996 Random Electrical Problems - A Story
Discussion
I am not a regular poster to these forums, but am a regular reader so I thought this was a good time for my first long, possibly helpful and maybe informative, post. If it isn't then at least I have got it off my chest.
About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
Excellent story. Good on you and I think more car owners should be thinking like you and keeping their money out of the hands of the service departments.
Proves that 'technicians' in dealerships and specialists don't have all the answers and that you can't necessarily take their word as gospel.
There are some really good mechanics and technicians about but they're becoming increasingly hard to find as the training now seems to consist of being able to plug in a diagnostic machine and read a fault-finding flow-chart. The days of lateral thinking and initiative are long gone I fear.
Proves that 'technicians' in dealerships and specialists don't have all the answers and that you can't necessarily take their word as gospel.
There are some really good mechanics and technicians about but they're becoming increasingly hard to find as the training now seems to consist of being able to plug in a diagnostic machine and read a fault-finding flow-chart. The days of lateral thinking and initiative are long gone I fear.
Yeah, screw dealers, get the spanners twirling yourself.
Last Saturday me and my buddy replaced all the discs, pads, shims etc. on my 996 on the drive. Hour and 45 mins, job done.
Satisfaction and many beer tokens saved.
Funnily enough I used to own an R129 Merc 500 SL with similar electrical probs. Was also the ignition switch, pretty easy to replace too and sorted everything.
Last Saturday me and my buddy replaced all the discs, pads, shims etc. on my 996 on the drive. Hour and 45 mins, job done.
Satisfaction and many beer tokens saved.
Funnily enough I used to own an R129 Merc 500 SL with similar electrical probs. Was also the ignition switch, pretty easy to replace too and sorted everything.
wukfitz said:
I am not a regular poster to these forums, but am a regular reader so I thought this was a good time for my first long, possibly helpful and maybe informative, post. If it isn't then at least I have got it off my chest.
About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
Well done on the fix, an interesting one to say the least!About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
I have to comment though:
The switch is now only available with the steering lock unit, this is true - its an arse to fit (shear bolts etc - for security) and an OPC is held to fitting genuine parts so kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place there. Two hours is an optimistic estimate IMO too.
I doubt the specialist had direct contact with 'Porsche UK' the technical department have enough grief between us and the factory - and they consist of four very hard working guys (not much between 34 dealers). Diagnosing something over the phone is nigh on impossible - especially given the seemingly random / unconnected issues to begin with as well.
Don't feel this is an attack, I agree the outcome of this was great and you've saved a good deal of diagnosis labour etc. (Its helped me too
) but the network is full of hoops and red tape if you know what I mean - speaking as a tech. sometimes I really feel there is no space for 'thinking outside the box' it's all Menu Price this and Labour Code that.(Off me soap box now)
Again, congrats on the fix.
Edited by Pope on Saturday 18th July 09:43
The ignition switch assembly problem is fairly common for 97 - 02 986/996 models and we keep the lock in stock nowadays. Had one where the engine would still run with the key out of the lock!!!
If turning the key feels like stirring porridge, it needs a new lock.
We only install the updated Porsche lock assembly, as replacing the electrical part of the switch only is a repair we cannot warranty.
As it's basically a one time repair, why only do half the job?
The airbag light issue can be repaired with the updated seat belt latch and wiring harness update kit. Again, this is a one-time repair.
If turning the key feels like stirring porridge, it needs a new lock.
We only install the updated Porsche lock assembly, as replacing the electrical part of the switch only is a repair we cannot warranty.
As it's basically a one time repair, why only do half the job?
The airbag light issue can be repaired with the updated seat belt latch and wiring harness update kit. Again, this is a one-time repair.
wukfitz said:
I am not a regular poster to these forums, but am a regular reader so I thought this was a good time for my first long, possibly helpful and maybe informative, post. If it isn't then at least I have got it off my chest.
About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
Great post and might be what my problem is.About a year ago, not long after my last major service at Porsche Centre Silverstone (unrelated point and where, for the record, I have always received fantastic service) I noticed that my air bag warning light would come on sometimes whilst driving and then go off. Sometimes it would be on for the duration of the journey and sometimes not at all. This gradually got more and more common until it was on all the time. This is where the story starts..
I started searching on this forum, the Rennlist forums and a bit of Googling in between and found many references to the seat belt receptacles being the culprit for my issues, apparently replacing these would fix my problem. Thinking this was probably the case, I decided to ignore the little red light and wait until the car was next in for service and get it fixed then, I was informed by the various articles that the airbags were still probably functional anyhow.
During the next few months and few thousand miles my car started exhibiting several random electrical faults that began with the auto door locking not working. Next the interior lights would remain on after the doors had been shut and the engine started and the only way to turn them off was to put the switches above the rear view mirror to "off". I later discovered that opening and shutting the door (with the engine running), then locking the doors also turned the lights off, but that was just too random.
I quickly got to grips with the car's little foibles (even the stereo randomly turning off and back on once about every 10 journeys) and pretty much started to ignore them, knowing that my service was coming soon and it would all get sorted.
Next (and the thing that finally made me do something about it) the car became a nightmare to start. I found myself in the situation that if I turned the ignition to the on position and then tried to start the car it would not go. The only way was to turn it all the way to "start" from "off" immediately and then it was fine. Clearly this was not good behavior and really needed to get sorted, good job the service was the following week.
So.... Car delivered to a Porsche specialist who will remain nameless for a full 48k service and a few other bits, including a "Can you please sort out my airbag light" request. Within 5 minutes of leaving the garage they call me and tell me the car wont start at all...... Its the ignition problem, I forgot to tell the guy to turn it all the way at once.....
Anyhow, much later...... Service done and random electrical problems not solved at all... I am told the car has been on the computer and spat out some error codes they had not seen before, apparently phone calls to Porsche UK also shed no light so I was instructed to take it to a main dealer to get it diagnosed properly. I naively expected that a 911 specialist might have been able to "diagnose it properly", but hey ho !
Short of time, through having a new job and working away a lot, and also short of a desire to go to a main dealer to be fleeced of £150 for the privilege of having my car "diagnosed properly", I decided to hit the internet again and take matters into my own hands.
The car was now pretty much not driveable as it would not start most of the time leaving me worried about going somewhere and not being able to get back.
Google to the Rescue !
After an evenings Googling and only occasionally coming across some sites I should not have, I found a possible solution. I came across a blog of a guy who had an issue starting his 996 and pointed it to the ignition switch. Logical I thought so phoned Porsche and asked for a quote to replace mine. (at this point I wanted to car to just start and was not concerned about the previous mentioned problems). I was promptly quoted £199 for the part and "about 2 hours labour". Problem solved I thought, but no way was I paying someone knocking £500 after what I read lower down the page.
Apparently Porsche no longer sell the ignition switch as a separate part, which explains why i was quoted so much for it, but VW do and its the same part. A little Googling later and I had ordered the £25.48 ignition switch and sat down with a cup of tea to eagerly await its arrival.
48 hours later and the ignition switch arrived. Keen to get my car starting again, and armed with my pictorial instructions from my afternoon of internet searching, I began the "about 2 hour's labour" (for a qualified Porsche mechanic) worth of work to replace it.
22 minutes later.... I was done. And what happened next amazed me !
ALL ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS GONE.
Car started
No airbag light
Auto Lock worked
Interior Lights Worked
PSE worked (did i mention that got stuck in quiet mode, ugh !)
Stereo worked
I know this has gone on a bit, but I am writing it on a plane and would otherwise be bored and not have managed to zone out the screaming baby next to me.
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story, but it hopefully serves as a reminder of how useful the internet is, especially forums like this one. A computer software guy (me) armed with nothing but a laptop connected to the interweb diagnosed a problem that a 911 specialist and "calls to Porsche UK" could not. and further to that armed again with my interweb, a 2mm hex key and a small flat screwdriver managed in 22 minutes what a main dealer quoted 2 hours labour for...
Don't be put off by having a go yourself, when it comes down to it a 911 is bolted and plugged together in much the same way you old mini/beetle/escort was, it's just the plugs have more wires and the parts cost more.
And if you ever get a random electrical problem in a 996... Change the ignition switch, might be the best 25 quid you ever spend.
Do you have a part number for this part?
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for all the responses guys (+gals?), I have had no problems since my repair now and all is running perfectly as Ferdinand would have wanted !
To clarify something said above, I have since confirmed that Porsche indeed only supply the whole key, lock and ignition switch assembly and therefore might explain the price I was quoted, however if only the switch needs replacing then why do it all. If one of your windows were chipped you would not replace them all, just in case would you?
Anyhow, I am being flippant. I can confirm (for those that might only do low miles in their cars) that the car had done 56k miles when I did my repair and I have now passed 62k with no problems at all.
Again, thanks. And keep it up on one of the most informative and enjoyable forums i read !
To clarify something said above, I have since confirmed that Porsche indeed only supply the whole key, lock and ignition switch assembly and therefore might explain the price I was quoted, however if only the switch needs replacing then why do it all. If one of your windows were chipped you would not replace them all, just in case would you?
Anyhow, I am being flippant. I can confirm (for those that might only do low miles in their cars) that the car had done 56k miles when I did my repair and I have now passed 62k with no problems at all.
Again, thanks. And keep it up on one of the most informative and enjoyable forums i read !
Thought I might bring this back up as I too had a problem last night , ignition key wouldn't come out ! After finally getting out I went away tried again and lights wouldnt work and car wouldnt lock correctly. Googled and came across this thread. Ordered my switch this morn at GSF at £16 inc vat. Fitted it but on a 996 it was a t
t as the screws are facing upwards and you will need a short 3mm flat blade screwdriver and an inspection mirror ! Bit diff to the Boxster installation procedure !
Any way all good now
t as the screws are facing upwards and you will need a short 3mm flat blade screwdriver and an inspection mirror ! Bit diff to the Boxster installation procedure !Any way all good now
Brilliant, have book marked. Don't suppose you can advise on my wife's new beetle, the head gasket has gone and no garage wants to repair it or at best will have a go but no warranty on the work. All advise taking the car to the auction and getting rid. An immaculate car with less than 30K on the clock and its a scrapper 
Hi, ive had similar problems over the last few weeks with my 2001 boxster. First of all my key has been difficult to put in and out of the ignition. Then my wipers and jets stopped working completely and then after taking my key out of the ignition, if my stereo was on, it would fail to turn off after a few seconds and my keyfob wouldnt work to lock the doors. I put this down to an ignition problems so put it in the search on here and found your post.Ive now worked out that if after turning on the engine i turn the key back anticlockwise( without switching the engine off) the wipers work fine. Also when i take the key out of the ignition, it doesnt recognise its been taken out and thats why the stereo doesnt go off and the fob doesnt work( this seems to happen 50% of the time).Ive bought an ignition switch today from gsf and am thinking of fitting it myself, i looked on the pcgb website for a diy guide but couldnt find it. Can anybody give me some advice on how to get at the ignition switch, do i have to take the lower part of dash out? thanks for any help.
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