Ignition switch swap in 10 minutes could be something else?

[rsfeller]

Here is a long post and story, I wouldn't mind feed back if I really fixed my issue.

my new to me 986 has had many common failure trends that are easy fixes (for DIYers) including the horn bushings, seat belt buckles causing SRS lights and now the ignition switch.

i felt there was a little stiffness in the igniition switch and have a inexpensive ignition switch from ebay on the way. regardless I felt it was safe enough for the wife to drive 1 hour to work on friday. not the case. she called me a lunch to tell me the tumbler would not turn at all from the "0" position so the car would not move. since she was and hour away and I had I things to do at work I told her to run to the Porsche dealer and get the part while I printed the instructions I had seen posted here on this simple swap. The Porsche dealer is a two minute ride from her office in Columbus Ohio...I'll leave the dealer name out of this.

while in transit she called to tell me the porsche dealer suggested the entire $200 assembly would be the better swap (no surprise as I read about this recommended swap) and it was about 4+ hours in labor. She was told the ignition switch was most likly NOT the fix and to keep in mind the parts are not refundable. I told her that I just wanted the $44 ignition switch and even asked her to talk the staff into making a house call two minutes down the street to swap it out. since it's a 10 minute job they could charge us for an hour. Since my wife is incredibly cute and has a way of making men do things against there better judgement I thought it was a good chance to save me two hours in the car on Friday during rush hour.

The service manager said where did she get the idea this was a 10 minute job, of course. She called me to say that the Porsche service manager would offer me a job if I could do such a task in under 15 minutes as he knows for a fact it is a two hour job to get to the ignition switch. Needless to say armed only with a flash light and computer screw driver I had the switches swapped in less then 5 minutes. The hardest part was trying to get the left side of the AC duct to fit back together! I fought for that for over 15 minutes later at home that night. In defense of the Porsche dealer the job could have been more difficult of rmy little screwdriver had the paint been harder to remove. Posibly this job was done before!

Of note after pulling the wiring harness of the back of the ignition switch and wiggling things the ignition key/tumbler did turn and I did get the car started. I proceed to swap the ignition switch anyways.

She acutally made an appointment that same day to have them run error codes on our AAC that is not producing much heat. I figured even at the outragous $140+ per hour rate I could at least find out what codes my Durametric software is not showing and find an answer to which sensor or such in the AAC is faulty. Laren has suggested the PST2 could show voltage and ohm readings of servos, flaps and sensors to pin point the problem.

Here are my questions:

Does Porsche in fact show several hours to fix the ignition switch minus the tumbler and silver housing?

If so do they have some long route to removing the dash for those techs not small enough to crawl around under the vehicle...or is just a scam of sort? (dealer = stealer)

I replaced the 4A0 905 849B which the parts guy had no issues giving to my wife while the service department said it was most likly the tumbler closest to the key (maybe part 996 347 917 00 ?). Does this tumbler in fact fail often?

I also read that failure of the ignition switch is often accompanied by electrical system oddities which I had not experienced (fans, lights or stereo working intermitantly). So does the ignition key tend to turn when it fails but not allow ignition or does it fact fail to turn from a faulty ingnition switch as in our case? I'm wondering if the lock tumbler is yet to fail, it still feels a bit stiff but I'm sure I'm just parinoid.

Should I keep away from the dealer for something as simple as pulling codes and determining (not fixing) my AAC concern based on their claim of two hours to swap thw switch? I have NOT found and idie shop in Columbus yet for tasks I cannot handle. My wife said the though he said $140+ per hour for service, does this seem correct for your market? My saab indie shop still charges $70 an hour so I must be living in black hole!

[Tool Pants]

The switch for my 1997 has been replaced twice by the dealer, so I have not had the pleasure of standing on my head under the dash. First around 1998 under warranty. Warranty back then was 2 years.

Then again in 1999 after the warranty expired there was a recall for just a few 1997 Boxsters, about 3,200 cars. Never understood why all 986/996s have not recalled as that VW/Audi switch has been a problem until 2003 when Porsche stopped using it. There have been 4 versions of the switch. Go on an Audi board and they have the same problem.

Peter Smith says he can do it in 5 minutes. I think the shop rate at my dealer is about $155, but this is Silicon Valley. I have never asked what they charge. They remove the air duct and go under the dash.

If the red paint was gone then yours was probably replaced before. When a switch is replaced they do not put red paint back on.

I am supprised your dealer had the switch unless they are also a VW/Audi dealer. When Porsche pulled the part my parts department started selling a made in China switch, that had more problems then the German switch.

When a switch fails it can do many funky things. The mechanics gave me 2 bad switchs and I took 1 apart. There is a picture of it around here. A piece of plastic broke off inside and it was hard to turn. I have not taken the other one apart yet but it is easy to turn, so something else must be wrong.

[rsfeller]

The switch for my 1997 has been replaced twice by the dealer, so I have not had the pleasure of standing on my head under the dash. First around 1998 under warranty. Warranty back then was 2 years.

Then again in 1999 after the warranty expired there was a recall for just a few 1997 Boxsters, about 3,200 cars. Never understood why all 986/996s have not recalled as that VW/Audi switch has been a problem until 2003 when Porsche stopped using it. There have been 4 versions of the switch. Go on an Audi board and they have the same problem.

Peter Smith says he can do it in 5 minutes. I think the shop rate at my dealer is about $155, but this is Silicon Valley. I have never asked what they charge. They remove the air duct and go under the dash.

If the red paint was gone then yours was probably replaced before. When a switch is replaced they do not put red paint back on.

I am supprised your dealer had the switch unless they are also a VW/Audi dealer. When Porsche pulled the part my parts department started selling a made in China switch, that had more problems then the German switch.

When a switch fails it can do many funky things. The mechanics gave me 2 bad switchs and I took 1 apart. There is a picture of it around here. A piece of plastic broke off inside and it was hard to turn. I have not taken the other one apart yet but it is easy to turn, so something else must be wrong.

The red paint was still there but it turned way to easy, so I got luck. The Porsche place is a Vw dealer to and he had no problem giving us that switch. He did try to upsell but when we told him the symptoms he didn't press with the entire tumbler housing that Porsche now pushes. The techs did and they acted like the tumbler fails more then the ignition switch which seems to be opposite everything I have read.

Was ready for the parts department to tell me they didn't have it any more and I told him they may need to cross reference it with an audi/vw switch. He said it doubt they were interchangable...What is it with these dealers? Do they really not have that much experience connecting the dots on failure trends or are they just playing hardball and "know-it-all"?

[Tool Pants]

Mechanics don't go to the front parts counter where the customers are to get parts. There is a "back" parts counter just for the mechanics, at least at my dealer. The back guy is the best parts guy that knows his stuff.

When I have a problem or a question about a part that the front guy does not know about, I go to the back guy in the service area.

And, it was cheaper to buy the switch from Porsche rather than VW/Audi.

[Chris_in_NH]

is the 'red paint' loctite or is it 'paint'? if it is 'paint', what is the purpose? to allow you to find the screws more easily? hmmm...

[rsfeller]

is the 'red paint' loctite or is it 'paint'? if it is 'paint', what is the purpose? to allow you to find the screws more easily? hmmm...

It is hard to tell what is is. If it's paint it is serving the same purpose as it really don't appear to be on the treads just in the hole to prevent it from turning as the screws are not torqued very hard.

[yeeha68]

The dealer told me $500. had to replace the entire lock, and told me I couldnt do it because I would have to take apart the better part of the dash. AND I would need the PST2 to reprogram the switch to start.

...WHAT AN A$$

New ignition switch at autohausaz.com... $9.00

My time to swap it out...less then 30min (for a first timer)

All better!

Edited December 1, 2006 by yeeha68

[rsfeller]

Yea when my girlfriend picked up the part they told her she would be back for the entire tumbler assembly. So on here say their local dealer ONLY sells the full assembly now, while my had not problem with just the switch.

I wonder what makes them feel the entire tumber fails more often as evidence on this board points to 90% ignition switch only.

screw dealers.

[Tool Pants]

New ignition switch at autohausaz.com... $9.00

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...amp;#entry54098

[yeeha68]

Yea, I'm sure its a cheap one, but the simplicity it takes to swap it out, and the few extra switches I got will make it worth it if it lasts awhile. We'll see... time will tell.