Electrical Problem

[weber92037]

Bad way to start a day!! I turned the ignition key on my 1987 911 and nothing happened, no lights, no gauges. Head lights will not come on. Battery was a bit low but charged reads 12.6 volts. No other symptoms before this suddenly happened. I have an audiovox alarm system which will lock and unlock the doors and it seems to be working, however I get a different signla (4 chirps) when disarming. I hope that someone can give me some suggestions. Need to drive the 911. It's Sunday. Thanks. Chuck...

[bob hodges]

Weber, If it were me I would go streight to the battery and take it out and put a known good battery in to test my theory. You can have the volts reading ok and still be missing the necessary amps to crank the engine. Dead cells etc. Take the easy way out first because after you tear up the electrical system only to find out the battery was T.U. you will be kicking yourself in the A## when you could have been driving instead of troubleshooting.

[weber92037]

Battery was good. That was the first thing I tested. The good news is that the problem is fixed. The LED on the alarm system was blinking when it should not have and the alarm chirped more than it should lhave when deactivating. I thought that there might be a mechanism in the alarm that interrupts power to all systems. I traced the alarm wiring and checked, moved all the fuses, etc. Suddenly, the LED stopped blinking, and all systems came back. I'm not sure exactly where the problem was, but I guess that it was the alarm system. I've never had much use for alarm systems, but it came with the car. I guess that the lesson is that if you have no power to your ignition and you have no symptoms of a dead or weak battery, look at your alalrm and security system. This is an older Audiovox system with a single button and there is no mention in the owners manual about a cut-off switch or cut-off mechanism.