Instrument panel coming back on after arming alarm

[steve42]

My son and I replaced the ignition switch in my dad's 2001 Boxter yesterday with a Meyle Ignition Switch (W0133-1621815-MEY). He was experiencing difficulty inserting and removing the the key, so we followed Pedro's guide and got the part installed.

One of the other issues he was having that I assumed was related is that the instrument cluster will illuminate randomly when the car is not running and the alarm is set. Unfortunately, the new ignition switch does not appear to have resolved that. The dash goes dark when you close and lock the doors, but if you come back and check later, the dash illumination is back on.

Any clues? Any magic we should be performing as we exit the car to ensure the cluster stays dark?

Thanks,

Steve

[particlewave]

Your issue is likely a bad door latch switch or damage to the immobilizer.
My first step would be to open up the immobilizer and look for any signs of past water intrusion (corrosion). Next step would be checking the electrics in the door latches.

[KevinH1990]

I am not disagreeing with Particlewave. I’ve used a lot of the information he shares to my benefit. I suggest that you not rule out the possibility that the switch you installed is defective. I installed a Uro switch in my car and the dash light for the headlight switch was constantly illuminated. A second replacement fixed the problem. I saw that you used a Meyle switch. Meyle may have better quality control than Uro.

[steve42]

I got back over today to do some other work on the Boxster and took another look at the dash light situation.

Things I did:

Looked under the seat. There’s a wiring harness type box that attaches to the underside of the seat that was just hanging loose. I slipped it back onto the little bracket.

We don’t have a “female” Torx socket to remove the seat so I couldn’t get to the Immobilizer today. Any idea what size the Torx head is?

I manipulated the door switch mechanism with a screwdriver. Strangely when I tripped it to the closed position, the dash lights came on. When I tripped it open, they went off. The next visit over, I may have a chance to pull the door panel and look at the electronics in there as well as pulling the drivers seat.

[Qckslvr]

I don't remember the size of the torx bit, BUT I do know that the $10 torx set from Harbor Freight comes with it :P