I posted some of this info in another thread ... but here are more details:

Finally got the interior on my '88 Notchback together (minus door panels) and decided to drive the car today.

Unfortunately, the car had other ideas.

Whenever I turned the ignition to ACC, all dash lights came on, radio came on, etc. Then I turned it to crank it ... and it killed all power. And when I say it killed all power, I mean ALL power. Nothing would work. No dome lights, no nothing.

So, I disconnected the neg battery cable for about 10 seconds and tried again. This time it didn't kill all power, but it wouldn't crank. All dash lights went out, radio went off, but the CEL, the SECURITY light and the BRAKE light would illuminate.

I tried this several more times, and one of these two things would happen. The only way to restore power when it cuts off completely is to disconnect the neg batt. cable and reconnect.

It is acting like a VATS issue, but I'm sure VATS is bypassed on this car because you can usually even crank it without a key.

I assume aftermaket alarm system is the culprit, but before I started taking everything apart under the dash, I wanted to ask here. It is an alarm AND keyless entry/remote start system installed by a PO.

I talked to the most recent PO to see if this had ever happened to him, and he said it had, but he would let the car sit a while and it would eventually crank.

I tried this morning, then again at lunch, then again this afternoon. Nothing.

Any ideas?

 

Nevermind. It was just a weak battery.