Was about to head to pick up frozen yogurt (wife) and scotch (me). Opened the car door-no interior lights and radio clock is off.

Thinking it ain't the battery-car was fully charged a few days back and driven a lot in last few days. Good cranking power as it was turning over quick in pretty cold temps sitting outside all day and now was in the garage.

Put the key in to see if maybe it was ignition switch related-nothing.

Open the hatch with the key. Open the battery door-thinking to myself-where is the multimeter-interior lights flicker on off. The ground strap was loose off the post.

Push it down, lights all on and radio resets.

Grabbed a wrench and tightened the strap to the post.

Very lucky this did not happen while driving!

After all these recent posts, I didn't panic when there was no power and immediately thought ground strap.

Love this forum!

 

If you think this was an oh $hit moment, then you haven't had one yet.

 

check the charge output of the alternator when running at 1500 RPM
hopefully the loose connection didnt damage it.
you should see over 13.5 to 14.1 volts

 

Oh I know moments like that! On the first drive after buying my beloved 928 I was caught up in a traffic jam in mid summer (90 F) just before entering a tunnel? The engine temperature stated rising so I put the interior heating to max. No hot air came out. As I saw on dismantling much later, the hot water hose to the interior was blocked with a solid rod of metal, probably because the hit wter valve was kaputt. Very quickly, steam came out of the engine compartment. Appeared the electic fan switch was faulty and I ended up with a leaking headgaket. And no, I didn't have a PPI

 

All relative. My real Oh **** moment was accelerating and then hearing snap-click-click-click at 80-and no power to the wheels or transmission. Thought I snapped the torque tube shaft. Just busted rear axle!

 

Charging beautifully-thanks Stan. 13.9. Don't think there's any damage.

Car has been turning over amazingly in the cold.

 

it probably was the ground strap post but it may also be the strap itself I'd check it ...

Maybe get a new one anyway

Alan

 

Will get a spare. It was only hand tightened last time working in the car. My bad.

 

How many times have I said that? I am my car's own worst enemy.

Glad it was something small and easy (and cheap) to fix. Those are few and far between but fun when you get them.

 

Exactly! I'm lucky this car was owned by Mark Anderson's son and most electrics were tended to. Battery is 3 1/2 years old and has been on a maintainer from 2010-2012. Still lots to do!

On a side note, We need to get a winter run going for NY/NJ/CT Mike!

We're going to do a tech day soon on a Sunday here on Long Island. hope some of the very knowledgable NJ guys can join!

 

Well if you loosen up that restriction a bit I might be able to join.

Actually my car has decided to take the past few days off. It's been extremely reliable for the past 5-6 years with very little maintenance so it's kind of a surprise. I did fail to do the ground cleaning this fall and I'm hoping that's all it is. Seems like the elusive 'limp home mode' that John Speake just explained to me in detail in a recent thread. I always thought it was an S4 thing but in fact there is one for the LH2.2 cars too.

Anyway I think my MAF may have crapped out. More testing to do...

Let me know when you're getting together and I'll see what I can do. Normally my car LOVES the cold air so I'm up for long drives during the winter.

 

Mike, would be interesting to know how you solve the issue.
The 85/6 random no starts continue to be mysterious.
We've probably seen 2 dozen here on rennlist over time.
As you know, root cause is tough to find due to fiddling with everything while hunting.
Wife's rock solid 86 did it a few weeks ago.
She refuses to drive it til I deem it "fixed"
Truth be known, she wants it gone in favor of a Cayenne.

 

Is this the car that they picked up next to nothing because it wouldn't hold and idle and a dose of WD40 fix it?

 

Yes. But lots more in the 40k miles he put into it: Scott got it in '05 I think. Motor had TBF. Replaced with '87 block.

 

Hey guys, let me know when that tech day is.

I need to get back up to speed in the 928 world.
Got a lot of questions that need answers.