Electrical Gremlins!
 

I have recently acquired a 2001 Boxster S with less than 50k on the clock. I have been sorting through multiple issues to get this back on the road, and this last one has me stumped. The dash warning lights do not come on when you turn the key to the on position unless you leave it on for about 30 sec then they pop on. If you start the car the dash lights, tach, water temp and fuel gauge will not come on until 30 to 40 seconds have passed. The air bag warning light stays on even after you shut off the car remove the key and get out. The light will go out after all of the interior lights shut off. checking it with a durametric the fault shows air bag light. and will not clear the fault. It clears on the computer but the light stays on. Also the switch for the spoiler will not work up or down, the spoiler is stuck up. I can control it with the durmetric and once it is down I have pulled the relays. I have installed a new ignition switch from Pelican I have unhooked and connected the battery, checked fuses. I do not have any history on this car but I am thinking for about the past four years it was not taken care of, and I am not sure if the ECM got wet or not it does not show any signs of moisture or flooding that I can see. I am open to any suggestions at this point.
Thank you

By ecm you mean the DME right? If so, that is in the trunk. The immbolizer is what is under the seat but since the car starts that is most likely no the issue. Issue is most likely the ignition switch which are very common to fail and cause weird things but you said you already did that.

Didn't know you could control the spoiler with durametric. You can turn the light on/off but I dont remember seeing where you could active it up or down.

Any chance the cluster has been upgraded to one of the 996 versions?

Have you replaced your ignition switch yet? I hate throwing parts at cars but in this case, the part is only $15 and will fail at some point.

Thing is, a bad ignition switch will cause all sorts of weird crap to happen that'll having you chasing ghosts all over your car.

On various Boxster's I've owned, I've seen interior lights that didn't want to turn off, a stereo that would light up but not play (would work fine sometime, sometimes no sound). Same car had AC blower that would not blow (AC worked fine and sometimes it worked fine after starting).

Thing is, on all the cars, the weird stuff went away with a new switch.

He said he did

what you could do is get it to act strange then disconnect the ignition switch and see if the lights go out. You didn't say if the one you got was an oem one or aftermarket like Uro brand

It has not had the 996 upgrade but I am thinking on trying that. The one issue with this car is the I am fairly sure the odometer has been tampered with, and every thing is pointing to the dash. I have a 996 gauge set I was going to install later but I think I will try it sooner.

Thanks

if you have a durametric, what does milage say? Does the vin match?

Have you replaced the ignition switch?

I bought a 2004 Boxster S and had several instrument cluster light issues that were finally resolved by replacing the head lamp switch. As others mentioned, I hate to throw parts at it but that switch replacement worked for me