FredR

Went for a little drive this afternoon and after having just left home and entering the highway I noticed my bonnet was not latched correctly- no big deal - used the right hand indicator as I pulled over and before getting out of the car decided to put the hazard flashers on for good measure. Secured the bonnet and back into the car. The indicator flashers were both operating but never thought to check if the bulbs were flashing as they should. I then went to turn the hazard flashers off but no joy and the red light in the switch remained illuminated. I turned the indicator stalk back to the off position and the flashers stopped blinking- but the light on the hazard switch stayed on no matter what I did. I then turned the ignition off and the red light in the hazard switch went out. Repeated the actions - same thing. Could not get the hazard flashers to illuminate and the switch feels awful so my assumption is the switch is probably not working as it should.

Took a look at the wiring diagram in the WSM and the dammed thing has about 8 wires going in and out- my expectation being a single wire or two as in an on/of switch. Tried to fathom out the logic but one I see multiple wiring connections my brain fades rapidly. Kind of figured that in the time I have owned this car [15 years] not sure i have tried to turn the hazard flashers on or more to the point, cannot remember having ever done so.

Not the greatest of problems to have but still prefer to resolve if possible. My instincts are to pull the switch, test it and maybe dismantle it to clean the contacts. I assume there is a pull off wiring connector on the base of the switch - I seem to remember they can be dismantled but whether one can get them back together again is another matter altogether.

Suggestions appreciated before I screw something up!.Just getting the switches out can be a sod of a job.

drscottsmith

Fred -

I have mine out right now. You are correct that they are a pain to get out. The **** just pulls straight off. Then there are two little tabs that press toward the center of the switch 180 degrees across from each other. While you push the tabs in with a pair of needlenose pliers, gently pull the switch assembly forward. My harness is long enough that I can unplug the switch from the harness once it is free of the pod.

My car is an 83 so I imagine the wiring is different. It does sound like the switch to me. I have not had the internals of that particular switch apart, but on the headlight switch there are two little tabs on each side of the switch body that hold it together. The tabs are VERY brittle and require careful prying with a small screwdriver to separate.

Hope this helps a little. Be interesting to see how the switch assembles on the inside if you do in fact pull it apart.

FredR

Scott,

Ahem!!! The problem was somewhat simpler than I imagined.

I pulled the" hazard switch", took some pics of the wiring connector and the wiring positions- compared it to the wiring diagram and they were not one and the same. Thought about it some more, pulled the switch below for the screen heater and bugger me it was wired for the hazard flasher! Changed the ***** over and believe it or not the hazard flashers now work!

Some idiot [most likely me] got the switch tops transposed. It also solved the riddle as to why the hazard switch had a "turn to operate ****" instead of a "push to latch" ****- durrrgh!

Now I have to ask myself whether I put them back the wrong way round when I had the dash panel out or whether I simply replicated what I found. I have never used either of those two switches previously.

At least all is well that ends well!

linderpat

Wow. How interesting! My new to me 85 exhibited this exact same problem when I was driving it home a couple of weeks ago. Had to pull over for an "emergency" stop (ahem; LEO didn't like my maneuvers). Anyway, I signaled over, then activated the hazard. Afterwards, the switch would not stop blinking or go off. I figured I'd give 928 Intl a call and get a replacement (buggers are expen$ive). Before I do that, I'll look at these things too, and make sure the switch is in the right place, and so forth. Timely post Fred

FredR

Ed,

I was trying to get the hazard flasher to work pressing the wrong switch- never dawned on me to check them out! Had I pressed the other one it would have worked but could not fathom out why it seemed to want to work by turning rather than pushing- good luck with yours.

Amazing how silly things like this can strike.

drscottsmith

Glad you got it straightened out! Now if you want to venture on over and help me get my pod reinstalled....what a bugger!

jschiller

Glad you sorted this out. For the rest of us, be very cautious when dealing with the flasher switch. It is unfused, for obvious reasons, and if the switch breaks internally or shorts out, it will melt wires all over the place. Mine shorted while replacing the internal bulb over to LED and required a full dash removal and rewire all the way down to the door pin switches. A very hard lesson for me.

linderpat

holy crap! That's scary.

Kevin in Atlanta

A faulty rear window defroster will take out the CE panel all the way to the coils. Replacement requires pulling the engine. BTDT on Kevin Wilson's 87.

jschiller

A good reason to pull the fuse if there is one, and never use it!

FredR

Not doubting what you had to deal with but it sounds kind of strange to me that there would not be a fuse on any user coming off the central buses- to be fair I have never done an audit of such. On the GTS there is a 25 amp fuse and a quick glance at the 87 wiring diagram suggests it looks no different but there seems to be two parallel circuits if I am not mistaken?

Maybe I am missing something- Porsche wiring diagrams are not my strongest area of expertise to say the very least.

Kevin in Atlanta

All I know is what know and all I know is what I saw. According to Kevin when he turned the rear defroster on - perhaps for the first time in his ownership, there was smoke from the CE panel. Upon inspection, the wires at the CE panel to the DS coil was melted. We pulled the engine to swap out that wiring harness. No other way unless we routed a replacement wire along the wiring harness.

I've always wondered about the how but we just moved on and he never uses the rear defroster.

FredR

Sounds like the kind of thing we could do with an opinion from the likes of Allan. It is not too difficult to understand why there is no fuse from the battery through to the starter motor, alternator and into the central electrics but logic suggests that any load taken from any of the three [?] buses in the central electrics should be fused. If there are any loads that are not fused it would be nice to know what they are.

When one hears of things like what happened to that 87 one has to wonder what could possibly happen to cause such the more obvious one being some dim wit mechanic or previous owner dicking around with the wiring.. There are direct loads taken off the hot post but as I am aware they are all fused.

Scary thought!

Mrmerlin

WARNING ON POD SWITCH REMOVAL

The pod is made from an aluminum frame.

When you slide any of the pod switches in or out their is hi probability that one of the switches could short to the pod as the switches have metal contacts that could touch the frame.

If you have not seen a wire smoke to the CE panel you could

Note by the time you figure it out,
the damage will be done as it takes about .2 seconds for the wire to go to glowing red.

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY PRIOR TO WORKING ON THE POD SWITCHES ALWAYS

label each switch and put a line up line to it and it’s respective connector
a sharpie works well for this

Kevin in Atlanta

Good advice - I trashed a hazard switch not following this advice. No hazard switch no turn signals.