pcjn

Hi,

re 2004 Porsche Cayenne S

Had a warning of check cornering light on the left lights. I just took the light out and found two wires taped on to the main wires (see pics)

They are on the second in and third in. I can't find a diagram that matches the color of the wiring although this one - https://www.renntech.org/forums/uplo...1243348718.png - suggests A9 is the cornering light and A2 is 49a if i am reading it right (but that's based on a few assumptions - is it the correct diagram? which way the pins go etc.). The car is non-air suspension, from searching here I believe that affects the wiring diagram for some reason.

Does anyone know 1) what the pins are, and 2) why there is the extra wiring there? The wires are not connected to anything. I haven't checked the other light yet. I didn't have proper tools with me when I decided to look at this one so going back to look soon but even if I find them not sure it helps me that much.

I suffer - and have for a few years - from intermittent battery drain. I keep thinking it is fixed, and then it happens again for no reason. Massive loss overnight. I'm now wondering if something is shorting with these wires and this could be the cause (no, not wondering - I am HOPING!)

Thanks

slavie

Those are certainly not stock wires. My guess would be that the previous owner had something hooked up there, maybe some neon lights or whatever, that has been removed. Makes no difference at this point, so just remove the extra wires and tape up the original harness so that everything is insulated properly.

Could this be your "sudden drain" problem? Maybe, but I doubt it. Look around for other places where aftermarket crap has been hooked up in the car, chances are it was "disconnected" in the same manner if not worse. I've seen some really shoddy wiring shenanigans in cars owned by neon lighting and big audio type folks, and it always frustrates me having to undo all of it.

pcjn

thanks, i've removed them and taped over. the last owner did have lots of aftermarket stuff but not neon lights, screens in the backseats for his kids (hey, no ipad in 2004!) and a dvd player under his seat. it was supposed to have been all disconnected but found some still connected to the battery just now. see if any of this has any effect on the drain...!

thanks

pcjn

Thanks again Slavie. Unfortunately the cornering light is still not working so I'll have to take it out again and check the connection (the other side is fine).

But more importantly, the drain is still there. think it was 12.38 when I got in yesterday. Checked it before starting today (23 hours later) and it was 10.40 or so and needed the jumpstart battery to be used

Driving me crazy. It comes and goes. Every time I think it's fixed it comes back...

Drangueos

Did you ever replace/test your battery? I had a battery that would work for days and for no reason it would drop to 10V, it had an intermittent internal problem.
Does the car have an aftermarket alarm?

pcjn

I've gone through LOTS of batteries in the last few years. Killed by re-charging too much because of the drain. Seriously, lots of them

There is an alarm, but it's not aftermarket as far as I am aware. I have previously tried turning it off (double tap on remote) but didn't seem to help.

I did that again this morning though, just in case.

slavie

May sound stupid, but have you checked the bulbs? (preferably with a load or at least a multimeter, visual inspection has deceived many in the past) Any codes in the lighting system?

You'll need to find the parasitic draw. There's a bunch of videos on that online. In a nutshell, you want to open front doors and latch them on with a screwdriver or something, lock the car so it thinks all doors are locked, and wait about 30 minutes for all modules to go to sleep. Then test the voltage drop on all the fuses. Don't forget to manually unlatch all the doors before closing, or else you'll slam the locked latch into the car. This should give you a general direction to go by.

Keep in mind that while I'd say it is highly, highly likely that the problem is with some aftermarket crap or wiring somewhere, it is also possible that some stock component is failing creating the draw, so don't rule that out.

pcjn

Thanks slavie. I'll be checking the lights later hopefully. Just replaced the parking brake gas strut (an 'easy' job if you are a strong person! it was very hard to get the - very small - compression needed to get it to fit!). So I need a break before carrying on

I have done a full test before btw including latching the doors etc, and thought I found the problem and it did work for 2 or 3 months fine, then it came back (but can't be what I fixed because I totally disconnected something )