Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi there,

Got a weird problem. When I open my passenger side door I noticed I get a clicking noise from the fuse box, sounds like one of the relays clicking. The electric passenger side window works intermittently (using either the passenger side or drivers side switch), so I thought maybe it is linked to that. Although, I did some reading and it seems the power window relay is located by the pedals on the drivers side, which is the opposite end of the clicking fuse box.

Might not be related to the window, but that is all I can think of. The clicking seems to happen when the door is opened midway as well, almost like some switch is triggering the clicking relay when the door is opened at a certain position. Also the internal light doesn't come on when opening the door (works when you use the switch thought to turn it on) - so again, could be related to that, I don't know...

Any ideas what to check? I hate electrical gremlins!

Car is a 1990 944 S2.

Cheers,

Dave.

When it's clicking just pull and push the door switch and see if it stops. If it does just take the door switch out and clean it and it's earth, that should sort it.

Thanks John,

Which switch are you referring to? The power window control switch or another one?

Will give it a look tomorrow after work.

Cheers,

Dave.

When you open or close the door it activates a door switch, which is in the pillar that the front end of the door closes too. Sit in the seat, open the door, it's about knee height. It's the switch that turns the interior light on and off. Easy to find.

Good luck with it.

The windows should also work with the door open, sounds like the door switch contacts need cleaning, or as mentioned above a poor earth and the window relay is clicking due to this

I have carried out some work on this and I found a wire coming from the switch that had been joined with a choc block which was loose and was causing the relay to keep clicking.

I just wanted to know though whether is is normal for the relay to make an audible single click sound when the door is opened, or should the relay not be making any noise at all?

Thanks,

Dave.

As far as I know my S2 doesn't make any noise.. I don't think the interior light runs from a relay.

Do you have an aftermarket alarm? - This could be connected to the door switches and be causing it.

Good chance that an aftermarket alarm would cause this due to the courtesy light delay

I have a beta alarm (checked my option codes and this was one of the options).

I don't know where to find details regarding the alarm system though or what aspect of the alarm could be causing the relay to click. Anyone got any suggestions?

Cheers,

Dave.

I have had the same problem......
Does it happen everytime you open the door?
Do you know which relay it is?

This drove me mad for a few weeks .....I found out that in my case it was the power window relay, I could feel the vibrations when I put my finger on top of the relay.....did not happen everytime the door was opened but was a regular occurance.....

I noticed it after having my alarm fitted but they checked it out and could find no fault

I found several posts on other forums with the same problem ......windows still worked ....this was constant problem for about 3 weeks then it just disapeared ......

Hi kongsodoken,

Yes, it is just a single click from a relay when I open the door. Before I repaired the wire it sounded like a geiger counter, now the wire is fixed it is consistent single click.

I will try and figure out exactly which relay it is this week, feeling which one vibrates like you did.

I think I really need to do a thorough check of all the electrics at some point to find out exactly what is working and what isn't. Mostly seems like nearly everything is working, but probably worth working my way through the instruments listed on the underneath of the fuse box lid to double check.

I will let you know which relay is playing up once I have figured it out. Would be nice to be able to figure out the exact cause of the problem. A definite bonus when a problem does resolve itself, but always handy to know why incase it ever comes back!

Cheers,

Dave.

My old 944S did this with the door open initially, then it would click at random with the door closed, sometimes it sounded like it was trying to talk to me in morse code, traced to leccy window relay, pulled relay and clicking stopped, eventually traced to poor contact on drivers door switch, cleaned contacts to cure.

Thanks Lindsay.

I gave the contacts a proper clean when I fixed the wire and cleaned the rest of the switch and connectors up like new.
Ran an ohmmeter across the switch to test it and it works fine. Voltage through the wires also looked to be ok when I tested those too. Will double check though to make sure next time I am out working on the car.

Cheers,

Dave.

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread here, but I think it might be related to a problem I'm having with my electric windows. They work OK (if rather slowly), though the relay gets a bit warm. I want to check out the circuit but from the above discussion and from the circuit diagram in Clarks Garage (http://www.clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/elect-20.pdf), I gather that the "door contact" (i.e. the courtesy light switch ?) feeds into the relay. Why is that - is some function only enabled or disabled when the driver's (or passenger's) door is open or closed ?

And one other thing, probably related, but my knowledge of electronics is hazy at best ... the Clarks Garage diagram shows a diode and a transistor within the relay. I can sort of understand the diode, acting between the ignition feed and the ground in order to operate the relay magnet, but what is the transistor doing - does that have something to do with the door switch ?

The courtesy light switch is connected to the power window relay in order to allow the windows to operate with the ignition off and the door opened.