kenloen

Hi,

I have been lurking around for some time now, reading, searching etc.. thought it was time for a proper introduction.. with a request for help..
I am Jason, live in Surrey UK and about 3 months ago I bought this nice 964, I am well happy..




Its not perfect but I bought knowing I can deal with the smaller issues 1 at a time, whilst hopefully using regularly..

Only thing spoiling the party is that I seem to be suffering from some bad electrical woes. The symptoms are when driving the radio suddenly cuts off, then the engine starts misfiring and all the dash warning lights go red, sometimes the tiptronic freezes in D and wont move over to manual till the engine is restarted. These episodes can last from a second ie just the radio cutting out, to 30+ seconds where the car is really jerking around. It happens totally randomly, I drove to work the past 2 days clocking over 100 miles with nothing, then this morning it happens almost every time I use the car. I have looked at various Christmas Tree effect threads and done the following..

Replaced the DME, Ignition Coils, Dizzy caps and dizzy rotor arms and stripped and cleaned every earthing I can find in the bonnet area, but its still acting up.

both dizzy caps were real bad


Also, might be related but twice when I have tried to start the car has been completely dead electrically, no ignition lights, no alarm responce and the central locking did nothing off the key (as in wouldn't lock or unlock when the key turned) - almost as if the battery is disconnected. A minute later everything back to normal.

I don't mind getting stuck in, but I am running out of ideas.. can anyone help?

cheers Jason

(also posted on 911uk)

hamah

Not sure if this is related to your problem or not but when I see the a distributor cap looking like that I'm wondering what the condition of the belt to your secondary distributor is like.

kenloen

dunno, cannot see the belt. Neither rotor turns freely so I am assuming there connected to each other!?

I have ordered the vent kit, as one isn't fitted. Should be here tommorrow..

when not being crippled by these electrical issues the car runs smoothly and you would suspect any problem at all..

xeps

Those distributor caps look brutal - surprised it ran.

How new is the battery? Is the alternator putting out good voltage?

Maybe take a look at the transmission ground strap?

DaveK

It sounds like it could well be an earth, even though you say you've checked them.

Other than that - worn ignition switch maybe? I had to have mine replaced because it sometimes used to illuminate all the dash lights as I closed the door (with the keys in my hand!). I don't think it caused me running problems, but it certainly could.

kenloen

when I bought the car it was barn stood for a few years, but I'm not suspecting battery as it was new before its hibernation and spins the engine with plenty of guts.

Transmission earth strap, where is that? do you have a pic??

ignition switch?? like this below? is this behind the dash and how difficult to fit??

http://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod83...4---993---944/

DaveK

Yes - that's the kind of thing I meant. Not sure how easy it is to fit - I didn't do mine, but I do remember the mechanic telling me you need a slightly bent screwdriver.

PNine64

I agree, double check/replace the negative ground on the battery.

Oh, pretty car BTW. The color is really nice.

Crystal Cranks

Check for sparking from bad Ignition Leads?

ginch

I had the exact same thing happen to my 93. Turned out to be the battery cables were not tight to the posts and had corrosion around them. Removed cables from battery, cleaned posts and cable ends, reattached very tightly and voila, no more issues.
Hope that helps!

Derek

kenloen

ignition switch replaced, car ran and worked fine for 3 days without episode. Then this morning and this afternoon the car suffered from 2* 30 second tantrums each time.

when I when to lock the car, there was no power to the keylocks, I could turn the key but it wasnt firing the mechanism or locking either door.

battery terminals rechecked, all clean good strong connections.

does anyone know if/where there are any earths under the dash or in round the front fusebox, I canot see it being anything else.. unless there is a main power relay??

tbennett017

Did you check the connection from the battery ground (Earth - to you guys that drive on the wrong side) connection to the body itself? Those can go wonky too. I would go on a campaign to clean all of the earth connections all over the car. It's worth the time/effort after the car has been parked for a while.

Ken D

Critters seem to enjoy gnawing on whatever electrical wiring they can find, and it wouldn't surprise me with a barn-stored car. Exposed wiring can very quickly turn into a serious situation.

Aside from checking the earth connections etc. as mentioned above, you might want to pull the central electric (fuse box) board and look around for any buggered up wiring. Likewise check the engine compartment wiring for any signs of damage.

Richard Curtis

x2 on cleaning ALL the grounds/earths, esp. the one between battery and body. Never seen distributor caps that bad; something is really wrong. Have an expert check condition of both coils and also check that secondary distributor's rotor turns when the primary rotor turns. You probably should have the distributor belt replaced regardless given age of the car and no vent kit installed; minor cost in the greater scheme of things.

If that's Horizon Blue, it's beautiful and very rare. Your car is a carbon copy of mine except someone has installed the steering wheel on the wrong side!!