Porsche 996 Remote Locking Key Woes Solved

When I first bought my Porsche 911 the remote central locking wasn't working at all. You could open the driver's door with the key in the lock but had to put the key in ignition within 10 seconds to avoid the alarm being triggered and had to open the passenger door manually from the inside.

Porsche 996 key microswitch repair

Last year I managed to get one key fob working by reprogramming with the key in the ignition as explained in a previous blog post but the other key wasn't working at all even with a new battery. On further investigation I found that there was a micro switch missing so that pressing the button on the key fob had nothing to transmit the signal to the circuit board.

I found a seller on eBay that had the microswitches available  for the amazing sum of £2.49 for 3 switches! Porsche wanted £300 for a new key!

I bought a set and for some time they've been sitting in the garage ready to fit but I never seemed to have the time. Come the coronavirus lockdown and suddenly all these little jobs are getting attention!

Porsche 996/911 remote locking not working

I needed to buy a new fine tip soldering iron to be able to reach the size of connector for the switches but again had prepared for that some months ago so didn't need to leave the house to purchase one. I took the key fob apart and removed the battery so that the circuit was discharged while I was working on it. Being old my eyesight for close vision is getting worse so I needed full attention to see the spots where the switch needed to be attached but with a small dab of solder at each end the switch was attached.



 Connecting the battery and pressing the switch and voila the LED light came on showing it was now working. There are many complaints about the range of the Porsche 996 remote key fob but when I walked out to the garage to test the key with the car it was already locked so the signal had gone through two solid walls and still triggered the system!

After buying the car with no working remote locking and two keys that only opened with the manual lock I now have 2 working remote central locking keys and a total outlay of £2.49 along with 2 spare micro switches should I need a further repair in future!

The switches from eBay were available here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302497160551