I know this thread is old, but I had this issue happen to me last weekend. I was waxing my Boxster S 987, and it sounded like the doors locked. I thought it was just me bent over and pressing the key in my pocket. I got into my car and the "SYSTEM DEFAULT, VISIT WORKSHOP" light was on. I researched and found this forum. Yes, the microfiber cloth WILL cause this to happen. It would have cost me $136 to get my car diagnosed, the cheapest front module on Ebay was going to be $95, (USED) and then almost $150 more for Porsche to install it. But as I researched farther, I found on Ebay a diagnostic reader made for Porsches. It is called an icarsoft. I got it brand new for $120. I had never used one before, but it came in yesterday, I hooked it to my car and it read EVERYTHING. I found that the front module WAS the problem, but it DID NOT need to be replaced. I cleared the default with the icarsoft and it is still off. I am not advertising a product, I am telling my personal story. The idea that a shock no more powerful than a shock you get from someone that has walked on carpet could fry an entire module that big just seemed impossible. It does NOT fry it, it just causes it to glitch. A dealer will tell you to replace it, but just vest $120 in this thing and reset it yourself and every other thing that may show up on your Porsche. Unhooking the battery will NOT work. Calling your car every bad name you can think of will not work, I tried it all. But this DID work. Always remember, if a car has a light come on, the dealer will ALWAYS tell you to replace the part, it might just have glitched and need to be reset. I hope this helps people in the future. It was a life saver for me considering it is Christmas time and I don't have a crapload of money to spend because of a small shock from a cloth. NEVER STOP ROCKIN'!!!!

 

I had the same fault, plus dynamic cornering light failure. I had removed the carpeting to do a thorough cleaning. I drove it for a day, turning on and off multiple times, and the faults stayed. I ended up disconnected the battery overnight (and used the opportunity to charge the battery with a ctek) and when I connected it back up, initialized everything, the errors were gone.

Will definitely look into the icarsoft. Looks like something that could be very useful.

 

Reviving this thread as I became victim to the infamous "System fault Visit Workshop" error in addition to "Headlight beam adjustment faulty". This is on my 997.2 Turbo. Unlike others I was not buffing or polishing my car. Instead I simply started my car in the morning and up popped the error messages on my dash. Coincidentally I also noticed that my Homelink also stopped working.

I have been researching these threads and perhaps I need to replace my front control module but I am not sure. I do have a Cobb Accessport and it shows a variety of errors that do not map to anything I can find online Instrument Cluster, Gateway, Front Body Module, Ox5F1, Stability, Elec.

Has anyone else had success using something like the iCarsoft device to reset the module? I don't think the Cobb Accessport has this ability.

Thanks in advance for any additional insight.

 

Did you try disconnecting the battery? I left my negative cable off overnight, reconnected (will need to go for a bit of a drive to get everything re-initiated) and the errors were gone and never came back.

 

I disconnected my battery overnight and after hooking back up in the morning next day still displaying fault codes and Homelink still not working.

 

I thought I would update this thread even though it is a bit embarrassing. Unlike others that posted my issue turned out to be a blown fuse "c6" which I swear I checked in my search for an easy culprit but it took a shop to finally diagnose. So a blown c6 fuse caused the "System fault visit workshop" and "Headlight beam adjustment faulty" errors on dash and inoperable Homelink garage door opener.

 

I have now experienced this control module failure, part number 997-618-512-01.

Order of events:

- dropped for service on Wednesday – planned pickup Thursday

- front brakes need replacement – pickup moved to Friday @4

- Car detailed by Porsche after service.

- SA inspected detail – says looks great…but found that lights were blinking – Thought I had aftermarket lights? Why – do the lights look aftermarket?

- Shop closing, need to figure it out on Monday.

- Monday – front body control module bad – pick up on Tuesday.

- Came in at 2:30 Tuesday after being invoiced – car not finished – module not fully installed.

- Left with un-operational trunk light.

- $$$$for this level of incompetence. How is this OK?

Dealer (Hennessy Atlanta) refuses to accept that they caused or could have caused the control module failure. So I'm on the hook for it, even after their completely botched install which I still have to go back and get them to finish properly and reset the trunk light.

It's a 15 year old car - sure, the part may have failed on it's on, but the timing of it and given all the posts I'm seeing about the cause, I have a hard time swallowing this bad pill.

 

I just had the replaced at 275,000 miles on my treasured 06 came in S… It was replaced prophylactically at 9500 miles when I had some engine work, and I was told at that time that it looked great but it was probably better to do it. Now, 180,000 miles later, I had it replaced a second time, still not down to the rivets! Apparently, they had trouble starting my car at the shop, and decided it was in need of a new battery, even though I just replaced the battery a year ago and I’ve only driven the car a dozen times since then, and I keep it on a trickle charger. Anyways, the third time I started the car after picking it up, I got the dreaded lightning bolt S “system fault visit Workshop” display. I sent the screen capture to The Shop and asked them what to do, and the reply was that I should have the car towed back to them, because it was an electrical system problem and may not be charging. Since the car was at work, and this was 9 o’clock Friday night when I got done, I wasn’t going to have it towed to the shop which is closed until Monday. I was concerned about driving home with the headlights on if I was running off the battery, since I was concerned, the car might stop at a very inconvenient place where it wouldn’t be safe to leave, so I left it at work.

When I return Saturday, I had my Durametrics Pro, and my FixD code reader, as well as my Porsche trickle charger. When I put the FixD reader on before starting the car, the battery voltage red 11.4! Unfortunately, there were no outlets close enough to charge the car, so I took a chance and started it. It immediately went up to 13.4 V, so I put the geometrics on and ran a complete diagnostics, and unfortunately got about 30 error codes. I sent the report to my printer (unfortunately, I no longer have that printer, and on Windows computers I can’t take them out of that print puffer to send to another printer…) and then did a scan with the Durametrics with the car running, and no codes returned except for C127. I let the car idle for a while and drove around the parking lot, and the voltage states stable, so I drove it home. I had absolutely no problems. I used the FixD “clear Check Engine Light” and it cleared the code which has not come back.

I’m still debating whether I take the car back to the shop on Monday for them to check everything out, or just follow it for a while. In any case, the FixD Bluetooth reader is available online for about 20 to 30 bucks, works great, and cleared the code.