Power Drain

[Boxtercrazy]

I've recently purchased a 98 Boxter, I have a bunch of stuff going on and I need help in determining wether they are all interconnected, It started with me realizing the horn didn't work, Found a blown fuse and replaced it no horn, Eventually the car died a few days later, new it was a poss Alternator Problem, Charged the Batt hooked it up car drained Batt in a few minutes, Battery warning light on, ABS warning light on and Traction warning and switch light on. Put a new battery in and restored power temporarily, removed alternator and sent it away today to have reg replaced, The airbag on the steering wheel shows classic signs of collapse due to the four bushings, The alarm horn next to the battery has been disconnected, Can the power drain that I'm guessing put too much strain on the volt Reg Because by the Horn Contacts touching at the steering wheel, I haven't looked yet But I'm geussing the horns have been disconnected under the front Bumper. and what In the alarm system could be the cause of a power drain, as I was installing the new battery, the alarm went off silently and I noticed that the turn signals were flashing only on the drivers side of the car is That Normal, Thanks, Oh one last thing, What is the Bullet shaped sensor mounted in the grill on the pass side in front of the horns for ?

[seafeye]

I've recently purchased a 98 Boxter, I have a bunch of stuff going on and I need help in determining wether they are all interconnected, It started with me realizing the horn didn't work, Found a blown fuse and replaced it no horn, Eventually the car died a few days later, new it was a poss Alternator Problem, Charged the Batt hooked it up car drained Batt in a few minutes, Battery warning light on, ABS warning light on and Traction warning and switch light on. Put a new battery in and restored power temporarily, removed alternator and sent it away today to have reg replaced, The airbag on the steering wheel shows classic signs of collapse due to the four bushings, The alarm horn next to the battery has been disconnected, Can the power drain that I'm guessing put too much strain on the volt Reg Because by the Horn Contacts touching at the steering wheel, I haven't looked yet But I'm geussing the horns have been disconnected under the front Bumper. and what In the alarm system could be the cause of a power drain, as I was installing the new battery, the alarm went off silently and I noticed that the turn signals were flashing only on the drivers side of the car is That Normal, Thanks, Oh one last thing, What is the Bullet shaped sensor mounted in the grill on the pass side in front of the horns for ?

Airbag bracket gets tired after years of use. You should be able to pay $80 for a new one.

Get a volt meter go to your fuse panel and find out what is drawing power. Then find out why that item is using power with the car shut off. (Short, fault)

The bullet shaped sensor i believe is the OAT probe. (Outside Air Temp).

If you get time, take the front bumper cover off and clean out the radiators.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...mp;hl=radiators

[rsfeller]

Just a stab in the dark...

Correct me if I'm wrong gang but there are two or three horns on the car. One for the alarm and one or two for the traditional horn.

1. If the airbag bushing/horn failure is in the "on postion" then the horn would sound all the time, thus why the fuse is blown

2. If the horn has failed then it's still reciving power from the system thus draining the battery

My fuse was blown or pulled when I bought my car used. It had not only a failed air bag frame horn bushings but both horns had failed and I had to replace them (cheap if I recall, one for alarm and one for beeping). I seem to also recall from other car repair and my Boxster that horns always have 12+ to the horn area and some how the ground competes the circuit(?).

duel failures here could be leaking your power after the fuse was replaced. Pull that fuse and see how you do again. The way I understand your write up is the power drain didn't come until after you found the bad fuse.

Additionally, pull those horns and test them and until you get the new air bag frame you are on hold.

Edited April 1, 2008 by rsfeller

[pk2]

I've recently purchased a 98 Boxter, I have a bunch of stuff going on and I need help in determining wether they are all interconnected, It started with me realizing the horn didn't work, Found a blown fuse and replaced it no horn, Eventually the car died a few days later, new it was a poss Alternator Problem, Charged the Batt hooked it up car drained Batt in a few minutes, Battery warning light on, ABS warning light on and Traction warning and switch light on. Put a new battery in and restored power temporarily, removed alternator and sent it away today to have reg replaced, The airbag on the steering wheel shows classic signs of collapse due to the four bushings, The alarm horn next to the battery has been disconnected, Can the power drain that I'm guessing put too much strain on the volt Reg Because by the Horn Contacts touching at the steering wheel, I haven't looked yet But I'm geussing the horns have been disconnected under the front Bumper. and what In the alarm system could be the cause of a power drain, as I was installing the new battery, the alarm went off silently and I noticed that the turn signals were flashing only on the drivers side of the car is That Normal, Thanks, Oh one last thing, What is the Bullet shaped sensor mounted in the grill on the pass side in front of the horns for ?

If your horn is indeed stuck on (BTDT), you'd either hear it or it wouldn't be drawing much current if disconnected, just enough for the relays. If they were seized up somehow, they could draw an 'elluva lot of amps, 'nuff to run your battery down.

However thats a none starter if the problem was there before you replaced the fuse (no current draw from there)

As to you battery and alternator; 4 words my son; Kragen Checker, AutoZone, & Pep-Boys. All will diagnose your charging system in on the spot. They have an idiot proof device that can tell you if you have a battery problem and what it is, or an alternator/charging problem and more...cost, free.

Regards, PK

[phoneguru]

I've recently purchased a 98 Boxter, I have a bunch of stuff going on and I need help in determining wether they are all interconnected, It started with me realizing the horn didn't work, Found a blown fuse and replaced it no horn, Eventually the car died a few days later, new it was a poss Alternator Problem, Charged the Batt hooked it up car drained Batt in a few minutes, Battery warning light on, ABS warning light on and Traction warning and switch light on. Put a new battery in and restored power temporarily, removed alternator and sent it away today to have reg replaced, The airbag on the steering wheel shows classic signs of collapse due to the four bushings, The alarm horn next to the battery has been disconnected, Can the power drain that I'm guessing put too much strain on the volt Reg Because by the Horn Contacts touching at the steering wheel, I haven't looked yet But I'm geussing the horns have been disconnected under the front Bumper. and what In the alarm system could be the cause of a power drain, as I was installing the new battery, the alarm went off silently and I noticed that the turn signals were flashing only on the drivers side of the car is That Normal, Thanks, Oh one last thing, What is the Bullet shaped sensor mounted in the grill on the pass side in front of the horns for ?

[phoneguru]

re the abs and traction lights did they go off when you put a fully charged batt back on ? i had the same problem with a low batt but after changing the traction and abs lights are still on ! anyway anybody knows of turning them off without a trip to the porsche garage ? cheers

[Loren]

re the abs and traction lights did they go off when you put a fully charged batt back on ? i had the same problem with a low batt but after changing the traction and abs lights are still on ! anyway anybody knows of turning them off without a trip to the porsche garage ? cheers

Drive the car - if the lights came on after a battery change (smog check) then there will be no faults and they will reset in a few miles.

If there is still a problem will not go out and you will need a code reader to see what the issue is.

[Boxtercrazy]

Thanks Loren and the rest of you guys, Here's the latest saga, I pulled the alternator and sent it away to be checked, theysaid that the volt reg was shot, and the brushes were shot, they told me it was probably due to the original bad battery, put the alternator back in, replaced serpentine at the same time and all was great, Started right up and all the warning lights had reset themselves. I made sure the horn fuse was out so that if that was the original problem it would not re occur . As I went on the test drive all was good and then the dash just lt up like a christmas tree, the abs, tc and battery lights were flashing intermittantly, no rythm , sometimes independantly sometimes not at all, until I went back to idle, and they would then come on speradicly. I stopped the engine and fired it up again, the only light that was now on was the traction control warning lamp but not at the switch on the dash, when I accelerate hard the battery light starts to come on faintly at first and brighter the higher the revs and then dissapears at low revs, My question is, was the alternator repaired incorrectly, (They never asked me if I had tiptronic or Manual) or could it possibly be the ignition switch (Key works fine no Jamming) or both! I'm getting frustrated now.

[rsfeller]

Wow this is a rough one for sure!

Is it possible for the autozone guys to check the alternator easily in a boxster at the shop? I would think to pull the access panels and take it to your local corporate autoparts that offers free alternator checks. Although I don't know this alternator or VR from experience I have in fact experienced a alternator (on my boat) that came back from a supposed rebuild with a VR that was putting out 18V. I cannot image what issues this may cause (high or low voltage) on new cars with sensitive computer systems.

Always consider a recent repair as questionable when issues are not resolved. It can and does happen.

Anymore CEL(s) occurring?

[Boxtercrazy]

It is a wierd one for sure, just pulled the t/control fuse making sure thats ok, tc warning light no longer up, tc switch works fine again, No battery warning light on, drives great until I accelerate hard, then Batt Light dimly lights again, Does a rebuild need a beak in period on the brushes or does the car act funny when it has had no power source for a while, Or am I still looking at bad rebuild or switch Tricky Eh ? I plugged my actron in says all is fine but who knows. Ill run it again tomorrow and see what lights are gonna show next and I think I'll do the Ig switch just to say I've done it. I'll also get that alt checked.

[1schoir]

...

or could it possibly be the ignition switch (Key works fine no Jamming) or both!

...

If it's only the electrical portion of the ignition switch that has gone bad (and it sounds like a remote possibility, except for the other issues), then the switch will not necessarily jam or be hard to turn, etc...

Your opting for replacing the ignition switch sounds like a logical step.

Regards, Maurice.

[Boxtercrazy]

Thanks, ordered one on ebay tonight thanks 1schoir

[rsfeller]

As inexpensive and prone to failure as they are it's worth a try for sure!

[Boxtercrazy]

Spoke to the alternator repair guy today , Described symptoms he told me to pull the alternator back out and get it back down to him, he said he has seen this before, it's called a floating Brush or something like that which causes the alternator not to keep up with the load requirements as the car increases power. Will keep you all informed status so far (Still bad alternator)

[Boxtercrazy]

Got my alternator back today, To my dismay the new battery was dead, in 7 days, Put the alternator back in and all was cured after a Jump, Yipee, no more warning lights abs and TC etc, but I still think I have a power drain independant of the horn thing. She ran like a dream though, I love my boxter again, Ahhhhhhh Boxter. What an amazing car, by the way when putting an altenator back in you can save a million hours by realizing that there are three bolt points on the altenator, one on the left and two on the right, The furthest one on the right if tapped lightly with a hammer will open the gap so that the alternator will slide right in place if not you have a fight on your hands,discovered that today.