Can anyone educate me in the art of Porsche diagnostics?

[stephenowen]

When I purchased my 997 I acquired a isoft diagnostic tool. I have tried it a few times but it seems limited on functions. I have looked at Durametric cable and they seem very expensive with not much more gain. PIWS is I guess what Porsche use? Is there anything else the forum can recommend? The reason I am asking is because I have a few things in my car which could have been disabled because the battery was disconnected. What do Porsche usually charge for a route around your modules and reactivate anything that's gone off? Thanks in advance

 

[T911UK]

You can get a fully working PIWIS for about £600, if you intend to keep the car and use it a fair bit it will pay for itself. OPC or an Indy would probably want £100 a hour.

 

[Geoff_Fields]

disconnecting the battery shouldn't disable any functions. what are you refereeing to?

 

[Motorhead]

Stephen,

Ref the effects of disconnecting the battery, have a look at this link which is for a 987 Cayman but should be equally applicable for your 997:

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=770011

As you say, the PIWIS analyser is what Porsche Centres (and a few Porsche Independents like JZM) use, but it's a very expensive bit of kit for the non-professional who rarely uses it. I'd tread carefully if you plan to buy one since a lot of those for sale will be grey market copies and are unlikely to have full functionality without you signing up for expensive limited-duration access.

If you don't fancy the Durametric offering you could have a look at the Autel MaxiDAS scanner, but I would have thought that your iCarsoft scanner would cover most of the basic requirements. Better to spend the money on a diagnostic test either at your local Porsche Centre or maybe a Porsche Independent who should have a decent diagnostic capability and will be much cheaper than the PC.

Jeff

 

[Edwill997]

Be careful with the isoft I read on here once that someone plugged one in and put the settings to the wrong model and it screwed up the whole cars computer. Last I heard he was having to buy a new ecu as even Porsche couldn't help.....

 

[stephenowen]

That's interesting to know, when you select Porsche in the menu it thinks it's a Cayenne. I know they lifted the pcm from that vehicle so I wasn't too worried. I haven't attempted to clear any faults because I haven't had any. Cath had the Durametric on it in September and there was a tpm fault which Jasmin Porsche had fixed, but not cleared the fault. The battery has been disconnected recently for a new drivers side latch and regulator. I could have swore my auto wipers were working prior to the work been carried out. Thanks everyone for your advice. If you want faults diagnostic my indie that I use has the knowledge and the equipment, but if it's modules that require restarting or the basic settings changed its the OPC.