Jay D

I just got a battery charger for winter storing and was wondering if anyone could tell me if the cigarette lighter works in 964's with the ignition off?

I can't check as my battery is already dead. The charger I got works through the cigarett lighter.

Thanks,

Jay

Riccardo

Jay,

Ermmm, wouldn't the battery need to have power in order to operate the ciggy lighter? I mean, the electricity will have to come from some source, it won't just materialise like magic.

Or am I missing something?

<img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

tom964

I never tried my ciggy lighter at all. But I also have a charger that works through the lighter, and I can tell you two things: (1) my local porsche dealer requires customers who store their cars through them to purchase one, and (2) when I plug it into my ligher the little light on the charger goes on that indicates it is operating, even when the ignition is off. So, if the reason your asking the question is to confirm that your charger will work through the ligher with the ignition off, these are evidence that it does.

tom964

As one small clarification, I have a battery "maintainer", that turns itself on and off to maintain the proper charge - not a charger.

Jay D

Thanks guys,

Yes it is a "maintainer" purchased from Porsche. The reason for my question was because they were not sure if it worked in 964s or not.

My question has been answered however, because as soon as I plugged it in the horn start to go off intermittently. Must be working!

Thanks.

Bob Haase

Tom, my 964 also provides a hot lead to the cig lighter when the car is off and no key inserted. As a weird side note, if your blinker is on when the car is turned off, the light will remain on (not blinking) and drain your battery. Kind of strange, but true.

horst

The blinker thing is designed that way so that on narrow German roads, you can put a light on the side facing the traffic, for safety reasons.

John Boggiano

I think this varies according to the 'region' your car was marketed in - the lighter being 'live', I mean. Mine isn't connected without the ignition in the 'accessory' position.

mikeporsche1990

if the battery is dead forget about recharge. it will charge but not give out enough amps usually to make it worth keeping.

The Eagle

Hi Jay,

[quote]My question has been answered however, because as soon as I plugged it in the horn start to go off intermittently. Must be working! <hr></blockquote>

The best you can do is; open your passenger's window, insert the maintainer in the cigarette-lighter socket, only then plug the charger it into a mains outlet AND only then lock your car. The alarm (horn, etc) won't go off if you do it this way.

Greetz.

AndrewM

My 89 C4's lighter socket is hot all the time. Know this cause the radar detector stays on when the car is shut off.
Drew

BarryG

Yup!...my 90 c4 also has a live lighter socket. I have to watch myself and not leave the radar detector on. But the cool thing is, on the BEL 985 you can set it in "voltage mode" It gives a constant readout all the time of the current voltage the car is putting out....until those pesky radar loving cops are around that is. Then you just get the radar display.