1981 Shark

I'm a relatively new 928 owner and anything but an electrical whiz. I purchased a 1981 5-speed in September; love it. All was well until the first cold snap. Now I can't seem to keep the battery charged and/or find the drain. Also, interior lights, when in the "on when door open position" will remain on when doors are closed; have switched these off, but still no "juice" to start after a few days. I've replaced the battery, alternator and disengaged the alarm, but if not driven in a couple of days - dead. Maybe or maybe not related, but when cold and while driving, the door buzzer remains on until the car is warmed up substantially. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated?

1981 5-Speed
Black/Tan

lawndart

Check the pin switches in the door jambs, I bet one (or all) is bad. Even with the lights switched off, the little red lights on the end of the doors stay on, which on my car would drain the battery in about two days. Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jeff

1981 Shark

Thanks. I'll give it a whirl and replace them. That would probably explain the buzz, as well. I'll report back the results. I appreciate the response.

David K
1981 5 speed

SteveG

Since this is a common problem . . . . it has been discussed . . . search under "battery drain" "gremlin" etc, etc. Some are simple, some aren't. You may want to look at the fluke.com(?) site for instructions on using a multimeter.

1981 Shark

Replaced the door pins and they work fine, although the other ones looked like they did, too. I'll give it a few days and see how the battery holds up. If not, it's fuse-pullin' time, one by one . Thanks for the help/suggestions. Pics to be posted soon.

Joe '87 S4

I don't know about the door buzzer issue but my interior light relay was bad and would cause the lights to stay on.

User 4221

David,
Be sure to check the glove box light..... When I owned your car, the pin switch on the glove box became loose and would not turn the light off. It killed the battery in a few days. Adjusting and tightening the switch fixed it.

Also, be sure to remove the two green fuses from the audio amplifier and see how it goes.

BTW, I got your email on the pics and will shoot them over later.

One more thing, I saw your post on the side mouldings..... I asked to have them removed when I got the car painted. My body guy didn't want to risk damaging the panels with welding.

p.s. I'm glad to see you haven't started the P.O. bashing!

Scott

1981 Shark

Thanks, Scott. I'll try the other suggestion as needed (if/when battery dies...).

Nope, no PO bashing will occur. Actually, someone on another thread was asking about what to look for. My advice, as limited as it may be, was to make sure anyone they spoke with could actually speak "928". You did and IMO, you were as "straight up" as they get; I appreciate that. As with any car, especially of this vintage, things will happen. That's why I'm glad there's 928 intl and 928 GT! Have now also discovered Devek.

Hope you're having as much fun with your new ride as I'm am with mine. I still think a v-8 growl beats anyting out there; at least within my price range...

1981 Shark

Thanks, Joe. I'm heading toward that relay. I appreciate it.

bigs

Here's a very basic thought. Make sure the rear hatch is tightly closed. Try driving the car over a bumpy road and see if the interior courtesy lights flicker on and off when you go over a bump. If so, the rear hatch latch may not be seating deeply enough into its receptacle to turn off current to interior lights.

Marc Schwager

In my experience you need to be systematic as there are about 20 things that can cause this problem. I used the fuse procedure and found a couple of problems. Current drain is now 30ma, right where it should be. My battery will last for months and months.

hth

1981 Shark

Thanks, bigs. Latch seals well and no "lights" when going over bumps, but will know what to do if it happens. My PO (e.g.#7 above) has been exceptionally helpful, which appears rare according to many, but several suggestions and responses on this and other topics by rennlisters have been time savers. I'd much rather be drivin' than fixin'...

SteveCo

I mentioned this in another recent thread concerning battery drain, but it bears posting again.

You noted a "cold snap" in your original post. If you had ocasion to use the rear window defogger, keep in mind that the relay in the circuit can tend to "stick" with age...causing the defogger to remain active even when you turn off the switch and ignition. You can disable the defogger by pulling the relay...or work around this by restarting the car after shutting it down. The relay will usually disengage when the car is cranked.

Credit for this tip goes to Jim B and Wally P...I found the info on Greg Nichols tip site at:
http://www.nichols.nu/tip632.htm

Regards,
SteveCo in St. John's

1981 Shark

Thanks, SteveCo,

I had seen this on greg nichols' site, but the problem persisted even after several completed and total battery drains and/or disconnects. However, it wouldn't be totally foolish to replace the relay regardless. For now, all is back in "able to crank from the seat" mode, but I've gotten many useful tips from everyone on rennlist.

Small world, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law just moved FROM St. Johns about 2 months ago. Talk about a cold snap!

Dennis Wilson

Don't think this was mentioned, but if it was appologies. Check the back of the interior light for a loose connection of the constant power wire. These have been known to come loose and short out against the roof.

Dennis