Dudley

I store my car for seven months a year. While in storage, I keep a battery tender connected. I do not start the car and she sits under her cover unless I have a project underway. Beginning last February, I would get crazy alarms every once in a while. The first time I noticed the emergency flashers were blinking under the cover. Weird, because no doors have been open in few weeks and the car is out of the way, I am sure it was not disturbed.

I thought it was a flute, I cycled the remote and reset the alarm. A month later it happened again. I checked my battery tender and it was fine. Again I reset the alarm. The next time my the blinkers were on and the horn was sounding.
A week ago, same thing, blinkers were flashing and the horm beeped just once.

Weird. I reset it and forgot it.

This weekend I began am preparing for the first outing of the season. I took the cover off and attempted to retract the top. (I find it easier to detail the inside with the top down.) The top would not move. All my dash lights fine and the radio was on. I tried the horn but it was dead. Now that I remember, the locking mechanism seemed to fire with less snap lately.

My battery is a five year old Interstate. I assume it is tiring and my battery tender was barely stong enough to just run the dash lights. How many time have I read hear that the battery or the ground strap were the cause of weird car alarms.

I picked up a Duralast battery at AutoZone. A seven year warranty and top rated by Consumer Reports. Same venting as the Interstate and only $69.
Perfect fit. My top worked flawlessly again and I will report back if and when the alarm pops up again.



How about a superfluous photo of my new Strut Tower Brace?



Of course, it could just be that my tender went belly up. Still it felt good putting in a new battery.

Bruce SEA 993

Hmmm....must be the tender. My battery is 9 years old and still holds just fine with the tender on it if it is going to sit for longer than 2 or 3 weeks.

Good luck finding the problem!

Dudley

It may be a combination. I have not had confidence in the battery for some time. I installed the RS Pulley a couple years ago and I could not depend on the car restarting after a short stop over.
I replaced the original pulleys but I never felt comfortable with the reserve capacity of the Interstate.

JasonAndreas

Dave,
Is your diagnostic port connector a circular 19-pin OBD1 or rectangular OBD2?

Dudley

Hi Jason,

I have the rectangular 16 pin OBD2 style. My build date was 1/95.

JasonAndreas

I had to work in Milford last night so I was going to suggest I stop by for a few minutes and we could read the alarm activation code with a Bosch Hammer. But I'm not sure if those codes are kept in non-volatile memory and we would have had to make an OBD2 cable (I have the connector, wiring, pins) which I didn't have time for. So if this happens again send me a PM and don't disconnect your battery.

Dudley

Thanks Jason. If it happens again, I will give you a call. But don't let the lack of a problem stop you from swinging by! I am right off Rte 290 about ten minutes from Rte 495. There is always a beer on ice and a steak in the fridge!
Anyways, I am due a trip out to the Berkshires very soon. I will have to stop in and say hello.

Dudley

Update, new battery has solved my alarm issues. Hooray. First car I have owned that "talks" to you.
She flashes and beeps when she needs something!

pchansen1

Don't forget the grounding strap. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't had the problem myself. All kinds of wierd electrial gremlins( including alarm/immobilizer problems). Battery was load tested and was fine. I replaced the ground strap (battery to chassis) with a $7.00 unit from my local auto parts store. All problems fixed.

ZombiePorsche44

This is a bit OT, but I couldn't ever store my 993 for 7 mos a year, it would be just too depressing, you need to move to a warmer climate where you can actually enjoy driving your 993 365 days a year.

ZP44

Dudley

Couple more years and I am out of here!

ZombiePorsche44

I promise that when you do move to a place like here, you'll never regret it as long as you have your cab to enjoy the 10-11 sunny months a year..........ZP44