Long delay before instruments light up

[mshovelt]

Hi,

My 2002 996 Carrera 4 Cabriolet has just developed a fault and I'm wondering if anybody else has encountered this before and what the likely faulty component is.

A few days ago, I started it up, switched on the headlights and noticed that the instruments took several seconds to light up. The warning lights and LCD displays were lit up straightaway as were the headlights. Since then the delay has gotten rapidly longer to the point that I can now drive it for 5-10 minutes without ever seeing the dash light up. Last night I accidentally left the lights on after parking up (the headlight warning bong isn't working either) and several hours later when I noticed this, I also noticed that the instruments were lit up and the headlight warning bong working again.

Googling around, I see that there have been problems with the headlight switch and ignition switch that can cause these functions to fail. But this doesn't appear to apply here as the fault appears to resolve itself if the car is sat switched off for a period of time - i.e. it doesn't appear to be a dodgy contact issue.

Any ideas, anybody?

Thanks,

Matt

[goldenwarrior1]

I would suspect the light switch. Had a similar problem with my headlights a few months back. Replaced the headlight switch and no problems since. DIY is available with a search and is very easy with minimal tools. Switch from suncoast Porsche is about 92.00.

[phillipj]

Could possibly be your ignition switch as well. They can make all kinds of strange things happen. Try giggling your key when turning on your lights. If you get no reaction the at least you can rule it out..

[lex_gs]

This is one of the common P car failures. Same problem with my panel lights. Replaced light switch and problem solved. As soon as they started acting up I replaced it since the next failure is intermittent headlights and I did not want to get stuck somewhere in the middle of the night.

[mshovelt]

Thanks everybody for the responses. I guess I'm just kinda surprised that it is likely to be a switch / contact issue as I would have expected the lights to flicker as the switch was on its way out or if I wiggled it around.