When I first bought the car, the oil pressure sender was acting off. It was the typical problem of reading 5 or the car telling mistakenly telling me the car had no oil pressure. In the last month that problem has magically fixed itself. The oil pressure gauge has read perfectly for over a month now. Meanwhile, my AC controller has taken to occasionally deciding not to blow the fan even though you tell it to and the fan is making noise. Only happens occasionally and there is nothing wrong with the AC itself and the system has of yet always gone back to running fine fairly quickly.

It is not a big deal and I don't think it will become one. If I didn't know better I would think this car was Italian. That is the kind of squirrelly stuff Alphas are known for doing. Anyone else have these sort of low level electronic gremlins or is it just my car?

 

You have evidently never owned a British car.

I think I mentioned in your other thread about the HVAC blower that mine sometimes acts up, too. I also get a very infrequent ABS/PSM warning when my battery gets too low.

Compared to some of the other cars I've owned, a pair of intermittent electrical issues are not noteworthy. If this is as bad as my 996 gets @ 15 years old, I don't have much to complain about.

Try troubleshooting a positive-ground MG or a 70s-80s vintage Jaguar. We owned one Jag that would - no sh*t - roll the driver-side windows down if you used the cigarette lighter while one of the doors was open.

 

...if you ever want to see a wide-eyed electrician, take your positive-ground MG in to have a stereo installer work on it.

 

Yeah 5CH3LL, British cars are pretty notorious. I am not really bothered by it just a bit surprised and curious. FWIW, I have owned a Ford and later a Merc each for nearly ten years and in both cars the electronics performed perfectly.

I actually like a car that can be a bit finicky and quirky. It gives it more personality. It is the reason why I have never gotten rid of the points on my old Mustang. I prefer it to be a bit of a dark art to start it on a cold morning.

 

I haven't dug deeply into the Bentley yet, but wonky electronics always make me freshen all the main ground points on a car.

 

That is a good idea. I will look into that.

 

a weak/dying battery can also cause electrical gremlins

 

The pressure sender is a common fault - mine did that intermittently for a year - cheap part to replace - DIY is fiddly - had my indie do it for the cost of the parts when he was in there to do the plugs anyway ...

 

^^ +1. The oil pressure sensor used on the 996 looks almost the same as the unit used on the 356. It fails often and some uninformed people will soil themselves when they look down the at the dash and see the OP needle at zero and "oil can with sensor failure" message in the information center.

 

I had ac control issues when my ignition switch went bad - this is another common mechanical failure - cheap $11 Chinese plastic part - easy DIY - not sure that explains your symptoms - but if it hasn't been replaced - maybe good idea to do anyway

 

http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html

My personal favorite:

Q: Why do the British drink warm beer?
A: Because Lucas makes their refrigerators.

 

+1 oil pressure sender unit, when it fails it spikes to 5.

 

or
Lucas Motto:
"A good Day's Work and Home Before Dark!"