Electrical problem

[st4rk]

For the past 2 months my low beams were having trouble turning on. I would turn them on and they would sit there blipping, along with every blip you could here an interference over the stereo.

Just a couple days ago it got to the point where they would not turn on, and even the car itself would not start! I remember struggling for several minutes, messing around with turning them off and on fast, and pulling on the high beam switch to somehow magically start the car.

But alas today, as I got off work in the freezing cold weather, the bastard car would not frickin start at all. Every trick I tried did not work, I even walked home and drove my other car to a hardware store to pickup some torx to try and unplug the headlight switch to inspect it. I tried jumpstarting it too and that did not work either.

At this point I have no idea whats going on, if I turn the key in the ignition to On, the airbag light comes on and some weird clicking sound can be heard and the door lock light flashes spasmatically. I really would like to get the POS started so I can drive it to a dealership and have them fix it. I really want to avoid towing it (it's now sitting dead on a compound that has restricted access, so getting the ***** off the lot will require some coordination with the guards).

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try next? I'm thinking its the ignition....

Thanks for any help. Luckily the car can sit there for a while and the guards shouldn't care.

Edited December 12, 2008 by st4rk

[demosan]

For the past 2 months my low beams were having trouble turning on. I would turn them on and they would sit there blipping, along with every blip you could here an interference over the stereo.

Just a couple days ago it got to the point where they would not turn on, and even the car itself would not start! I remember struggling for several minutes, messing around with turning them off and on fast, and pulling on the high beam switch to somehow magically start the car.

But alas today, as I got off work in the freezing cold weather, the bastard car would not frickin start at all. Every trick I tried did not work, I even walked home and drove my other car to a hardware store to pickup some torx to try and unplug the headlight switch to inspect it. I tried jumpstarting it too and that did not work either.

At this point I have no idea whats going on, if I turn the key in the ignition to On, the airbag light comes on and some weird clicking sound can be heard and the door lock light flashes spasmatically. I really would like to get the POS started so I can drive it to a dealership and have them fix it. I really want to avoid towing it (it's now sitting dead on a compound that has restricted access, so getting the ***** off the lot will require some coordination with the guards).

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try next? I'm thinking its the ignition....

Thanks for any help. Luckily the car can sit there for a while and the guards shouldn't care.

I agree with you it sounds like a classic ignition switch problem. Usually you possibly could wiggle the key in the ignition and get it catch to start, but given the problem being tw omonths old the switch may be a 'hard faliure".

Good Luck!! demosan

[st4rk]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that wiggling the key does nothing either.

[juniinc]

wiggling the key doesnt always work?

[1schoir]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that wiggling the key does nothing either.

From the symptoms you describe, I am not 100% sure that the ignition switch is your problem, but if you want to try replacing the (electrical portion of) tje switch, it's pretty straightforward (and cheap), as long as you are flexible and can work upside down, on your back.

Here is a link to the details and more information, including a DIY: http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/ignitionswitchreplacement

Regards, Maurice.

[st4rk]

Ok, so I visited the car today and tried unplugging and plugging back in the ignition in case it was loose or something. Didn't work. But I did manage to get the car started, I found some weird procedure of turning the lights on and turning the key in the ignition.

I had to jumpstart it though, and it barely fired up when I did (on the first try). While it was running the heads up display was flickering like crazy, any time I turned on the lights the battery voltage would dip very low, almost to the point of the car turning off.

I managed to limp the car home, one time I went up to about 4500 rpms and the car almost stalled out and died. If the lights were on they were flickering pretty good, as well as anything else lit up inside the car.

So is this the symptom of a bad ignition? Or could it be the alternator? I will go ahead and order and ignition anyways.

[juniinc]

sounds like a faulty alternator to me,,,most likely VR.

[st4rk]

Just wondering though, if it was the alternator wouldn't the problems only come up after the car had been started? I thought the alternator was only used while the car was running, and it's basically doing nothing unless the belt is running and activating it....also when the car is running there are no other lights signifying any issues with the engine or car.

Edited December 14, 2008 by st4rk

[RFM]

Let check the battery and the ground point to start with, problems with battery's and grounds can give some strange effects.

[wvicary]

I also think your battery is at fault but you might have two problems. The ignition switch is easy to replace and I would change it out as a matter of course as the failure rate is very high on both units.

[CMiYC]

The lights pulsing with the radio makes it sound like the battery (and/or alternator). Or as RFM suggests, there is a ground problem.

How old is the car and how old is your battery?

[st4rk]

Since I'm impatient, and was bored 10 minutes ago, I went out to the car again to mess around with the ignition switch. I took it out (that was fun, my arm is cramped) and took it apart. I noticed some gunk on the tip of it (where it plugs into the igntion), I cleaned that off and scored some of the metal connector parts. I then realised I didn't know how to put it back together the way I took it apart, but winged it anyways. I had to hook the car up again to my other cars battery, since I had left the headlights in the on position I'm guessing it drained the battery somehow...

So with my one hand holding the ignition switch in place, I used my other one to turn the key in the ignition to on. Nothing happened, I jiggled the switch around and the airbag light lit up pretty bright. Then while the key was in the on position I turned the headlights on, and the entire car came to life!

The litronics did not turn on, but everything else worked - high beams, radio, signals, etc. I tried to start the car, but it did not fire up and I'm guessing because I put the switch back together incorrectly. After jiggling the switch around the car basically shut off again and I was dead in the water. I couldn't find the sweet spot again, and decided to call it quits until the new switch came in.

On the brightside, everything still worked for a few minutes at least. So hopefully the new switch should fix this issue.

[1schoir]

Since I'm impatient, and was bored 10 minutes ago, I went out to the car again to mess around with the ignition switch. I took it out (that was fun, my arm is cramped) and took it apart. I noticed some gunk on the tip of it (where it plugs into the igntion), I cleaned that off and scored some of the metal connector parts. I then realised I didn't know how to put it back together the way I took it apart, but winged it anyways. I had to hook the car up again to my other cars battery, since I had left the headlights in the on position I'm guessing it drained the battery somehow...

So with my one hand holding the ignition switch in place, I used my other one to turn the key in the ignition to on. Nothing happened, I jiggled the switch around and the airbag light lit up pretty bright. Then while the key was in the on position I turned the headlights on, and the entire car came to life!

The litronics did not turn on, but everything else worked - high beams, radio, signals, etc. I tried to start the car, but it did not fire up and I'm guessing because I put the switch back together incorrectly. After jiggling the switch around the car basically shut off again and I was dead in the water. I couldn't find the sweet spot again, and decided to call it quits until the new switch came in.

On the brightside, everything still worked for a few minutes at least. So hopefully the new switch should fix this issue.

Good going! :clapping:

Here is a link to a DIY for the ignition switch, with some photos of the connections:

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/ignitionswitchreplacement

Regards, Maurice.

[st4rk]

I went to the dealership today and bought a new switch. I installed it right away and checked to make sure everything was working before I tightened those tiny screws down. Everything worked fine. All the interior lights came on, all the electrical worked. I didn't start the car, just turned the key to "on" position.

Took the key out, and tightened the screws down. I then put the key back in and started moving my seat forward, then turned the key back to the on position and everything died! It's now back to where it was.

So the new switch did not work, what could be the problem now?

This is pissing me off to no end.

[st4rk]

The saga continues - Episode IV: A new hope

So after I cooled down from being utterly pissed off, I went back out to the car and tried everything out again. Nothing worked of course, but I started to inspect the battery. I couldn't tell that it was old or anything, and the terminals were free of corrosion. I then started to jiggle the ground cable and suddely I heard a click and my hazards were flashing (I had turned them on apparently). I open the door and turn the key and everything worked.....

I then disconnected the battery and cleaned the terminals, and cables, and where the ground point is. I reconnected it and it would not turn over. I had already purchased a new battery earlier since a coworker said to just try the battery for ****s and giggles.

After installing the new battery the car is fine now (I think). The litronics turn on every time, nothing is flickering, I can go into high rpms with no issues, the voltage is steady.

But now I hear an audible click from the clutch pedal every time I shift. You know how to push in the clutch pedal to start the car and it'll make a clicking sound? I hear that after the car is started....I'm not certain I heard that before but I hope it's not an issue.

Well we'll see how long this lasts, I'm very pessimistic though, and still wondering why a bad ground point would cause the litronics not to come on, but the rest of the car to work perfectly fine?

Thanks for the help though.

[1999Porsche911]

The saga continues - Episode IV: A new hope

So after I cooled down from being utterly pissed off, I went back out to the car and tried everything out again. Nothing worked of course, but I started to inspect the battery. I couldn't tell that it was old or anything, and the terminals were free of corrosion. I then started to jiggle the ground cable and suddely I heard a click and my hazards were flashing (I had turned them on apparently). I open the door and turn the key and everything worked.....

I then disconnected the battery and cleaned the terminals, and cables, and where the ground point is. I reconnected it and it would not turn over. I had already purchased a new battery earlier since a coworker said to just try the battery for ****s and giggles.

After installing the new battery the car is fine now (I think). The litronics turn on every time, nothing is flickering, I can go into high rpms with no issues, the voltage is steady.

But now I hear an audible click from the clutch pedal every time I shift. You know how to push in the clutch pedal to start the car and it'll make a clicking sound? I hear that after the car is started....I'm not certain I heard that before but I hope it's not an issue.

Well we'll see how long this lasts, I'm very pessimistic though, and still wondering why a bad ground point would cause the litronics not to come on, but the rest of the car to work perfectly fine?

Thanks for the help though.

Don't know what year your car is but there is a cotter pin that holds the clutch pedal to the bracket. Often, this pin interfers ever so slightly with the pedal movement causing a clicking sound. Look under the dash and push the pin inward towards the center of the car.

Edited December 19, 2008 by 1999Porsche911

[bmohr]

My 99 996 makes a clicking noise everytime I depress the clutch all the way to the floor. No big deal there. Glad you figured things out. So it was a ground/bat issue then?