Relay access

Having recently switched out the original lighting; Hi/Lo beams, fogs, parking, signals, tail, brake, reverse bulbs for LED , all is good except for the occasional occurrence of rapid flashing of the turn signal indicators. Research has shown that I need to swap out the flasher relay for a LED compatible relay which is digital instead of the thermal based original relay. Instructions are scant, but in the views I have found, mostly for the 986 , the relays are easily accessed and right above the fuse panel in the drivers side footwell. However, mine is a ‘08 Boxster 2.7 and the relay location seems to be completely different, with the relay carrier in an extremely hard to access spot, and upside down. Meaning the relays are facing upward and all one can see is the wiring entering the bottom of the relay holder. Unless one is the size of a small child, or a circus contortionist it is nearly impossible to access. It seems likely that I will need to remove the drivers seat to enable me to lie on my back to attempt removal. And when I do have access to the relay holder, how do I remove it from the relay carrier? Pics I’ve come across are not clear on the method. Something about prying apart tabs holding it in place and turning it to a 45 degree angle before wrestling it out are vague at best. I’ve never seen relays so intricately buried on any vehicle, especially when relays are often in need of swapping out. Any suggestions on how to accomplish this without the need for back surgery after my struggles would be greatly appreciated.

Update. After much researching and queries about the location of the flasher relay for the turn signals I was able to locate someone who repairs instrument clusters. Apparently, in the 986 ’s there is a typical flasher relay for the turn signals in the relay carrier above the fuse panel in the driver’s side kick panel, but not so for the 987.1 . If there was, I could easily replace the ’thermal’ style flasher relay with a digital relay to compensate for the supposed hyper flash. After much searching I could not locate any relays in that location. When activating the turn signals, I could hear the distinct clicking coming from the rear of the instrument panel, and a photo I found showed a small device mated to the circuit board of the instrument panel, leading me to believe that was the flasher relay. Turns out that that is a small speaker to produce the clicking sound. In actuality, the steering column stalk which activates the turn signals and high beams has a module which sends a signal via CANbus to one of the BCM’s which in turn causes the sound to be emitted from the small speaker on the rear of the instrument cluster. Result? There is no signal flasher relay to replace. I will just need to find the correct impedance resistor to place in-line to eliminate the occasional hyper flash I get from the replacement LED bulbs I installed. Although one day while driving, I was at a stop light with my signal on and heard the fast click-click-click of the speaker, but I noticed in the reflection of the car in front of me that the actual bulb was flashing at the normal speed, not corresponding to the fast audible click I was hearing, so my perceived problem may not need a solution after all. I’ve been behind other vehicles and witnessed the hyper flash and didn't want my car to have that appearance but it seems I’m good after all.

The fast click noise you heard - was it from the instrument cluster? I've had that happen on rare occasions even when not using the turn signal. It happens perhaps once a month. Restarting the car fixes it.. Most modern LED 's now use 4 LED chips per light, which allows them to layout a bridge-circuit where polarity doesn't matter, and the test signal for a filament out always has a path eliminating the need for any resistive elements. I replaced every bulb I could (except the backup lights.. and I think the rear turn signal bulbs) with an LED kit from Amazon I believe. The kit was flawless - everything worked and has continued working.

Yes, the audible ‘clicking’ sound came from the instrument cluster. What led me to that was my original search for the flasher relay. I figured if I could locate the batch of relays and activate the turn signal, I could simply place my finger on each relay and by tactile/haptic feedback determine which of the relays was the flasher relay. To my surprise, the ‘clicking’ came from the instrument cluster. And only by locating someone who actually does repairs on these clusters was I informed that the sound comes from a small speaker mounted on the circuit board, actuated from one of the BCM’s via the CANbus. Quite the mystery why Porsche engineers would change up such a simple system used by most vehicle manufacturers. Watched a video on YouTube of an owner replacing the flasher relay on his 986 and it was an easy task. Flasher relays do go bad occasionally and the ability to replace it should be relatively easy. Incorporating it into the delicate and difficult to extract cluster seems a backward move. Just keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn’t become an issue in the future. Found this pic during my exhaustive search for an answer, but not quite sure if the round device is the speaker, or is the cube shaped item part of this, since it certainly appears to be a relay. Still scratching my head.