Advice on response to dealer service guy

[SigmaPi]

All,

So I took my 99 Boxster in yesterday to have a couple of items addressed under warranty (CPO).

1. When inserting key into ignition, sometimes the key will not turn and I have to fiddle with it for many minutes in order to get it to turn. While doing this sometimes the cars electrical system will turn on or won't turn off.

2. While sitting at a stop light idle will drop very low and then the engine catches and RPM's go back up. It has stalled a couple times as well.

Customer service rep calls me today and leaves the following message: Sir, I'm not sure what is wrong with your ignition,we can't recreate it. We also would like to know when the last time the battery died because voltage is very low. This could be part of your problems associated with the drop in RPM's and stall's as well as the electronics acting goofy. Please call me back at ###-####.

As far as I know, a bad battery does not physically lock the ignition to where I cannot turn the key. I am also unsure how he could make that leap unless I am missing something. As far as the RPM's dropping and the call stalling while at idle, that doesn't make sense either. If I have a bad battery on one of my other 2 cars, a bad battery does not make them stall, they simply run on the alternator and I can't start it once I shut it off. Anyone have any suggestions on how to approavh this when I talk to him tomorrow?

Sounds like a bad ignition switch. There are some DIYs on here, most say check ebay for a new one.

[SigmaPi]

"Sounds like a bad ignition switch. There are some DIYs on here, most say check ebay for a new one."


I know I already told them that, I also want them to fix it since the car is still under warranty.

[deliriousga]

You need to go through this forum, http://forums.rennlist.com and http://renntech.org and search for posts about all of the problems the bad ignition switch causes. Print a bunch of them and take them with you. If your warranty is getting close to the end, make sure it's fixed before it leaves the dealer. Be nice, but firm and take in copies of your research. Since yours is under warranty, they need to replace the entire mechanism with the updated switch and locking mechanism.

This kind of thing is why I never take her to the dealer. Many times they don't know what they are doing and they just replace a bunch of things that are just fine while playing the guessing game. By now they should be well aware of the ignition switch problem and that should be their first "guess".

[C5150]

Forgive me for any ignorance on my part - but are you sure the key not turning is not caused by the steeringwheel lock - released by turning the wheel a bit? (generally caused in my experience by not setting the e-brake before letting off the brake)

[Travis]

You're forgiven

I have had the same issue with the ignition switch, starts off feeling just like you mention below but gets worse as time goes on.

• Key will get stuck and must wiggle (the key) to remove
• when key removed radio & inside lights stay on
• AC will start acting up
• key will end up not being able to start car or even insert into ignition.

I replaced the plastic switch assembly and it has worked fine for 8 months, but i thought there was a TSB with this and the fix was to replace the entire ignition switch assembly. (took me 5 minutes and cost about $25.00)

Originally Posted by C5150

Forgive me for any ignorance on my part - but are you sure the key not turning is not caused by the steeringwheel lock - released by turning the wheel a bit? (generally caused in my experience by not setting the e-brake before letting off the brake)

[90red]

Not that this is a direct comparison, but on my inlaws car (GM car), they were not able to remove the key from the ignition because the battery was dead. It wasn't the steering wheel locking or anything like that, as soon as it was jumped, the key could be removed.

Originally Posted by SigmaPi

All,

So I took my 99 Boxster in yesterday to have a couple of items addressed under warranty (CPO).

1. When inserting key into ignition, sometimes the key will not turn and I have to fiddle with it for many minutes in order to get it to turn. While doing this sometimes the cars electrical system will turn on or won't turn off.

2. While sitting at a stop light idle will drop very low and then the engine catches and RPM's go back up. It has stalled a couple times as well.

Customer service rep calls me today and leaves the following message: Sir, I'm not sure what is wrong with your ignition,we can't recreate it. We also would like to know when the last time the battery died because voltage is very low. This could be part of your problems associated with the drop in RPM's and stall's as well as the electronics acting goofy. Please call me back at ###-####.

As far as I know, a bad battery does not physically lock the ignition to where I cannot turn the key. I am also unsure how he could make that leap unless I am missing something. As far as the RPM's dropping and the call stalling while at idle, that doesn't make sense either. If I have a bad battery on one of my other 2 cars, a bad battery does not make them stall, they simply run on the alternator and I can't start it once I shut it off. Anyone have any suggestions on how to approavh this when I talk to him tomorrow?