[Handlebar]

The Spec Boxster (1997) was sitting for several months and at some point I moved/shuffled where I was storing the key (I only had one) and I can’t find it. Lots of hours, many drawers and rooms are cleaner than they have been in years, but.. nothing.

Car hasn’t been titled in over 10 years, I have it, and a BOS. Car will not be registered or inspected, so that seems to limit options.

Main options that I can think of...
- beg a Porsche dealership for help. Betting against success.
- convert to push button start, but (maybe?) have to deal with immobilizer.
- get a new ignition lock, key, etc. (Suncoast has them), but it sounds like Porsche has a proprietary key blank and cutting setup, so likely stuck back at the first one.

What do I need to ask, learn, check... DO... to get past this, preferably before next weekend.

Ken

[VaSteve]

Put an add on craiglist looking for a guy that can hotwire it for you!

[BillC]

I was able to get an extra key from the local dealer (Silver Spring) for my SPB, which also hasn't been titled/registered in a looong time. Might be worth going over to your local dealer and talking with the service manager. If they let you order a new key (get two, just in case), you'll still need to trailer the car over to them to have them program the new keys into the immobilizer. Since you don't need the remote-control parts (for locking/unlocking the car), you can either buy used heads from ebay or just get a "spare" head (which is what I did -- it's just a piece of plastic into which the blade fits, no extra electronics).

Your other option is to call around to the various Porsche dismantlers, and see if you can buy a full set of ECU, immobilizer, ignition lock and key that all came from the same car. The parts are all paired together, so you can't get just one and have it work.

If you want to convert to a push-button start, you still need the key's "pill" that was programmed into the immobilizer.

The PCA SPB rules require a bone-stock ECU with a stock program, so that means you still have to run an immobilizer.

On a tangent thought -- did you look inside the car for the key? Like maybe the bottom of the driver's door, or hanging from the steering wheel hook, or under the seat?

[catron1]

Porsche can create a new one for you at the dealership. I think you can give them the vin and prove that you are the owner of the car.

[Patrick3000]

It has to be somewhere, can’t be nowhere, look better!

[skibones]

You know you’ll find it as soon as you purchase a new key

[mattmarks]

I think Ivan at IMA Motorwerke near Manassas can do this once you get the key. Also Sloan at SSI (ssiauto.com) up near Baltimore has coded keys for me in the past for my SPB. ECU Doctors can also dis for $500 or so, but you need to send them the new key, immobilizer, and DME.

My suggestion once you get this completed is to switch to pushbutton starter. This eliminates the known to regularly fail ignition switch, and then take the chip of of the key head and attach on top of the immobilizer key sensor on top of the "pistol" of the ignition switch.

Here is a link on how to do it: https://rennlist.com/forums/spec-box...ton-start.html

[HoodPin]

Ken, the lost key will probably materialize within 24 hours of paying for new ones.

[BlackTalon]

Originally Posted by HoodPin

Ken, the lost key will probably materialize within 24 hours of paying for new ones.

I read back through Ken's post, and no where in there does he say he would actually pay for anything...