William A

I need help tracking down an insidious electrical drain on my daughter's '02 Boxster.

It started with an intermittent battery drain overnight that required a jump start in the morning. It only happened infrequently.

when I tried to check for a drain, I only found the "normal" 20-40 mille amp. After many tries, I intermittently found a 200 mille amp drain (with all systems off, lights, dash etc all quiet) that is now almost constant.

I have replaced battery and alternator, but I still have the drain. I have pulled every fuse on the driver's side panel and every relay , and I could not find anything that affected the drain.

Over the weekend, a buddy found a direct wire that goes to a "panel" (current distributor (?) with fuses F1-F7) on the passenger side behind the dash. It seems wire F4 is the source of the drain, but I don't see any electrical schematics that tell me what that fuse block does.

When F4 is pulled, the drain goes away, but the ignition and alarm are disabled.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Dave H.

in the wire diagram for 2001 and on, sheet 20 shows your Current Distributor F fuse assignments. F4 is the 80A fuse for your Ignition Switch +12 VDC :



this part of Sheet 16 with fuse F4 and the Ignition Switch :



this is all of Sheet 16, which shows why your alarm is losing power also when F4 is removed. the inset is the alarm module :



Put fuse F4 back in. leave your doors open but close the latches. then you can set the alarm and it will think the car is closed and locked.

when you have the draw, remove fuses B8 and E1 (alarm fuses) one at a time and see if it goes away. be ready with your key, the alarm may sound.
if the draw does go away, the alarm module is under the drivers seat. check the connector pins and box to see if they got wet and corroded.

it could be other things off of the ignition switch, but the alarm module is a common failure point, so a good place to start.

and remember to pull your door handles to open the latches before you go slamming your doors shut

William A

Dave, thanks a ton! I will try that and report my findings.