After a TON of work replacing the clutch master, slave and everything else hydraulic, all I wanted to do was drive my car a little. Well after sitting for three weeks the battery was dead so I ignored advice and jumped it at the battery which worked fine and I drove around the block. Later I tried to start again and it turned over slowly and stopped - battery still too weak. Well it worked once, why not again? I tried jumping it again and this time nothing. Symptoms are turn the key and I have all dash lights like it should, central warning light comes on and the buzzer is its annoying normal self. I can hear the fuel pump running, but the starter doesn't move at all, no click, no turn, nothing. What did I do?

 

You just need to properly charge the battery, I would think. If the car doesn't start almost imeadiately, it will flood.

It would be safest to disconnect the battery and use a regular charger, if the battery is really dischraged, this will take at least 12 hours or so. This will also give the engine some time to dry out.

 

After posting, my brain kicked in. It was the Clifford, got tripped I guess when I tried to jump it. I just went out and sure enough the lights on the Clifford panel were out. So I input the code and it turned over! Not enough to start, but that was it.

I'm going to buy a trickle charger for it. At least until I disconnect the Clifford...but hey at least it still works!

 

Ok call me ignorant, what, besides a big red cartoon dog on TV, is a Clifford?

 

Aftermarket alarm, I think.

Mark, I think jumping at the battery is especially bad for the LH-EZ cars since it could fry the brains. I'm not sure if it's okay for your 83, but it's not as bad.

Matt

 

It was a dealer-optioned alarm, very high-end back in the day, installed on a lot of high-end cars back in the 80's. You could get it from an Porsche dealer from new and that's how my car was delivered, with the Clifford alarm to the original owner. You can spot them by the numeric keypad on the dash. If something happens to trip the alarm you have to input the alarm code on the keypad to re-enable everything. That's what just happened to me, live and learn.

 

Funny you mention you could hear the fuel pump running with just the key on. I was under the impression the engine had to be turning over (a safety measure to avoid pumping fuel in the event of an accident). I, of course, am never surprised to be wrong about these cars.

 

Yep clearly the fuel pump was running. I've replaced a couple of them and I know the sound well. Kind of a mystery to me as well since I do have the alarm; I would have thought it would disengage the pump as well as the ignition.

 

the clif may disengage the power to the starter and ignition but not the fuel pump . Charge the battery with atleast a 6 amp charger a trickle wont be good enough . Since your battery went close to dead it need a wakeup call. Charge the battery out of the car

 

I have, I believe, had the same problem with my 928s 1986 for at at least a year now in which the battery would die really quick! Along the way I jumpstarted it and then started using a trickle charge for the battery but always thought that maybe some ground was giving me the problem on the battery draining. I have an alarm installed in the car and would like to see if it is a Clifford like you say and know how to disconnect it. How do I do it?

Please help!

 

Well the Clifford is easy to spot. It has a numeric keypad installed, usually somewhere on the center console, and looks like this. You can see the keypad just above the shifter to the left of the clock. As for removing it, I haven't started looking into it yet, but I am seriously considering it. It still works as I've proven a few times but it's more of a pain because it drains the battery.