nik

Sorry all, please ignore my wiring qquestion for the head unit, I found a similar thread that eventually told me what to do, HOWEVER, just rewired as per the instructions and as soon as I plug the head unit in (not switched on) the draw on the abttery goes crazy, I'm now thinking that the previous owner who had an aftermarket Sony system installed may have done something different when wiring it to the amp, so my follow up is can someone send me a pic of how their amp is wired up, ideally so it shows the munber and colour of wires and were they fit into the amp. thanks nik

Dear all, Following on from my previous battery drain thread, I have done some further investigation, to recap: 1. My battery would drain over a period of 2 days, I did a drain test and the stereo (Becker Traffic Pro is the problem, it was drawing 450 miliamps. 2. I assumed that the head unit was at fault, but my research today as shown that maybe it isn't. 3. I went to my local audio store and tried out a Blaupunkt sat nav system in the car, and got exactly the same result it was drawing 450 miliamps, the guy at the audio store seemed to think that maybe the amp is permanently switched on as it would draw about 450 miliamps. 4. what I would like to do is to rewire the whole unit from scratch and see if the problem is caused by a bad connection or maybe incorrect wiring to start with. I am particulary interested in the ones that don't attach to the small yellow amp plug, these are detailed below. 1. A thick red/black wire - I'm pretty sure this is pernanent live. 2. A thick brown wire - I'm pretty sure this is earth/ground 3. A thin orange wire - I'm pretty sure this is switched live 4. A thin white wire 5. A thin gray/pink wire 6. A thin light blue/white wire Can anyone please supply me with definitive details on what each wire is for. Ideally, if anyone has a Becker Traffic Pro fitted, could they pop it out and see how they are connected. I already know that the thin black/red in the small yellow amp plug wire needs splicing into one of the others or there is no sound ( again if someone could confirm this it would put my mind at rest.) As usual guys , thanks for your help, this is an invaluable forum, especially for those who like myself can't really afford Main Dealer repair costs. Regards nik

Guys, As you are all no doubt aware I finally solved the drain problem with my battery. Interestingly enough, the drain is only present when I connect the Becker Sat Nav system to the wiring harness, the drain isn't there when it is disconnected which I guess means that the Becker unit is the problem. I have a couple of options as follows 1. Get rid of the Beceker sta nav traffic pro high speed completely and change it to a Porsche (Becker) CDR OEM unit or 2. Get a new Becker unit to replace the faulty one Do any of you have the Traffic Pro fitted in your cars, as ideally I would like to retain the sat nav functionality, if so have you experienced drian problems with the battery, it could be that the memory function on a Becker Traffic Pro uses lots and lots of amps as it remembers previous destinations etc. If I have to change , does anyone know of where I can source a CDR unit to replace the becker unit, they are impossible to get in the UK. Or any recomendations on replacement head units, but ideally I want it to look like OEM not aftermarket. Thanks to all. nik

This may help or it may not, I have just had the same problem on my UK car, however i have an alarm and keyless entry. Under my passenger seat is the alarm/central locking module, I removed the passenger seat, disconnected the connectors (2 on my car) and reconnected them straight away this seemed to reset the module. On my car the electric windows didn't work either but the procedure outlined above sorted them out as well. Hope this helps nik

It's ok its all working again, the trick is to keep evrything connected then disconnect and reconnect the alarm module, everything is now fine, although when I put my drivers side window down the cable must have been frayed because it all got wrapped around the sprocket that connects to the window motor. Ordered a recon regulator for £75 hopefully it will arrive on thursday- it never rains but it pours, BTW Merry Christmas to all Regards nik

Dear all, just a quick update on my battery drain problem, and I need further help please. Ok I removed the passenger seat and disconnected the alarm module. Put the multimeter on as described by toolpants and got a whopping figure of 460 miliamps Went through the fuses one by one and lo and behold it was the radio that was drawing all the current as soon as I removed the fuse the draw dropped to 40 miliamps which I think is the acceptable figure for Boxsters. I plainly have a wiring problem but Ill investigate that over christmas, anyway needless to say I have removed the radio (Becker Traffic Pro) and have removed the fuse. At this stage the battery is disconnected, the key is out of the ignition and I then start to reconnect things. I put the key at ignition switch 1 to stop the alarm going off when I reconnect the alarm module, I reconnect the alarm module and reconnect the battery, the car starts ok, it runs roughly but I think it is because the brain has to learn about fuel etc all over again. However, my electric windows don't work using the switches, they do drop down when I open the door and go up when i shut the door. I then pressed the remote to lock the car and the locks engage and then disengage straight away followed by a quick double hoot of the alarm siren. Is there some sort of reset procedure I have to follow given that I disconnected the alarm module, which I am guessing is linked to the central locking and windows. Thanks for your all your help so far, at least I've traced the battery drain but now can't lock the car. Regards Nik

toolpants, It's very very very loud, upset all the neighbours, but hey who cares they all drive euroboxes. Although they do find it extremely amusing that my so called epitomy of engineering excellence is giving me continuing problems.

Yep Im in the UK in Leicestershire, I'm not brilliant at electrics so it might be that I'm doing it wrong, with regard to the alarm I'm pretty sure it has its own battery back up but again Im no expert so I dont know for certain. thanks for offering to do some research ill keep an eye out fopr your posting.

Whilst waiting for a reply I thought I'd try the fuse approach, so I left everything connected and touched the multimeter prongs on the fuses, to test I switched on my sidelights and the meter gave a reading of 78 miliamps, I then went through each fuse and the only one drawing a current was the radio at 40 miliamps. Don't know whether this is the right way to test but if it is it would seem that all is well with the circuits that are fused, any other ideas, Battery, relays etc, if so how do i test them. Whilst at the car I checked the battery volatge at rest and it was 12.3 volts and 14.2 when charging. All the above could be of no use whatsoever of course. Regards nik

guys just a quick thought that may or may not work, forgive me if i'm being stupid again. 1. Could I keep everything connected and just remove fuses and touch the 2 contacts on each fuse holder to get a reading , that way the ignition key would be out, the alarm wouldn't go off because it has power ( but shouldn't draw power because it isn't set) all I would have to do is close the drivers door latch so the courtesy lights don't work, I could evn shut the door and crawl iinto the space and work with everything as normal. 2. Is this possible or would I have to ground the negative lead , I could use the door hinge potentially As usual all suggestions are welcome, and apologies if I'm thinking illogically. Nik

Guys, Purchased a multimeter very similar to the one shown in the link by toolpants. The problem I have is that I disconnect the earth lead from the battery with the key in the ignition so the alarm doesn't go off, however if I take the key out of the ignition the alarm will sound, having the key in the ignition plainly draws current as using the same 10a scale as toolpants I was getting readings of 2.74. I did manage to take the key out of the ignition to give me enough time to take a reading and the reading came down to 0.54 still very high I think that is 540 miliamps, but then stupid alarm went off. So my question is what is the exact step by step process to give me a benchmark reading that I can work from. I know I'm rubbish at electrics but I really do value and thank you all for your advise, I've just been made redundant so don't really want to take the car to my local OPC. Thanks again guys, I look forward to hearing your comments. Nik

Dear All, OK here comes the update on my 986 battery discharge problem. A quick summary first, drive about 500 miles a week on pretty long trips so battery has plenty of chance to charge itself, if i don't drive it for 2 days the battery is flat. 1. I fully charged the battery and had it tested, the garage told me it had a cranking figure of 580 which was fine, he couldn't tell me if it was holding it's charge though. 2. Purchased a clamp meter and and clamped it over the + lead next to the battery 3. I set the dial to 200ACA (the lowest available)to check the reading and then start pulling fuses 4. The reading was 00.0 Can't pull the fuses because the reading is at 0, am I doing this right or could it be that the clamp meter range is too high and I need a meter that measures miliamps. So i guess i have a couple of questions Am I using the clamp meter in the correct way? Should the battery guys be able to tell me if the battery is fully charged and secondly is it holding that charge? Not happy, i've spent way tooooooooooo much time trying to sort this out, it's stopping me from refurbing my recently acquired sport design split rims that I picked up for £300 from fleabay As usual thanks for everyones help so far.

The new cluster if from a 98 car which is the same as mine, so I am now hoping that it will just swap with mine, my existing cluster is the same as the one in http://www.iwantaporsche.net/cluster.htm the new one is part number 986 641 103 01 hopefully it will have the black,white and blue connectors in which case its an easy straight swap. Thanks Chris and Toolpants.

Dear all, I have just purchased a complete Instrument Cluster for my car. I want to use the silver dials that are with the cluster. I guess my question is in 2 parts as detailed below, I have followed the thread regarding the fitting of replacement dials thta fit over the top of th e existing ones, unfortunatley it doesnt give me the exact information I need. My existing cluster has colour coded connectors at the rear of the cluster, mine are black, white and blue. the cluster I have purchased has different colour connector blocks at the rear, my questions are as follows 1. Do I use my existing cluster but swap the faces from the new cluster, if so do the old faces unscrew 2. Can the cluster be split so that I swap the complete rear part of my cluster and match it to the front part of the new cluster. I obviously want to do whatever is easiest, I have already taken the needles of my existing cluster without any problem. Hope this all makes sense, thanks in advance for any assistance you can give. Nik

Probably the best advise. Many many thanks guys, you've been really helpful, i'll get the battery checked tomorrow and if not start removing fuses. ill be sure to let everyone know what the result is as it may help someone out in the future :clapping: :clapping:

Nope, I always take the keys out, I'll try the camcorder trick for the trunk lights

Dear all, As a new member I just love this forum, you guys seem to know everything about the workings and problems with Boxsters. :renntech: I have done a search but couldn't find a definitive answer from previous posts, Here we go then I have had my Boxster 986 2.5 manual for just overa year now and in general I just love it, however there is a problem that just keeps coming back. I drive about 500 miles a week generally in 2 or 3 journeys , so they are quite long trips that gives the battery plenty of time to charge up. The problem is that when I don't use the car even for a short time, the battery completely discharges and I have to go through the painful process of hitching up a live lead to fuse C3 to open the front to then jump start the battery. It is worth noting at this point point that my battery is only 6 months old and is the highest power one I could find. I parked the car up on Friday night and by Sunday morning (3am) the alarm was going off signalling that the power was drained from the battery. :censored: I put an electrical tester accross the battery terminals today with the engine running and it was reading 14.2 volts which I think means that it is charging up OK. I am guessing that there is something draining the battery when the car is inactive, I can't believe that the alarm system would drain it that quickly. Can anyone tell me what the likely cause is and also how do I test the electrics, I have a tester but am no expert so I pretty much need basic instructions. Thanks a lot again, :cheers: