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.

Forum: General Discussions Post New Thread

[DrCactus]

"Radio comes on when a door is opened (no key in ignition) and goes off when door is closed."
*GUESSING: Installation issue - someone installed the power/relay to the wiring that probably powers the door lights. When using the cig lighter it is drawing too much power so the radio cuts due to not getting enough juice I would think. What kind of Radio do you have? I would take the radio totally out and replace it with something else and see what happens. Double check the wires and look for anything that may be fray or touching a ground/metal.

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by DrCactus

"Radio comes on when a door is opened (no key in ignition) and goes off when door is closed."
*GUESSING: Installation issue - someone installed the power/relay to the wiring that probably powers the door lights. When using the cig lighter it is drawing too much power so the radio cuts due to not getting enough juice I would think. What kind of Radio do you have? I would take the radio totally out and replace it with something else and see what happens. Double check the wires and look for anything that may be fray or touching a ground/metal.

Thanks

It is a Sony radio / CD and the Boxster just has the basic front speakers system (no CD changer or Amp, although it has the yellow amp plug)

The radio is wired into the existing Boxster radio Black Plugged wiring loom so I don't see how it can be connected to the door / interior light?

If I remember correctly when I spent some time on it a couple of weeks ago there are 2 feed wires going into the plug (red and yellow?) and was assuming one would be permanent live for radio memory and one would be switched from ignition but I think both were live most of the time.

It's all a bit random, it doesn't always behave the same way all of the time which made me think it was the ignition switch faulty but it really throws me when it switches off as soon as the wheels start moving! Got to be picking something up from the Speedo? On a wiring diagram I have I do see there is a GR/PK wire marked speedo but pretty sure it is just terminated at the black plug.

I have another OEM ignition switch on order from Pelican so once it arrives in the UK I can at least definitively rule out that part I guess.

[Run]

2003 has a canbus system there is a wire for the phone option that the radio should be connected to that turns it on / off via the key. It took me many an hour to find that nugget of info. If you can locate a wiring diagram been years since i did mine it will point out exactly what you need. The wire is in the center console right in front of the shifter under the trays. My guess is an amateur put the radio in and didn't know what he or she was doing. I would pull it all out and start over and do it correctly.

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by Run

2003 has a canbus system there is a wire for the phone option that the radio should be connected to that turns it on / off via the key. It took me many an hour to find that nugget of info. If you can locate a wiring diagram been years since i did mine it will point out exactly what you need. The wire is in the center console right in front of the shifter under the trays. My guess is an amateur put the radio in and didn't know what he or she was doing. I would pull it all out and start over and do it correctly.

Thanks.
I have a wiring diagram and it shows a yellow/black wire running from the Black Loom plug to the 'Telephone Preparation'. I will have to see if it is actually on my car and work out where to connect to on the Sony CD/Radio

[RichRobby]

Originally Posted by Run

2003 has a canbus system there is a wire for the phone option that the radio should be connected to that turns it on / off via the key. It took me many an hour to find that nugget of info. If you can locate a wiring diagram been years since i did mine it will point out exactly what you need. The wire is in the center console right in front of the shifter under the trays. My guess is an amateur put the radio in and didn't know what he or she was doing. I would pull it all out and start over and do it correctly.

Not sure what you are referring to here.

My tail of wow continues.
I have a wiring diagram.
The only live wires on my harness are the permanent live Red / Black and the Speedo wire which is switched live to the ignition (and the doors for some reason) and goes off being live when the speedo kicks in so is no use.

I am missing a true switched live which should be Orange according to the wiring diagram. It is not there!

According to the diagram it should go to radio black plug pin 7 and comes from - [86S|P154] - I do not know what that terminology means.

The wiring looms looks complete and original and unmodified but there is no switched live as I have said.

What is a little weird is that there is a Black/Purple wire in pin 2 yet there is no pin 2 marked on the wiring diagram.

I think I need to find a switched live from somewhere, pity the cigarette socket is permanent live.