oil light and battery light on - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

pteam · 07-04-2007, 03:15 PM

Ok so after I installed 1 of the heated seats and the HID light kit , sometimes the oil light and battery light comes on when you start up the car. If you turn the car off then back on those lights wont come on again. Ive only had the car for a few weeks but I dont think these lights came on before both of these installs. We tripped the airbag light when we disconnected the seats (without disconnecting the battery).

Any idea why the oil light and battery light would come on at the same time? only sometimes? The oil indicator test comes on when you start the car and moves around but I dont know what to look for. I havnt checked the oil level but I will.

FrayAdjacent · 07-05-2007, 10:14 AM

You'd have to refer to a wiring diagram, but maybe something got tapped to a circuit for the oil warning light? Maybe something wired to the wrong fuse?

pteam · 07-06-2007, 02:10 PM

The oil level is 2 notches below the line. Looks good too me. Where should it be at right at the line? Should I buy a quart?

Also how do you know when an oil change is due? I just bought the car.

The funny thing is the oil and battery light together only come on maybe 1 out of 10 times when starting the car.

IowaS · 07-06-2007, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pteam

The oil level is 2 notches below the line. Looks good too me. Where should it be at right at the line? Should I buy a quart?

Also how do you know when an oil change is due? I just bought the car.

The funny thing is the oil and battery light together only come on maybe 1 out of 10 times when starting the car.

My oil level fluctuates quite a bit based on the digital read-out, sometimes right after I get gas and the engine is hot is shows two bars below, after sitting level over night it usually shows full...

OldBlevins · 07-06-2007, 02:56 PM

[QUOTE=pteam]The oil level is 2 notches below the line. Looks good too me. Where should it be at right at the line? Should I buy a quart?

Also how do you know when an oil change is due? I just bought the car.
QUOTE]

Assuming you didn't buy the car from a private party (you'd have gotten maintenance records, yes?), can you check with the dealer that sold it to you on whether they did an oil change? I'd also check to see what kind of oil they used. (I got my Boxster from a Toyota dealer who had picked it up at an auction, and they had helpfully changed the oil but not used a synthetic.) If you can't find out, I'd suggest changing the oil just to be on the safe side.

Quote:

"The oil indicator test comes on when you start the car and moves around but I dont know what to look for. I havnt checked the oil level but I will."

On my 986, when the oil indicator first comes on, there's a little countdown number next to it to allow oil to drain into the pan for an accurate measurement. It takes about 30 seconds and the indicator flashes in the meantime. When the countdown hits zero, it shows the oil level. It kind of alarmed me, actually, the first time I saw that, til I RTFM.

RandallNeighbour · 07-06-2007, 03:30 PM

It's been discussed ad nauseum here on the forum, but here's how to use the very accurate digital oil level display on your dash...

1. Check the oil in the morning when your engine is cold or has been sitting for at least an hour.
2. Make sure the car is sitting on a level surface.

If you check your oil via the digital display after just stopping the engine, a lot of oil (up to half a quart or more) will still be in the engine and not in the pan where it would be measured.

Each bar represents about a cup of oil for a recipe for adding oil when its low.

klyeo · 06-15-2010, 05:47 AM

Have you solve this issue ?

I just installed the HID and the same thing is happening.

Bobiam · 06-19-2010, 12:20 PM

I experienced exactly what you are talking about. Mine was from http://www.cqlight.ca/. They tried to tell me that I didn't get the "resister" that I supposed to get when they shipped it. They sent me substitute wiring with some resister or something in it. I installed it as instructed and there was NO improvement.

I research the thing for many months and finally gave up when it started doing some wacky thing with my spoiler (thumping it rapidly!!!). There are threads in this forum or Renntech that describe my problems.
THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO EVERYONE....I DON'T KNOW WHY.

Sorry to say, but I finally gave up and sent the whole thing back to the mfg/distributor, and went back to halogens. This is unsolvable as far as I have learned. NO PROBLEMS EVER SINCE.

My indicator lights would come on when I turned on the headlights while the car was running. I would have to pull over and restart the car to correct it.

I wish I could help you, but I think you are going to loose this battle. I'll be VERY interested if you solve the problem...

Bob

aaroncaserta · 09-16-2010, 09:20 PM

Bobiam, the same exact thing has been happening to my 986 when I turn on my lights. Especially at night time for some reason (maybe because it's cooler outside?) I had a friend install some HID lights in a couple weeks after I bought it and the problem began shortly thereafter.

I start the car and as soon as I turn on the lights the spoiler starts making this fast clicking sound. If I reach down and press the rocker switch in for a second that moves the spoiler up manually, it stops. The stupid oil light comes on too. If I restart the car it goes away.

What gives??

Bobiam · 09-17-2010, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaroncaserta

Bobiam, the same exact thing has been happening to my 986 when I turn on my lights. Especially at night time for some reason (maybe because it's cooler outside?) I had a friend install some HID lights in a couple weeks after I bought it and the problem began shortly thereafter.

I start the car and as soon as I turn on the lights the spoiler starts making this fast clicking sound. If I reach down and press the rocker switch in for a second that moves the spoiler up manually, it stops. The stupid oil light comes on too. If I restart the car it goes away.

What gives??

Ya just know in your heart that there's some other electrical @$^# going on that is not as obvious. Personally, I would not chance what was going to happen next and put the halogen's back in. Darn HID light is really nice, though! Oh well.
Bobiam

JFP in PA · 09-17-2010, 07:09 AM

I hate to tell you how many times I have seen this; it is most likely the aftermarket HID kit, these cars do not like them. We have had to remove several of them to get the MIL lights to go out. And Porsche is not the only make that have this issue, and these cheap kits sometimes cause other, more expensive damage to the electronics, which makes me wonder why, when there exists a totally compatible OEM HID system, people continue to experiment with this aftermarket crap……….

Bobiam · 09-17-2010, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

.................. when there exists a totally compatible OEM HID system, people continue to experiment with this aftermarket crap……….

No brainer! Less than $200 vs several thousand $s. The shortcomings are not too obvious until the kit is installed. Although the kit is cheap, the lighting is GREAT. I hated to give mine up, but I was able to get a full refund, so it was just a PITA lesson learned.

JFP in PA · 09-17-2010, 11:28 AM

People considering aftermarket HID kits need to know that along with being cheap, they are problematic, failure prone, and in many states are totally illegal (ticket bait due to excessive glare, some states now even require towing the car if you get caught) and will also not pass several state inspections………..but they are cheap……….

I’ve driven Porsches with both the after market and OEM HID’s, and there is absolutely no comparison, the OEM’s are that much better (due to the focusing unit) that they are worth the money……..