986 electrical gremlins.

[Stuart little]

Hi,
I'm having a lot of electrical problems with my 2002 boxster s. It was not used all winter and the battery was flat. So I put a new battery in it and it started up perfectly.
Then about 2 miles down the road suddenly all electrics went crazy. The engine died. The hazard lights came on and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree.
The engine will restart but it cuts out after a minute or so. The alarm also goes off constantly and the windows and central locking also have a mind of their own. Sometimes they work sometimes not.

The first thought was water in the electrics under the seat. The carpets are damp but there's no puddles. So I removed the seat and checked the circuit board. It looks perfectly clean and dry. Now I'm not sure where to look next.

Any ideas of where else I can check for water in the electrics? Or any other possible causes?

[Stuart little]

[JFP in PA]

If the carpets are damp, you have an immobilizer related issue.

[Stuart little]

Ok so is that caused by the board in the picture or something else?

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by Stuart little

Ok so is that caused by the board in the picture or something else?

No. Something else. Likely caused by the board under your seat.

How old is your battery? Is your alternator properly working? Have you checked the health of your battery and alternator?

Maybe it's as simple as a bad battery. Not everything has to be a do/die scenario.

Check the battery.

[Bush Pilot]

I recently solved an electrical brown out issue where the car would go into a brown out mode and any additional current load put onto the system would cause the engine to stumble/quit. It turned out to be the Convertible Top Relay Module. Measure your battery voltage with the car running as it should, running in this mode you describe and not running and report back.

[Stuart little]

The problem was caused by the ignition switch. It was badly corroded inside and on the connector plug. Changed it out today and it fixed everything.
It's hard to believe that switch caused so many problems but it did.

[PLP]

Originally Posted by Stuart little

The problem was caused by the ignition switch. It was badly corroded inside and on the connector plug. Changed it out today and it fixed everything.
It's hard to believe that switch caused so many problems but it did.

Thanks for the response with your solution.

[Luckyman01]

Every case is different, mine was a compromised leg on the fuse holder, just under your thumb in the picture. A res-older solved my issues.

However, the ignition switch comment resonates with me

David