Porsche Repair: 1979 Porsche 924 - losing power, porsche shop, 1979 porsche 924

Question
Dave,
 Thanks for your right on answer.  The meter showed a reading of around 7, which as you said is not a good thing!  LoL.  As a note, the battery light did not come on until the battery was close to dead.  There are some other electrical problems I'm experiencing, for example, intermittent power windows (sometimes work and sometimes don't), low gas light is on always and gas gage fluctuates from full to empty when filled, defroster barely clears bottom 8 inches of window, radio is intermittant, sometimes coming in loud and sometimes nothing, ceiling light when door is open doesn't always come on, etc... and I am thinking about taking it down to Portland to a Porsche shop to have them run some tests as I checked the fuses but they all seem fine.  Nothing in the doors after I removed the panels show any loose wires, all fittings are tight.  Battery cables are tight and clean, especially now with new alternator and battery.  By the way, Schucks is the  Kragen outlet here in Vancouver and they were very helpful.  Again, thanks for your expert advice and if I have more questions, I'll give you a holler!
-- Gary --

Answer
Gary, thanks for the kind comments.

I'd suggest one more step before you spend some money on expensive technicians searching for electrical glitches...this can get to be a big number!

With all the assorted problems there is a possibility the grounds are bad.

Here's what I'd do:

Verify a wire exists or run a new wire with perfectly clean and tight connections...from the battery negative terminal to the firewall.

And then I'd run another wire from the negative battery terminal to the engine block...try to find iron or at least some metallic part of the engine that is in contact with your starter.

And as for those intermitent power windows... consider that the window motor is grounded to the door and the door is held on by a hinge that is well greased and thus conducts electricity only half-heartedly.  So...in this way the ground could be at fault...because the ground actually has to be in contact with that battery negative terminal...through the chassis...or the switch may actually be worn and when you press it lightly or unconsciously it doesn't work, but if you press it angrily it will.

Just some food for thought.

Thanks again!

Dave