Proud New Owner Saying Hi and wither Another Weird Electrical Problem

[RichRobby]

Hi

Very pleased to be a new 2003 Boxster owner and a newcomer to this great forum. This is my first Porsche with absolutely no regrets. a beautiful yellow example of this fine car. It's many a year since I've had anything quite so powerful and fun - the last time about 30 years ago when I had a Toyota Supra!

I've been lurking for a while and searched most of the posts regarding electrical issues before posting here;

Here is my tale of woe concerning an aftermarket radio issue.

Radio comes on when a door is opened (no key in ignition) and goes off when door is closed.
Radio generally works OK when the car is started but goes off when you start driving ( I think once the speedo registers a speed) but it may flash on and off at any time whilst driving.
It has occasionally acted weird when I plugged phone into cigarette lighter socket to charge it. (is it normal this socket is permanently live?).
It can act completely different if the hood is down.

Now, I think you might be saying it is the ignition switch electrical contact part that is failing and that is another story.

UK Porsche dealer wants £130 for a replacement (I see that mine actually has the Audi logo on it?)

I found one here in the UK for an unbelievable £5.99 delivered which I bought and it came the next day see Ignition Switch 4A0 905 849 B / 4A0 905 849
It looks identical except for the Audi logo with all numbers and letters the same.

It didn't really work when I fitted it as I was getting the key was in the lock message when it wasn't, along with other problems. Only £5.99 lost but disappointed I didn't get any closer to sorting the problem. Fitted the original back in and everything back to 'normal'.
Should I be surprised that a £5.99 replacement didn't work, well it really looked the part and I can't really see why it shouldn't. (since taken it apart and there isn't much technology inside it, maybe I just had a faulty one).

So... should I try a different replacement part (but not the £130 Porsche supplied one).
I see this is OEM part is available for a reasonable cost from the USA 986/996 Ignition Switch (1997-2003) - 5150motorsport, LLC.

And after all this, do you guys think that my problem is actually the ignition switch and do I need to rule that out first?

Hopefully this will also help others in the future.

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