Corrado keeps dying... dunno why?

Hi all,

my girlfriend has a '90 Corrado G60 to which she is ludicrously
attached... for the last while (not sure how long, but this is an
ongoing problem) she has had a problem with the battery going dead
while the car is parked. Lately it has become worse; the battery went
dead enough that the car barely cranked (and wouldn't start) after
sitting for only two days. She's repeatedly had the car in the shop
and mentioned this problem but they haven't been able to find anything.
I managed to blow the 10A fuse in my Fluke meter so I can't take any
amp readings myself. I neither have the time nor the space to really
troubleshoot this problem properly but am looking for ideas. The
battery is new so that shouldn't be the issue. I measured the voltage
at the battery and with the engine running it was lower than I'd like
but not real low (around 13.2ish - IIRC a VW should be around 13.7 with
a stock regulator?) However this was with a cheap meter (not my Fluke)
and the shop swears that the alternator is OK. Positive battery cable
and wire to alternator were replaced with new a couple years ago.
Ground cable is still original but looks to be in good shape.

The car has an aftermarket stereo installed. I would like to unplug
that and see if that helps.

I also would like to unplug the seatbelt relay, if someone can point me
to it.

Finally, while the fan thermoswitch is new, I think the car needs a new
radiator. In the 90-100 degree temperatures we're experiencing right
now it is running hot, so when we dropped the car off at the shop last
night (after it wouldn't start in the Costco parking lot) I suggested
that when she calls them she just ask that the radiator be replaced.
IIRC the thermostat was replaced a couple years ago when a cooling
system flush was done and a bunch of hoses replaced, so if there's any
issue with the cooling system it would seem to be simply an old, cruddy
rad. Do you think that hot weather/old radiator combo might cause the
cooling fan to run long enough to run the battery down? or am I
grasping at straws here?

I did suggest to her that it might be time to look into alternate
transportation, and even offered my old Porsche 944 which has none of
these issues (not to mention a new radiator and hoses, fresh T-belt,
and e-code headlights with a relay harness - something that the C
desperately needs,) but I think that my description of the fragile ring
and pinion scared her off (I know she likes to drive, um, assertively
and I made it eminently clear that while I was relying on it for my own
daily transportation that no hard shifts were to be made in that car
because the financial and logistic consequences of same could be
serious.) and like I said she is irrationally attached to this beast.

Also, any recommends for a good shop in the Vienna, VA area would be
helpful. She's been taking the car to WB Motors on Pickett, and has
used Ted at VolksWerks in the past, but Ted seems to not really like
either Corrados or the people that own them for some reason. Is
Currie's any good? I have heard good things about them and they
apparently have a location in Vienna now.

thanks,

nate

These cars have what's called an after run system. It means that when you
turn off the engine the fan/fuel pump will be activated as long as the air
close to the fuel rail, is above a certain value . This prevents vapour
lock. Could be that the battery is not strong enough (anymore) to handle it.
Btw, my G60 turbo has no after run. Never had any vapour lock. Maybe a bit
of VWoverkill......

SFC

"N8N" > schreef in bericht
oups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> my girlfriend has a '90 Corrado G60 to which she is ludicrously
> attached... for the last while (not sure how long, but this is an
> ongoing problem) she has had a problem with the battery going dead
> while the car is parked. Lately it has become worse; the battery went
> dead enough that the car barely cranked (and wouldn't start) after
> sitting for only two days. She's repeatedly had the car in the shop
> and mentioned this problem but they haven't been able to find anything.
> I managed to blow the 10A fuse in my Fluke meter so I can't take any
> amp readings myself. I neither have the time nor the space to really
> troubleshoot this problem properly but am looking for ideas. The
> battery is new so that shouldn't be the issue. I measured the voltage
> at the battery and with the engine running it was lower than I'd like
> but not real low (around 13.2ish - IIRC a VW should be around 13.7 with
> a stock regulator?) However this was with a cheap meter (not my Fluke)
> and the shop swears that the alternator is OK. Positive battery cable
> and wire to alternator were replaced with new a couple years ago.
> Ground cable is still original but looks to be in good shape.
>
> The car has an aftermarket stereo installed. I would like to unplug
> that and see if that helps.
>
> I also would like to unplug the seatbelt relay, if someone can point me
> to it.
>
> Finally, while the fan thermoswitch is new, I think the car needs a new
> radiator. In the 90-100 degree temperatures we're experiencing right
> now it is running hot, so when we dropped the car off at the shop last
> night (after it wouldn't start in the Costco parking lot) I suggested
> that when she calls them she just ask that the radiator be replaced.
> IIRC the thermostat was replaced a couple years ago when a cooling
> system flush was done and a bunch of hoses replaced, so if there's any
> issue with the cooling system it would seem to be simply an old, cruddy
> rad. Do you think that hot weather/old radiator combo might cause the
> cooling fan to run long enough to run the battery down? or am I
> grasping at straws here?
>
> I did suggest to her that it might be time to look into alternate
> transportation, and even offered my old Porsche 944 which has none of
> these issues (not to mention a new radiator and hoses, fresh T-belt,
> and e-code headlights with a relay harness - something that the C
> desperately needs,) but I think that my description of the fragile ring
> and pinion scared her off (I know she likes to drive, um, assertively
> and I made it eminently clear that while I was relying on it for my own
> daily transportation that no hard shifts were to be made in that car
> because the financial and logistic consequences of same could be
> serious.) and like I said she is irrationally attached to this beast.
>
> Also, any recommends for a good shop in the Vienna, VA area would be
> helpful. She's been taking the car to WB Motors on Pickett, and has
> used Ted at VolksWerks in the past, but Ted seems to not really like
> either Corrados or the people that own them for some reason. Is
> Currie's any good? I have heard good things about them and they
> apparently have a location in Vienna now.
>
> thanks,
>
> nate
>

I forgot to mention, the battery is only a couple months old. I
believe the one that it replaced was not that old either.

nate

SFC wrote:
> These cars have what's called an after run system. It means that when you
> turn off the engine the fan/fuel pump will be activated as long as the air
> close to the fuel rail, is above a certain value . This prevents vapour
> lock. Could be that the battery is not strong enough (anymore) to handle it.
> Btw, my G60 turbo has no after run. Never had any vapour lock. Maybe a bit
> of VWoverkill......
>
> SFC
>
> "N8N" > schreef in bericht
> oups.com...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > my girlfriend has a '90 Corrado G60 to which she is ludicrously
> > attached... for the last while (not sure how long, but this is an
> > ongoing problem) she has had a problem with the battery going dead
> > while the car is parked. Lately it has become worse; the battery went
> > dead enough that the car barely cranked (and wouldn't start) after
> > sitting for only two days. She's repeatedly had the car in the shop
> > and mentioned this problem but they haven't been able to find anything.
> > I managed to blow the 10A fuse in my Fluke meter so I can't take any
> > amp readings myself. I neither have the time nor the space to really
> > troubleshoot this problem properly but am looking for ideas. The
> > battery is new so that shouldn't be the issue. I measured the voltage
> > at the battery and with the engine running it was lower than I'd like
> > but not real low (around 13.2ish - IIRC a VW should be around 13.7 with
> > a stock regulator?) However this was with a cheap meter (not my Fluke)
> > and the shop swears that the alternator is OK. Positive battery cable
> > and wire to alternator were replaced with new a couple years ago.
> > Ground cable is still original but looks to be in good shape.
> >
> > The car has an aftermarket stereo installed. I would like to unplug
> > that and see if that helps.
> >
> > I also would like to unplug the seatbelt relay, if someone can point me
> > to it.
> >
> > Finally, while the fan thermoswitch is new, I think the car needs a new
> > radiator. In the 90-100 degree temperatures we're experiencing right
> > now it is running hot, so when we dropped the car off at the shop last
> > night (after it wouldn't start in the Costco parking lot) I suggested
> > that when she calls them she just ask that the radiator be replaced.
> > IIRC the thermostat was replaced a couple years ago when a cooling
> > system flush was done and a bunch of hoses replaced, so if there's any
> > issue with the cooling system it would seem to be simply an old, cruddy
> > rad. Do you think that hot weather/old radiator combo might cause the
> > cooling fan to run long enough to run the battery down? or am I
> > grasping at straws here?
> >
> > I did suggest to her that it might be time to look into alternate
> > transportation, and even offered my old Porsche 944 which has none of
> > these issues (not to mention a new radiator and hoses, fresh T-belt,
> > and e-code headlights with a relay harness - something that the C
> > desperately needs,) but I think that my description of the fragile ring
> > and pinion scared her off (I know she likes to drive, um, assertively
> > and I made it eminently clear that while I was relying on it for my own
> > daily transportation that no hard shifts were to be made in that car
> > because the financial and logistic consequences of same could be
> > serious.) and like I said she is irrationally attached to this beast.
> >
> > Also, any recommends for a good shop in the Vienna, VA area would be
> > helpful. She's been taking the car to WB Motors on Pickett, and has
> > used Ted at VolksWerks in the past, but Ted seems to not really like
> > either Corrados or the people that own them for some reason. Is
> > Currie's any good? I have heard good things about them and they
> > apparently have a location in Vienna now.
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > nate
> >

N8N wrote:

<snip>


>
> I also would like to unplug the seatbelt relay, if someone can point me
> to it.
>


<snip>

Just a guess...

Make sure the seat belts are retracted all the way to the stop, or the
motor will run until the battery dies. I have to help my passenger seat
belt finish at times - you will hear a click when it gets to the end.

Its been hot here too (95 - 105), and I have heard the fans running
after shutting down, but they don't seem to run down the battery.

Another wild guess, glove box light not getting shut off??

HTH

Eric

62 Corvair Monza
63 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet
64 Volvo 1800S
90 VW Corrado

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Eric Mattle wrote:
> N8N wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>
>>
>> I also would like to unplug the seatbelt relay, if someone can point me
>> to it.
>>
>
>
> <snip>
>
> Just a guess...
>
> Make sure the seat belts are retracted all the way to the stop, or the
> motor will run until the battery dies. I have to help my passenger seat
> belt finish at times - you will hear a click when it gets to the end.
>
> Its been hot here too (95 - 105), and I have heard the fans running
> after shutting down, but they don't seem to run down the battery.
>
> Another wild guess, glove box light not getting shut off??
>
> HTH
>
> Eric
>
> 62 Corvair Monza
> 63 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet
> 64 Volvo 1800S
> 90 VW Corrado
>

thanks for the reply, nothing to add but nice collection! I think all
of your cars are on my list of "cars to own someday" except for the C
(because I can drive Michele's any time I need a C fix.)

nate

55 Stude Commander coupe (with '63 R1 motor and 4-speed)
88 Porsche 944
71 Porsche 914/4
several GTIs and a roccet, all sadly sold

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

My daughter also has a 90 Corrado but it was converted to a VR6. She
had the same problem with her new battery losing charge overnight. We
checked out the wiring until we were blue in the face and found nothing
wrong. Then one night, we were going over some things and I happen to
shift the transmission into some gear and white smoke began to wisp up
from under the dash and engine compartment. The keys were not in the
car!! I quickly exited the driver's seat and yanked the battery +
cable. All the ground wires were melted. The instrument cluster
wiring harness was fused from the little ground wires in it that tried
to carry way more amps than they could. The shift mechanism rubbed
agains the battery positive cable at the starter! It finally rubbed
through the insulation and became a dead short. I put a new cable in
it and routed the connection away from the shift mechanism so it
wouldn't touch it again. Problem solved. Many wires replaced. What a
PITA!!!
TEMiller (AKA Corrado Daddy)