968 electrical fo paw!

[CharlieB]

So here's the long story. Decided to get under the wife's, new to her, '92 968 cab and give it a cleaning and wash down. Removed the wheel liners, etc. and broke out the Gunk and Simple Green. Mind you this is a job I've done a hundred times before on our previous cars and trucks. Job over, car on the ground I started her up. The car, not the wife! No problem, ran fine and burned off residual moisture and Gunk. Shut her down, definitely not the wife, and hooked up the Citek charger as usual. Next day went to unhook the charger and the negative ground wire and battery were too hot to touch. Turned the key to ACC and nothing! Unhooked everything and battery tested at 9V. Put battery on overnight charger and tried again. Hooked up positive wire on correct post (double checked). Tried to touch negative wire to negative post and got spark and light show at the terminal and loud clicking down low on drivers side. No, I did not cover the starter and alternator before washing. I FORGOT!! So now what? Before explaining to the wife that her new car won't be going anywhere for a while, I need input and help from the experts.

[flash968]

well....this may well be a coincidence.

there is a known problem with the cables that go to the starter on the 968. there are more than one jacketed inside a plastic sleeve. the problem is that the individual wire insulation tends to shrink, exposing wires which then make contact with each other. it sounds like you had a battery meltdown, and it smoked your starter cables. that could be your clicking sound

first order of business: disconnect the battery

second: disconnect the starter, remove it, and bench test it

third: cut back the sleeve on the starter cables and make sure they aren't shorting together.

fourth: have the battery load tested. don't assume anything about it, new or not, or even if it shows 12+ volts. if a plate is shorted it can still be bad. the only way to know is to load test it.

then finally, you should have found your problem(s), and can resolve them.

[CharlieB]

Flash: I was hoping to hear from you. I bow to your 968 knowledge and appreciate your willingness to help us guys. I kinda figured the problem had to be centered around either the starter/solenoid or the alternator. They got soaked pretty good! Any tricks to removing the starter?

[flash968]

no tricks to remove the starter. pretty straight forward. just disconnect the battery first, in case those wires are buggered.

gotta be careful about chargers and the alternator used in the 968. if you run them too long, or the current is too high, you blow out the rectifier diodes. i am about to change an alternator for exactly that reason.

[CharlieB]

Was going to ask about possible alternator damage during this little episode. So, not a good idea to leave the CITEK charger hooked up for weeks at a time on the 968?

[flash968]

i don't know that charger. if it's a true true battery tender, and shuts itself off when it hits the proper voltage, then it's fine. i have and use one of those with no problems. if it's just a charger though, and doesn't shut itself off, then no, it's not a good idea.

[CharlieB]

My bad. Misspelled it. CTEK is the brand name of the charger.

[flash968]

don't know that one.

[Eric_Oz_S2]

I leave my ctek connected weeks at a time. They are a smart multi stage charger and are designed for trickle charging. Porsche sells them as well under the porsche brand (identical unit).

[flash968]

as long as it has a "tender" mode, which shuts it off when it reads the voltage is ok, then it is fine. the yuasa tender i have, which is intended for motorcycle batteries, does that. works great.

[banana944]

Is the battery okay when it is out of the car, after it is charged? What does the voltage read?

May be a bad battery.

I would rule out the alternator for now, it should not be a factor if the car is not running..

[flash968]

which is exactly why i listed load testing the battery as one of the steps to be done.

[CharlieB]

Battery is a newer Interstate and tests 12.1V out of the car after 24 hours on my full charger. Will follow Flash's advice and pull the battery and starter for testing and check the starter and alternator wiring bundles. Washing the undercarriage without properly protecting the starter and alternator might have been a fortunate mistake if I find that the wiring is shot to hell! Scary, when the battery and negative post and wire are sizzling hot to the touch!!

[flash968]

dead battery. it should show AT LEAST 12.6V and really should be close to 13V.

[banana944]

Yeah a 12.1V is a 50% charge, a fully charged battery should read about 12.7.

[CharlieB]

Dead battery? Heading to local FLAPS. Starter pull and test next week. Hopefully alternator is still alive and well. Stay tuned.

[flash968]

yeah - typically right after pulling off the charger, the battery will read close to 13V and then settle down to between 12.6 and 12.8 after sitting for a couple of hours. you are supposed to replace them when they won't hold more than 12.4V

[djnolan]

Take a look at this: How to Test Your Car Battery

[CharlieB]

Does anybody know how to get in touch with "Robby" or Higher Connections? He's the guy who builds 968 alt/starter and batt/starter cables. I've tried PM and email, no response. A phone number would be great. Hope he's still making them cause I pulled the cables today and they are toast!!

[flash968]

he was still making them when i last spoke with him. not sure if i have his number though. be persistent. it sometimes takes a while to get ahold of him. good product though.