mtbuyker

Hello,
I have a 1985.5 944. I recently brought it to a reputable Porsche shop to have an aftermarket alarm removed. When I got the car back, my power locks no longer worked. The shop said the locks were tied into the aftermarket alarm, so they removed the harness when they removed the alarm. I would like to get this feature working again - however, I have no idea where the wires are supposed to come from. I bought a full 1986 944 harness off of eBay.

The colors of the wires on the part of the harness that I believe controls the locks are: yellow, gray/blue, brown/green and brown.

Am I looking at the right harness? Where can I trace the harness back to? Does it make sense that the power lock system was tied in with the aftermarket alarm?

I'm at a loss, and pretty upset that the shop returned my car with less functionality than when I brought it to them. I've scoured the internet for pictures, diagrams, etc. and came up empty. I didn't see anything in Haynes, Clark's Garage or the 944 Workshop Manual either. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

theedge

You shouldnt have to fix it. If it had power locks originally, it should have power locks after they remove the old alarm. Removing an alarm doesnt require removing chunks of the cars harness. The alarm is tied into the locks, not the other way around. All they had to do most likely is snip some wires or undo some vampire taps. During install, all that prolly was done was vampire taps to splice the wires together. All those need to come undone is a screwdriver. Once the tap is unsnapped, it comes right off and everything should work as original, unless the wrong size tap was used and the wire was damaged which is hardly a difficult fix anyway. If the alarm was soldered in, then they can just clip the wire that goes to the alarm harness, leaving the stock stuff as is.

IMHO take it back and make a stink. And it should be on THEIR tab, you shouldnt have to pay to get a working car after they fudged it up, which is exactly what they did plain and simple.

mtbuyker

Brian - thanks for your reply. I called them, and they said that the people that put the aftermarket alarm in butchered the central locking system, so the stuff they removed is aftermarket. They still have the stuff, so I'm going to pick it up. It probably won't help get my problem solved, but might give me some peace of mind.
Trevor

Rip It

I want to avoid this SHOP, what is their name ?

mtbuyker

Rip It - I can send you an email offline with the shop name. I don't want to put anything negative out there until we (me and the shop) resolve the issue.

testarossa_td

I can't tell you the number of Porsche I have had and worked on that had Jack-arsed individuals install stereos and alarms. The worst is the 928. Though Ferrari comes a close second. You would think that with nice cars they would take it to some place reputable, but I guess they just want something and they don't care how they get it to work.

If you had OE central locking then all your stuff is still there. You could probably get it to working again with some wire diagrams and time and cussing You could also just spend less than a hundred and get an"aftermarket" system and use it. Why did you get rid of it in the first place?

Ever see those nice drilled holes for cellular phone mounts

And if you do start tapping wires use Posi-taps® These are worth their weight in gold. Any thing Posi is great!

mtbuyker

Thanks testarossa_td. Where is the OE central locking system located in the car? The weird thing is, I can't find this system in the wiring diagram. I bought the "944 Workshop Manual", and the first thing that I look for - I can't find.

The reason I got rid of the aftermarket alarm system was that when I installed a new stereo head unit, I was overwhelmed by a bunch of aftermarket wires everywhere (very poor installation job). Also, the alarm didn't work. I was afraid of it causing problems at some point, so I had the shop take it out. They were working on the air conditioning unit anyway, so I figured I'd get both things done. I never thought they would destroy something to fix something else.

HaHa - actually my sister just bought a pre-owned BMW with the drilled holes for cellular phone mounts. I laugh every time I see that!

dme

the locking module is located up by the steering column. I had a similar issue where the aftermarket alarm was removed and the locking system stopped working. They had just gone in and started snipping wires. I got it all back togetther again and have a good working system now. I did a complete write up on it about a year and a half ago.

mtbuyker

Thanks Dan,

I give that a look.

Trevor

theedge

Ill have to post my alarm when I get home. I think its whole harness is solid core wire, and the brain looks like a hobby store project

mtbuyker

That would be cool if you could post that Brian. I looked at the steering column under the dash and there was nothing there. I know there was some stuff there before I brought it to the shop. I'm wondering if they took my locking module out. I'm going to the shop tomorrow to get what they took out and have them point out my locking module on the steering column. I hope they have not taken it out of the vehicle...

mtbuyker

Okay. I feel like a knuckle-head now. I just found out I could determine the factory options from the codes in the trunk, and it turns out that central locking was not an option on my vehicle. The aftermarket alarm was also an aftermarket central locking system. They just tied the aftermarket alarm in with the factory switch. I guess I'll just pop the switch, plug the hole, and move on. I could come back at another time and get them working again since there are actuators in the doors... Thanks for everyone's input.

Trevor

ibkevin

BTW, central locking is illis #804-06 in PET