Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi guys, over the last couple of days the "central warning light" has randomly started not extinguishing when the engine is started. Owner's manual says it will stay on accompanied by the warning light for the system at fault, but it is the only light lit. I have checked that all the lights come on when you turn the ignition to position one, but I only get parking brake and seatbelt symbols.

Do I have bulbs out or possibly a fuse for the dash lights do you think? Then of course I have to see which one comes on with the central warning lamp and try and diagnose the fault from there...

Can anyone shed any light on this?!

Cheers Jon

Not sure, but I would start with brake fliud level

Hi guys, this is starting to drive me crazy!

All fluid levels are fine. Car runs sweet.

Firstly I convinced myself that it was caused by the handbrake switch under the lever itself as I noticed that the "parking brake" light would come on or off if you wiggle the wire attached to it. I have removed the switch and ordered a new one. The central warning light remains lit.

So my first question is: Are the parking brake light and central warning light related? Will a new handbrake switch cure the problem?

The warning lights in the left instrument cluster are supposed to be: brake pad wear, oil level, coolant level, seat belt, side lights, parking brake. Can someone confirm this for me as none of them light up when you turn the key except the seatbelt light which functions normally and the parking brake light (with a new switch). I believe the side light one illuminates correctly too.

So my second question is: Why do none of these work? I have checked all under bonnet fuses and swapped bulbs with the working lights in the dash to no avail.

If these lights worked presumably then the central warning light would be on as well as one of the above, indicating where the fault lies. As all my fluids are ok perhaps the brake pads are worn? Does that sound reasonable and how do I check them?

Lastly, the central warning light would sometimes extinguish correctly when the engine starts, hence the intermittent problem. Now however it seems to be on whenever the engine is running. This could tally with me removing the handbrake switch (plausible?) although I've no idea why, or could mean that whatever it is is getting worse!

Sorry for the length of this post but I'm going insane and wanted to give as much help as possible. If anyone can help I'd be so grateful I might even buy you a beer at a club event in the future!

Cheers, Jon

Hand brake, and parking light will keep the ! light. The one you got prob just needs a clean. Picks up a lot off grit and fluff. U could remove the dash and check the bulbs. Should be light

Brake light. Dash light ! Brake fluid
Seat belt. Oil pressure warning light ( red block )
Parking brake. Battery light (red block)
Engine oil


I wouldn't think it's a brake sensor as mines missing and the ! goes out.

It also goes out if u don't clip in the seat belt.

Check the bulbs one by one with a 9v battery and just check there and turned all the way round. They can be quite sensitive.

Don't think there's a coolant

Thanks mate, getting new switch tomorrow as no amount of cleaning etc seemed to work. I'll let you know if it's a fix!

Just close the circuit to the handbrake switch i.e simulate the brake being off and check if the light goes out. I would also chack when you first put the ignition on if any lights seem out in the dash i.e. if you have it does the ABS light illuminate before start up, you might have a real problem but with the first indicator lamp being out only get the information lamp on.

Changed the handbrake switch and now the parking brake light goes on and off as it should. Bears no relation to the central warning lamp which is still staying lit.

I guess I need to know all possible reasons why that light is staying on and work through them. Does anybody have a list?!

btw, David, only the seatbelt and parking brake lights illuminate on the turn of the key to first position. I have checked the bulbs and they seem fine, so I'm at a loss to explain this also...

Could be a bad contact on the connectors on either side of the instrument cluster if yo uhave had the cluster out for repair, I know from experience they can be awkward to re-connect, unless you have damaged the circuit board I can not see any other reason unless it is an earthing issue. My S2 lights up like a Xmas tree with the key in pre-start position, I get from memory ABS, Oil level, pressure, fuel level, brake fluid level, handbrake, brake pad wear, temperature, seatbelt as shown below, what does not show up well are the warning lights for oil pressure, fuel level, temp etc which illuminate the end of the gauge scale.

Several faults should bring on the central warning lamp (!) as well as their own specific warning lamp.

A good example is the low oil level warning lamp... We had a customer with a similar problem as yours a while back, the customer had a intermittently illuminated central warning lamp.. turned out that at some point his "oil level warning" lamp had blown its bulb, then at a later date the oil level sender had become intermittently faulty... intermittently bringing on the central warning lamp, even though all his levels were fine... the fix was a new oil level sender and a new bulb for the oil level warning lamp.

So the thing to do in your case, is do what you need to do to trip the various warning lamp faults and see if one brings on the central warning light but no other light where it should do.

I see this is an old thread, but I just bought a 1991 S2 that seems to have this exact problem. When I turn the ignition on, the only warning lights that come on are the !, the seatbelt, antilock and low battery voltage. Did this problem ever get resolved?