add something new, the first item disappears. This happens regardless of whether I'm logged in. So, I wound up skipping the head because I didn't feel like going through the checkout process again.

Finally, a big thank you to Andy for publishing instructions on how to program the new fob. Worked like a charm.