Flashing Instrument Panel on ignition pos 2?

[LeaUK]

Here's a weird one that happened tonight - although only briefly.

Switched to ignition pos 2 so that all the lamps in the IC illuminated, then after around 30 seconds they all started erratically flashing with the car making horrible electro-mechanical sounds (relays, pumps, engine components) in time with the flashing. I ran back from beneath the bonnet and switched off.

My immediate reaction was to blame the battery as it's now two years old and many of my journeys are rather short, so got the charger out and switched on. BUT I was shocked to see only minimal current draw - it's not the battery!

So off to investigate....

Switched to pos 2 to attempt to locate the poor connection, lots of flashing again so went straight to the fuse box and started 'wiggling' - no difference. IC still flashing irregularly! Wiggled the battery terminals (as much as you can) nope...

Moved the steering wheel up/down/in/out to check it wasn't the ignition barrel - no difference..

Ironically, in pos 2 with the IC panel now all dark (stopped flashing) I moved to position 3 - the car started instantly....how weird is that! No IC but the car starts?? and of course, the WORST thing that can happen to intermittent faults - now I can't get the IC to repeat any of the symptoms encountered just previous .... arrrg!


My first thoughts are with the immobiliser as this directly disables the ignition and the IC panel from illuminating (amongst other things) - maybe carboned relay contacts?


Onto the obvious - has anyone else seen similar?

Cheers
Lea