Re: Removing the key to the Boxster... car's electrical system is still "on"

Normally, removing the key will result in the familiar "click" and the powering off the radio and other things.
Lately, the "click" sometimes doesn't happen.

I have been manually turning off the radio, but am wondering if the battery is being drained by other things which may be left on.

Any thoughts?

You should always have that clunk when you pull out the key. If it's not doing it, I think your ignition switch is on it's way out.

Agreed. I did read up on Pedro's article on replacing the electric portion.
The question is still, will anything drain the battery if left in the "no clunk" condition....

The pre-clunk position is "accessories", which theoretically shouldn't drain the battery unless you're using accessories.

Not sure about the 986, but the 987 and 981 seem to do a number of checks (just listen for the hummes and other sounds after you shut off the car.
If the electronic portion of of the ignition switch starting to go, eventually you might not be able to get the key into / out of the ignition. I'd replace it before it becomes a real headache.

Quote
RainyDayGarage
Agreed. I did read up on Pedro's article on replacing the electric portion.
The question is still, will anything drain the battery if left in the "no clunk" condition....

If the system doesn't recognize the key has been removed it can keep the car's electronics on for longer than normal. With my 2002 Boxster pretty much right after I remove the key the car's electronics shut down. However, with my Turbo the car's electronics (for instance the DME) stays alive for up to 3 minutes after I have removed the key. Other devices remain powered on at some level too.

For instance once in a while after I start my Turbo while I can turn on the radio and everything looks ok there is no sound from the radio. Nothing I can do from the driver's seat even to turning off the radio via the power button on the dash doesn't resurrect the radio. I have to turn the ignition key off and remove it and wait some minutes for the car's electrical system to fully power down. Thus even though the radio power off button is pressed and the radio display goes dark it still receives some power for a while.

With the key in the ignition even with the key off the power draw is quite high. I don't recall the exact numbers but a tech measured this draw -- mainly to confirm that a data logger I was working on actually did go into low power mode when time -- and he found impressive electrical load in the neighborhood of several AMPs with all electrical loads off and the doors closed but the car unlocked. (The data logger consumes just a few 10s of milliamps when it goes into low power mode so it wasn't that.)

Bottom line is I think you are risking compromised battery life, even premature battery failure, with an ignition switch/assembly that doesn't react properly to the key being removed. Whether just a new electrical portion or the entire assembly needs to be replaced I can't say. Generally with just things not coming on when the key is turned on is a sign the electrical portion at the back is bad. When there is a mechanical problem that suggests the entire assembly is suspect.

disraeli posted this on www.ppbb.com

"The factory technical manual (Section 97-07 page 2) has the following table of total electrical load after the car has been shut off (ModelYear 02):

(electrical current is worst case, i.e. car loaded w/all options...)

FROM TO mA

0 min 5 min up to approx. 950

6 min 15 min up to approx. 900

16 min 20 min up to approx. 750

21 min 60 min up to approx. 50

61 min until the battery is empty up to approx. 30

1000mA equals, of course, one amp.

If the car had no options whatsoever, the load after 60 min would be 17mA instead of 30mA.

I had a gremlin in my 2009 C2S........ the ignition switches were modified around this time so they don't work the same way as the old ones.

When I turn off the car, I stopped getting the clunk... where the steering wheel lock drops.... it was intermittent, then it just stopped the clunk. Everything else seemed OK... I never tested the electrical draw but was parking my car in sub-zero weather outdoors in a garage and never had a dead battery.

So, I swapped out the ignition switch.... a real odd looking thing that had a coil of fine copper around the key cylinder (yes I took it apart). My amateur take on this is that the system is actually a keyless system that uses the key to preserve the Porsche experience. I think a screwdriver in there would have started the car as long as the key was close by (just an assumption, never tested it).

Did this fix the problem? Nope. Wasted my money. Over time, it just stopped doing this and it started working again. I don;t know why. It was not ambient temperature related as it happened in my warm garage. I was going to take it to a dealer but I was so busy just couldn't do it.

You are the first person I have heard who has the no "clunk" issue. Congrats. Although if I am reading your post correctly, your radio and other stuff stays on. I can use the key lock button and steering wheel would clunk.

[rennlist.com]


Peace
Bruce in Philly



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2017 11:49AM by Bruce In Philly (2000 S Boxster, now '09 C2S). (view changes)