Car wont completely turn off - Please Help

At the outset, I just wanted to introduce myself and also take the opportunity to express how thoroughly impressed I am by this vehicle. Its been said that the car was "ahead of its time," and the statement certainly held true as I just picked up my '92 SVX with 172,000+ miles. I purchased the vehicle in Long Island NY and had the pleasure of driving it back to Albany this afternoon at an average speed of 80mph. The car pulled from 60-90 on par with any other vehicle out there, and the interior comforts were superior to many other cars Ive owned. Needless to say, I was so pleased with my purchase as I pulled into the driveway, when, I finally went to turn the car off, and there was this incessant noise from the trunk and power seat belt area.

When I removed the key from the ignition, it seems that the car's power was flicking on and off, intermittently. This was immediately observable from the fact that the power belt didnt return to its resting position smoothly, but rather, in a series of stop & go motions. In addition there was an electric "on and off" sound from the trun area - almost like an actuator powering on and off. Since the sound would not stop, and I thought the battery would die, I had to disconnect the battery as the car rests in my driveway.

I wanted to know if this is a well known problem, and if so, if anyone has diagnosed and solved it. If not, I just wanted to say hello to the other members of this fine forum, and, *sigh* off to the dealer I go asap. Thanks, Craig.

(PS if anyone knows of a dealer/mechanic in the Albany area, Im certainly accepting recommendations. Thanks in advance. )

[Electrophil]

Welcome!!

I'm sorry to say I cannot personally help you with this, but I see you found an old thread that may get some of the experts here going.

As for me, just wanna say "Great to have another enthusiast in our ranks!"

Electrophil - thanks for the warm welcome. I did find another thread and bumped it to the top. Hopefully, given the active readership of this forum, someone can guide me in the right direction.

[Manarius]

Did you pull one of the leads off the battery and let the system go dead for a while? Maybe if you reset the car completely, it will remedy the issue

[NikFu S.]

My XT6 did that.
Not a good sign. That car was an eletrical nightmare.
I don't know what's going on, but if your alternator soon stops working than some grounding has gone bad.

NikFU - Thanks for the advice. Fortunately, I didnt pay too much for the car ($750) so I dont mind sinking in some costs to get it to a condition that I can get around for the next few winters. I'll only be driving it about 4x / week for 3-4 months. The car drove great yesterday on the commute from Long Island to Albany (170 miles), in excess of 75mph the entire way. This problem only exhibited itself when I got home. There are some other threads I've bumped in this forum of members who have experienced the same condition.

[NikFu S.]

I'm tihnking also the opposite could be happening and it's just a random power surge.

Is it doing this every day?

Originally Posted by NikFu S.

I'm tihnking also the opposite could be happening and it's just a random power surge.

Is it doing this every day?

Thanks again for writing. I dont know if its doing it everyday - yesterday was the first and only experience I've had with the problem as I just purchased the car yesterday. The prior owner didnt mention anything about it, but, to his credit, the car has been sitting in his driveway, unused, for over one year.

I have an appointment on Thursday morning with the dealer to hopefully rectify the problem.

Here's a thread with more in-de-th discussion of the same problem, if youre interested:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24861