wohlmeyer

Hi all,

I have a 1995 993 and I’ve owned it for 5 years and have put around 15k miles on it. It has 61k total miles It doesn’t have any issues except when I first start the car the central warning light ! Exclamation Point lights up and doesn’t go out unless I press the reset button. All dash lights work, all gauges work. I’ve taken it to multiple mechanics and the Porsche dealer, and no one can figure it out because there isn’t anything obviously wrong with the car, so I’ve lived with it for five years. There are also no codes in the engine. I get in, start the car and hit the button to the point where it has become a natural part of driving the car. I would like to track this issue down and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what the fix is?

V/R

Bill

mike cap

Might be something innocent that doesn’t throw a code to memory. That master caution lights on low fuel for instance and that certainly wouldn’t have a record. Maybe that’s the culprit?

ToreB

The Central Warning light is always followed by another warning light, unless the Central Informer Unit is defective, which is very seldom seen.
I most often see this when the airbag warning light bulb is either blown or removed. I bet this is the case in your car too.
You write that there are no fault codes in the engine control unit, but have the SRS Air bag and ABS control units been checked for fault codes?
Cheers,
Tore

gavonder

Also check the e-brake.

pp000830

An early production 1995 may be related to something very simple as noted above. A door jamb switch, a trunk latch switch, an oil pressure switch.
Andy

wohlmeyer

airbag light works fine. The airbag computer has also been replaced and this was an issue long before the airbag computer was replaced.

wohlmeyer

that’s what makes this so incredibly aggravating. I replaced the oil pressure switch just for good measure, still no joy but my gauge is spot on now.

wohlmeyer

E brake will light the cwl as well as the brake light. Cwl and brake light both shut off together when the e brake is disengaged.

pp000830

Good to know, and the follow-on logic is valid that any warning light that has been removed or is blown out will not show up in conjunction with the Central Warning Light.
And the test is to turn the ignition from off to on and look and see that all the warning lights illuminate during the initial self-test.
Thanks, Tore for your words of wisdom!
Andy

Howdy993

Wild guess - the belt tension switch? This has a secondary light as well, but if it's burnt out - maybe?
If you get it sorted, please let us all know.
Howdy

Britzky9

I was told by a tech that this can happen after the car sits over-night due to something related to vacuum pressure in the breaking system? That once the breaking system gets up to pressure the light should go off?

pp000830

I wonder what the low vacuum warning light looks like?
Andy ;-)

Britzky9

Ahhh, yes, forgot that part...

boxcarracer

I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer didn't scan properly.
A bunch of different things can trip the central light, including faults related to the multiple flap motors in the HVAC.

ToreB

This is not correct.
The Climate Control Unit has no warning lamp, and any stored fault codes will not show on any light in the dashboard.
T