Ignition Switch out. Grrr! - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

RandallNeighbour · 07-13-2005, 05:48 AM

Had a mixed blessing tonight. Left the office and discovered I had no fan for the A/C compressor. The windshield wipers didn't work either.

When I got home, I was going to check the fuse panel and discovered that I had to wrestle with the key to get it out of the ignition. Took a lot of force to turn it to the far left so I could remove it. The ignition switch had gone out, and that was the cause of the electrical problems... they're all wired into the accessory position of the ignition switch.

Hans, my trusty independent mechanic who only works on Porsches in the evenings and weekends, told me to bring it over ... he had a new ignition switch and it would take ten minutes to install it!

$50 later, I was driving home happy it didn't happen to me between El Paso and San Diego, where no Porsche dealerships are readily available. Even if I was a block from a dealership, Lord knows they'd have charged me $500 or more and I would have no choice but to bend over and take it like an inmate.

So, for all of you owners of older Boxsters who have yet to have this cheap plastic part die on you, see if you can find just the plastic part and not the whole lock assembly, which I have heard Porsche no longer sells separately. The whole assembly is 4x more than just the ignition switch, and takes 1.5 hours of labor to install, versus 10 minutes.

Search threads on "ignition switch" here on this forum and you'll find links that ToolPants has posted on renntech with a picture of it and the part number. If you can find one at an Audi or VW parts counter now, it's one of those things you should buy and throw in your tool box if you plan to keep your Boxster for a couple of years.

deliriousga · 07-13-2005, 06:06 AM

You can get just the ignition switch at AutoZone for $32 (in GA $).

It's listed under the Boxster and everything. The manager nearly passed out when I asked for it and it popped up on his screen.

RandallNeighbour · 07-13-2005, 06:25 AM

Now that's GREAT News! I'll pass it along.

There's no chance that Autozone has a radiator fan for the boxster, do they?

deliriousga · 07-13-2005, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

There's no chance that Autozone has a radiator fan for the boxster, do they?

Waaaahaaaahaaaaa!!! Now that's funny!

The only reason they have the switch is because it's the same one on several VW's and Audi's.

What's wrong with the fan? Is it just making a noise or is it dead? I'm about to take one apart to see if I can get to the bearings and replace them. It makes a vibrating sound when it's winding down so it will eventually burn the motor out as it gets worse. If it's just the sound I can let you know if I get the bearings out and where to get them when I'm finished. It'll probably be about $15-$20 with shipping when it's done if they can be replaced.

RandallNeighbour · 07-13-2005, 06:44 AM

It's dead. The PST tool can't get it to work, and my mechanic says if it was just the resistor, the fan would work with the PST tool's commands. I'm ordering another this morning so I don't overheat on my trip.

My other one does make a racket while spinning up and down, so I'm sure I'll need bearings for it or a new one of those as well soon enough. Be sure to PM me or post a reply to the other thread I just posted about this repair when you find out.

Sounds like you're a "I'll fix this myself and tear it down to have a look" kind of guy. I'm just a little too scared to do that with some of the parts on our cars, but I'm getting better as the months go by. If I didn't have a great mechanic who charges such reasonable rates, I'd be under my car all the time.

PS - John, be sure to take digital photos of the repairs you do and post them. You can't imagine how nice this is for fearful guys like me. We actually get all excited about doing the work when we have pictures to guide us through the repair.

deliriousga · 07-13-2005, 07:47 AM

When I got the 928 and bought a car that was, in today's dollars, a $100K+ car new and I only paid $10K, I researched repair costs. My deal with my wife was if I could get the car, I would do all of the maintenance myself. I have learned a ton about Porsches since I got it last October so I started working on the Boxster with the 60K maintenance. When I saved $600 doing that, my wife liked it so I get to work on the Boxster for everything now.

I just started putting my family website together last night. I'm including sections on the Boxster and 928 with repair info along with pics. There is a ton of info and DIY stuff out there for the 928 because it's older, but the Boxster doesn't have much in the way of instruction with pics. When I did the 928 clutch, there was no write-up for the later clutch that I have so I took 130+ pics of everything I did. I do that anyway to make sure I'm putting things back together right so I'll just share the ones I take of the Boxster in its' own section. Once I have the site running somewhat with some useful info on it, I'll put it in my signature.

Most stuff is pretty easy to do if you have a small amount of mechanical ability. You just have to be able to follow the directions and pay close attention to what you are doing and take a deep breath when it gets difficult or doesn't work right for you. The great thing about these forums is people find little things that make jobs much easier. It keeps you from going through the frustrating part of figuring things out.

Rail26 · 07-13-2005, 12:04 PM

"Lord knows they'd have charged me $500 or more and I would have no choice but to bend over and take it like an inmate."

Randallneighbor, great quote! Made my day. The one-liners on this forum are hilarious.

RandallNeighbour · 07-16-2005, 10:52 AM

Ok, here's an update on the engine running hot problem I had. It wasn't an overheating problem, so note that if your box goes over the white line past the 180 numbers (not the "shut off the car" line on the FAR right, but that one just right of center, you may have a fan or a resistor problem in one of your fans.

My number one, driver's side radiator fan was fried indeed. Hans, my mechanic and now best friend in the whole wide world charged me $100 to install it last night. Took him about 1.5 hours and lots of grunting and cussing in German. Learned another word my mother would wash my mouth out with soap over if she heard me say it! He had to remove the front wheel, peel back the wheel well plastic, remove two braces, a bunch of screws and bolts, and forcibly yank out the fan housing to replace the fan.

I now think I can do this on the other side. Just gotta remember from where the bolts were removed and that it's ok to push and shove it back together and cuss in German if you know enough dirty words in that language.

The part was $300 or more from the local dealer and only $185 from Sunset Porsche. I cannot tell you how much I love this dealerships friendly staff, quick shipping and excellent pricing!

Hope this helps those of you who encounter this problem.